Two Years

Yesterday was the two year anniversary of the day Archie has his brain aneurym.  Last month, in August we hit the one year anniversary of Archie's last visit to the hospital and last surgery.  So there are a lot of anniversaries to celebrate in the Stewart household lately.

Yesterday I sent Archie a text that "I am thankful you are my husband and my best friend on the anniversary of his aneurysm".  Archie is definitely my miracle from God.  The fact that he is alive is amazing and such a blessing.  I always say that God definitely had a plan-the aneuryms happened when it did and we did not have any animals or kids so that our lives could be focused on his recovery.  The saying is that God won't give you anything you cannot handle.  Well that was the true test during that 2011 year, below are the challenges Archie overcame:
   - Brain aneurysm on 9/5/11

   - The coiling procedure that didn’t work

   - Craniotomy

   - Severe vasospasms that lasted weeks- they even caused him to lose control over part of his body   

      like a stroke – weakness in his face, hands, legs, etc.

   - External shunt

   - Internal shunt

   - A trip to the hospital October where infections were found on the shunt so it was removed

   - Another external shunt

   - A couple more weeks in the hospital while we got the infection cleared up

   - Another internal shunt

   - A trip to the hospital in June with an infection of some sort but no answers

   - A trip to the hospital in July because of a staph infection so they pulled the internal shunt again     

     but this time he had to leave a catheter in his head because it had grown attached to scarred tissue

     and to remove it would cause bleeding

   - An external shunt that was later removed because he was processing the fluid correctly and there

     was not a need for the shunt

   - A trip to the hospital in August because the catheter has staph on it so Archie had another

     craniotomy to remove the catheter micro surgically

 

It is humbling and a little crazy to think about everything we went through.  I think about the "dark times" and am so thankful that Archie is alive and the same man that I met 10 years ago.   Our parents, my sisters and friends were amazing through it being there to support Archie and I through it.  

I did want to acknowledge the day.  I know it is another anniversary that we will live with for the rest of our lives.  Archie is an fantastic man who survived through so much.  Happy Anniversary Archie!