Tuesday, May 31, 2011

Gavin Progress Report, Late May

Greetings, everyone.

In late April the initial surgery on Gavin's spine corrected a stenosis and removed some fragments of a broken disk. That surgery revealed that the dura (the membrane enclosing the spinal cord) was badly damaged. The damage was duly repaired in a procedure that essentially ended up lasting three (3) hours. He seemed to be recovering from it all right--but now the broken disk protruded on the other side of the spinal column so his left leg became paralyzed.
After another MRI and an emergency operation on May 18, the left side was corrected. This second procedure went very well, taking only about 20 minutes, in contrast with the 3-hour first one.
He spent close to two weeks in a rehab hospital, where they made sure everything could be exercised. The pain varies now between horrendous and excruciating, so he is on heavy medication and not necessarily with it all the time. We are discouraging visits and calls from anyone except close family members. The prognosis is that in a couple of months the pain will diminish and he will gradually regain full mobility.

This means that we have had to cancel all our summer traveling and teaching commitments.We will sadly miss seeing you troops.

Yvonne has had to learn all those logistical support functions from a cold start. The School of Wicca is necessarily on hold. We hope we'll be able to do some work, but we can't promise very much.
Your healing energy is very welcome, of course. Maybe next year everything will get back on schedule again and we'll see your happy smiling faces.

That's all for now. We appreciate e-mails; but don't expect replies.

Occasional updates will appear on this site as matters progress.

Blessed be all.



Yvonne writes:

There are those who travel to Lourdes seeking a miracle. There are those who travel to Macchu Picchu expecting same; to Lhasa; to Fujiyama; to Beaupré; to Loreto ... pick your favorite spot. We Frosts experienced our miracle in Princeton, West Virginia, at the hands of Gavin's neurosurgeon, the entire staff of Princeton Community Hospital, and the people at HealthSouth (the rehab center). If we can get their consent, we will reveal their names to people who inquire via this blog site.

I cannot praise highly enough every blessed one of the individuals who touched our lives with their skills, their patience, their compassion. Who would prefer a big city to what we've known here?

Wednesday, May 11, 2011

Lack-of-Progress Report

Yesterday, May 9, Gavin had a discussion with his neurosurgeon. The doctor handed down a decree that we Frosts had both dreaded but had been unwilling to face: Doctor G. wanted Gavin grounded: a minimum of walking, a minimum of traveling in a car, and a minimum of meeting people. Gavin had been counting on having such restrictions lifted.
Troops, this means for starters that we will not be able to attend the Blue Ridge Beltane Festival. We're heartbroken because we had been immensely looking forward to the event. We don't know what the future holds. (Maybe that's a good thing, owing to the merciful nature of the Guides. If we knew ... ) We still hope we'll be going to Michigan Pagan Fest outside Detroit, scheduled for the end of this month, as well as to Sirius Rising and SummerFest in New York State, though we have no written guarantee. Either way, we'll keep this site updated as we learn firm information.
Many of you have offered healing energy, and we accept such energy gratefully. A couple of people have been surprised when Gavin said, "Don't send energy for pain relief; stay with the healing energy." Why his declining? Pain indicates that there is a problem; relief is just a band-aid temporarily covering up the signals of a Situation and encouraging the sufferer to do rash behaviors. So Gavin prefers to stay with the pain. When it goes away, then he can feel confident that everything has been healed.
We're heeding Doctor G.'s skilled, trained counsel, and heeding it gratefully. What do we get in these capers? One chance. That's it. No second-guessing, no rehearsals, no winding Time backward. We'd be stupid and obstinate beyond the English language to express if we disregarded skilled advice, put our heads down, and set out to prove something. Instead we'll leave that to the people who suffer from testosterone poisoning.
That's all for today. Again, thanks much for your kind words and for the energies you're sending to us.