Glen Recovering from Shoulder Surgery; Ben and Haley Visiting San Francisco; Sarah's Book; Jacob's BYU Family

Sister Lynn Maughan, one of our mission nurses, dropped by to see how Glen was recovering from his shoulder surgery. She brought a box of cookies and some vegetables grown in their garden.

Glen really wasn't much of an invalid. I did keep him tethered to the ice machine and that kept him lying low for a few days at least.

This picture popped up on our computer screen saver and reminded me of his last surgery on the same shoulder that he had several years ago. Remember--the surgery that didn't work?!?!?

Just like last time, he lost no time in figuring out how he could work on the computer despite having just had surgery.

It was less than a week before he was back at it working with and teaching the missionaries. 

Unlike last time, Glen was feeling very chipper immediately after surgery and continues to feel this surgery has been the answer to years of prayers.

Look at that guy go!! When he went for his first physical therapy session, he could move his arm so well she asked why he was there. He had full upper extension at that first session. It has been amazingly miraculous to us!! He has been doing his exercises at home. 

Meanwhile, as we were doing surgery recovery, Ben had finished his training in California. He and Haley stopped in San Francisco for a few days before heading to their new home (our home in Utah) to begin co-habitation for a couple of months with Sarah and her four boys while Jeff is back east training for his new job.

Sarah saw the photos and noticed she was wearing the same shirt as Ben.

Yes, that's Sarah. Sarah Excell. Perhaps you've heard of her. She's a newly-published author. Her book is delightfully entertaining with weekly date ideas that are cleverly titled and written in a way to make every couple want to give them a try.

We bought a box of books so we can give them away as wedding gifts when our missionaries get married.

Sarah set the goal to have her book published by her 10th anniversary and she did it!! Way to accomplish her goal!! She takes after her father in that regard. She definitely got her love of goal setting--and goal completing--from Glen. 

She had another goal she accomplished: running in another half marathon. Yes! She has already run one and I heard her say she would never do another one. Then she got it in her head she would train for another one and run it with her friends. Check! Another goal completed!

She even won first place--in her division. The girl is a go-getter when she puts her mind to something!

Jacob and his family were having a great time chasing around to who knows where to pose for photos for something having to do with BYU. It is all unclear to me, but this part is clear--I love to see what they are doing in their part of the country.

Looks like they were building fun family memories with this excursion. Go Cougs!

Quote of the Week

Trust that God is your Father and that He has a plan for you.
--Carole M. Stephens

History is influenced by seemingly small decisions, and so are people's lives. Decisions determine destiny.
--Thomas S. Monson

Yes, you and I should count our blessings, but we should also make them count!
--Neal A. Maxwell

Glen's Shoulder Surgery, Fabulous Results

Let's start this post today with some photos of Abe's two children. They were enjoying a vacation back east visiting Klarissa's family and going to New York.

Now back to what's been going on here in Southern California.

We had a shortened Mission Leadership Council in the morning of the day before Glen's surgery.

We had a combined lunch with the missionaries who attended the morning meeting and the missionaries who attended the afternoon meeting.

No one had a key to close the partition separating the overflow area where we have our meeting and the chapel, so that was quite out of the ordinary.

Right after lunch we had a new missionary training meeting with the new missionaries and their trainers.

That night Glen was doing his last-minute computer cramming before his right arm became immobilized.

Friday morning, August 3rd, Glen reported for surgery bright and early in the morning.

They would not let me go back with him like I usually do while they do all the pre-surgery stuff. I got to go back to tell him good-bye.

I did get to watch the doctor and the anesthesiologist both make markings on his shoulder. That gave us confidence they would operate on the correct shoulder.

The surgery was quick. There was no need for a rotator cuff repair. The doctor said he put a stitch in that area and then he cleaned out the socket and shaved off some of the jagged bones in there.

I have always been called back to sit with Glen during recovery and then help him get dressed to go. This time he was fully awake, fully dressed and a little less than fully perky as I was handed the care instruction papers and then he was wheeled out of there.

We were back home around 10:30 that morning.

I got him all tucked in on the couch and then went to get his pain meds. It was his lucky day when I discovered some Necco candies which he loves. Isn't that the look of pure happiness and joy?? Okay, maybe it's more the look of being drugged up following surgery.

He was actually feeling quite good that day with no pain because of the full shoulder block which was supposed to last 24+ hours.

Our favorite flowering plant in our backyard had produced 3 huge red flowers that day. It seems to bloom for us on our most trying days, which we take as a spiritual tender mercy.

We certainly hadn't been looking forward to surgery and were praying furtively that this doctor would be able to know exactly what to do to relieve the impingement Glen has been experiencing for a long time now--and which the last shoulder surgery did not help correct.

I got a kick out of this text the assistants sent to me that afternoon.

Things were going amazingly well all except for one little problem...

When they dressed him after surgery, they didn't put any clothes on his upper body. His jacket was a fake-out that he was fully dressed.

It actually turned out to be a blessing in disguise, I think, because Glen was feeling so good and was totally out of pain (from the shoulder block) for the first time in years. He said he felt good enough to go to the baptism that evening.

HA!! I think he would have been a little underdressed!

For 2 days he continued to remain underdressed, even for home standards. While eating, he shared a bright idea with me. He said we could go eat at a restaurant by the beach and he would just blend right in.

HA once again!!

A man with a big black pillow shoulder sling, a blue ice pack wrapped all around him and tethered to an ice machine would not be my definition of how to blend in with the beach crowd.

Hurrah for the moment the huge white adhesive bandage was able to come off. The place where the adhesive had stuck to his skin was very red and itchy. That bothered him way more than the surgery spots did.

The medical people always scare you after surgery about making sure to stay ahead of the pain. We were told as soon as he started getting feeling in his fingers he should start taking the pain meds.

He took one pill after the deadening was almost worn off and took another pill at bedtime and then he was done. He was feeling less pain in his shoulder right after surgery than he had before surgery. I had him take Advil for a week to help keep the swelling down. I also kept ice in the cooler which helped with the swelling as well.

Oh happy day two days later when he took a shower and we got a shirt on him. He was much more presentable that way.

Presentable for company that is! We had two former missionaries come to visit us: Elders Parker Nokes and Skyler Higginson who were in town for a wedding.

Brooke had been very worried about her grandpa. She was texting us one morning showing us some things she had made out of clay.

She was happy to see he was doing great and sent her message of love to him.

I went off to church by myself that Sunday. I went to the 11:00 meeting at the building close by our house while Glen took a nap.

After the meeting I happened upon this couple from our ward back in North Salt Lake. It was fun to see them. Misa's parents live in Carlsbad and she had told me all about it when she learned we would be serving here.

She insisted on taking a picture so she could show Sarah when she got back home.

I walked out in the foyer and this man asked if I am Abe Thomas's mother. Turns out he lives in San Francisco. He and his wife and children were here visiting his in-laws.

As I was walking through the parking lot I heard someone call my name. Former missionary Sister Kelsey Wells was here on vacation with some members of her family and it worked out marvelously well to get to talk to her and her mother for a few minutes before heading home to see how Glen was doing.

It had been an eventful experience at church that day.

Look who felt plenty able to do his Monday missionary letters all by himself. He found a way he could maneuver his hand out of the sling so he could position his slinged arm just right to be able to work at his computer for hours and hours that day. 

There's not much that can hold this man down! He was able to finish all 160 letters by the end of the day just as he does when he is fully functioning. He is amazing!!

This surgery has been amazing!! Glen's shoulder has never felt better. We are so thankful for the successful outcome of this surgery. He's just wishing he had chosen to have surgery on it a year ago instead of getting a third cortisone injection and going to physical therapy.

We're definitely counting our blessings!!!

Quotes of the Week

It will all work out.
--Gordon B. Hinckley

It seems to me that we feel the Holy Spirit best when we are focused on serving others.
--Henry B. Eyring

Every person is different and has a different contribution go make. No one is destined to fail.
--Henry B. Eyring

Thanks be to God for the men of the priesthood and for the service they will yet render in lifting individuals and families and in establishing Zion.
--D. Todd Christoffersen

Quotes of the Week

If today you are a little bit better than you were yesterday, then that's enough. And, if tomorrow you are a little bit better than you were today, then that's enough.
--David A. Bednar

Increased faith in Christ always leads to a desire to change or repent.
--Douglas D. Holmes

The Lord never said that there would not be troubles.... Ours is a mission of faith. To my brethren and sisters everywhere, I call upon you to reaffirm your faith, to move this work forward across the world. You can make it stronger by the manner in which you live.
--Gordon B. Hinckley

Shoulder Surgery Pre-Op, Mormon Battalion, Nice Date Nights, Transfer #19, Driving Elder Jordan Home

We (I) tend to panic now anytime we see smoke. It's because of the fire evacuations we experienced in the mission last year. Thankfully this time we saw smoke, it turned out to be a car fire at a gas station and was extinguished before the whole countryside went up in smoke.

 

Glen had a pre-op appointment for his upcoming shoulder surgery.

While there, the doctor had his medical assistant get Glen's pillow shoulder sling fitted to his body.

That turned out to be a waste of energy as the sling was put on him all wonky after surgery and we had to consult a video on the internet AND the instruction booklet to figure out how to reassemble the thing and get it put on correctly.

This is always a sad day each year when we drive by the strawberry patch and see it closed for the season.  

We took another group of missionaries along with their trainers who were finishing up their first 12 weeks of training to San Diego to eat lunch at The Tequila Factory and to tour the Mormon Battalion Historic Site.

Jacob and Natalie went looking for the Cougar drop box in Iowa. It made for a nice father/daughter bonding experience.

We had a new leadership training meeting.

Former missionaries Elders Jake Ruhl and Dillin Richards stopped by the mission office for a visit.

Date night found us at Oceanside Harbor enjoying an outdoor dinner. It has been quite warm and very humid for several weeks, so it was most pleasant outside by the water that evening.

We had a second date night that week. Sister Maughan, one of our mission nurses, was celebrating her birthday (the birthday queen was wearing her little crown) by inviting a group of her friends over to their home for a delicious home-cooked meal with her husband Michael as the chef. It was fabulous!!

We had the departing missionaries over for dinner, testimony meeting and to spend the night. Our assistants, Elder Burbank and Elder Lundquist, were our kitchen helpers.

The Radfords and the Van Aarles wanted to join us this time. They, like us, get very attached to the missionaries and it is hard for them to say good-bye to groups of them every 6 weeks.

Back row: Elder Eddins, Elder Figgins, Elder La Rochelle, Elder Pond, 

Elder Castillo, Elder Jordan, Elder Van Aarle, Elder Radford.

Front row: Hermana Wilhelmsen, Hermana Osburn, Sister Winegar, 

Sister Overson, Sister Van Aarle, Sister Radford

For the first time, Glen got up super early to fix breakfast for a regular group of departing missionaries. It is because he promised Elder Eddins a French toast breakfast before he left the mission and he had to stay true to his word. 

 Not only did Elder Eddins enjoy the special breakfast, but the other missionaries did as well.

Off we went to attend a session at the temple and get photos taken.

Then off to the airport to drop the missionaries off. This time was a very staggered departure. We hurried from the temple right after the session to take Elder Castillo to catch his flight.

The rest of the group showed up a little while later and they all left except two of them.

We took Elder Jordan and Elder La Rochelle with us to eat at Tom Ham's Lighthouse because Elder La Rochelle's flight was much later in the afternoon and Elder Jordan wasn't leaving the mission until the following day.

Then it was back to the airport to drop off Elder La Rochelle. He was one of the missionaries who came from Nicaragua and was only here a transfer and a half, but he sure made a difference while he was here. We appreciated his dedication to make the best of the situation.

We had several hours to wait in San Diego until the incoming missionaries began to arrive, so we went to a nearby library to wait.

The bobsled was still in the parking lot and with the four of them, we just couldn't resist taking a photo since they made up a full bobsled team.

These three came to our home that night to spend another night with us so we could take Elder Jordan home the next morning.

One thing I am going to miss about Elder Jordan is his ready smile as he gets such a kick out of so many things in life. I love his laugh. He told me when he first got to the mission, he had a goal "to make Sister Thomas laugh." Well laugh I did as we looked at these photos together.

Soon enough it was time to go back to the airport to pick up the three missionaries coming in from the Mexico MTC. Then the others arrived and we headed for the vehicles to load the luggage and drive in the rush hour traffic to the mission office.

 Sister Radford had the traditional California burrito ready and waiting for us upon our arrival.

Glen interviewed each missionary, I talked to them about medical stuff, the office couples did their instructing with them and then it was time for them to meet their trainers. It was a late night before we all got out of there and made our way back home.

There are always smiles from everyone when Glen is cooking French toast--even if it is two days in a row. We got the missionaries fed and then the assistants bid Elder Jordan farewell.

We had gotten permission to drive Elder Jordan home. He lives in Apple Valley which is only 2 hours north of our mission. The plan was to meet at a church building so his stake president could release him. The stake president had to change the time to later in the afternoon. His mother and brother were there to greet him.

We went to his house where we met his grandparents.

We all went to lunch together and then it was time to say good-bye.

It is much easier to tell the missionaries good-bye in a big group at the airport. They are busy with their luggage, they are nervous about missing their flights, they are eager to get going. This was a different and difficult experience. Many tears were shed.

Much gratitude was felt for the special opportunity we had to spend a little more time with this fine young man.