Time Spent & Commitments

We went to church last week without the kids because they were at my mom's house for the night. It gave us a chance to try out me crutching myself around church without having to worry about picking up the kids or having to manage them. My mother in law loaned us her manual wheelchair, so I tried that out, but my hip brace made it too difficult to use. It was too tight in there.

Our worship director spoke this week and the message hit home with me, making me realize where my time has been spent in recent months.  I realized that with all the time I'm spending on the couch right now, I had plenty of time to start a new devo on www.youversion.com. So I started the Bible in 90 days plan. I figured that it is a short enough time frame that I could actually complete it before my five-minute attention span runs out. Does anyone else run into this problem? Do you start something only to burn out halfway through?

What's the best way that you have found to combat these vicious circles? I'm on Day 3 of my new Bible plan and I still have about eight chapters left to read for the night, so off I go!

First Post-Op Post

This picture is from our last dinner before my first surgery.  We went to TGIFriday's, one of our favorite places.  I like to get the Endless Lunch which gives refills of soup, salad, bread sticks, and a drink for $6.99 at lunch (Add $2 for dinner).  It's great because Hubs and I share a drink (yes, we are THOSE people) and the kids like to share the bread sticks and my broccoli & cheese soup.  We enjoyed our last dinner out by helping the kids color and complete their activity pages, sharing each other's food, laughing, and talking.  I had to stop eating/drinking at midnight.

The picture below is Calah passed out on me after something startled her awake.  I was glad to go get her for some extra cuddle time :)

Monday night, the hospital called to tell me that my surgery time had been moved from 9:30AM to 12:30PM, so that would be three extra hours of fasting from everything but my own saliva; I was not thrilled but I decided it was okay because it gave me some extra time at home with the family in the morning.  

I had to be at the hospital at 11AM for pre-surgery prep.  Around 9:30AM on Tuesday, the hospital called me to ask if  they could reschedule my surgery to NEXT TUESDAY because the doctor had an emergency case come up.  I am not a push-over by any means, but I AM a people pleaser, so normally, I may have rescheduled.  Thankfully, I went with my first instinct and blurted out, "NO!" I couldn't believe the word had come from my mouth so fluidly, but I'm glad it did.  Everything was already setup from work to kids to meals from our gracious friends to my mental preparation.  I just wanted to get it over with, so she said, "Okay. Bye" and that was that.  I almost cried - oh, who am I kidding?? I DID cry, but just for a minute, at the thought of having to wait for a whole extra seven days!

Hubs and I headed for the hospital around 10:50.  We were in a room by 11:10 and then just waited.  And waited.  My stomach was turning flips even though I felt calm.  Thankfully, I had Hubs there with me the whole time and after a while, our friend, who also happens to be our pastor, came to visit and pray with us.  It was a great distraction.  The nurse came in to tell me the doctor was running behind, so once it was all said and done, they wheeled me to "holding" around 2:00, I believe.  

The anesthesiologist came in around 2:30 and gave me the nerve block.  To do that, they rolled me on my side and he jabbed a needle into my nerve and tapped it several times to make sure he got the right spot.  While he was doing that, the nurse was putting a sedative in my IV and within a minute, I was OUT.  

I have no memory of anything until I was in the recovery room.  The first thing I remember saying was, "What time is it?" and the nurse said, "You've asked me that four times".  No memory of the first three times whatsoever!  Needless to say, the anesthesia was effective!  For the record, it was about 5:50 when I asked her for the fourth time.  Shortly afterwards, Hubs came into recovery and we left the hospital around 8:30 but I was SO drowsy.  And nauseous.  And I had a headache.

My mom had already picked up the kids to take them for their first overnight (well, first for Calah and by extension, first for all three of them together).  Hubs helped me crutch (I'm using this as a verb now) into the front door and straight to the end of the couch.  He put me in the reclined position, stuck pillows under and around my legs, and hooked me up to the ice machine/cooler/pump.   I slept for a couple hours and then woke up for close to an hour, then fell asleep again.  Hubs made me a piece of peanut butter toast and gave me some water.  But I ate maybe half of it because my throat was just raw.   

My headache and nausea continued on through Thursday and I couldn't keep anything down except a few saltines Thursday afternoon.  I napped on and off and was excited to see the kids on Wednesday when my mom brought them back but it was a little too much movement for me because I started feeling nauseous again after about 10 minutes of them being home.  That night I tried to sleep in our bed because it felt comfortable to sit on it but I was WRONG.  My lower back and my rear end were really sore from laying in the same spot all night.  It was really hard to get out of bed Thursday morning.   So I've been sleeping on the couch since and I seem to be getting better sleep that way.  Until Thursday night,  the only time I got up was to crutch myself to the bathroom and back to the couch. Sitting was surprisingly easy because our sink is very close to the toilet. One benefit of a small bathroom, I guess.  Thursday night and Friday afternoon, I crutched around the house and picked up a little bit in the kitchen and bathroom.  I folded some laundry from my seat on the couch, and Friday night, the whole family went to the VBS finale.  It felt nice to finally get out of the house but once we got home, I knew it was time to get the ice pump back on.  

Here are a few cute shots I've gotten this week.  

Calah kissing her daddy without request. 

Blurry pictures but too cute not to show - Calah got herself under the high chair and took out a few baby wipes to clean up the floor.  She is her mother's daughter, for sure.

Jo has been in love with this Spider-man hat the past few days - he calls it his "maks" 

 Jo, at the VBS finale, sharing his sno-cone with his sister - so sweet!

Benji, the goofball, with his ladybug face paint and purple and green sno-cone

Me (and my hip brace) and Benji hanging out at the VBS finale

It has been a pretty rough start to recovery, but mainly because I'm the worst when it comes to just resting. Especially now that my headaches and nausea are gone.  I forget that I can't walk and then I try to move and OUCH - I suddenly remember - God lets us experience pain to slow us down sometimes.  So that's what I'm doing.

Next week, I have my post-op doctor appointment on Monday afternoon, and then I will probably start physical therapy after that.  So, I will write more about my experiences with it all.   Oh, and I am still praying for some digestive relief, ifyaknowwhatImean.  TMI?  Yeah, you're probably right, but I wouldn't be me if I left that part out!

Thank you to everyone for the out-pouring of love and prayers and help over the past week.  It really means more than I can ever express to you all!

Fireworks, The Beach, and More Fireworks!

I had started this post on Monday and realized I never finished it.  Last week, I had Thursday (the 4th) off but had to go to work on Friday.  I originally had scheduled Friday and Monday off but due to recent developments, I had to cancel them to use them while I'm off work for the first surgery.  Wednesday afternoon, I left work and met Hubs and the kids at the church to set up for children's ministry on Sunday.  

Calah and Hubs at the check-in desk getting ready to print all the lessons for the month.  Basically, a small tree.

Once we left, we split off for the evening. I took the boys home real quick to get some long sleeves because it was chilly that day/night, and we met "Uncle" Dave (our friend) and Rick (his twin brother) to watch fireworks downtown Joliet.  My phone took HORRIBLE photos of this but thankfully, Rick got one good shot and was gracious enough to send it to me.


My shots:

Rick's shot:

The boys really had a blast.  When they were over, "Uncle" Dave stood up and Jo looked up at him, patted the sheet, and said "Sit down".  He thought wanted the fireworks to keep going.  When I asked him if he liked the fireworks, he said "No!".  I said, "Are you sad because you wanted to see more?" "Yes - ::sad face::".  Two year olds crack me up. 

The next morning, we decided to go to the beach with "Uncle" Dave, Kristen, and a friend of hers, Kim.  It will likely be the only beach visit for us this year because of my surgery, so even though we were tired and had had a late night, I wanted to go.  So, we packed up the car with the double stroller, extra clothes, sunblock, a cooler for lunch, and a boatload of swim floats and toys and headed out to West Beach in Portage.  It's a smaller beach in the Dunes system and you can actually see the Chicago skyscrapers in the distance from there - double bonus.  When we got there, Dave said they were off in an area where there weren't any other people.  Well, it turned out to be true because they were like 1/2 mile down the beach!  I took the boys to the bathroom because I was NOT making that walk again except for when we would head home.  I told Hubs we would catch up with him and Calah, so go ahead and start "pushing" the stroller down to our spot.  By the time we got down to the sand, he hadn't gotten too far.  He stopped to call Dave to figure out just how far down they were.  He and I each took a side of the stroller in the front and carried/dragged it down the beach. I had to take a break because my back was hurting, so Dave met us halfway and helped Hubs the rest of the way.  Needless to say, we were all sweating and tired by the time we got there! 

We ate our lunches right away and then the boys wanted to get in the ice pond water to play.  Lake Michigan is NOT The Gulf - sadly.  It's so much colder but after a while, it felt pretty nice.  Everyone really enjoyed being in the water but all of the water toys kept floating away very quickly so it was a little scary and I had to remind the boys NOT to run after the toys. 

We got home around 5:00, took a quick five-person shower (I thought this was pretty hilarious in our little shower), and got dressed to go to a 4th of July cookout and then more fireworks. 

I got a little bit of sun at the beach that day...BUT my face moisturizer w/SPF did its job!

This was probably the most memorable 4th of July ever.  Once it got dark, the kids were all running around together with their glow bracelets on and they were all very enthralled with the fireworks themselves.  Thanks to all the men and women who serve this country so that our family and friends can have moments like this. 

Summer Bucket List & Surgery

I love these faces.  

Even when I come home and hear that Jo pumped out all my lotion everywhere, Calah refused to ask for “more please” at dinner so much so that she was in a standoff with Hubs and every time I looked at her, she buried her head in the high chair because she was mad, and Jo decided that getting to the potty in time is overrated.  It’s so hard to stay mad when they blink their little eyes at you and when all they want to do is pile on top of you for a wrestling & tickling party.  We have had a great summer so far and the past couple weeks have seen quite a few items get crossed off our bucket list. 

The bucket list is going to need some renovations because next week I'm going in for my first FAI (Femoral Acetabular Impingement) Surgery and will be out of commission for a few weeks completely.  On June 24th, I went to the hospital for a bilateral hip arthrogram (MRI with injected contrast).   I had to get the injection in the right hip and then lay in the MRI machine for about 30 minutes.  Then, I got the injection in the left hip and laid in the machine for another 30 minutes.  The right injection barely felt like anything but my left side actually hurt.  The doctor had a harder time getting the needle in for some reason; maybe I have more scar tissue on that side.  The left side is where I've been hit by a car twice in my life (1988 & 2005), so I guess it is possible.  The doctor put more lidocaine at the injection site and the pain went away pretty fast.  My legs felt like they were completely filled with fluid, so they felt very swollen and it was weird to walk but no difficulty or pain there.  The only problem I had with the MRI is that my circulation is horrible, so my arms were dead after a few minutes and my lower back and legs were sore for about two days from laying still for so long.

A week later, on July 1st, I followed up with my orthopaedic surgeon to read the MRI.  He confirmed that I have severe bone spurs in my hip joints as well as pre-arthritic bumps on the femoral head.  The labral cartilage appears to be damaged to some extent as well, though he couldn't tell for sure from the MRI.  The only option is surgery because these conditions will not heal on their own.  My hips get very sore every day after sitting for a while or being active for a while.  The other night, I was working on the kids' clothes AGAIN, and when I laid down to go to sleep, my hips were throbbing until I fell asleep about an hour later.  I only worked on the clothes for about 60-90 minutes.  This really confirms that I need to get the surgery done AND SOON.

I scheduled the surgery for this coming Tuesday, July 16th, and started the paperwork shuffling exercises with the doctor and my company and our short term disability company.  We started making arrangements for childcare and figuring out how the first couple weeks post-op will look.  We are joining Planet Fitness so that I can have access to a recumbent bike and other equipment that will help in my recovery.  I plan to wear lots of skirts and dresses the first few weeks because I don't really see myself being able to put anything on over my legs, especially if it's even semi-restricting.  Honestly, I think that will help me mentally a ton - to feel like I'm not just lounging around in my pj's all day, even if I AM glued to the couch for the first week.

My doctor gave me some instructions for the best recovery:

1. First week, no weight on the hip AT ALL.
2. By the end of the second week, I can (maybe) pick up the kids again.
3. Crutches for 2-4 weeks
4. P.T. after the first week - not sure how long this will take.  It may depend on how well I do my exercises at home and how much strength I can build from my gym workouts.
5. Back to work after 4-6 weeks
6. Two-month mark, back to normal life - but even better because I shouldn't have any more hip pain (on the right side anyway)

Once we pass the two-month mark, I will evaluate whether I'm ready to do the left side.  My left side doesn't hurt nearly as much as my right side, so I'm sure it will be a huge relief just having the right side done.  But I still have the same condition on the left side and it WILL NOT get better on its own, so I just need to remember that, even if I don't feel like it's that bad.

All that to say, our bucket list is going to fall short because we won't be traveling anywhere and I definitely won't be able to lay on the ground to go camping for a while.  My hope is that we can still do some of these things while I'm off work and once I'm feeling up to it.

These faces motivate me to get well quickly.








Summer Fun & Silliness

I feel like the vast majority of my posts are about our family's silliness.  But that's what we are.  Completely silly.  The boys have their own senses of humor and Calah can crack us up with her facial expressions and she is very keyed in to our reactions and they usually make her do it over and over again.  I was looking through my photos and found quite a few goofy shots from the past couple weeks.

On the way to see 'Epic' on Father's Day



Jo and Calah reaching across the aisle to hold hands
(now if we could only get Congress to do the same)

My phone creates these photo vignettes when I take several within a few seconds of each other, so they're a bit blurry but cute

A Walk in the Park


Jo can't use the pedals yet, so he went the entire 1/2 mile loop with his toes on the ground.  He wouldn't have it any other way (Note the determined look on his face)



Lunch at the park
The fam came to meet me at the park where I normally walk at lunch time.  I usually do 1-1-1/2 miles but it was hot and it took a lot longer than normal to get around the first 1/2 mile because Benji was riding his bike and we had to push the stroller, so we sat down and let the kids play at the park while I ate lunch and chatted with Hubs.



The nice thing about Tupperware is that it can double as a hat on a hot day

Skating and Arcade Games at Family Fun Zone 
Last week, after church, we went to Family Fun Zone to let the boys skate and have some pizza.  They were offering $1 skating wristbands and free pizza for all who purchased a wristband.  So, we bought four wristbands and one skate rental for a total of $7.  Plus we had a lot of tokens left from Benji's birthday party, so we got to play some games for a while, too.

Hanging out at home

 

Wildlife and the Zoo

I saw this tortoise just outside the door at work on Friday afternoon.  It was really pretty and docile.  It never moved while I was taking my unauthorized photo shoot.

Benji brought his leap pad to take some photos at the zoo but forgot about it after about the fourth animal

Benji and my cousins' kids and my cousin's friend's son sitting on the walrus statue

After we took this picture, I realized that Jo was standing behind the walrus with his "Jo face" on - he didn't want to be in the picture, so I guess he was hiding.

Baby Austin - 8 mos. old (Cousin's youngest)

Calah, Benji, and my cousin Holly looking at the fish

This is in the rowboat where we always try (unsuccessfully) to get a nice picture of the kids

This is from 2009 when Benji and Dillon were the only great grandkids (we now have 7!)

This is from 2011 after adding two more kids:

Oh, Josiah.  Life has always been rough hasn't it?

This year was a lot better - just a little darker:

We had a lot of fun at the zoo but it was a LOT of work chasing all the kids around all day.  Totally worth the memories, though.