The Beginning of the End…

Although you may have come to love and anticipate the style of Lindsay’s posts, you must endure her husband posting on her behalf for at least one day. I am Brandon and I am here to report the details of the largest event in the Jaw Journey thus far.

In case she hasn’t told you herself, or you haven’t noticed this about her, she is an extremely prepared person. Printed out charts. Prepared frozen meals. Costco trip. You get the picture.

Bilateral mandibular maxillofacial surgery (that’s not even the technical term), originally scheduled for 3:00pm, had been fortunately rescheduled for noon. That meant that we arrived at Penrose St. Francis Hospital around 10:30am for check-in and pre-op. After some last-minute paperwork, mango allergy bracelet, and her dose of anti-nervousness medicine (yes, that’s what the anesthesiologist called it), her parents and I told her we love her and she told us she felt light-headed and funny. And that she loved us. 🙂 As she proceeded to the OR, we proceeded to the cafeteria followed by much reading in the waiting area. The procedure took about an hour and a half before we heard from the Doc. Dr. D’Addario is a great surgeon. I say that partly because he shows great logic in his explanations and partly because my wife still looks amazing after he did some major cutting.

He came to us at about 1:40pm to tell us that everything had gone just as he hoped. The jaw and teeth aligned perfectly; nerves did NOT have to be cut (although there is, of course, numbness due to their exposure); and she was doing well in recovery. The great thing about the earlier-than-planned surgery was that we were easily able to go home by 5:00pm.

She was accompanied home in her mom’s comfortable car with both parents and an excited and cuddly Frodo (a dog, not a Hobbit). We took her straight to bed and made use of various syringes for water, a fruit smoothie, chicken broth, and meds. Her parents were both a great help as they stayed for a couple hours. Lindsay was even feeling well enough to come to the living room for a while. She is now in bed and I am rotating her ice pack on and off. We will be getting up at midnight and 4:00am to administer pain meds. With that we must stay proactive rather than reactive if we are to stay ahead of her pain.

Our biggest challenges will be to keep ahead of the pain, swelling, and nausea. It is a slow recovery, but she is quite a trooper. Whatever may happen from here, we have conquered together already the battle of the hill. We sit atop with nothing to fear. I took her in sickness and in health, and today is her day of healing. This is not the mere end of a stage, but the beginning of another — and we eagerly await it. In Christ, we are more than this pain, this problem. In Him, we are more.

So here, at the Beginning of the End, we are more than conquerors; we are receivers of a great gift from Above. We thank all of you so very much for your thoughts, prayers, and support through this process. We appreciate what you will continue to do with and for us. Without many of you this road would have been much darker. So thank you. We love you.

Stay tuned for posts directly from the heroine herself! She is anxious to update you all about her life.

Thank you and Adieu.