Pages

Monday, April 30, 2012

Weekend Update

We had a quiet weekend.  Well, at least I did.  I spent it in my recliner with my foot elevated and iced most of the time.  I am pretty sure I officially have a bed sore, or I guess a chair sore.  I am more than ready to get up and get busy.  I know, I know, stop lecturing already.

Starting tomorrow I can be "weight bearing as tolerated" according to my instructions.  That will be good.  I know I still need to periodically sit and ice.  I see my Doctor a week from today for my post op apt.  I am actually going to call this morning and see if I can move that apt up.  Another week with the bandage on and the constant itching may send me to the loony house.  I would much rather have pain than itching.

Last post I gave props to my awesome father-in-law who came and played my role for a few days last week.  He changed diapers, made lunches and was a constant entertainment for all the kids. This post I have to give a hat tip to my awesome husband.  He has been truly amazing.  He works all day and then comes home to make dinner, clean up kids, do bedtimes.  He is truly awesome.  This weekend he took the kids out for a few hours so that I could rest, he had everyone help clean the house (although I think he did most of it) he did all our laundry and got it put away.  He didn't have a whole lot of down time.  Now he has to start the week all over and it is going to be a terribly busy work week for him.  And what did he do before he left this morning??  He made my coffee and delivered it to me in my chair.  Man, I love that guy.

I am anticipating a quiet day.  The weather is crappy out...again.  Looks like it is going to be a rainy, hot week. Not good for me since I rely so much on sending the kids outside to play.  Guess I better get the board games ready.  Today is the only day this week we don't have something on the calender.  Guess I better enjoy it.

Friday, April 27, 2012

Update

I am 3 and 1/2 days out from my foot surgery.  I am feeling somewhat better tonight except for an occasional shooting pain and some insane bouts of itching.  Since Will had to go back to work on Wednesday my father-in-law offered to come down and help me with the kids.  So from Wednesday morning until tonight he has stayed with us and has managed the house and kids during the day so that I could sit in the recliner with my foot elevated.  I know, amazing guy right?  Thanks to him I have a great start on my healing process.  So thanks Joel for taking care of me and the kids all week!!

If I can be patient and spend the next couple days just sitting and icing and elevating I think I will be feeling much better by the first of the week.  This would be good because the next couple weeks are going to be really busy with baseball games, track meets, appointments and end of the school year activities.

I am not sure yet how I will manage the no driving situation.  I am hoping when I see my doctor on the 7th that we can discuss a plan to let me drive a bit.  I am thinking if I wear my surgical shoe instead of the boot then maybe I can drive??  I guess we will see.  For now, I spend the next 10 days in the passenger seat...sigh...

Anyway I am feeling very lucky tonight to have such an amazing family.  Thanks to everyone who has helped the last couple days.  I feel very loved and I hope you know how much I love all of you.

Thursday, April 26, 2012

Cubs T-Ball

 We are two games into the T-ball season.  So far our boys (and one girl) have done really good.  They seem to be picking up on the fundamentals of the game and are having a good time. 
 Will has done an awesome job so far coaching.  He was worried about it because he really didn't know a lot about baseball.  He has fun though and all the kids love him. 

 Most especially these two.  These are the things the kids will remember.  They love having Daddy for their coach. 



Our 2012 T-Ball team.  Go Cubs!!

Wednesday, April 25, 2012

It's Over

It's done!  It's finally over.  I have spent the last 23 hours in the recliner with my foot up and, well, it sucks.  But my surgery is over and hopefully it was done correct this time and I will heal properly and in 6 weeks I will be good as new.  Let's all cross our fingers!!  No seriously, cross your fingers for me.

The surgery itself went smoothly.  They took me back to the OR room just before 8:30am.  I was talking to the nurses about the kids and the next thing I remember is waking up thinking what the heck?  I was a little confused till I felt the awful pain in my foot and that quickly brought me back to reality.  It took awhile to get my pain under control and my blood pressure was pretty high but eventually I got moved out to the larger recovery room and they brought my hubs to see me.

From what the Dr told Will all went well.  He was able to fix the joint behind my second toe and he also shortened the toe and put a screw in it.  Then on the outside he removed some scar tissue (from the previous surgery) some of the bone, and realigned the outer toe with a pin or screw or some sort of hardware.  I'll have to verify the specifics at my post op apt :)

I am in a pressure dressing right now and a walking boot.  I am not to take my bandage off at all till my apt with him on May 9.  Wow, that is a long time to keep it bandaged up.  I already went through a wicked itching spell this evening.  I hope that doesn't continue.

Since I am in the boot and it is on my right foot, I can't drive.  That will be the hardest part.  Hard to have a busy schedule like ours and not be able to drive whenever I want too.  Hopefully I heal alot quicker this time around and I can get out of the boot sooner than 6 weeks.

As for now my father-in-law is staying with us to help me out during the day with the kids.  It has been a tremendous help.  Although I sorta feel like a prisoner.  Everytime I get up I hear "where ya going?  whatcha doin?"  Don't tell him I said that though  :o)

Thursday, April 19, 2012

Doctor Update

We went to the liver specialist today for Will. He had some liver enzymes and some other lab work come back abnormal. His liver ultrasound showed a fatty liver and we were referred to a doctor who specializes in liver disorders.

We saw a Nurse Practitioner and she was absolutely awesome! She spent almost an hour talking with us. She is pretty sure that Will does not have hemachomatosis. She is not 100%. The only way to absolutely know is to have a liver biopsy. She does not want to rush into this just yet.

Our plan is to wait 3 months and then we will have his labs drawn again. If the levels are the same or have increased we will then discuss the biopsy as well as some other genetic disorders. I am happy with this plan. I am glad they don't feel like it is a big rush to stick a needle in his tummy.

As for the fatty liver, she said that is reversible if he makes some changes. The goals we have are to lose 10 lbs in the next 3 months, cut his pop intake by at least half or even completely remove it. He also needs to start exercising. If he can do all these things it may prevent the liver from getting worse.

He is to continue to eat a dairy/gluten free diet. That has really made a huge difference for him. He is to have absolutely no alcohol.

We have another appointment in 3 months and we will reevaluate at that time. I feel so much better after visiting with her today. We now have a plan and a path to follow. I am very grateful.

Wednesday, April 18, 2012

Remember that cake I said I made for Will's cousins wedding shower? Here is a picture of it. I found the idea on Pinterst and tweaked it a bit. I think it turned out ok. Not very smooth which I wanted but not sure how to achieve that. The future bride and groom were happy so that is all that matters.

I have a little anxiety right now. This morning I had my pre-op physical. I am suppose to have foot surgery next week which I am really dreading. 6 weeks in a post op boot is just going to plain suck.

We see the liver specialists tomorrow for Will. I have a whole list of questions ready to ask. I will be glad once that apt is over and we hopefully have a path to follow.

The kids have been sick. Surprise. Drew has a sinus and ear infection. Emily's eyes are goopy and nasty and her nose is constantly draining. Jake is catching it now and has a really bad cough and sinus pressure, Brodie is complaining of a sore throat. Sigh...

On a happier note I got my peas in the garden last week. I planted regular pod peas and also some sugar snap peas. This weekend I am going to try and get my spinach, carrots and lettuce planted. Not sure how the garden will hold up while I am up with my foot. Guess we will just have to see how all that plays out.

Tuesday, April 17, 2012

Reading

It's awesome watching Brodie learn to read. He recently has started sitting down and reading to his sister. He usually has to be quick though because as much as she likes being read to, you usually have to wrestle her for the book.

Sunday, April 15, 2012

Weekend

We've had another good but busy weekend. Saturday we traveled to southwest Iowa to attend a family wedding shower for Will's cousin. It was fun seeing everyone there. I was asked to make the cake. I always get nervous when someone asks me to make a cake for an event because I usually just decorate cakes for my kids birthdays. I got a new pan for Christmas from my SIL and it worked awesome. The cake turned out pretty good. I will post a picture of it once I get my camera charged.

Today we have gotten some work done around the house. It was in bad shape. We all worked together and we spent the morning cleaning and getting things put away. I feel good starting the week with a clean home. Let's hope we can keep it this way for a bit. Right now I am sitting at the library with Jake while Tony is in a 4H meeting. Will is with the 3 younger kids. They were all going to go fishing. I am excited to hear how that all went.

I am not looking forward to the weekend being over. The week ahead is looking to be a very busy one. Will is swamped at work and feeling slightly overwhelmed. He has to do some training from home which requires him to be on the phone and have it quiet. I am just hoping the weather will be nice so that we can spend a lot of time outside so we don't bother him.

Jake has track meets on Monday and Thursday nights this week. Thursday is going to be crazy because we have our first T-ball game that evening. On top of that Will has his appointment with the liver specialist that day. I am really, really looking forward to that visit.

Tuesday, April 10, 2012

Frustrations

I was really relieved when I got a phone call on Friday from the liver specialist office. I was quite impressed that they were able to get Will in on Monday afternoon. Thank goodness because I had a whole notebook page full of questions for the doc. I have been so freaked out wondering what exactly is wrong with my husband.

Monday rolled around and I had arranged care for Emily and my father was going to pick up Drew from preschool. I met Will out in West Des Moines at the specialist office. I think we were both looking forward to the apt. When we got inside the front desk lady said "oh I tried to call you. Unfortunately they scheduled you with the wrong person so we will need to reschedule." I was furious. I was nice but I made it clear that I was not happy.

So here we wait. I have no idea when the apt will be. So completely frustrating.

In the meantime my Podiatrist office called today and scheduled my foot surgery 2 weeks from today. I am kind of up in the air with what to do. I really want to wait until we have all of Will's stuff figured out. If he ends up getting a liver biopsy I will need to care for him for at least 24 hours. That will be tough if I too have to stay off of my feet.

For now I am going to keep the surgery date. Hopefully we will get in and have all the testing we need done for William in the next couple weeks. Crossing fingers.

Easter Weekend

We had a wonderful Easter weekend. It was nice to have Will home for a couple of extra days. On Friday he went on a field trip with Tony's school. The band had a clinic up at Iowa State and then got to go to Perfect Games for lunch and play time. Will was a chaperone.

Saturday morning we colored our Easter eggs. We went through 3 dozen pretty quickly.Sunday morning the kids woke us up nice and early to tell us the Easter Bunny had placed eggs outside. Everyone quickly got their coats and shoes on to head out (well Jake had a hard time getting up and moving and Emily was completely confused on what was going on).

Once everyone was outside it was a mad dash to collect eggs and find their baskets. Once all the eggs were collected we went back inside and I made French toast and scrambled eggs while the kids went through all their goodies. Emily was ready to go back to bed after all the excitement and sugar wore off. She went down for a nap and Will and I went and did some work outside. Will got the garden all tilled up. Now I am ready to put a few things into the ground. It's good to have that little project marked off the list. Later that afternoon my in-laws came down and we all headed over to my mother's for a wonderful Easter dinner. Here was my contribution. Thanks Pinterest for the cute idea!

Friday, April 6, 2012

Our Medical Drama

So we have had a run of bad luck with illness and just plain medical drama in our our house. January brought us a couple trips to the ER. Jake with his pill that got stuck in his throat requiring him to have a scope to check things out. Brodie had a severe ear infection.

The kids have all been plagued with allergy symptoms the last couple weeks. Yucky noses, cough, sore throats. Of course there is still all the drama with my unhealed foot which I am still waiting for a second surgery date on.

Through it all though my dear husband has been healthy. He is the one in the family with no medical drama. He has been silently dealing with some stomach issues. Mainly the problem was when he ate greasy food. It has progressed to include every time he ate he was getting sick. Even when I was making bland meals he was having issues.

I know that gluten intolerance is the big thing right now. Lots of people are going "glutn free" for many different reasons. It overall is a healthy diet. I started reserching the signs and symptoms of gluten allergies. My husband was fitting most of these symptoms. Finally having enough of feeling sick he requested that I make him an apt to be checked to see why all foods now were making him sick.

We went in to our family physician mainly wanting to be tested for Celiac disease. While we were there she decided to run some other lab tests. The Celiac labs all came back negative. That was good news. We still think he is gluten intolerant or sensitive. We have switched him to a gluten free diet and it has made a huge difference. We also think he may be lactose intolerant. After removing all milk products with the exception of hard cheese he is doing better.

While the Celiac labs came back good he had some other labs that were concerning. His liver enzymes were elevated as were his red blood cell counts. This lead us to an ultrasound of his liver and gallbladder. We had this done yesterday. It showed that he has a fatty liver. No lesions or cirrhosis yet so that is good. He also had some additional lab work done to try and pin point why his red blood cell count was high.

His one blood test came back very abnormal and now our next step is to see a liver specialists. We are waiting to see when that apt is.

It has been a whirlwind week for me. It's been difficult thinking that my husband could be sick since he has always been the healthy one in the family. He is my rock and I need to keep him healthy. For now we will stick with our gluten and lactose free diet for him. We will know what path we need to take once we meet with the liver doctor.

Wednesday, April 4, 2012

Update

I feel like this is the title to most of my blog posts on here lately. I have sat down numerous times to update on what has been happening in our life. If not for you than at least for myself since this is where I was hoping to journal about what has been going on.

The weather has been beautiful! Everything is in bloom. I walked around the yard the other day and snapped pictures of all the things that are growing. We have had strange weather for Spring. Things are starting to get back to normal with highs in the 60s and lows in the 40s but we have been dealing with 70s and 80s the last few weeks. It has been great both physically and emotionally to spend so much time outside. I love the outdoors and so do all of the kids.

Here is what has been going on the last month or so.

My husband made us breakfast on St. Patrick's Day morning. He had all the kids dressed in green and breakfast going before I was even out of bed. Here is what he served.The kids were super excited!

Once St. Patricks Day was over, Drew and Brodie helped me take down all the decorations and replace them with Easter decorations. We made new artwork to hang on the wall in the living room. Tony helped out with this project as well. This is actually pretty large. I should have had the kids stand by it for reference. We have gotten lots of work done outside. The garden has been cleaned out and is ready to be tilled. I am anxiously waiting to plant.Emily has learned to climb and decided that it is her new favorite thing to do. We have found her many times on top of the kitchen table as well as numerous other places. I can't leave out the chickens. They are all doing well and have enjoyed being out in this great weather too. Along with the 9 adults, we just added 4 new baby chicks. I will share more about them later. Jake is busy with track, Tony is busy with marching band practices, Brodie and Drew are busy with T-ball. Spring is going to just fly by and before we know it, summer will be here.