My New Job - Being A Caregiver

Jaime had her thyroid removed on Nov. 6th - she spent one night in the hospital up in Denver (where the surgery took place) and Brad brought her to our house to recuperate on Wed.  Unfortunately she landed back in the Woodland Park ER on Thursday for a few hours and then back again on Friday morning where they ended up admitting her.

She soon found out from her surgeon up in Denver that the surgery was more complex that anticipated and that several lymph nodes were removed due to being cancerous.  Her calcium level was quite difficult to regulate and she ended up spending 5 nights in the hospital.

I spent every day with her till nightfall and then Brad would come in and visit her - she finally got her calcium levels where she didn't have to have the calcium IV's and I brought her home the following Wed.  It was a tough time for all of us!  But so nice to finally get her to our house to start the recuperation process!

Glenn's surgery was the day after Jaime got to our house - so I took him down and he came through the surgery just fine with the added repair of a bicep.  I brought him home Thursday afternoon and began my caregiver duties!!

Jaime looks pretty good here but she had some tough days ahead of her!

And here's patient #2 with his huge sling that he sure doesn't enjoy wearing!

So I spent the next few days attending to their every need - water, ice, hot tea, hot packs, drugs, blankets and cooking and making meals for them!  Let's just say I'm sure glad I didn't pick this as my profession!!!

Jaime and Glenn both slept in recliners for a few nights and then gradually worked their way to sleep in beds.  They are both recovering nicely now and since Jaime had to move back to the camper the night before Thanksgiving since I was hosting it and had 16 people for dinner and 7 spending 2 or 3 nights, she is staying at home now and just coming over for the day to use the recliner!

Glenn heads to the dr in a few days for his post op appointment and I'm sure he'll be starting physical therapy soon!  Jaime also heads to the dr this next week and will find out when her radiation treatment will begin.