Surgery Update

I have attempted to write this post a couple times.  It has been harder then I anticipated and even the simple task of putting a few sentences together has been a struggle.  I am okay.  I must admit I had no idea what I was getting myself into.  I sincerely believed that I would be pretty out of it for the first week and by the second week begin to feel much better.  HOWEVER, it has been 9 days since surgery and I am a mess!

The pain is pretty much under control.  Mornings are the hardest because I am beginning to sleep well at night and so I go longer without pain medication.  Which means I need to catch up a little  on the pain in the morning.  I spend the morning fairy nauseous, from lack of food and lack of appetite which is paired with the need to take tons of meds.  I'm taking Iron, B 12, D2, and thyroid medicine because I need them.  In addition I'm taking Oxycodone (every 4 hours for pain), Vit D for 8 weeks to help rebuild the bone that was cut, a stool softener, multi vitamin, vitamin C (to help absorb minerals better), Baby aspirin (blood clot preventative), 2 extra strength Tylenol every 8 hours for pain, I was taking an oral nerve block 3 times a day for pain but that has ended, I did have a pain ball which was a catheter directly into my nerve to block the pain, but that has come out.  I also have an anti nausea medicine which has been helpful.  I think the amount of medicine has been causing headaches too.  I feel in a fog.

However, I also have felt very loved.  Randy has been wonderful.  Andrew has been awesome.  The little girls have been precious.  Jackson and Sophia are also ever willing to serve.  They have truly served and blessed me as has our church body.  Wonderful meals,

thoughtful gifts

cards, childcare, verses, flowers, treats, visits, texts, emails, phone calls,  prayers. I am overwhelmed with the love others have shown.

I am also frustrated.  I can do very little.  I fold a basket of laundry and have to take a nap. 

Sophie rigged up a system for the hangers on my scooter!

Not just a little rest, like a 2 hour nap!  I try to go along on a quick errand and end up in bed for the rest of the day.  I am worn out.  I had no idea surgery would be this hard to recover from.  I thought I would be right back in the swing of things.  That has not been the case!  I get bored.  I'm not really much of a TV person.  I like to keep busy and my lack of energy makes for a lack of productivity which is difficult for me!

I am following Dr. orders and am completely non-weight bearing.  I did stumble once and banged my big toe on the floor and that was very painful but so far I have had no other mishaps.  Praise the Lord!

So that's how things are going.  I'm resting up and looking forward to my appointment on January 5.  I anticipate the splint I am in coming off and I think that I will get a quick glimpse of my new foot before it is casted for another 6 or so weeks. Sigh.  We plan to start back to school Monday, so that should be very interesting!  Big discussion at our house is what color cast do I get.  Leaning towards green to support CCA swimmers!

I would appreciate prayers for my spirits to stay up.  I do tend to get a bit discouraged.  Also prayers that my quiet times will be fruitful and I am able to retain some of what I am reading. I'm having a very hard time focusing and I really need to stay in the word. Prayer for safety and protection from falls or injury is also appreciated.  Prayers for my family to have extra measures of endurance and patience in putting up with a very limited Mommy.

This road is longer then I realized!

Weekly Update

Things are busy at our house these days.  Andrew leaves so early for his school swim practice.  Like 5:30 early.  So some mornings I don't even see him before he goes to school.  I guess that is good practice for next year!  After school most days he goes to his year around swim practice. Between swimming, school, and homework he keeps busy. 

Monday's are always busy days at our house we have lots of extras on Monday:

Gymnastics
Piano
Clogging
Swim team, Andrew is not our only year around swimmer, Sophia is also swimming.


This Tuesday I had a doctor's appointment to get a second opinion on my foot.  So that added to the busyness of the week.  The orthopedic I saw agreed with the surgeon that recommended the foot surgery and said he would recommend the same procedures and he would let the surgeon I saw operate on his foot.  Having a second opinion makes me feel more confident that I am making the right decision. I should hear Tuesday if the 21st is still the date. 

Wednesday is the day our co-op meets.  So the morning was filled with school and the afternoon was filled with co-op.  Our co-op does History, Science, and Writing.  I LOVE IT!  The younger kids do History, Science, and have an Activity Class.  After co-op we go to church.  So it makes for a late dinner and an even later night.  However it is worth it! 

So Thursday is our sleep-in day.  We do school but it is at a much lighter pace on Thursdays.  I spent the morning teaching and the afternoon making chili to freeze for us post surgery.  I made 6 batches and the kids asked how much chili are we going to eat?  We eat 2 batches at a time....so it really was not as much as it looked like!

Then Thursday afternoon Andrew had a swim meet for his school.  I was helping transport kids from school to the pool so we had to leave the house around 2:45.  Andrew swam in two relays and two individual events.  He did well.  He dropped 9 seconds in his 500, so that was exciting.  He won the 200 freestyle so that was great too!  The relays did well especially considering one of their usual relay participants was sick so they had subs.  Way to step up guys!  So neat to see how much the kids have improved.

After the meet ended Sophia, Lydia, and I left to go to Girl Talk.  What a fun
night!   The girls wore their PJ's, made bath salts, gave each other pedicures, ate yummy snacks, and talked about the importance of taking care of their ever changing bodies with the food they eat, the attitudes they have, cleanliness, exercise.  I really do love this program.  These girls are a trip!  LOVE THEM!  So even though it made for a very late night.  It too is so worth it.  Plus I get to hang out with the girls awesome Mama's! 

Friday we went on a field trip with our co-op to the North Carolina Museum of Art.  Which was exciting because it meant we did not have to do school!  That being said I should also say I am not a museum person....so I was not super excited.  However, I do want to expose my children to culture and perhaps some of them are museum people, so we went......I found out they are not museum people either BUT we did have fun!  Our day went something like this:

Early morning swim practice, followed by biscuit breakfast with some friends, and a fun van ride to the museum.  Then we toured and got to see Leonardo da Vinci's Codex.  We've been studying the Renaissance at co-op so this went perfectly with our studies.  The highlight for my family was a picnic lunch on the grounds!  I told you, we are just not museum people! 

This was my favorite piece of art.  It was pretty cool.  It is an upside down Mona Lisa created from spools of thread stacked on wire string.  Who would have ever thought to do that!

After the tour was the picnic.  Food, play, and visiting is so our speed so we ended our field trip in high spirits!  Audrey did not go with us but she did have a fun day too.  She hung out with Mama and Aunt Stacy. When we got home I took a short nap and then did some house work.

Saturday started with our youth group's annual Turkey Bowl. I ran a few errands, which were pretty fun cause I had a friend with me!  We left the Turkey Bowl and went to  Jackson's basketball game.  Jackson had a friend sleeping over.  So he was pumped about that.   Randy, Sophie, Jackson, and his friend got to go to the Duke/Buffalo game.  They had a great time!  Andrew was out for the evening and Audrey was at a sleepover for a friends birthday.  Lydia had spent the day with her grandparents and that evening went with her Aunt, cousin, and grandpa to see Christmas lights in Raleigh.   So I actually had some time alone at home!  It was strange.  That happens....never.

After the Duke game we met for dinner at Pizza Inn, went home and played Spoons, and watched a movie....well part of a movie.  We got too tired and went to bed.

Today was a great day of worship.  Love our church family.  We had lunch and then I had a good nap.  While I napped Lydia researched, wrote, and typed her entire history project on Cathrine of Argon.  She does not want to worry about it on Christmas break.  It's not due until we get back from Christmas break.  She even made the poster on her own.  Then she picked out what to wear because she has to present her project to her class and dress as Catharine.  LOVE that she initiated it and did a great job all on her own.  She is such a blessing to me. 

Randy, Jackson, and I ran a couple errands tonight and had a nice family dinner at home.  The little ones are off to bed and Randy and Andrew are cheering on the Steelers.

That was our week.  Next weeks looking busy too!