An open love letter

To my dear,

I have never been more thankful that you are my husband! You have not only supported me but given me the extra push to start this journey to better health. You have celebrated every pound lost.You have gotten up with the kids so that I could go work out! You have told me you are proud of me every single day! You have truly kept me going! I have been so grateful for all of those things. However, I am the very most grateful for you the week in the hospital!



My hospital stay was really rough and you were there every moment.



After surgery, when all I could have was ice chips you fed them to me spoonful by spoonful.



Each time I was asked to walk the halls, you helped me out of bed and walked each step by my side!



Each of the 9 IV starts, 6 blood draws, and the 14 shots in my thigh you held my hand each and every time, even though when anyone talks about blood you usually leave the room.



You went to Smoothie King when I had a whim for strawberry banana and just banana smoothie. Even though I only had two sips of each, you were so excited to see me drinking!



You went with me to both of my CT scans and donned a lead apron during my upper GI. That was really pretty cute!



You kept a vigil by my bedside as my blood pressure plummeted and fever began and my white blood cell count started going up. You talked to the doctor, friends and family all the while keeping wash cloths cold, spoon feeding me, and not eating more than one meal a day until I was out of the woods! I was so scared and you were so strong!



You also helped me keep the lights out or a pillow over my face as my migraine intensified and people scurried around trying to figure out what was wrong with me!Even though I was so scared about was happening, I was so comforted that you were with me every moment! At the two week check-up my surgeon praised you for being by my side the entire time. He said that most husbands just visit after work! You raise my statistics of being successful with the wonderful ways that you support me!



One of my favorite funny things that you did was let me to pretend to be asleep while the transport worker wheeled me back to my room after a test. He decided to describe in detail about the tick that was attached itself to his "nether regions" last summer. If only he had stopped there. Ohhh noooo! He continued with all of the ways that his wife and parents had treated his problem after his shower for two weeks. Then once you told him your tick story about how your parents were told to light a match and blow it out and put on the tick on your head. He responded with "Now if I had done that, that would have been a real WEENIE ROAST!" By this point I almost started making "honk, shoooo, honk, shoooo, honk" noises! If I had of been able, I would have run away! You told handled the situation and kept me from being uncomfortable at all! In a way, that is exactly what you did for an entire week! You were so focused on me, getting me better and catering to my every need! It was a horrible time but just like most other horrible times, I came out grateful for the experience of seeing just how much you love me!

Jack's teachers told him that everyone has an invisible bucket that needs to be filled. In one week, in my worst week, you made my bucket overflow! You showed your love for me in every moment! The Bible says that we are each other's help! You embodied that all week! I hope that I can be equally supportive of you and fill your bucket to overflowing one day too!



I love you!

Ash