Mood Swings

My son, Tommy, underwent an operation last week to remove part of his femur and knee, and replace them with artificial versions of the same. Thankfully, such things are possible today.

It was a day of crazy mood swings for me.

First, it was a time of good thoughts ... we had a great doctor, everything was on time, Tommy was 100% ready to get this done, and the operation was a total success! With no other cancer in sight, Tommy has now rid himself of this nuisance, and can move forward.

Here is a shot of his leg post-surgery. The work performed is hidden by yards and yards of ace bandages:

But days at the hospital (below) can be long, and negative thoughts crept in ...

Why did this need to happen at all? Why did we need to come here and have body parts removed which were healthy a year ago? Why this, and why that. If you've ever heard a child who annoyingly moans "but whyyyy?" time after time, you have a good mental picture of my thought process.

Thankfully, many remembrances helped re-establish some sanity ...

The truth is we're very fortunate. No one is born perfect, and no one escapes problems in our limited number of days. I'm just thankful that this issue was caught as early as it was. I'm thankful Tommy had the opportunity to complete his marathon in March and achieve the milestone he desired. I'm thankful he's so strong and ready to face this. But these aren't the biggest blessings for us ...

Our family and friends have been super supportive, and are a source of strength (see Britney visiting above). Tommy's faith is strong and the habits he's developed to see the positive in situations are helping him now.

Jena has been amazing, and it's hard to think of "Tommy" any longer; it's "TommyandJena". I'm thankful God gave him a mate who sees the same potential in him we as parents saw.

One more thing to be thankful for: the future.