We’re home. Now what?

After a successful surgery on Monday, August 24, we were cautiously optimistic that we might finally be turning a corner.

Naturally, Dave’s body had other ideas.

A Little Post-Surgery PTSD

On Day two after surgery, Dave started running a fever.

This gave all of us a little PTSD, considering this surgery would hopefully put an end to the seemingly endless cycle of kidney infections.

Thankfully, the doctors reassured us that Dave was still being treated for an active infection from his hospitalization before surgery and still had a lot of medication left to finish. The fever broke, his pain management was finally getting under control, and there wasn't immediate reason to panic.

So we tried not to panic.

After all the usual back-and-forth of hospital recovery, Dave was finally able to come home Thursday night, August 27.

And while I know he missed his nurses — who we also bribed with homemade kidney-themed cupcakes — he was very happy to be home.

Who wouldn't be, when they're on oxycodone?

Home Sweet Home

The weekend was pretty uneventful, which was exactly what we wanted.

Dave caught up on sleep, stayed on top of his pain medication, and watched a truly impressive amount of Netflix.

On Monday, August 31, he headed back to Northwestern to have his red rubber removed.

And all conservative condom jokes aside, this was actually a very positive first step in his recovery.

Since then, Dave has been focused on the glamorous work of rebuilding his endurance: resting, walking through the grocery store, slowly decreasing his pain medication, and keeping track of the seemingly endless list of upcoming doctor's appointments.

Because, in case anyone forgot, Dave had cancer.

Which means that, on top of his surgical team, we are now getting reminders from his oncology team that it is time for new scans.

Unclear how that is possible.

It feels like every part of this man's body has been scanned approximately 100 times over the past few months. They’re still trying to figure out the brain scans. 

The Rest of Us Are Doing Great*

*This is a lie.

My mom, Cheri, has taken on the extremely important role of Dave's personal food-order taker. And, to absolutely no one's surprise, his complaints about the food have not slowed down since he came home.

After everything he has been through, we allow it.

I’ve only cried 51 times while filling out Dave's latest batch of Leave of Absence paperwork.

So glad they make this process so simple!

While I’ve always had a potty mouth, WOWEE. Hide your children while I work my way through this total and utter bull$#&! for people whose average response time to questions is 6–8 weeks.

Because apparently recovering from major surgery, dealing with chronic kidney infections, and trying to return to work isn't complicated enough. Let's add redundant paperwork!

What's Next?

This coming Monday, September 14, Dave heads back to Northwestern to have the stents in both ureters removed.

He'll be under twilight sedation.

I will also be under twilight sedation courtesy of Beatrix Market happy hour Pinot Grigio.

And then we wait, heal, scan, recover, and keep moving forward.

Except there's one more thing we're keeping an eye on.

The Work Situation

Dave's hotel has been in contract negotiations for the past few weeks, with no agreement reached yet. That means his coworkers may be on strike in the coming weeks.

The last time his hotel went on strike was in 2018, and it was the longest hotel strike in history.

I know this because I lost my voice and all of my metal serving ware while marching around and banging on things in solidarity with Dave and his coworkers.

Because of the possibility of an impending strike, Dave has decided that his only option is to try to work this Sunday, September 13.

If he can make it at least one hour into his shift, he will secure health insurance for himself and the family for the following month.

American health insurance is a lot like hide-and-seek:

“Ready or not, here he comes.”

There is a lot at stake over the next few weeks.

Dave needs time to recover from another major surgery. He needs to continue rebuilding his strength. He needs his kidney function monitored. He has upcoming scans and appointments. And, at the same time, his team is fighting for basic working conditions and trying to protect their jobs and benefits.

American Dream, am I right?

One Year Later

It is hard to believe that we have now been navigating Dave's cancer diagnosis for more than a year.

A year.

Happy anniversary to us, I guess?

There have been an unbelievable number of doctors, nurses, scans, surgeries, hospital rooms, infections, medications, tubes, procedures, insurance headaches, and moments where we genuinely had no idea what was coming next.

But there have also been so many people who have shown up for Dave and for our family.

The texts. The calls. The meals. The gift cards. The rides. The check-ins. The ridiculous jokes. The prayers. The encouragement. The people who have simply said, “I'm here.”

We could not have gotten through this past year without our community, and we are acutely aware of how lucky we are to have so many people in our corner.

For now, Dave is home.

He's healing.

He's walking.

He's eating.

He's complaining about the food.

And he's slowly, slowly getting stronger.

We'll keep taking it one appointment, one scan, one step, and apparently one insurance form at a time.

More to come.