You ladies are all so sweet. I'm feeling a little better today. I was doing ok these last couple of months until this latest setback and hospitalization really threw me for a loop. I think it was a perfect storm of the unexpected infection/hospitalization PLUS finding out that the surgeon may not be able to fix his problem the way he'd originally thought PLUS passing the year marker for this ordeal all conspiring to make me feel really sad and frustrated.
I am the caregiver, but not in the super-demanding way I was for much of last year. He can care for himself and drive and go to work (most of the time), so I am off the hook for most of the physical aspects of caregiving. But the worry/emotional strain is still present.
We are lucky in that this isn't a terminal situation. He still has hope that they can resolve his problems...just perhaps not as ideally as we'd hoped. It's not as bad as it was...or nearly as bad as what some have to deal with...but it's still stressful.
As for how I'm coping, your kind words have helped immensely. And I do have great friends/family who are there for me to talk with. Sometimes it's just good to let it out. (You can't really complain to the sick person about how hard it is to care for them!)
It's also looking like I'll have a snow day tomorrow and won't have to teach my class (yay!). And I have a massage schedule for Thursday afternoon.
Thanks again, everyone. I hope to be in the mood to participate again soon. We actually have a family trip to New Orleans planned for 14-18 March (part of our "get on with normal life" plan for 2013), so maybe I'll need some wardrobe packing help.
