So this is one of the things...

that I definitely was concerned about: having to stop taking any sort of aspirin or advil before the surgery. I have one of the nasty headaches this morning and cannot take anything for it. Well, tylenol, but that has never helped before . Guess I will give it a go, though.

Five days to go. Yesterday was my last Friday to keep Jackson by myself for what I must assume will be a couple months, at least. Probably more like 3, since I won't be able to drive until after I am out of the boot and have good ROM and strength in my ankle. It was a wonderful day! We grocery shopped, we ran around the house chasing each other, we baked a cake, we played frisbee in the yard with Reesie (he kept saying "Hi, deedee!"), we rolled around on the big exercise ball, we played trains, we sang, and we snuggled. It was glorious. I had a couple of moments when I got teary-eyed just thinking about how great it was. I showed him the crutches and walked around a little and he was not freaked out or anything, which was good.

We had the praise team over last night for calzones and rock band, which is something I have wanted to do for a while. It was a lot of fun and I think everyone enjoyed it. My knee and ankle were aching pretty good by the end of the evening, but I just kept thinking about how much I enjoyed having everyone over. I hope to do it again some time!

I keep thinking of goofy little things I need to do. Like get some sort of "back pack" that I can use in place of a purse while on crutches; like get at least one more set of pants that are large and stretchy and will fit over my splint and bandage and cast so we are not having to wash clothes every other day; and I know there are more things but I can't think of them right now. Obviously, I need a list!

So, here's to my last "active" weekend for a few weeks! The weather is supposed to be beautiful and I will indeed be driving with the top down!! Wahoo!

One week from now...

I will be probably eating a snack, drinking lots of water, and trying to figure out how in the world to get some sleep.

Things continue to move along well. I think I have almost all I need to cover the first two Sundays I am out, except I hope that the guy who works with me (leads music in the other service) comes through with material for my choir so they have a couple of weeks to prepare. Even if I have to take another Sunday or two off, I will still be doing all the planning and song selection and such...

Got my crutches from Jenn and Doug replaced all the pads and tips and adjusted the sizes, so I am good. I have had a lot of time with Jackson this week which has been great. I surely hope he is cool with all of this and that we still get to see him.

Oh, and our kids are planning to come over a little over a week after my surgery and make us dinner! So great!

Count down!!

Pre-op today!

So, it begins. 

Went today armed with my MRI images for my knee, a bit worried that somehow things had been mis-communicated and I would not see the doc at all or something. All for naught, though.

He said  my knee is not that bad, but that he did think that it is a good idea to go ahead and clean up some rough areas on the joint and remove any pieces of meniscus floating around. So again, a two-fer, of sorts.

I also talked to Dr Cullen to make sure that he knows that I want him to do all he needs to do to fix this ankle THIS go-round. No leaving tougher procedures for later if necessary. He still maintains that I do not need the osteotomy, even though he said back in the fall that I did. The recovery without the osteotomy is WAY easier, and that is cool. But, again, I think I have things in place as well as I ever will to be off for an extended time if needed. I don't' want to have to do this again!  I am, however, very good with the idea of not having him cut into the bones of my leg, so that is all to the good. Kind of funny, though: I asked him if I will be able to return to playing tennis without the osteotomy, and he said "yes, nobody sprains their ankle playing tennis". Which, of course, I did. But I will be wearing this brace, so that should be ok.

So, Doug and I will head out bright and early on Thursday Feb 3rd with a grumpy (no coffee) and nervous and probably sleep-deprived me to head to the surgery center by 6:00 am.  They will get IV started and draw pictures on my R leg and talk to us and I should be in the OR by 7:15 to start at 7:30---the first procedure of the day! Yay! I forgot to ask how long it would take, but I imagine less than a couple of hours. Probably closer to 1??

Dr Cullen will scope my knee as described above. Then he will scope my ankle to see if any areas need to be cleaned or scraped and, I imagine, to see the full extent of damage. Then he will make an incision on the outside of the ankle and proceed to cut and then shorten the two lateral ligaments. He'll staple me up and put me in a split and wrap me up. An hour of recovery and then off to home!

My appointment to remove the staples and then place my leg in a cast is on Feb 18th. That is a bit longer than he first said, 15 days. Then in a cast for about 4 weeks. I am thinking that being NWB (non-weight bearing) for 3-4 weeks will be problematic for work,  mostly for leading services. There are stairs all over the place and going down, in particular, will be a challenge. Much less going down them without being very disruptive. I will see how recovery is going with regard to the weight-bearing issue and see how nifty I am doing with the crutches before deciding if I should take an additional Sunday off besides the two I had planned for. Leading rehearsal should be way easier since there are no stairs involved.

The other thing I am concerned about is how Jackson will deal with this. We had a wonderful time this past weekend...I had him by myself all day on Friday and Friday evening and then we were together Saturday and some last night. I have so much fun running around with him and playing on the floor, etc. He loves grabbing my hand (not just me, but you know what I mean!) to take me where ever he wants to go. I am afraid he will be pretty frustrated with me when I cannot get up and go with him. Or, worse, afraid of the big splint and bandage and such. I just hope that does not happen! At least I am getting to spend lots of time with him this week.

So, just a few things to take care of in the 9 days or so remaining before surgery: stock up on foods Doug is comfy with cooking; clean up the house really well, get play lists ready for church, pick up my meds (pain and nausea), and get my crutches from Jennifer. I am also excited about the fact that the praise team is coming over here for calzones this Friday night! That will be fun! Then I think we are working at Daniel and Mackenzie's house on Saturday.

Adventures ahead! 

Around 3 weeks and counting

So, surgery is three weeks from tomorrow. Right now I am so glad that I did not plan this in January, since we are in our third day of enforced isolation due to a winter storm and resultant ice-covered roads. It would be awful to have scheduled this surgery  and planned for it only to have it postponed. And I am sure there are those out there to whom this exact thing has happened.

This time off has given me ample time to accomplish many items on my pre-surgery to-do list. I ordered a set of new tips and pads for my crutches (which I need to get back from Jennifer), a can of soothing spray for skin discomfort under casts, and a thingey to slip on over my cast so I can bathe/shower. I will let you know how that works out! I thought about also getting a leg-elevation pillow, but those are so expensive and I just don't know...but repeatedly piling and un-piling pillows seems a hassle. But what else am I gonna do?  :) I also cleaned out one of the freezers and will do the other when it's not like standing IN a freezer while working in the garage. IE, next week.

I am frankly a bit stir-crazy. We tried to go for a walk a couple of days ago, but walking on ice and in the snow seemed a bad idea. we may venture out this afternoon to run a couple of errands, though. We will see how driving the truck goes! All church activities are cancelled for tonight, so no rehearsals to plan and lead. I miss all my friends!

Oh, I did have my MRI last week on my knee. I will find out what the doc says about that at my pre-op appointment a bit later. I tried to look at them, but what do I know? MRIs are magic.

Nothing exciting, obviously.

Less than a month to go

So, one month from now I will be on the way to recovery!

I officially began my month of preparations yesterday...well, Sunday, really....by cleaning out and re-organizing our kitchen closet (former pantry) and our bathroom linen closet. The later was kind of ridiculous in that I threw away old prescription and over-the-counter medications, some out of date by a decade! But that closet is CLEAN and organized now! We are still experiencing some trash overload from Christmas as well as the cleaning spree, so I will wait until next week to begin cleaning out the freezers and the fridge.

Doug is already asking about what he is going to do about food while I am unable to cook and such. So I guess I need to come up with a list of things he can easily prepare, and  then stock up on those ingredients. Also, make and freeze some things.

Work-wise, I think things are in pretty good shape. Kids' music is purchased and I am EXCITED about it! I need to schedule out a rehearsal and recording plan, and then I can make detailed plans for the video while recovering. Also I will probably be doing some video editing for the HP, so that will be FUN! Between Ben and John, leading during worship should be covered, and I may only miss a couple of Sundays, one of which the HP will be doing the music. Susie will lead the kids' choir rehearsals, and once I have made the rehearsal schedule, she will be good to go.

I am pretty sure I am in denial about not being able to drive myself at all for around 3 months. That will be crazy-making at times, I am sure. At least I will be able to be productive and sit up and such. Poor Eddie! He is having a rough time recovering form his retina surgery. Ugh.

Had a great time seeing old dance company friends last night and catching up. Fun memories!

Christmas is done for another year...

So, this is the quiet time after the celebration. I am actually pretty pleased to be sitting by the fire, typing on my new shiny macbook pro! Now Doug will use my macbook and there should be no more antsy times over who gets the laptop. :) Besides, I expect him to spend a lot of time in his workshop with HIS new toys. He already has materials for a train table for Jackson.

Christmas was wonderful...family time, celebrations at church and even a white Christmas here in GA!! As a result of that last feature, we had the "day off" from church today, since the roads were icy. So Sarah stayed over an extra night and that in itself is an unbelievable treat! She's home now and, I imagine, happily putting away her new mixer and stuff, and spending time with Sawyer and Kendra and Steve. I love knowing she is happy! Daniel and Mackenzie left last night for Naples so they could beat the worst of the snow, so they are safely there and spending good time with her family. Ben and Jenn and Jackson have enjoyed the snow and are spending time with Jenn's family, including her grandparents who are in town. Doug and I did see them briefly when we went over there so he could install their new garbage disposal. Maybe the least welcomed gift of all time, but I hope they get good use out of it, at any rate. My bad call, that one, I guess...

Well, I have about one month to wait and get ready for my surgery. I have the most clear and vivid object lesson in how NOT to feel sorry for myself, though: Eddie has to have surgery on Tuesday for a torn retina. He apparently will not be in a lot of pain, which is great, and I guess there is significant pain involved in my procedure. However, his recovery involves having to sit or lie with his head DOWN for 45 minutes out of every hour, round the clock, for 3-4 WEEKS. I would much rather be in pain. I cannot even conceive of having to do this, and Eddie is possibly more ansty even than I can be. It's going to be so hard for him! As he said, the Lord is telling him to SLOW DOWN, and really giving him no choice at this point. Guess that is what is going to happen to me, to some extent. But I will still be able to do stuff... Hopefully, I can help out Eddie and Rene' and the kids over January...

So now, after the new year, I need to get the MRI scheduled on my knee so we know what will happen. Need to pick kids' music next week. Need to get Christmas decorations down, clean up the house really well, and clean out the freezer. I hope I can have the Praise Team over for calzones in January and also have Sarah, Steve, Karyn and Misha and also Kendra and Andrew over, again, for calzones. Maybe we can figure out a way for Ben and Jenn to come and we can have a big rock band party!  That will be hard, though, because they will all be really busy. I just really love spending time with those people!

Here's hoping the after-holiday blahs are done quickly. I am so blessed and it's been wonderful....

Onward!

So, good news, mostly!

Went to the doc today to get info and make some decisions about surgery in a few weeks (after the holidays).

I did let him know that I have begun feeling pain in my R knee that pretty much coincides with the ankle pain. Meaning when I have been doing a lot of walking/standing/etc. X-rays did not indicate any arthritic changes in the joints of both knees (good news). He suggested a shot in the knee to see if it will calm down, which he gave me today.  If it still is painful by the first of the year, I will get an MRI and, if indicated, he can scope the joint at the same time he does that ankle. Kind of a two-fer, at least as far as anesthesia goes! Also, staying off it afterwards.  So, I consider that all good.

The other awesome news is that he does NOT think, at this point, that I need the osteotomy part of the surgery. Meaning he will not be cutting into my bones and putting pins in to bring them back into alignment. Makes the recovery MUCH easier. Brings the "success" percentage down a bit (from around 90% to 80%), but I will take those odds!

So, on Feb 3rd, assuming my knee is good, he will scope out the ankle joint to see if there are any rough places that need to be smoothed out, then he will do a Brostrom procedure, meaning he will cut and then re-attach the ligaments in the ankle so that scar tissue will form and make it all nice and tight again. He moved my foot around again and said it was one of the looser ones he had ever seen. So, I win a prize or something. Adding a possible arthroscopic knee procedure to the above won't make that big of a difference, I don't think. Except in his bill :)

The process after that is around 10 days in the post-surgery "splint" (non weight-bearing and mostly elevated to reduce swelling); then 4 weeks in a cast (about one week non-weight bearing, then slowly can put weight on it!!! This is better than what i thought it would be!!!); then 3-4 weeks in a "walking boot" which I will be able to remove to take showers/baths!!! THEN back to the brace I am currently wearing and begin to do PT to loosen and strengthen the joint back to "normal".

It seems I will only have to miss a couple of Sundays/Wednesdays as long as I can put my foot up and sit when possible. So that is good.

Bad news is that all this time in splint/cast/boot  means I will not be able to drive for about 2 1/2 MONTHS. Blerg. I cannot imagine trying to drive with my left foot only. Seems very, very much a bad idea. So I will be depending upon friends and family for a while for that. It will be humbling, to say the least.

All in all, good news, though. We will see how my knee does with this shot and go from there. I am not too worried about that, though. It would have been bad to ignore the pain and then go through all of this with my ankle and then have to go back and do that same knee.

So, bring on the rest of Christmas and now I can know more of what to expect!! Yay!