One year anniversary of diagnosis….
By Michelle | November 17, 2008
I just had to take a minute out of the day to shout hooray and to say thanks for all the prayers over the past year! I am so so so very lucky to have the family and friends that I do and even more lucky to have such a great team of doctors who I believe have cured my cancer! That is what I hold dear to my heart when my head hits the pillow every night and I believe that the scans in the spring/summer will come back completely clear. Please hold that prayer in your heart for me as well….because every little prayer counts!
So girlfriends my advice for the day, make sure you take time for yourself, don’t blow off your annual physical because you just don’t have time to get there because you have babies at home…no excuse! I’m convinced that the annual physical that my mom made me keep last year, saved my life!
I also wanted to give a shout out to Uncle Jimmy who came to help us with the girls for two weeks after my hip surgery. He did great, the girls adored him, and we can’t thank him enough. My hip is OK, healing a lot slower than I thought it would, but we go back to the surgeon on Wednesday to get the scoop. I’m off crutches and the cane, mostly because we don’t have any extra hands this week, but the girls and I will survive. That’s what pain pills are for…heehee!
Thanks also to our Kansas clan for welcoming us with open arms. We had a wonderful visit and we miss everyone already. Remember, Seattle is just an airplane ride away!
Our friends from Texas are coming in next week to celebrate turkey day with us, we can’t wait!!!!!
Oh yeah, one more thing…daddy’s outdoor Christmas scene is better than ever this year and thanks to Uncle Sam’s help daddy wasn’t out there until 9pm this year. Can’t wait to turn the lights on…we got a sneak peak last night and it looks great. I’m ready to leave the power button on, maybe he will be on board by this weekend as well!
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Why we love our daddy!!!
By Michelle | October 29, 2008
Currently our daddy is with 12 preschoolers at Jubilee Farm on a pumpkin patch field since mommy couldn’t very well go crutching through the pumpkin patch!! Now that is love I say!
Thanks daddy, you’re the best!! We love you!!!
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Handicap parking and motorized shopping carts
By Michelle | October 27, 2008
Yep, not something I thought I would be blogging about at this stage in my life, but there it is. Last week after my doctor appointment, my mom and uncle took me to the DMV to get my first and hopefully last handicap parking permit for 3 months. Now don’t get me wrong, the entire family seems to be enjoying the handicap parking plaque and we will all be enjoying it more during the holiday shopping season (the permit is good through January) and I do enjoy not having to crutch across the parking lot so all around it is a really good thing…just weird I guess.
Now on to the motorized shopping carts. I’ve used 3 so far, two different ones at Target and one at Costco. By far, the last one that I used at Target was the best. It was a newer one and was pretty smooth! I’m sure I might have additional reports on the motorized shopping carts around town. Jeff and I were totally cracking up when we were at Target by ourselves last week because of course I ran in to several things, luckily not any people. Really at this point, all you can do is laugh…it definitely makes me feel better!!
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Stitches out and at least 3-4 more weeks on crutches
By Michelle | October 22, 2008
My doc appt went well today and we got the stitches out. We also learned that the big egg sized open wound on the backside of my leg is what they call a draping blister. When they were pulling off the tape that was holding the draping on to my leg during surgery, it appears that they pretty much just ripped off my skin with it. At least it is not infected at this point, but it will most likely scar up…oh well…Jeff said my leg modeling career is over…heehee!
We met with the surgical assistant today and will meet with the surgeon on Nov 19th, 6 weeks post-op. The doc today said that my pain level and lack of range of any motion is pretty typical and that I probably will not be able to do much of anything for a total of 6 weeks. He said that I can slowly start to put weight on it, but not for a few more weeks, and then as my pain level permits. The only physical therapy I have at this point is one little exercise allowing my leg to fall open and out to the side as pain allows. He is not sure I will even start physical therapy in 6 weeks it might be longer than that because the first thing I need to do is walk without crutches again. It is nice to know that the pain I am experiencing is normal and that it will subside, with time. Of course I’m worried about what the heck I’m doing to my other hip (that already has similar labrum changes that showed up on the MRI I had for my right hip) as I’m hopping around trying to get this one to heal…don’t worry it is my top question when I see the surgeon next month. The surgeon told Jeff last week that he had never seen a hip that bad in a 35 year old before (just like me, have to be the BEST at everything!!), but the doc assured me today that they at least bought me 15 years before I would need a hip replacement. Should I just write that in the calendar or what…heehee.
I’m pretty overwhelmed because I feel like I’m letting the girls and my family down because I can not do a darn thing! Everyone has been great and have totally rearranged their schedules to help us out…again..and the girls have really warmed up to Uncle Jimmy, especially Sammy Jane. Sarah Jo is just very WORRIED about me and asks me everyday when I’m going to be off crutches. She seemed less tense when Jeff was home last week, but one more day of school this week and we are hoping to set up a fun weekend for her to get her mind off things.
Well I need to go put my leg up, it looks like I have throbbing sausages attached to the end of my foot…what we call really swollen toes!
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Sarah Jo back to school after the weekend flu
By Michelle | October 21, 2008
Sarah Jo went back to school this morning and ran up to give one of her teachers a big hug and to let her know that she was sick this weekend. It was the first time that my Uncle Jim and I took her to school, while Nana stayed back home with Samantha. It went well and my Uncle Jim, Sammy Jane, and I are off to pick her up in the few minutes. All the little kids in her class looked in amazement at my crutches and asked what happened…so cute!
Tomorrow after we drop off Sarah Jo at school, Uncle Jim, mom, Sammy Jane, and I will head to the doctor for my first post op appointment and will hopefully get the stitches out. I’m still in a lot of pain, but trying to stay on top of it with pain meds. We will also get more information regarding how long I will have to be on crutches….hopefully no longer than 4 weeks like the surgeon mentioned to Jeff when he briefed him about my surgery.
This weekend starts the Halloween activities with a pumpkin carving at Sarah Jo’s school, a field trip to the pumpkin patch on Wednesday next week that daddy and Uncle Jim will be taking the girls to, a Halloween party at the school on Thursday and then of course the big day of Halloween next Friday. Big week coming up.
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Seriously 4 WEEKS on crutches with a 16 month old baby at home????
By Michelle | October 17, 2008
I’m finally coming out of the fog of drugs, but maybe going back to sleep would be a better thing because I’m still in a lot of pain and the realization of being on crutches for 4 weeks and trying to care for the girls while being able to do pretty much nothing is very overwhelming. Jeff has been home this week along with my mom for a few days and my dad today. My Uncle Jim flew in last night and it looks like he will be launched into the head role of Mr. Mom next week. He’s totally game and the girls have warmed right up to him, so I’m hoping that we will be able to get into some sort of routine.
I’m still in a lot of pain and really, really hope that drilling holes into the bone marrow to attempt to stimulate new cartilage growth was the right decision. He’s the best hip doc in Seattle though, so I just need to find some patience…not easy to do with the year I’ve had unfortunately. I’ll find it again…it might just take some time.
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