Father's Day!

Happy Father's Day! It turned out to be a pretty good Father's Day, since Jacob was able to be home for it.

We are slowly getting a handle on the whole process of caring for Jake without professional medical care. Sleeping arrangements are a little tricky. He's not supposed to sleep flat on his back; the doctor wants him to keep about a 30 degree angle to help with any drainage from the surgery. Last night he tried sleeping in his bed with a bunch of pillows piled up to support his back. Not a rousing success, but he seemed to be sleeping fine when I went in this morning.

Tonight we'll try something different. I bought some sheets of 1-inch foam and I've cut and layered them into a big foam wedge. I think it should be fairly comfortable based on my quick testing.

He had more visitors today. Giovana, her brother Gus and Mom Gina all came over for a bit. Bonus for us, Gina brought some barbacoa with all the fixings. Can't wait for dinner! I'm going to try to puree some of the meat and juices for Jake so that he can at least get a taste.

So far Jake is not eating a whole lot, so we have to keep working on that. He's had some smoothies, protein shakes and Gatorade, but I think he needs to get a few more calories.

We took an outing to The Yard House this afternoon for lunch with our friends Mike, Jane and Michael Griffin. Jake finished most of a rootbeer freeze for his lunch. (I had the Seared Ahi Caesar Salad. ) Not much of a dining experience for Jake, but it was good to get him out of the house and interacting with some friends.

Jacob took a little rest when we got home, as seen below, using a stuffed bear from Grandma as a headrest. Leo has been keeping a close eye (OK, nose) on Jake.


He had some more visitors this afternoon; JD Voechting and his Mom and Dad, Bev and Gary. They brought Jake a nice gift...

That's a plant potted in a bicycle helmet. Note the skull and crossbones on the helmet.

So, starting tomorrow Denise and I have to get back to work. Denise has a very full schedule. I am hoping to play things a little by ear. I have some conference calls and what not that I can take from home, so I can be a little flexible. Fortunately, my sisters have worked out a schedule to help out with Jake for the next week. Jean is coming over tomorrow morning and staying through Tuesday. Kathy will be here on Wednesday, Jackie on Thursday and Terry on Friday. I'll be around in the morning to check them out on the medications, blenderized meals, etc. I think by next week he will probably want to start taking care of himself, but we'll see how it goes.

Going forward I think the frequency of blog updates will taper off a bit. I'll be updating the blog with news as we get it. The next major thing will be his followup appointments with the surgeon, psychologist and maybe orthopedist, sometime later this week.

Until then, thanks to everyone for all the support that we've received. I don't know how we would have handled this without it.