Shawn is home!

His episode Friday evening with the cough was awful that night, but turned out that Saturday morning, he was able to sit again finally! So, we don't know if it released pressure from a nerve or what, but he was sitting up and walking a little bit better. It was unfortunate that this happened on a holiday weekend. There were no doctors there to see him and they kept putting him off on physical therapy. After the doctor finally read the MRI report, they decided that he is in surgery stage, but they prefer for him to try physical therapy first. So they gave him the option of sitting in the hospital and waiting for 2 days for the physical therapist to come back in, or he could go home and try outpatient physical therapy. He chose to go home, and boy was he excited! He was ready to go within like 5 minutes! His pharmacy bill was over $500, because they continued him on everything he was on in the hospital. He is taking 5 meds at home, and is not supposed to lift more than a 1/4 gallon of milk. He is doing o.k. for now, but we are anxious to get his physical therapy started (Monday). I am afraid that the only thing holding him together is the medicine. His chiropractor is wanting him to get a second opinion from a neurosurgeon because he feels that Shawn needs surgery right away. We don't have money for all these doctor visits!!!!
We are glad he is home, but each day he is home, he is out and about more and more and it is getting hard to confine him and make him do what he needs to do to get better! Diesel has had a hard time trusting us that daddy is home, and that he will not be in the hospital in the morning. He keeps telling us that he wants to go to the hospital with Daddy.
The blessing through all of this: Shawn has cut back tremendously on smoking. He (obviously) could not smoke for the 4 days in the hospital, and he has had only a few each day since. This is great news. Period. Also great because a lot of surgeons will not operate on smokers. They also told him that he will heal twice as fast if he is a non-smoker. We'll see!

Update on Shawn's condition

It is Sunday, Shawn has been in the hospital since Thursday. He came in with a herniated disk, unable to walk, sit, or stand. All he could do is lay. His shoulders and hips were not in line if he would try to stand up. His left shoulder was actually above his right hip, that is how crooked his back was. The chiropractor had sent him to the ER at Kettering Medical Center, and that is where he still is. He is a little better right now, but the doctors still have not decided whether he will have to have surgery or not. They think he will, but they are going to try a conservative approach first, which consists of a ton of inflammatory and pain meds, plus physical therapy. Right now he is on a whole list of meds, and I think that is what is keeping him together. As of this morning, they are going to attempt to wean him off of the steroids that they have been giving him in here. They will be starting physical therapy, but they will be keeping a close eye on him because they know he is in surgery stage. His MRI showed that the disc has actually torn, but it may have ruptured after he had an awful experience on Friday evening. He had coughed, and it shot terrible stabbing pains through his leg, causing his foot to go numb, and he was basically paralized to one position for over an hour from the pain. That is the update for now.....He has my laptop here in the hospital, so he will be checking his mail and Myspace.....leave him love!

Yes, it's a girl!

Here is what we have sent out to family and friends...