Surgery in Los Angeles

Los Angeles

Jeff, his physical therapist, and I flew to Los Angeles early Wed. morning. We will be here until tomorrow morning (Saturday). Wed. morning Jeff had pre-op. The rest of the day we spent at Venice beach.... known for all its crazy people, which we saw a ton of! The weather has been beautiful. Thursday we took a bus tour to get an overall view of LA. We saw Beverly Hills, Hollywood Blvd., Rodeo Drive, Hollywood sign, Farmer's Market, Universal studios, etc. Thursday night we went to Manhattan beach for dinner. Having surgery in LA made things a little brighter this week. We really enjoyed our time together touring before his surgery. This morning we went in to the hospital at 6 a.m. and Jeff went into surgery at 7:30 a.m. He was in surgery until 9:30, and I was allowed to see him at about 10:30. The doctor replaced his UCL in his elbow. Tim, his physical therapist, was in Jeff's surgery and watched it all. This was helpful because he was able to tell us in detail all the doctor did. Tim is a great guy and we have been having fun with him too. They said it all went great. When Jeff came out of surgery he was in some pain which was hard to see. He has a hard cast on and a sling which will be on for about 10 days. Today, he has mainly slept all day. I have been keeping up with his medication schedule to make sure that he has as little pain as possible. He feels relieved that it is over. He is in great spirits and is very positive about the year of rehab ahead of us. The doc said it will be about 18 months before he gains all his strength back. Hopefully, he will be ready by next spring training to play, but that doesn't mean he will be playing at 100%. We have said multiple times how this surgery has helped us grow so much as people, in our faith, and closer together in our marriage. I am sure there are going to be plenty of times this year when Jeff will be frustrated because he wants to be out playing (if not everyday!) but we both know we are where God wants us... and that is the best place to be! We will fly back to AZ tomorrow. Jeff will start rehabbing Monday. Thank you for all your prayers and encouraging words. We are so thankful for you. We can feel your prayers! I will keep you updated on how he is recovering.

Thankful,
Nicole

For more pictures of LA and other Spring Training pictures... check out http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2032397&id=1466130025&l=8f7d92d98c