Day After Surgery, Meal Train, and PostHope Journals, oh my!

Hi, everyone!

Jonathan checking in here. Today was Kelly's first full day post-op. She has done really, really well all things considered! (Remember, she was literally in surgery for 13 hours yesterday).

Today's focus has been pain management and we feel the Lord has answered our prayers for pain to be manageable so far (praise God!). For most of the day Kelly has been around a 4-6 on the "pain scale" - but this has been the right balance for us: manageable pain without too much grogginess from pain meds.

A couple of times today, Kelly's been able to stand up (she even did a short walk - this is amazing to be able to do so soon after a major surgery, and the best thing she can do to support recovery). She's also regularly doing breathing exercises and moving from bed to chair - other signs of progress. I am so proud of her.

It's also been a nice day to spend time with a few family visitors - Kelly's parents and sister (Kathleen) spelled me for several hours today at the hospital. We are so grateful for supportive families who sacrifice for us in times of need! Kelly's not yet ready for an influx of additional visitors, but getting short changes of pace have been nice for both of us today.

Thanks to those who have been praying for us, and please continue to pray!

A couple of other updates - we have a Meal Train! (Thanks to our friend Kelly W. for setting this up!). For those who have been asking for ways to help us, this was probably the most helpful support we received after getting home from HIPEC surgery #1 in 2022. It is set to start up around the time we expect to get home from the hospital.

And last - some have asked for ways to read up on the "full story" of our cancer journey. We initially posted on PostHope before it went down, and were able to export all previous entries. So if interested, they can be found below.

That's all for tonight. We are tired but so thankful for the sweetness in getting to be near each other and Kelly truly is a warrior. In humble reliance on Divine grace we will walk this journey one day at a time.

-Jonathan