Well as always it's been a busy few weeks with so many things I would love to have blogged about (and have done so in my mind/in my sleep) but haven't managed to sit down and actually type. Of course the major event has been Tracy's back surgery which I have posted a few updates about on her FaceBook group. Apologies for those of you not on FaceBook as you wouldn't have seen them so a quick recap here is in order. I am so happy to say that her surgery went well. The fusion was completed as intended and although they didn't do the complete vertebrectomy they were able to graft some bone from another vertebrae to stabilise the crushed one. It is hard to comprehend how surgeons are able to do what they do and especially when the risks are so high if things go wrong and yet they keep their cool and get on with the job of doing it well. 6 hours of surgery so an endurance test too so hats off to the surgeon and his assistants, as well as the anaesthetist, who were all fantastic, and also waived their private fees. Amazing!

Unfortunately there have been a few post-surgical complications that have made Tracy's recovery tougher than expected. What she has gone through in the past 10 days no one would ever want to, or even imagine they could cope with. As brave and strong as Tracy is even she has had a few a tender moments during this time. She looked into my eyes the evening after her surgery and said she couldn't cope with 10 seconds more of the pain. Holding back my own tears, I looked back at her and told her that she was braver and stronger than she believed and that I knew she could and she would manage, and that every 10 seconds that passed would be another 10 seconds she would have coped with, and that the 10 seconds would turn into minutes and the minutes would turn into hours and the hours into days, and as those days passed she would feel better and better and finally she would be able to look back on those days and take strength from what she has achieved. I'll never forget the way she looked back at me... gently nodding her head while she squeezed my hands and then Sharon's. I think in that moment she knew she would somehow cope. She believed in herself (just as she should). She is truly incredible. 

Those days that followed were harder than we expected but the seconds did turn into minutes, the minutes into hours and the hours into days, and here we are, 10 days post-surgery and she has progressed to Rehab getting stronger every day. It is so hard to see her go through this but we are all SO proud of her and of all the things that could have gone wrong we are grateful for what didn't. I can see her athlete mentality kicking in now and know that this will help her greatly in her physical rehab. Once an athlete always an athlete, and she's got that part nailed, so now we just need a few of the post-surgical issues to resolve completely and she can get back to kicking butt! Bring it on!

So, what else has been going? We have been being flooded with generosity! Honestly, so many people have been getting behind Tracy and the Touched by Tracy Gala Dinner. I think I might have to convert my house into a storage unit for all of the amazing prizes and auction items we continue to receive. I can certainly tell you that if you are coming to the Gala Dinner there's going to be some fantastic items on offer as well as all of the fun and incredible entertainment. So many thank you's to update onto the Thank You page (my next job). Michaela, Alex H, Elisabeth, Natalie, Fitzy, Tim, Ivor and Lion (for beer and wine organised), Warren (more beer), my wonderful wine club, Glen and Yvette, Anthea, Kevin, Theo (more on Theo in another post) and many many more names to add. Tracy has an incredible army! Keep up the great work, Tracy feels the love and support and drawa strength from each and every one of you just as we do :-)