Under the Knife

Monday, June 02, 2008

The second set of x-rays showed that part of the clavicle break is healing pretty well, but a larger part is still not showing significant signs of coming together. The doctor thinks that there's still a good possibility that it could heal well on its own, but since Michael is still spending 16-20 hours on his back every day, surgery became an excellent choice. So we're set to be at the hospital on Wednesday at 1:30pm for 3:30pm surgery. Supposedly the operation will take about 2 hours and, once complete, he'll have a titanium rod and screws holding him together. He'll also be able to sit up for prolonged periods of time and will be far less grumpy.

His acetabular fracture looked good and we took home a crutch that he can now use to hobble around. It's a little awkward because of the counterintuitive nature of using it - he can only lean on it on his left side so his arms have to swing opposite of normal - but it's a lot nicer than having to get the wheelchair out for every little errand.

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We've decided to push out our kitchen 8 1/2 feet and do a complete remodel. But, since we don't currently have the cash for that, we're starting with what we're calling a "partial remodel." When we first moved in, we replaced the dual ovens with a Bosch convection oven/convection microwave combo and installed a new Bosch dishwasher. We already had a cabinet-depth fridge that we bought only a couple years ago so we naturally brought that with us. Also, we found a great floor model Jenn-Air hood for about 1/3 normal price and so we snatched that up late last year and stuck it in the garage. Because the complete remodel will require a significant amount of funds, I suggested to Michael that we look at replacing the electric range with the gas range we've always wanted so that we could really enjoy our current space. The range we've been eyeing is the Wolf 36" rangetop with four burners and a griddle (the photo below shows the model with the grill, but easy to imagine a griddle in its place). As luck would have it, a man was selling a brand new, in the box, range that he'd bought for his own kitchen remodel that he's not going to complete. He put it on Craigslist for $800 less than list price - how could we pass that up?? Tomorrow evening we drive to Cotati to pick it up. We'll have to do a minor modification to the cabinet where the electric range is housed, install the new hood and extend the gas line about 20 feet.

More motivation for Michael to heal quickly!