It had been a week since Mitch's surgery so he was switched from the massive cast to a smaller brace. He still couldn't straighten his arm, but he was able to shower and get out of the house, so we set for the Freo markets. The weekend Freo markets are amazing. You can barely hear yourself speak over the music being played by young local talents looking for spare coins to put towards school or trips. You walk in one side to sweet aromas of caramel corn and cotton candy (called "Fairy Floss" by Aussies), and as you make your way through the shops to the other end, you catch the smells of many different cultures from India, China, South Africa, Vietnam, and so on. The mini shops consist of local businesses and artists looking to sell their work, whether it be clothes, soaps, coasters, or jewelry. You are constantly bumping shoulders with people of all ages.

In the afternoon, we met up with Mitch's parents and their friends for some drinks and chit chat. We enjoyed quite a few Furphys (an Australia beer, though a "furphy" means a tall tale), and talked about baseball and life in the States.

The rest of the evening was pretty relaxing and typical. Showered, grabbed some snacks, crawled into bed and put on a movie. It wasn't long before Mitch was twitching and mumbling in his sleep. I was pretty tired myself, but some light stomach cramps were keeping me awake.

Another hour passed and I was getting more and more uncomfortable. I got up and walked to the kitchen to grab a drink of water. Instantly, I started seeing stars and could barely stand. Within seconds it felt like I was standing in a sauna, beads of sweat forming around my face. I dropped to the ground and opened the freezer. And then I felt a pain in my lower back so intense I wanted to scream. I was afraid of waking everyone up as it was already 1 AM, and after a long week of Mitch not getting any sleep because of his own pain and ridiculous cast, I was not going to wake him under any circumstances. So I grabbed a pillow and cried into it.

I started to get sick and rushed to the bathroom where I laid on the floor for what seemed like hours, tears and sweat streaming down my face. The pain in my back and side only kept getting worse, and I wasn't sure how much longer I was going to last laying there squeezing the pillow. I crawled my way to the hallway but I couldn't get myself to stand up. I had felt this pain before when I was 14 and passed my first kidney stone. Because I had a feeling that's what it was, I kept telling myself I could get through it.

Around 4 AM I woke and found myself still in the hallway. I had fallen asleep in a praying position, knees bent and forehead pressed to the wooden floors, hugging the pillow to my chest. I decided to try and move somewhere else and managed to crawl about 10 feet to the guest bedroom. I worked my way into the bed as best I could. The exhaustion was taking over the pain. My body was done.

I felt tapping on my shoulder and suddenly the sunlight was making its way through my eyelids. Mitch was standing over the bed with a face of total confusion. "Why are you in here," he asked me. I gave him a very subtle explanation, "I wasn't feeling good last night." He kept asking why I didn't just wake him and what exactly was wrong. I just barely sat up and started to swing my legs over when it felt like I just took a sledgehammer to my side. I collapsed back into the bed and let out a deep scream. "I need to go to the hospital."

We first went to a general practitioner in hopes of getting a referral or prescription. He sent me home with some pain meds and nausea medication, and I waited it out. By midday, I hadn't been able to keep anything down, I was running a horrible fever, and I was still kicking and screaming in pain. So we all packed up the car and rushed to the E.R.

This moment was scary, and probably more for Mitch than myself. I could barely speak, let alone breathe, which meant Mitch had to do all the talking. He was explaining what was going on, giving nurses all my identification information, searching through my purse for my health cards, insurance cards, passport, etc. He was having to text his parents and my family constant updates because only one person was allowed in the room with me. Nurses were pumping me with all kinds of medication but the pain just wouldn't subside. Eventually, I was taken back for scans. And then, within 10 minutes, a doctor came in and told me I was going in for an emergency surgery on my kidney.

Here I was, across the world, miles and miles away from my family for the first time, and I was being wheeled back to my first surgery, ever.

Until next time,
Tay

Taylor Thompson & Mitch Neunborn

We had such an incredible weekend camping on the farm, but the day we had dreaded was finally here. It was time for Tommy John number 2.

Both our nerves were all over the place the moment we woke up. Mitch needed to be checked in at the hospital by noon, then we would wait. I laid with him in the hospital bed and put on a movie to keep distracted while nurses were in and out. I continuously reassured Mitch that everything would be okay, but this surgery was a tough one for him.

In 2016, Mitch found out he had injured his UCL, requiring reconstructive surgery if he if he wanted to play baseball again. He was only in his first year of college, and had so much to look forward to. This setback was devastating. But in 2017, he went under the knife in hopes of returning to baseball stronger in 12 month’s time.

Tommy John surgery got its name in 1974 when Major League pitcher, Thomas John Jr., injured his arm during a great season with the Dodgers. His surgeon took a look inside, realized the UCL wasn't repairable, and got a bit creative! He took a ligament from the pitcher's wrist and used it as a new UCL, which saved Tommy's baseball career. Today, TJ has between an 82%-90% success rate.

2018 rolled around and Mitch was just a few months shy of finishing the agonizing 1 year of rehab. He had been working hard to regain strength in his arm so he could go back to college. And then the unfortunate happened. His MRI came back with an image that left everyone baffled. The ligament was completely gone. His surgery had failed in a bizarre and unexpected way. It hadn’t just snapped or been reinjured, but his body ate the graft entirely. Nothing was left but a scar.

So here we were, laying in a hospital bed, watching Transformers and fighting back tears. Mitch would undergo a second surgery in hopes that this one would work. He'd spend another few months in a cast along with another year of rehab. Another year out of baseball.

The next morning, I got up at sunrise and made sure to get to the hospital the moment guests were allowed in. My heart hurt as soon as I walked through the door. Mitch was in horrendous pain. He was uncomfortable. He was in a massive cast, and his leg was wrapped up where they removed the ligament. Every now and then all the medications would kick in and he’d slowly fall asleep, but when his eyes weren’t shut, he was screaming in pain. I felt so helpless. All I could do was hold his hand and reassure him he’d get through this.

Mitch spent 2 nights in the hospital, and I was so ready to have him back home. The first week he had to be in this big, bulky brace that went from nearly his shoulder to his hand. It was MASSIVE and could have very easily knocked me out had he accidentally bonked me in the head. The second week, he’d transfer to a brace with different notches. Each notch gave him more and more range of motion, but he could only change the brace every couple of weeks. He’d start at 90 degrees, and work his way up to a somewhat straight arm again after a few months. He was still in pain and struggling at night to sleep comfortably, as you could imagine. He couldn’t drive, shower, and at times I even had to help feed him. He was exhausted and getting frustrated with the lack of freedom he now had.

And then one night, just a week after his surgery, something none of us were prepared for happened…

Until next time,
Tay

Taylor Thompson & Mitch Neunborn

I was terrified. This trip would be quite a few firsts for me. First flight since I was 12 (which was only 2 hours), first international flight, first time on a double-decker airplane, first time in another country, first time officially meeting Mitch's family, and many other firsts that I didn't quite know of yet.

Here I was, headed all the way across the world. We had to catch 3 different flights, and after a dreadful 23 hours in the air, we touched down in Perth, Australia. I was so exhausted from all the flying that most of the nerves I stepped onto the plane with had died down. The first night was nice and laid back. Mitch's family and friends came over for a braai (Afrikaans for "barbeque") and I got to know quite a few people from the start.
The first week was spent sight-seeing, then the weekend called for beach camping! This was my first time camping right in the sand with the ocean next to us. Mitch and I enjoyed the sunset before starting a fire, which took quite a few tries. The views were incredible from the top of the dunes. In the morning, I walked down and washed my hair right there in the water like a real mermaid! It was a great way to kick off the trip!

The next week was my first visit to one of my now favorite little beach towns, Fremantle. Freo is a major port city in Western Australia that was settled in 1829. It's like a mix of Santa Monica and New Orleans. Gorgeous beaches, great food and shopping, and the buildings are historic.

But the highlight of the week was Caversham Wildlife Park - A MUST for every tourist. It's an adorable little zoo with all kinds of Aussie birds and reptiles. They even have penguins and some Quokkas (which are only found on Rottnest Island). But the best part, FREE ROAMING ROOS! I got to feed the adorable little joeys and even pet a koala and wombat. I learned a few things that day: 1. I'm afraid of kangaroos 2. Albino roos exist 3. Wombats are super fat and squishy 4. Koalas are adorbale but stinky.

Weekend #2 was one to remember.
We headed out to go camping on a huge bit of property that belongs to family friends of Mitchell's. This would be his last bit of excitement for a while before undergoing a second Tommy John surgery, so we made the most of it. The plan was for us to go set up camp, wait for his good friend, Alex, to get off work later in the evening and make the drive, and the next day family would join. This evening was pretty interesting! First, I fell off a log into a muddy stream, and then Mitch tried to lift me over a barbed wire fence and I ended up getting caught and fell again. The scrapes and cuts couldn't beat our laughter, though! I also caught a quick little lizard who's name I can't remember (oops).

The sun had gone down and it was getting pretty late when a random car pulled up and someone got out and started walking towards us. It was too dark to make out who it was, so we were a bit on edge. As the person walked closer, the car pulled out and left. It was Alex! He was VERY frazzled. He had taken the wrong turn, got lost in the dark and his car got stuck on a ledge. He walked to the nearest porch light he could see (remember we are in the middle of nowhere) and knocked on the door hoping to find a nice, understanding person. Lucky for him, a very nice person it was, and they even knew exactly which farm he was trying to get to! Mitch and I couldn't help but break out in laughter!

Over the next few days, we caught crayfish (Aussie crawdads), shot some guns, ate some amazing food, and went for lots of hikes. I got to see my first echidna. Echidnas are like sweet little porcupines, or "spiky anteaters". Along with the platypus, they are the only living mammals to lay eggs.


It was also wildflower season which is absolutely beautiful in Western Australia. The flowers covered the hills for miles and miles (or kilometers) and stood almost as tall as me.

One night we set out to go rabbit hunting. I was spotlighting from the passenger seat while Alex and Mitch sat on the bonnet (hood) and Mitch's dad drove. We had one rabbit so far when suddenly the whole vehicle slammed to a halt. Mitch and Alex went flying! We were stuck in some deep, deep mud. The boys were digging and digging for what seemed like hours! They were completely covered in thick, clay-like mud.

The car wasn't budging, and they eventually had to find their way back to camp in the dark and get Mitch's car, in hopes of pulling us out! It was a mess, but makes for a great story!

On our last day, we went to feed some goats and I fell in love with a sweet, few day old kid. He was so precious I wanted to bring him home.

After an interesting yet exciting weekend of camping, we set out for a long drive home.

Until next time,
Tay

Taylor Thompson & Mitch Neunborn