Another quick trip to Illinois

The first weekend in December, Mom and Dad came up to Columbus on their way to Illinois to visit my brother's family and I hopped in the car and went along with them.

The main reason for the visit: to see my niece MJ perform in madrigals and to see my nephew perform in his collage's Christmas concert.

We arrived on Friday afternoon and that evening we went to see MJ perform as the wench in her high school's madrigals. She shone so brightly in this role. It was fun to see her (and the jester, who happened to be her boyfriend TJ) excel in something she loves.

The next day, my parents and I (and my sister-in-law's mom) loaded back into the car and headed up to Olivet University for Titus' Christmas concert. (He also did great!) Since he's in college now, I am not sure how often I'll get to see him. So it was fun to give him a hug and say hello, even if it was just for 10 minutes or so.

Those were the two main events, but other highlights included drawing with Abram and Mikaela, lots of Eli coffee runs (including a visit with just mom, MJ and me), watching football with Luke and going bowling with the twins and then out to Monicals (a regional pizza place I love) for supper afterwards.

It was a whirlwind of a trip but I am glad I went.

This was especially true because of the time I got to spend with MJ. The week after her visit she had surgery in Iowa city for an issue that she's had since she was a child. After her surgery, her tongue unexpectedly started to swell. The doctor had to make the quick decision to intubate her while they tried to figure it out. For almost two weeks, MJ was in a heavily sedated state in the ICU while the doctors tried to figure out what was going on. Eventually, her tongue's swelling started to go down. And I believe the doctors came to the conclusion that it was just as side effect of the surgery, which is extremely rare. What came next was a ton of PT and working with other specialist to try and regain strength. (It's crazy that your body just like forgets how to function after being sedated so long). It's been a long and stressful journey for her, but today was got the good news that she was allowed to go home. She still has a ways to go, but at least there is light at the end of the tunnel. 

It's such a relief.