GoWests!

Update from the Westside, Sept 2020: Molly just had surgery! 

Hi there team.

My sincere apologies if this announcement and update catches most of you by surprise.  There was no plan to keep this a secret; events simply unfolded so quickly over the last week that we have been all caught a little off-guard.

For the last few months Molly has been receiving physical therapy for a shoulder injury that has been plaguing her for about a year now.  The short version is this: the PT wasn’t working, so they referred her to an orthopedic surgeon for an MRI.  They discovered that she had a torn cuff and labrum in her shoulder, and possible Biceps tendon damage.  In a consultation last Monday, they told her this, and the only long term solution was surgery (these injuries actually will not heal themselves).  She opted for a surgery opening within 5 days! That was last Friday. With just a little time to prepare and reorganize “life”, and the kids going back to school the same week, our lives went into focused-life-management mode!  This also meant our communication network got neglected behind. Again, sorry! 

The good news is that we have excellent medical care here, and the surgery seems to have gone well although a little more extensive than was first expected. They did the labrum and cuff repair, but needed to reattach her bicep tendon to her shoulder.

Since then, the only real hiccup was that we found ourselves back in the ER the same night. Molly was starting to have some trouble breathing (this is a potential symptom of post-surgery complications when they use a nerve block with general anesthesia). After a chest x-ray for a possible collapsed lung, and then a CAT scan to check for a blood clot, she was eventually released with the diagnosis of “diaphragmatic irritation” due to anesthesia.  While this is excellent news, it made for a very long day for Molly.

Back home and OK, you’ll be relieved to know that I myself was able to battle through it all and get to bed by 1am.

As I write this Sunday night, she finally seems to be getting some sleep. She had a hard night last night and day today, as she began to react poorly to her pain medication.  We think we are back on track now (we will see) and all I can pray for is a good night of sleep for Molly; her body needs it. While she is a real trooper, believe me, she needs her sleep.

Please pray for her. She is in pain, which is expected, but it just makes life very difficult, and not very do-able!  (Apparently this surgery is rated among the most painful of recoveries, and will take weeks-months).  

We have also been blessed to be receiving help from so many people without ever asking for a single thing. Friends and family are being so faithful.

On the family front, it seems the summer is slipping away and the Fall is bullying it’s way in.  The kids are back in school last week, and Samuel has started college locally.  We are moving forward with opening the campus for schools and programs in a week, which is exciting, but in these times especially make for a lot of work, and just a bit of “excitement”.

Thanks for working and walking alongside us, as always. 

Jeremy (with Molly, Sam, Joel, and Eden!)