Hanging in There

Hey all, thanks so much for the nice comments. I haven't been able to check all of my email yet. I'm on bed rest and haven't been on my computer. I'm using Brandy's laptop. I'm tired as all get-out and doped up, but it feels good to be online.

Quite a story to tell. Amazing how I can see God's hand at work in this. I still don't understand what His goal is in having me laid up for so long, but can surely tell He's here with me.

Went to a city about 50 miles away to a center called CNOS Friday morning. I was told I was scheduled for surgery by the local ER doctor the night before, but they had to review my x-rays first, etc.

Filled out the paperwork, and met with a nurse practitioner at CNOS. She said that yes, I needed surgery, and she was going to try her best to schedule it, but with the holiday weekend they were pretty busy.

She came back--no luck. I talked with her and she tried to talk with the drs again--no luck. The best she could do is to set me up for a consultation Tuesday and surgery Wednesday.

NO WAY!! I was in a ton of pain. My bone wasn't even lined up with itself. My ankle was out of wack because some ligaments were torn. And they wanted me to go home and not have surgery until WEDNESDAY?!? Like 5 days?? With 7 kids at home?

Well, I didn't get mad at her (she was quite nice and apologetic) but I did tell her that we would have to try somewhere else. She did set the appointment up, but sent the xrays back with us saying she would just tell them that we'd bring them back on Tuesday for the consult. When in reality I wanted them for another hospital/doctor.

We left. Praise the Lord Brandy was able to get a hold of the ER doctor from the night before. He was NOT impressed. He said to head towards another hospital in that city, he was going to try to pull some strings. And he did! I need to send that guy a thank you!

Let's just say we went in the back door. We went to that hospital's ER. We waited in an ER room for about 2 hours, but then they got us into a real hospital room, set up for surgery. And get this...with a CNOS surgeon that we had been told was booked! A good one, too, I was told. God was with us. There was just no way I could have/should have waited that long.

Once up there you could tell they were sneaking me in between other surgeries cuz the nurses were told to hurry. They had a heck of a time with my iv. Apparently I have tough skin (too much sun as a child?) and veins that roll and then burst. Finally the 4th spot was the charm, and a smaller gauge needle. I have the bruises to prove that it was tough!

It's kinda a scary thing going into surgery. I've had surgeries before, but it's been a while. I now understand even more why my kids were scared when they had to go in.

I'm in this really cold room, they put an oxygen mask on me that I swear wasn't quite working yet (breathe what air?!? there isn't any in here?!) and then put me under with this tube of white stuff in my iv that burned like heck. My iv was in my right hand. It burned halfway up to my elbow and then I was out.

I woke up in recovery, but unfortunately I didn't come out of anesthesia very well. I got somewhat of an anxiety attack. Started hyperventilating and shivering like a crazy person, even though I was no longer cold. So they gave me a bunch of stuff that made me relax...and get pretty loopy!

The doctor came in and talked to me for just a minute. Brandy explained it more to me the next day when I wasn't so loopy.

Basically...it was worse than they thought. I have a plate on the outside of my left ankle with 4 little screws in it. These should be with me the rest of my life. The hope was that once that bone was secure (the little bone on the back of my ankle only has a fracture) my ligaments would pull my ankle back over into place. But they were too torn to do so. So...they put in two longer screws to pull the two bones together until the ligaments can heal. In 3 or 4 months I'll have another surgery to have them removed. Not exactly what I wanted to hear.

Can you believe I did all this stepping on a toy?!? I mean, how many times haven't I stepped on toys before?!? You just never know. Now if anyone else can come up with a cooler story for me to tell...I'm all ears! You now, running a marathon, skiing in Vale, something like that. (smile)

The surgery lasted about 45 minutes, but I was in recovery quite a while because I was having a hard time with the anxiety, etc. Weird. Never had that before. But finally got to go back and see my wonderful hubby who was waiting for me.

We learned before surgery that I would be spending the night at the hospital. We had decided Brandy needed to go home to be with the kids. Especially Svanna, Gabe and Summer who didn't quite understand what was going on, and needed the reassurance of Dad.

Have I mentioned before what awesome friends I have? My friend, Brenda, was spending the weekend at their families' cabin by a lake for Memorial weekend. She offered, and we took her up on it, to take the Tye and Jaden with them. Brenda's boy, Mitchell, is Jaden's age and they love to play. Brenda's nephew, Brandon, was also there and he's Tye's age. And Tye loves to play with him. That would cut down on the chaos at our house a bit, especially since Gabe and Jaden like to fight (like brothers do) over toys and such.

And then, after I get out of surgery, I discover that my friend, Suzanne, has offered to spend the night in the hospital with me. When Brandy told me I was very close to tears. I wanted to say, no, you don't have to do that. But it sounded so wonderful not to be alone. So I said, yes.

It was so great having Suz there. For the company. For the little things you don't want to bug a nurse about...like another blanket, or readjust the pillows under my foot, etc. Or someone to talk to when you're both up at 3 am. We teased that we were having a sleepover.

She left the next morning. Shortly thereafter Brandy came. My wonderful Mom-in-law, Kay, had stayed with the kids all day/night Friday until Brandy got home, and Saturday morning. But she had hip replacement surgery not that long ago, and we have quite a few kiddos. So Brandy told her she was leaving at noon on Saturday. My friend, Sara, had offered to come back again to watch the kids. But so had my friend, Stacy (told you I had a lot of friends! Isn't God awesome!?!) and our "new kids" know Stacy a little better (we'll have to have you over more often, Sara!) so Rich and Stacy came Saturday afternoon.

Svanna had the hardest time, Stacy said. Which was evident cuz she didn't play much...she worked. Which is so like her when she's upset. Apparently Friday, Svanna and Kay did all the laundry and picked up the house. Saturday, too, she cleaned. Even took it upon herself to clean the garage.

Summer was upset, too. She wears a pull-up at night but rarely has accidents at nap time. But she went 1 and 2 in bed for Stacy. That was a first. Poor peanut.

Anyway, Saturday we got home about 5:45 pm. While in the hospital, a church friend called and said she was setting up meals to be brought in for the entire next week. She came to our house with the first one shortly after we arrived home. Thanks so much, Kari!! We live about 20 miles from church, so most everyone will have to drive a ways to bring them over. Wow. I don't know what to say!!! She brought a schedule of who's bringing what, when. Also, other friends with grads this weekend with leftovers brought food as well.

Last night was quite rough. I woke Brandy up at least 5 times for help. It hurt quite a bit, and the medication makes me tired, plus I'm weak so even with my crutches right now I need help getting to the bathroom.

The meds are wonderful! However narcotics can make you itch, so this morning I took a Benadryl. I had also taken one at the hospital. Helps with the itch but boy oh boy does it knock me out! So I might not do that again.

My "forecast" as I know it is this. The first week pretty much bed rest except for meals and potty breaks. The next week I can be up a bit more, the way I understand it. Two weeks from now I have a drs appointment and will find out more. But it sounds like 6 to 8 weeks of no weight on it (crutches) and after that a walking boot. I have a boot right now, which is much nicer than a cast in my opinion. But it's not for walkin'.

Prayer requests. First that my kiddos understand. Svanna was so happy to see me home. She said, "Svanna sad, now Svanna happy" when I got home. But today she doesn't understand why I'm in bed all day. Also that Shianne doesn't take too much upon herself being the oldest. Second, that I can take one day at a time. If I look to my summer it doesn't look at all like I expected it too, and that's quite discouraging. How do I take my kids to ball (can't drive for who knows how long and it starts Wednesday), how do we go to the pool? etc etc. Inch by inch, life's a cinch, yard by yard, life is hard. I gotta take it one day at a time, relying on God. Third, that I don't get discouraged, period. Fourth, for my awesome hubby working hard and trying to take care of me. And of course, fifth, for a faster recovery than anticipated.

Well, I must be waking up cuz I just wrote one HUGE post!! Thanks again for your prayers. God bless and thanks so much for everything.