Surgery Plans

At Dustin's doctor appointment last week, Dustin's surgeon said over and over again how very happy he is with the healing that has been made.  He still thinks it would be best to wait another month and has decided that the next surgery will be during the first week of April.  That makes the surgery probably only a few days before Haley's first birthday.  Ugh.

We have been busy with normal life this last week, and that feels really good.  Dust has been going to the gym earlier and earlier.  He's also been going to work earlier and earlier, which has been a little difficult for me.  I am NOT a morning person.  

I think he learned his lesson last Tuesday when he woke me up with a "HEY!  Get up!  You have to take me to work!"  Since that day, I have been ever so gently woken up each morning with a kiss on my forehead.  Much better.

I try to get up as he gets in the shower, hurry to make some eggs for breakfast, and drag the kids out of their slumber to drive daddy to work.

I remember about a week into December, Dust saying to me that he wasn't going to go to church, work or the gym until after the next surgery.  I think he felt self-conscious and just wasn't emotionally ready.  As I look back at the strides he has made in a few short months, I can't help but to be overwhelmed with pride.  Pride and gratitude for the kindness that has been shown to him and the heavenly help he has received. 

He was having a friend come to the house to train him in his work-outs for a while.  One morning, he put his gym clothes on and said that friend was coming to pick him up to go to the gym.  When the doorbell rang, I hurried upstairs to tell him thanks for getting Dust to go to the gym.

"It was Dustin's idea!" he told me.  I was blown away.  I know I have said it before, but there is not anything this man can't or won't overcome.  But having so many who rally behind you and really truly care how you are doing when they ask "How are you?" make the ability to overcome a little bit less of a struggle.

With friends and family cheering him on from the stands and many chanting his name as they play along side him on the field, Dust has been busy building himself back up in every area of his life.  

Just last weekend at the Grizzley's game

With a proud smile on his face, he showed me his weight yesterday.  After dropping 35 pounds on the applesauce and Ensure diet, he is just two-and-a-half pounds shy of his pre-accident weight.  He hasn't missed a week of church since the middle of December and is back with his Priests, making knives and strengthening testimonies.  He is loving his new office at work and was able to begin a new project last week.  This is a guy who thrives on being needed and useful. 

I could never express how thankful I am for the crowded stadium rooting for my sweet family - those who cheer from a distance and those with grass-stained knees and mud on their faces.  I am eternally thankful for a kind and loving Savior, who knows just exactly what we need when we need it.  Water, gatorade, even a short time-out to rest on the bench.

So, next up - CT Scan in a week.  A week after that, we meet with the facial plastics and the oculoplastics surgeons to talk about the game plan. Then two weeks after that, surgery again. I am terrified. Really. Truly. Terrified.

We can do this. We can do this. We can do hard things.