Great news! Thank you for updating us. Best of luck to Tony back at work.
Hooray for getting better! I had just thought about you guys the other day and I wondered if he was back at work yet. Good job on getting through those infections with everything intact. I’m still recovering from one one earlier this year.
I had a MRSA abscess in my liver after a tumor removal and a bile leak. They sent me home with a PICC line and let me do a month of IV antibiotics (daptomicin/cubicin) on my own. They thought I had C diff at one point but fortunately, I tested negative. Such a lovely test process it was, too. ()_
It kind of sucks that you’re almost as likely to get sick in the hospital as you are to get well. 
I picked up the MRSA there and they sent me home partly to keep me from catching anything else.
Glad to hear he’ll be getting out of your hair 
Thanks y’all!
Someone* had an inauspicious beginning this morning, though. Couldn’t find a uniform that fit, didn’t handle his frustration very well. And I sincerely feel bad for him - before the wreck, he had worked hard and lost 100+ pounds, was feeling so much better physically and emotionally. The effects of bed rest and quite a few rounds of steroids wiped out all of that loss, and then some. But, for months now, I’ve been unable to convince him that he would feel better if he got up and did something - even just sitting on the porch and tossing the ball with the dog, or sit at the dining room table and help me fold clothes. Anything besides just staying in bed and asking everyone to wait on him. But here we are. So, we’ll get through this together.
*Someone is picking up his own damned clothes that he tossed all over the bedroom this morning, though.
First day back at work a relative success. Someone is very, very tired and a bit sore, but he survived. Tomorrow will be a bigger adventure - full uniform, including duty belt and Kevlar vest. Then physical therapy in the afternoon. I will drug him very, very well tomorrow night!
Also, I finally managed to light a fire under Tony’s ass about our finances. I’ve spent months telling him to cut all unnecessary spending, by last month, I had sold all of my “good” jewelry except my wedding and engagement rings (not very valuable, monetarily, to begin with.) Last night, I told him that we’d probably have to sell his van/camper to catch up the bills and pay the property tax next month - he said “hell, no.” Apparently? He thought I was joking about all of that. I told him tonight that, since he wouldn’t sell the van, that he needed to decide what to sell for the bills: his ATV, the Boy’s pickup truck, or guns. Finally, finally, finally, he grasped that I’m not joking. We’re beyond broke. Tony got in touch with the president of the local Hundred Club, telling him (basically) “not trying to nag, but we really, really need an answer - yea or nay.” Happily, the answer is “yea.” The delay was from some of the decision-makers involved being out of town on vacation. I don’t know how much, and not sure when we will get help, but it’s on its way.
I didn’t even realize how accustomed I’d become to constant tension until I saw that text message. My stomach quit hurting, for the first time in probably three months. I had become so used to that ache that I only noticed when it went away. My headache eased. My neck and shoulder tension eased. I might just start feeling human again soon-ish!
I’m sitting out on the back porch right now, enjoying a cool evening and a good, cathartic cry. I’ve needed it for a while, I guess.
What ever happened to the idiot that stopped in the road?
He received a ticket at that time for obstructing traffic (I don’t think there was any jail time - a fine and three points on his license.) A few weeks after Tony’s wreck, the idiot was arrested in a nearby city for DUI and misdemeanor marijuana possession.
After that - he lost his commercial drivers license! That’s right: The guy who was unaware that he should move to the right shoulder and stop to yield for an emergency vehicle, and that he shouldn’t go out barhopping without a DD was licensed to drive semis! :eek:
ETA: I was mistaken in my earlier post when I stated he was 30. He was actually 38 at the time of the wreck.
Lacunae, I’m really glad to hear Tony’s recovered enough to return to work. And I’m glad to hear you’re feeling more relaxed now that he’s starting to do something about your finances. Resuming your old work routine has to do wonders for a person’s outlook.
How’s JO, the K-9 that was in your husband’s cruiser. Is he still boarding with the other handler? I understand that a working dog has to stay sharp and focused. Does Tony get a chance to visit the dog? Does he anticipate eventually returning to K-9 duty?
JO came home when it became obvious that it would be a long time before Tony could return to work*. Between the two of us, my teenage son and I have done what we can to keep the dog sharp and focused and accustomed to following commands, but we obviously can’t provide him with real training opportunities. Given the dog’s age and Tony’s general condition, it may not be feasible for JO to ever work as a narcotics dog again, unfortunately. But JO is such a driven dog, with so much energy, that we’re looking into retraining him as a search and rescue dog if he can’t go back to patrol - there’s a local volunteer group that works with law enforcement to find missing persons, human remains, that sort of thing. I think JO would do great with that. And I might be too pessimistic - he and Tony might be able to hit the streets together again. I really hope I’m wrong!
Whatever happens, though, JO has become much more of a pet than he was 20 months ago. He’s madly in love with the baby girl, in particular, and has even learned to moderate his exuberance to avoid knocking her down while they play. I wouldn’t have ever foreseen him becoming a “pet,” because he is so very, very hyperactive and high-strung. Not mean or aggressive, but Belgian malinois squared!
*Honestly, I think that most of the command staff - based on the scope of Tony’s injuries - pretty well thought that Tony would retire on disability. Even his doctors have been surprised in a good way that Tony wanted to and fully intended to return to work - and not a desk job. I think that’s why JO came home, because the accepted wisdom was that Tony wouldn’t come back, and everyone figured it was a waste of time to work with JO.
I’m so glad things are finally beginning to look up. And quite selfishly I was glad to read that Tony’s replacement knee came through unscathed (I got my new knee in April and have been somewhat afraid I might break it…) Good luck with the work and the money and, like Baker, I wish I was rich. Know that you may be poor in money but you are rich in Doper good wishes!
Thanks kayT! You’ll be glad to know that, as Tony’s ortho explained to both of us - your concern is very common, and what you’re concerned about is very, very uncommon. That new knee of yours is very, very durable. Tony expressed similar concerns about his Bionic Ankle, and the same - those titanium rods and screws are awfully strong.
There’s another area in which we’ve been very, very lucky: Before he even arrived at the hospital, Tony had the flight nurse on the phone with his orthopaedist - told him to bring the toolbox and pack a lunch. Dr. N is a very, very highly-regarded ortho, and has been a huge professional and personal help to both of us throughout this journey. (Of course, I’m pretty sure that Tony has personally sent all of Dr. N’s children to Ivy League colleges!) The thing that impressed me the most, however, was the hip surgery. Dr. N specializes in knees and shoulders, but as a former US Army doctor (still a major in the reserves,) who volunteers one month each year in war zones, he’s perfectly competent at hip surgery. However, he chose to send Tony to the specialty hospital where Dr. N did his fellowship, because they are the best in the business at the surgery Tony needed. This referral meant extra work for Dr. N and his staff - pushing it through for approval from the insurance company - and less money for Dr. N’s practice. But he wanted Tony to have the best. And that means an awful lot.
Wow. It sounds like Tony totally lucked out on the doctor front. And that may very well make the difference in his return to work successfully. I’m glad some part of this whole awfulness was good! I’ll be thinking of Tony for the next few weeks as he goes about his days.
They’re shepherds. Taking care of “wee ones” comes naturally to them. I hope the retraining works, both for Tony and for JO.
Don’t want to start a new thread…
After less than four days @ 4 hours per day, desk work, Tony’s back on the disabled list. Two MRIs last week, doctor’s appointment today. Looks like definitely one more shoulder surgery; probably another hip surgery on the side that didn’t get cut on last time. Nerve ablation to try to improve his back pain slated for Wednesday. This blows, in a big way.
At least the local Hundred Club finally came through today. Very very nice gift to help us financially - I’ll be able to catch up all of the bills, and pay the property tax, and all of that fun stuff. Which is good, because the county and workers comp got wires crossed, and we’ve had zero income for two weeks.
I guess that’s a good news/bad news kind of week you’re having, Lacunae. I am so, so sorry Tony’s back in the surgery game, and glad you can at least stop worrying about money for a little while. I hope the newest surgeries they are contemplating will stop some of the pain. You guys are so tough; I am in awe of all you have survived. I’ll be thinking of you all, as I’m sure the other Dopers will be, and hoping the arrival of the cash assistance is just the start of better things.
I’ve been on hiatus for a while and am just now reading this thread. Take gentle care of yourself, Lacunae Matata. You’ve been running on adrenaline for a long time now. Take all the opportunities to lean on those around you even now. Many times family and friends have gone back to their own lives and forget you’re still in the middle of a war. Thanks for bringing us the update and “keep on truckin’!”
Welcome back Ruby. It’s funny you should say that about family and friends - I’d been feeling rather abandoned lately. There’s lots of talk among certain groups about “Blue Line Family,” and brotherhood and all of that. Most of those folks seem to talk a good game, but they don’t play it very well. While Tony was in the hospital, all of those co-workers and police wives dropped by and said things like “Whatever you need…” But when my 16- and 13-year-old and I were remodeling a house almost entirely on our own, and moving? Everyone was busy. And I don’t begrudge them their lives. But I do think that one’ words should mean something, so don’t offer if you don’t mean it, right?
However, on the day that I had finally just reached the end of my rope, trying to figure out how the hell I was going to get the grass cut, with both lawn mowers broken and no money for repairs, and in danger of losing a child or a vehicle in the vegetation? Tony told me to set an extra place at the dinner table - Sarge brought his riding mower and push mower, and he and my son cut all the grass they could before dark. Wouldn’t even let me pay him for gas. He’s been an amazing friend to Tony, and to my entire family, throughout this - same guy who delivered groceries to the house while Tony was in the hospital, who let me host a little birthday party for his daughter in the spring, who filled out a scholarship recommendation for my daughter, etc. I would truly give him a kidney if he needed it.
Lighthearted aside: Guess whose uniforms are still strewn all over the bedroom? I told him that I wouldn’t pick up after his tantrum, and now we’re both living with the results! (But the dog is happy. Apparently, that brown polyester that’s so uncomfortable to wear is perfectly fine for bedding!)
Thank your husband for me for his service… Thank Jo too.
Blessings on your friend and his son for doing what needed to be done,not asking What can I do.