January 20, 2012 4th Post Op for Foot

On Friday January 20th, I went to check if the pin was ready to come out and to get the fourth bandage change.  Guess what...the pin was finally ready!  Woot, woot!!  When he wiggled it, it did not hurt at all.  When he pulled it out, it didn't hurt, but I felt a lot of pressure.  It only bled a little.  Then he took x-rays to make sure it was healing up properly before he could tell me if I could start bearing weight on it again.  The x-rays came out so well, he said I could bear all my weight on it if I could stand it.  After finally seeing the post op x-ray, I finally saw exactly what he did to my foot...ouch...it was a lot more than I thought.  Not only did he cut the bone on the side of the foot that was sticking out, but he actually cut my entire big toe bone off and moved it to be straight and the pin was placed in to hold it straight until the bone healed in place properly.  As the bone healed, it pushed the pin out of the bone and when it was completely pushed out of the bone, it was ready to be pulled out.  So 3 weeks and 2 days it took for my bone to heal.  The pin was about 2 inches long inside the foot.  Jason forgot to take a picture of that.  They asked me if I wanted to take it home and I said, "no thanks!"  I started walking with my crutches and bearing weight on my foot, but my muscles were seizing up on me...they hadn't been used in over 3 weeks and they did not like being used again.  I'm sure this will get better with time.  My goal is to be off the crutches and just use the walking shoe starting Monday.  We'll see if that happens or not.  That night after the pin came out they told me it would start to hurt because the pin came out and they bandaged it to pull my big toe to the right to be straight.  Well, they weren't lying.  Around 4:30 pm the pain started becoming intense, so I took one pain pill.  Around 5:40 pm the pain was getting more intense so I took another.  The pain pills were not touching the pain, so every 5 hours until 4:00 am, I would take two pain pills.  It is now 3:00 pm the next day and I have not had any pain medicine since 4:00 am.  I think the pain is settled down and they told me I would feel relief today, and so I am.  I went to Michael's to get some supplies for Kaylyn's science project board and did okay walking around with my crutches.  I tried to be bold a few times and not use my crutches, but I would almost collapse, so I'll wait a little longer for this ;-)

3rd Post Op for Foot

The third post op visit for my foot was on Friday January 13th. Visit was to to see if pin was ready to come out and change the bandages. Unfortunately, the pin was not ready to come out, but is definitely getting closer. Notice in the first couple of pictures how close the pin is to the skin and then the doc came in and moved it as shown in the last picture really well how it is no longer close to the skin. Ouch...could definitely tell the pin was still in the bone. Tried to go without a pain pill that night...biggest mistake ever. No sleep because the pain became intense and ended up taking the pain pill at 2:30 am, but it was too late. Every time I would finally start to doze, I dreamed I was walking on my foot in pain. Pin should come out next week though, so hopefully I will be scooter free after next Friday and be able to walk some on it.

Later that evening we had some friends, the Hare family, come over that just moved into our neighborhood.  We got some barbeque from Smokey Bones.  Jason got the bright idea to warm up the food in the oven.  Well, that would have been fine except the food was all in styrofoam and paper.  Well, the styrofoam melted and the paper started to burn.  Luckily nothing caught fire and the meats were all in the paper that was in the styrofoam, so none of it melted on the meats.  The corn and beans were a different story.  Nobody ate those except Jason, even after we warned him of the dangers.  It was a really fun evening and the kids had a lot of fun playing together.

January 11, 2012 CCA's School Spelling Bee

Well, we got an email and letter home on Friday January 6 stating that Kaylyn was one of the two winners in her class to move on to the school Spelling Bee and we were invited to come watch.  So, on Wednesday January 11th, we went to the school to watch the 4th - 8th graders compete in the school's Spelling Bee.  Kaylyn ended up doing well and was the runner up for the school.  She won a year's subscription to an online Encyclopedia.  The word she missed was clemency...she spelled it clemancey.  I barely knew how to spell it.  I felt for all the kids in the 3rd round because a lot of hard words came out of that round...even ones I had never heard before.  She was so nervous she kept pausing and taking deep breaths.  The winner was a 7th grade boy.  We were so proud of Kaylyn!

Friday January 6, 2012 2nd Bandage Change

Before going into detail about my doctor's visit today, let me tell you about Kaylyn & Ashlyn.  Kaylyn had her post pneumonia check up today with her pediatrician.  She still hears a little cracklin in her left lung, but sounds like it's on the mend.  So the doctor asks if everyone else at home is healthy...and of course I say yes.  Then I went to drop off Kaylyn to GEMS and I see Ashlyn looking miserable, as if she just cried, at GEMS.  At the end of GEMS I felt her and she felt really hot, so I told Jason to drop by with the thermometer and tylenol.  She of course has a 102 fever and her throat hurts and she has green snot.  So Jason takes her to urgent care since it is now 5:00 pm and waits for 2 hours to be seen.  They do a strep culture, but automatically prescribe amoxicilin because of her heart murmur anyways. Still waiting for the results of the strep test as of Saturday morning as I'm writing this, but luckily she reacts well with Tylenol and it keeps the fever down, unlike Kaylyn.

I went to go get my 2nd bandage change & stitches removed.  They tugged on the pin to see if it was ready to come out yet.  It becomes very loose when it is ready, and mine was a little loose.  So another week with the pin, but the sutures came out.  Have to go without bearing weight on my foot for another week until the pin comes out.  Since the crutches started really irritating my sides, Jason went out during lunch last Wednesday and came back with a knee scooter.  I prop my knee up on the scooter and push it around with my good leg.  It is very embarrassing because everybody sees me on it and laughs along with questioning the usage.  All my co-workers want to "pimp my ride".  I don't care that much though because it is way more comfortable to use than the crutches!  I'll have to post a picture of me on the scooter so you can see it.  Pain is better, but I can feel the pin constantly tugging and moving, which is apparently a good sign meaning the bone is healing and trying to push the pin out.  If I don't keep my foot elevated enough during the day, my leg & foot swell some.  Dr. Wilson is a very good podiatrist if anyone else is looking at doing this surgery.  After the pin comes out hopefully next Friday, I can start bearing weight on my foot again and will only have bandages on for one more week after that (since there will be a hole in my foot from where the pin once was).  I still have some numbness in my big toe, which will most likely come back within a few months.

 I can't wait to wash the yes off my foot! Taking stitches out, which was a little painful on some

New Year's Eve 2011 & New Year's Day 2012

During the day on New Year's Eve, Nana & Papa came to our house to exchange Christmas gifts.  I'm so glad they got to come since we didn't get to see them on Christmas Eve due to Kaylyn's pneumonia.  The girls got a movie & outfits.  Mommy & Daddy also got outfits.  Later that evening we went to church and after church we went to Marble Slab Creamery and got ice cream with the Sprinkly family.  After ice cream everyone came back to our house to bring in the New Year.  Everyone was tired, especially the kids almost falling asleep, but everyone came to the main room to watch the countdown/ball drop on tv.  Then we toasted with sparkling grape juice!  It was lots of fun and we are very thankful to have friends like the Sprinkles!

December 30, 2011 Uncle Bob & Cousin John Visit

After I got my first bandage change, as shown by the disgusting pictures in below's post, and I got my allergy shots for the week, we headed over to Wai-gong & Wai-po's house.  Uncle Bob was down from Pennsylvania and cousin John was down from Indiana visiting.  It was nice to see Uncle Bob who hadn't met Ashlyn yet and we hadn't seen John in a year.  Jason fished most of the time, while I sat with my foot propped up the entire time.  Ashlyn caught a trout and daddy caught some lady fish and trout.  Kaylyn, Ashlyn, & Shyanne wrote a play and acted it out for everyone.  It was cute & funny!

Uncle Bob really like the app on my Nook...Miss Spell's Class.  Since he's a writer & spells well, he played it until he got an A.