Update

Sorry its been such a long time since I have updated anything on this. I have been dealing with the oh-so-fun mental/emotional side effects of having major surgery, graduating college, and losing all stability and schedule in my life. Anxiety and depression sucks. I spent the weekend at home and I will just say that no matter how old you are, you are never too old too want to spend time with your parents. They really know how to make you feel better, even if you are 22 years old.

Anyway, I am feeling much more like myself these days. I have a job interview at Alamance Regional Medical Center in the morning, working in imaging and maternity. I really really need a job, for so many reasons. Like money. And to fill the hours in the day.

I had my post op visit today and they took that freakin cast off! My doctor was so pleased and says he trusts me, so he gave me a great big honkin walking boot instead of a walking cast! That means I can shower and actually wash my leg! Its pretty nasty, very hairy. You know you want that visual. I'm not going to shave my leg until my friend Lizzie sees it, because I think it might be some kind of record. I will put pictures up of my scar when I get around to uploading them to my computer. Be patient. Get it, I'm a patient, and I said be patient. Hahahaha.

Cross your fingers and say some prayers for me to get this job, because I actually really want it!!

Boy do I love this guy!!

I have had the best weekend spending time with my baby and his parents. I love his parents, they are the most wonderful people and take me in as their own child every time I am there. We relaxed and spent time time together.

I am going back to Elon in the morning, so take me places.

Steps in the right direction!

I took FOUR steps today!!! I had to hold on to something with both hands and it wasn't very pretty, but I did it! My doctor said that I could start putting some weight on it, but I'm not sure what the boundaries with that are. I was supposed to have my first real post-op on Tuesday, but I rescheduled since I was planning on going back to school before then. I still am, hence why I rescheduled it for after I get back from our conference in Birmingham. I figure since I was going to get the go ahead to start walking on Tuesday, I can practice a little bit. But I am not going to press my luck. I'll stick to my idiot cart.

I spent the day at work with my mom, its exactly what I needed! I just couldn't sit in an empty house all by myself for another day. For those of you who know me well, you know how those two things don't mix.

Jimmy is coming to visit this weekend and it couldn't come at a better time! I love him so much!

Kinda tough day

I still haven't found my camera cord, so I can't put up any pictures. Booooo. And tonight when we went to Harris Teeter, I drove around one of those little idiot carts. We didn't bring a camera unfortunately. It was a good laugh, which I really needed today.

I had a little bit of a down day, I'm very ready to be able to take care of myself and not be helpless. It is frustrating, since I am normally so independent and don't really need people to do things for me. So, its depressing that I have to depend on other people. With my mom at work all day, I can't really do much. I'm pretty pathetic trying to make lunch, hobbling all over the kitchen. It was rather humorous.

I am coming back up to Elon on Sunday, so that will be nice to be able to see everyone and have people around. I will probably spend all day Monday on campus pretending that I can still go to class.

Update on the cripple

Greetings to all my loyal readers! I went back to my doctor today because they wanted to see me since I fell pretty badly on Sunday night. They want to stay on the side of safety and since I fell only 3 days after my surgery, I totally agreed with them. So I went in and they took off my psuedo-cast off and I saw the fat, bruised cankle that used to be my ankle. I took pictures, but I cannot find my cord to upload them to my computer! When I find it, I will post them, they are super cool. Anyway, with no damage from the fall and apparently good progress on swelling, my doctor decided to go ahead and cast me for a little more support and safety. I picked maroon for my color and I think I will take some yellow duct tape and make stripes for some Elon pride! My dad and I went to the health supply place and rented a roll-a-bout, and this one has a steering handlebar!! They have the new model, which is not the one that I had seen before. I will get pictures of it posted soon too. Its so much easier to get around than crutches and once I get used to it, I will be zipping around everywhere! My doctor made me pinky swear I wouldn't fall anymore, so I have to be really careful! Progress is being made!


These are our good family friends Al and Suzette with me at my high school graduation.


Suzette is a very close friend of mine, and when I am in Charlotte I always try and spend time with her. She has two kids, Christopher, age 8, and Ellie, age 5. They are ADORABLE! Even though we are not very close in age, Suzette and I just have an amazing connection. She is one of the most genuine people I have ever known and always thinks of others before herself. We have gotten to sepnd some time together in the past couple days since I have been around with nothing really to do, and I cherish every minute I get to spend with her. I am so blessed to have someone I look up to that I can always turn to, no matter what. Everyone should be so lucky.

Pictures tomorrow hopefully!!

My first day by myself

My mom had to go back to work today, so I have been at home by myself all day. I haven't fallen down yet. It takes sooo much energy to do the simplest things. Getting lunch was an interesting endeavor, sliding things on the floor, throwing them across the kitchen, carrying things in my mouth. Since I have to use my arms for crutches, I can't really carry anything. Hopefully that problem will go away tomorrow. I found a place in Charlotte that rents those roll-a-bout things, and my dad is going to go with me in the morning. I also called my doctor this morning to tell them about the fall and that I can still feel it bleeding. They want me to come in just to be careful; they are going to take the cast off to make sure I didn't do any really bad damage then re-dress it. That's at 3 tomorrow, so I am going to head over to my dad's house once my mom gets home. I am interested to see my incision when they take the dressing off, I will most definitely have my camera!

My cell phone works at my dads house, so give me a call tonight!

Super Bowl

All I have to say is that I loved watching Tom Brady have his pretty little face sacked into the grass on the last drive of that game. Eli Manning is cute as a button, he looks about 15 years old. It was a good game and I was quite thrilled with the outcome.

On a not-so-good note, I fell pretty bad tonight right before the game started. I was getting up to go to the bathroom and I kinda of got caught up on my crutches and fell. It hurt like a bitch and I think I ripped some stitches out. And since I don't have the nerve blocks in anymore, I have full feeling in my ankle. I felt it start bleeding immediately and squishing all around in my cast - yucky yucky. I called my dad and told him what happened to make sure I didn't need to be rushed to the emergency room or anything. He assured me that I would be ok, but that I should call my surgeon in the morning, especially if I can still feel it bleeding. Its such a weird feeling to feel something inside a cast but can't see it or do anything about it. I am calling every medical supply place in Charlotte tomorrow to find a roll-a-bout to rent so I can get rid of these G-Damn hell sticks!

No more falling!!

My mother is taking advantage of the narcotics

Last night, I was straight up pissed off and so ready to pull my catheters out. Since I could use the vicodin as an excuse for erratic behavior, I thought I would express my creative side. You know, its the side of me that I never bring out. :) The oh-so-stylish purse that my mom found was getting annoying because every time I needed to get out of bed, I had to remember to put it around my neck. I just kept getting out of bed and pulling them onto the floor. There really are no words to describe what I came up with. A picture is worth a thousand words.

I thought I made pretty good use of my bra by stuffing the IV bags in it. My mom was cracking up and grabbed the camera...and there was nothing I could do about it.

Today, I slept until about 11:30. I did stay up until about 2 last night watching Ace of Cakes on the Food Network. I want them to make my wedding cake. Its a really awesome show, check it out if you ever get the chance. And I can't be completely sure, but when my 9 am alarm went off to take my next pain pills, I think I just shut the alarm off and didn't take the meds. Which is a good thing, because that means I didn't have any pain. The drug bags were empty, so after some breakfast, it was time to pull the suckers out! The worst part was pulling off all the tape on my legs. Once that was off, I just pulled the catheters out, I couldn't even feel them. After a bath and washed hair, I felt like a whole new person.

Mom and I are going to stay here tonight and watch the super bowl while we work on some stuff. We made homemade hummus last night, and she picked up a pizza from the store, so we're going to stay low key. I really don't care much about pro football, but I hate Tom Brady; he went to Michigan and he's a punk ass bitch.

As you can tell, I am having trouble posting pictures. I'll get it.

Maybe the narcs are starting to get to me...

The bane of my existence today has been these G-Damn catheters. (yeah, I abbreviate that, I'm cool). Since the first day after surgery was so miserable with the catheters leaking, we just took a bunch of tape and stuck them to my leg to make sure the shitty little things didn't come out again. That's right, I'm angry about all this shit hanging out of my leg!


Well they still leak, but this kind of leak is an okay kind, and its not preventing the meds from going in. We figured out today where they leak and why none of the tape was still stuck to my leg this morning. Every time I move my leg, the popliteal catheter leaks, so I have been keeping a washcloth behind my knee so that all the liquid wouldn't drip down my cast and piss me off more. Basically, I want to rip the suckers out!

I get to take the catheters out when the drug bags are empty. I am hoping for that to be tomorrow, like I said before. I never thought they would deflate, but they definitely don't look like boobies anymore. Maybe really saggy boobies.


When I get up and around on my crutches (hell sticks), I wear them in this really stylish purse my mom found in the back of her closet. I think she bought it before I was born. Now I know why I am a total pack rat - its genetic! I sling it around my neck and hobble around the house, its a pretty pathetic existence.


Going to the bathroom is quite a task, maneuvering in with the hell sticks, I have muscles I can name, but never knew I had. My hands, arms, and armpits are killing me. I am going to look into this wonderful contraption that I saw while doing my internship this past semester.


That's not me though. HEHEHEHE.




















While she had the camera out, mom took a couple more pictures. Overall, today has been a good day and I am in a good mood.

My 'Jimmy-Bear'...Jimmy made it for me in LA
this summer when I came to visit. He's our love-child.

Peek A Boo!!

Day Two, Worlds Better

Goooood Morning! They say that the first day following surgery is the worst, and boy isn't that the truth. I got a full 8 or 9 hours of sleep last night and pretty much no pain. I have definitely gotten on a good schedule for taking the vicodin. I set my cell phone to go off every four hours to remind me. I've been doing some hip exercises to keep my legs from getting stiff. With all the sitting, to be completely honest, my ass hurts a lot!

Since I interned with a physical therapist last semester and saw patients with my exact surgery, I know some tricks of the trade. My doctor didn't tell me to do any kind of exercises at home, but I'm very smart. So a couple times a day, I get up and I do hip and knee exercises to stretch out. It feels really good.

Tomorrow I get to pull my catheters out and take all the damn tape off my leg. Once I do that, I am going to try and figure out how to bathe. I can't get my cast thing wet, so I have a feeling its going to be interesting.

I hope everyone has a great Saturday!

Bored?

If its 2 am and you're awake like I am, I highly recommend this:

http://www.addictinggames.com/filler.html

Greatest game on the planet, and as the title suggests, strongly addictive. Just thought I would give you one more thing to do while doing "homework" in the library.

The Day After

I wish I could say that the rest of the day was better than this morning. About 2 or 3 hours after my catheter leaked the first time, it started leaking again, much worse this time. And I know the medicine in the boob-bags works because as soon as it started leaking again, pain started shooting up my leg. My mom and I started calling numbers that the hospital gave us if I had a problem with the catheter system. Long, and painful, story short, I finally got in touch with the anesthesiologist on call and he told me there was basically nothing he could do about it except to start taking more vicodin. I was so frustrated by the pain and the incompetence of some of the people I spoke to on the phone, I was in tears with pain shooting up my leg. Not fun whatsoever.

The next thing that happened was weird. I got up to go to the bathroom, which is exhausting in of itself, and changing positions made the catheter stop leaking. Within minutes, the pain stops and I can't feel a thing. We figured out that letting my leg hang down a little bit lets gravity help out the nerve block, giving me instant relief. I was thrilled that I finally couldn't feel my toes again! My mom helped set me up so that my leg was kind of hanging off the bed, resting on a stool that was lower than the bed. I passed out for about 3 or 4 hours and woke up still pain free. Praise Jesus!

Those of you who know me pretty well know that I am a total lightweight and need very little booze to put me in a really good mood! Along with alcohol, I am very sensitive to strong drugs. The vicodin hits me so fast and I start to glaze over in about 15 minutes. One of the pharmacological effects of narcotics is that is causes histamine release in the body. Those of you with a science or medical background know what histamine is, and that it causes allergic symptoms. I itch ALL over! So the pain finally goes away and my whole body starts itching like crazy. If its not one thing, its another.

Watching The Italian Job and hoping for a restful night.

Interesting Morning

Well, my some what calm night turned into a not-so-fun morning. Around 6 this morning, I woke up with a lot of pain in my lateral ankle, so I popped a hydrocodone (gooood stuff), which knocks me on my ass really fast. By the time I woke up again around 9:30 I was still pretty uncomfortable. As I sit up for the blueberry bagel my mom fixed for me, I notice that the back of my pants on my hurt leg is soaking wet. Remember, the catheters that go into my leg travel down the back of my leg to go in behind my knee. So, I put two and two together and realize that my nerve block catheter is leaking, meaning the meds are not going into my leg, causing the excruciating pain this morning. I was not very happy:

So we quickly call the hospital and talk to the anesthesiologist and he talks me through fixing my catheter. Thank God, because I sure ain't ready for loads or narcotics. I want one more day of being lucid.




Here are pictures of my catheters, one on the back and one on the front.

Sorry if it grosses you out, but its really not a big deal. Wait until my cast comes off and I start posting pictures of my incisions!




Thanks for all the comments and emails. They really make my day! When I come out of my stupor and see how many people love me, it really means a lot.

Hopefully today will be less eventful than this morning. I'll post later.

Wide Awake

Here it is, 3 am and I am wide awake. I went to bed around 10:30 0r 11 and crashed, went right to sleep. Around 2:30, I woke up and just have no desire to go back to sleep. I figured I would turn on the TV and mess around online until I got tired again. I still have no pain at all, so at least I am not waking up because of pain.

Last night, meaning like 5 hours ago, my parents told me some of the things I did and said yesterday following surgery in the recovery room. There are so many things that I have zero recollection of. I was in 2 recovery rooms yesterday, the first one, where they wake you up, they usually don't let family members in. But since my dad is kind of a big deal and knows all the nurses in recovery, they let both my parents come back to see me. As they walk in, I look at my mom and say "you look so pretty Momma." (She had come straight from work and she's pretty hot.) I then turn to my dad and say "you look pretty too Daddy." Needless to say, everyone was pretty entertained. Apparently, I also told everyone that I was going to have macaroni and cheese for dinner. Like they care.

So then, they moved me into the second recovery room and somehow I moved from a bed to a big rolly chair. Again, no idea how I made that transition. So once I got into the second room, I was a little bit more awake, or so I thought. They help you get up and go to the restroom, but I passed out again sitting on the potty. Nice, huh? They get me back in my chair and I decide that I really need to talk to talk to my boyfriend and let him know that I was alright. My mom hands me her phone and amazingly, I dial the number from memory! I talked to him for about 2 minutes and have absolutely no memory of doing any of that either. When I talked to him again tonight, I was fully lucid and he told me that I was slurring all my words and that I was eating macaroni and cheese. Can you tell that I was really looking forward to my mom's homemade mac and cheese? This is just one of the many reasons I am so in love with my boy, he will listen to me even when I have no clue that I am talking to him. Apparently I also told my mother all about NCUR, the conference that I am going to in April. I think its hilarious that I remember none of anything I just talked about.

Thank God my brother has a wack-ass sleep schedule, because here it is, like 3:30 in the morning and we are talking online. Thank you college. He had shoulder surgery about 2 weeks ago, so both of us are crippled. He can walk and I can raise both my arms above my head. I guess we are even.

I'm going to attempt to get back to sleep now. Sweet dreams....