12/03/2025
Well, it's been a while since I last posted. Quite a lot has happened.
January of 2024 my father died, 6 days later we buried him.
On the same day, about 4 hours later, 3 of my kids which included J were in a MVA. J, three months out from his 3rd open heart surgery where a mechanical valve replaced his aortic valve, sustained loss of consciousness, a likely seizure, a concussion that was later deemed a diffuse axonal brain injury, a huge hematoma in his left thigh, increased chronic back pain, 2 lacerations to his spleen and lacerations to his forehead that turned into hematomas.
I took 2 months taking care of him after this and then 2 months trying to get my father's house in order a state away. Everything was nonstop.
When I finally got home I immediately got a bad case of strep throat that took twice as long to heal up as it should have.
In the meantime, somehow the strep infection triggered my chronic back pain that had been under control, to go wildly out of control, which took months to get back under control.
But just to make matters worse, as I would come out of one thing another thing would start.
Example, as the back pain was starting to come under control my right leg, that had been giving me problems for a few years after an injury, kicked up pretty bad. (Nerve compression, numbness that would take over the thigh and go all the way down to my foot if I didn't get off my feet.) It had been happening but NOT this bad or often or severely.
And when we finally figured out that I was dealing with Iliotibial Band syndrome demanding I sit when it starts hurting (RICE) and Piriformis syndrome which demands I get up and move...it put me between a rock and a hard place ...then something else happened.
I woke one morning to excruciating pain in the back of my left knee and swelling in the front which got worse. Then I found out I had a lateral meniscal tear.
While dealing with that, J's doctors realized that the car accident (Jan 2024) had pushed the mechanical valve in his aortic backwards into his pulmonary artery causing 80% blockage.
So last week he underwent a pulmonary artery angioplasty putting a stent in just before the artery branches to the lungs.
All went well till 3 days after when he suddenly began to bleed from an arterial incision in his arm causing extreme pain and swelling. This put him back in the hospital and caused his transfer to a new hospital twice in a 24 hour period as different problems arose and resolved so that a new specialist was needed. He's now home recovering with a hematoma in his arm and a lot of bruising.
Suffice it to say I haven't been in charge of the animals since June of 2023 when I started taking care of my father 6 months before he died.
An older son that works with my husband, and my husband have stepped forward and taken care of them. I had to relinquish control and let them do as they saw fit.
I know this isn't a post about animals and yet it is. No matter the size of your farm, full-fledged or just a small backyard farm, crap happens. When it does, it can upset everything. I made the decision to not sell the animals and ask my reluctant family to please keep my animals alive till I can get back to them. I'm thankful they did. And though they won't admit it, they are enjoying it too.
Just something to think about. What are you going to do when the unexpected happens? Do you have plans? Backups?
Think about it and talk to your family.
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