Complications

So, we ran into a slight bump in the road to recovery this week. It started Wednesday night. When I got home from seeing baby Bentley I had what I thought was just a horrible cramp in my calf. That night and the next morning I tried everything from heat, ice, massage, icy hot etc. and nothing was giving me any relief. So the next day I called Matt's mom Lynn. She is a physical therapist and has an ultrasound machine at her work, so I called to see if she would u/s it for me to help break it up. Her reaction kinda freaked me out - she said no way, she wouldn't touch it until I had it looked at to make sure it's not a blood clot! Ummm - okay!

So I called the docs office (it was about 2 in the afternoon) and they said they didn't have anyone in right then, but to come in first thing Friday morning. So, I went to the doc (surgeon), both he and his PA say "i highly doubt it's a blood clot, it seems more like muscle, but the only way to tell is by an ultrasound"

So, off to the hospital I go to get me an ultrasound. I walk into the u/s room and the girl doing it says "hey, my best friend is a Cantwell, do you know Sally?" Turns out it is Bryce and Sally's next door neighbor and good friend Jess! So she does her thing,basically running the u/s from groin to ankle and compressing the veins in various spots to see how they react. She doesn't find anything but has to have someone "check her work" because of how new she is. The other lady comes in, said everything looks great - then scans thru the pics one last time and says "wait, that looks weird - let's recheck that". Sure enough - blood clot. Aparantly it's in a vein they don't normaly check - but part of it just happened to get caught on the picture (and it was where my pain was). They they do a bunch more stuff and then call the doc (i'm not allowed to leave until the doc says so). So, not only is it in a weird vein, but it's also very deep, whatever that means.

So they call the doc and he doesn't even know what to do! He's not sure if I should be admitted or not. So he calls one of his good doctor friends. THANKFULLY I did not have to be admitted, but I was sent immediately over to the office of this doctor friend (his office was in the hospital).

So, doctor friend tells me that I have to go on blood thinners - one is a pill that is slow acting (coumadin), and one is a abdominal shot that is fast acting (lovenox). Goes on and on about the list of do's and don't - no aspirin, no IB Profen, aleve, advil etc. Try not to bump or cut myself, don't rub it, no heat, don't stretch it etc. etc. Then he gets into the fun stuff like any numbness, shortness of breath, slurred speech etc. go straight to the ER. I can still do my therapy exercises tho, and can still walk on it (well, if you want to call it walking - i would call it more hobbling clumsily, but whatever).

I picked up my Rx at the hospital pharmacy b/c they have this Lovenox stuff in stock when most pharms don't. And i go over to my friend's new house (they moved out this AM) and she walks me thru giving myself my first shot. I'm such a wuss, but I did it! I also started the coumadin last night too. I go back in monday for a check of my blood levels to see if I need to keep doing the injections or if the pill will be enough.

Crazy stuff. So, here I sit, in horrible pain not because of any part of the surgery, but because I got a freaking BLOOD CLOT! That's not supposed to happen! I'm not old, or fat, or sitting around on my butt all day! GRRR. So anyway, this little glitch is one that will take a few months to fix, and in the meantime, I gotta be careful to not cut myself shaving or anything!

Welcome to the world Bentely Dean!

I have a new nephew! Matt's little brother Bryce and his wife Sally had their first baby in the early hours of yesterday morning. Poor Sally (and Bentely) and a really rough birth experience, but he's here and they're both healthy! 6 lbs 6 oz 19" and one of the cutest kids around!

We are so excited to have kids in that side of the family that aren't ours! And there's one more on the way - Yay for Brad and Savs and their new baby boy!

Now - if only we could work on getting some more girls in the family!

Oh okay, I guess I can wait a few more years!

4-6 more weeks!

I just went for my post-op apt today. I have to wear this stupid t-rom brace for another 4-6 more weeks! AAGGGHHH. I am supposed to "gradually wean myself from the crutches" but keep the brace on b/c i'm not allowed to bend past 90* for 4-6 more weeks because if i do it will pop out the stitch that is in there and we'll have to do this whole process over again! loverly!

So, that's the latest on me! Aren't you glad you know?

Crutches are NO FUN!

I had my knee surgery on Friday. UGH. Turns out there was one meniscal tear, in the back of my meniscus - which meant a little more, um, manuvering of my knee if you will. And because of where it was I now have a lovely T-Rom brace that goes from my ankle to almost my hip and only allows me to bend it to whatever degree the doc sets it at (which happens to be 90* right now, but I haven't gotten anywhere near that). It wasn't as bad as it could have been, because the MRI showed that there were two possible tears and my pcl looked "abnormal" but the doc checked everything out and only found the one tear. So, that's good. But - at the same time, IT FRIGGIN HURTS. My best friend Joan is an OR tech so she was explaining to me how they had to get to where the tear was, and what odd and inhuman angles I was probably bent at, and it's no wonder i'm so sore and swollen! No one should have to know what happened to them while they were out (i'm kidding!).

So anyway, I can put as much pressure as is comfortable while my brace is on, but absolutely NO pressure on it while the brace is off. I have to sleep with the brace on so if I need to get up in the middle of the night I don't put pressure on it, or roll onto it etc. But can I just say, I am absolutely HORRIBLE at crutches. I've never done them before, and it is no fun at all. I can't get up the stairs on them at all, and down isn't so good either. Good thing we have a rambler and my room is on the main level.

But I'm not all sure what is going on. I don't know if it's the meds or what, but when I stand up I get really light headed if I am standing/moving for more than about a minute. I'm on 2 Lortab every 6 hours, and honestly they don't do much for the pain. Today I have felt very nauseated and dizzy as well. So I took a nap and finally got up the courage to take a shower (with matt's help, of course). I can't put pressure on my knee, so I have to just basically lean against the shower wall for support and washed my upper body and let matt wash my legs etc. So there I was leaning against the wall of the shower and next thing I know my vision is starting to disappear from the outside to the inside, and I pass out. Not completely, I can still hear matt, but I can't hold my head up, and i'm just leaning in the corner of the shower. Matt gets me rinsed off and out of the shower and once I sit down for a little bit I'm fine again, just really tired.

Not sure what all that is about, but I guess I'll put a call into the doctor's office tomorrow. It might be side effects from the meds, but if Matt goes back to work I can't be on meds that are gonna make me pass out - but I also cannot be off pain meds and hurting so badly either. So I don't know what's going to happen...but either way, IT SUCKS.

The sound of silence....

it's like music to my ears! LOL

I'm here holding down the seven-child fort for a couple hours and EVERY SINGLE KID IS ASLEEP! Whoo hoo!

I think I might try to catch a little snooze on the couch myself!

Things are about to get a little crazy!

So, we have six people in our family. We fit nicely into our new home - 2850 SF. Finished basement, lots of playing room etc. Well - for the next few weeks all that is about to change.

My best friend Joan and her family are being evicted because the owners want to move back in. They are trying to buy a house of their own, and have put down four different offers on four different house - even went as far as having one accepted only to have the inspector find mold and homeowners refused to fix it. So, as of this weekend they will be homeless until they can find another place. Matt and I offered our house as a place for them, and their three kids, to stay! So we'll now have 11 people living in our house - seven of them children with the oldest being six. All boys except Maveri, ages 6,5,4,3,2,1 and infant!

Should be fun - if not interesting! but at least I'll have some more help after my surgery next week!

Long Time, No Blog....

Well, it looks as though I am a blog-slacker. Oh well, that's life. So here's the latest on us.

Matt turned 30 in June. That's always fun, LOL.

Matt is also getting laid off, SUCKS. They are moving his job to phoenix, and we don't want to move to phoenix. They said the move will take place sometime between now and Nov. 1st. Guess when we're supposed to go to Disneyland? If you guessed Nov. 1st you're close....Oct. 31st. So now everything is up in the air - from Matt's job, to our trip etc. He's applying like a mad man, but with the economy the way it is, and the fact that he's one class away from having his degree......ugh.

Relay For Life was first weekend in June. That went really well, despite the rain. RFL is always a "highlight" of our year, and the kids especially love "when we get to sleep on the football field".

Our Princess turned one on July 12th. I can't believe she is one. It's even harder to believe it because of her size. The girl is tiny. We had her one year check up today. She only weighs 18.4 lbs (10%), but she is somewhat long at 29.1" (60%), so I guess long and skinny is a good thing for a little girl to be. She's still the cutest darn thing I've ever seen.

And in other news - I'm scheduled for Knee surgery on August. Right before RFL something not-so-good happened to my knee and it's been hurting on and off ever since. The MRI report reads "two places with a possible meniscus tear and an abnormal PCL" so seeing as that is clear as mud the doc is going to do an exploratory scope to see what, if anything, there is to fix and get it overwith. My other option was to try therapy for four months and see if that helped, but with the whole layoff thing we may not have insurance - and especially not this killer awesome insurance we have not - in four months, so we decided to go ahead with the scope now. Oh boy - let me just tell you how excited I am to spend the rest of the summer recouping from knee surgery. sigh....

So that's about it for us for the moment. Some major life-events taking place and everything is once again as it should be - total chaos.