Unconditional Love

This stomach issues had the doctors stumped. As they are leaning toward doing surgery and risking his life again, I made my voice heard and that Joe really needed to get up and moving to wake things up. The first time he had stomach surgery he was encouraged to walk to make sure everything stayed working. Well it was going on a month and he hadn’t walked or even gotten out of bed for that matter. Joe needed to walk to make his stomach respond. We needed the doctors to know that we were a TEAM and TEAM WORK was what will make him better.

A few days later we were finally out of ICU and put in the step down ICU. We were one step closer to finally getting out of the hospital. Now it was up to Joe to get it in his head that he had to walk, he had to eat and he needed to just keep thinking he was going to be fine. I was in his corner, I was fully committed to helping him stay focused and getting him back home where he belonged. Where we belonged.

Physical therapy came in and the girls worked with Joe every other day. He still hadn’t walked yet. It was so frustrating trying to get them to make him walk. I understand he just had a pump put on his heart, but he is never going to get out of this hospital if he doesn’t get up. He was getting out of bed and into the chair, but not walking. He was scared and weak, he needed to get out of his own head and I had to make him believe that he could do it. At this point I was ready to promise him anything if he would just walk. Of course he asked for a dog and I said if he made it to the bathroom and back he could get one. We will see.

After two weeks of what they kept calling “Baby Steps”, we finally got a male therapist that assured Joe he was not going to let him fall and he was going to get him to walk today. As he slipped the belt around Joe’s waist, I could see the fear in his eyes, he was so unsure, he was scared but he was ready. He was up on his feet and Joe set a goal to just walk 10 ft. to the bathroom, as he took the steps tears ran down my face. He was walking, he was doing it and I was so proud of him at the moment. As I video taped him walking, my heart was so full of joy and he turned to the hallway and walked all the way to the nurses station. He had been in a bed for over 30 days and he finally was up and out of a room that was closing in on him. He did it! He walked! Guess I have to come through with my promise of a dog. Oh boy, what did I just do? I gave my husband a reason to get moving that’s what I did, TEAM WORK makes the DREAM WORK (as Mason would say). As he sat down in the chair he cried tears of joy, he had accomplished something he thought he would never be able to do. I truly love this man with all of me and it could only get better from here.