Where do I begin....

Brandon's surgery went well. We were at the hospital for 12 hours. It took him a little longer to come out of the anesthesia (in case you didn't know, he had his cartilage & ligaments repaired. When he fractured his ankle in March, it didn't heal properly). He was in A LOT of pain that night. He slept downstairs on Mike's hospital bed and I was in with Mike. I felt horrible when Brandon was "knocking" on the wall for assistance for 1/2 hour and I didn't hear him. His pain has been terrible and we are hoping that it gets better every day. He will be on crutches for 4-6 weeks and totally non-weight bearing. It will definitely be a challenge. The night of the surgery, I was running back and forth between Mike and Brandon.
Mike seems to be doing better, but he has still been coughing a lot during the night.
Courtney came home for Thanksgiving. I love having her here, but I think Brandon misses his one on one time with me. Beside being uncomfortable from the surgery, he now has to share his time with Courtney.
I also found out that we won't have an aide on Sundays anymore. Apparently Medicaid will not allow aides to work for more than 60 hours a week. Mike's aide worked 10 hours a day/7 days a week, so she has to give up one of those days. She chose Sunday so she could attend Church. Unfortnately the agency cannot find ANY aides to work on Sundays. It amazes me that in this economy, people won't jump at a chance to work. But it is what it is and I will lose one of the 2 days that I had to try to relax and get things done. I now have only one day of the week to get my shopping done and everything else taken care of...unless of course by some miracle, an aide is found.
A bit of good news - NY Senator Gillebrand is trying to get a bill passed that would give more money for programs for Alzheimer's patients and help for caregivers. The story in Newsday brought to light the reality of this disease and she was made aware of issues that needed attention. We have inspired change. I couldn't ask for anything more.
Happy Thanksgiving to Everyone.