Hard to believe it was one year ago tonight that mom took dad to the ER after he was done with chores, and what we know now was his last time milking cows. 

Oh man if we knew then what we know now… dad would probably of went in 2 weeks sooner when he started not feeling good, and definitely not blamed moms chili that got made with expired beans for the reason of his illness 🙄 

(Yes he has not lived down blaming the chili - nor will he ever probably 😅) 

Mom and I were talking today how we feel like it has been f.o.r.e.v.e.r that we have been going through what I like to call, Intestine2022. But at the same time,  it feels just like yesterday we were racing to the hospital, praying like hell in that ICU room, trying to understand what dad’s damn sign language meant while he was on the ventilator, so many sleepless nights, and nights we were snuggled in the same hotel room or AirBNB eating take out. So many days and nights spent navigating mom around the hospital (directions in buildings are not her strong suit🤪), being dads advocate, finding new ways to keep him busy inside the hospital, being dads cheerleader, keeping the farm running and learning to run the farm books and pre-tax season without our main bookkeeper being able to talk. The months we had to do dads IV nutrition at home and avoided eating in-front of him and couldn’t let him eat. The list goes on… 

Looking back on this year there are so many things now that we laugh about and tell dad the stories of our survival outside of the hospital while he was fighting inside. Like setting off my pickup alarm in the parking garage without my keys and Nichole tried to run to ICU to get my keys and got lost in the hospital.. (so many people were staring while I was standing there with a honking vehicle.) Also when we set up “Goat Yoga” to be our password to visit dad just so everyone had to say it out loud in public when checking into the hospital, Ben was SUPER impressed with this🤣. 

With all of the surgeries, nurses, beeping monitors, ventilators, intestine juices, medicines, doctors visits, TPN (cheeseburger in a bag),  consent forms signed and chaos in the last year, I’m so very happy to report Dad is still here to eat moms chili ☺️ 

We cannot thank everyone enough for all the love and support you’ve given us this past year, many days that’s what we clung too, to keep trudging forward. 

He is doing so good!! He can eat all the things in moderation, stays busy with doing the church bulletin, sometimes helps Ben haul manure, and finds new shows and movies on Netflix or some other streaming service to get  into. He gets a little sassy sometimes, but we would expect nothing less from him & he has a pretty outspoken family to quickly put him back in his place. 

He still has a wound vac and an opening in his stomach from the last surgery in October, but it is healing amazing. The doctors are super impressed, and dropped him down from changing the wound vac every other day to two days a week! Ben takes him to town to get it changed and often sends updates of how far dad has walked that day.  His mobility is getting better and he still rolls his eyes at us when we try to push him to do therapy or walk farther than he did the day before. They are hoping it will be about 3 to 5 weeks yet with the wound vac and his stomach will be fully closed!!!

I wanted to post a comparison picture where dad was 1 year ago compared today - the progress this man has made is unbelievable and a miracle! 

Thanks again for all the love - we have the best friends and family anyone could ask for! 

Until next time 

- Larissa and the herd ❤️🐄