Two Week Post Op

I had my two week check up last Monday.  I was hoping the doctor would tell me I was doing so well and that because things were better in my hip then he thought that I would be able to ditch my crutches.  Unfortunately for me that was not the case.  His response to my question was , "6 weeks and not one day less.".  So then I started to ask him questions about what I could do but before I even finished my questions he interrupted with, "don't even ask me.  You can't do anything."  That makes him sound mean but it was actually quite funny.  He told me he already spoke to Jason on the day of the surgery and told him that he was going to have to hold me back.  It made me laugh because he doesn't even know me yet he seems to know me quite well.  Sitting around doing nothing is driving me bonkers.  I can already see my right thigh starting to atrophy.  I do get though that in order to heal properly and get back to activity I need to just chill and let my body heal. If I try to do to much I am just going to make my recovery even longer.

Anyway, my stitches are out and I'm waiting for the steri strips to fall off.  I have been cleared to drive and now I can go in a pool/lake/ocean if I want.  I can't actually swim yet but I can just go in and stand to cool off. I go back to the doctor in 5 weeks from today and then maybe he will clear me to start riding a stationary bike for a short amount of time.  I will definitely get clarity on what that means so that I will have an exact number so that I don't overdo it.  I have my good days and my bad days.  My pain is minimal at this point but there is just a general discomfort and achy-ness.  I can sit up/bend at 90 degrees but sitting on hard surfaces is difficult.  I can't just move my leg the way I want so I can't get up and down and do anything I want.  The other main issue is how quickly I become exhausted.  I get that my body is using its energy to heal my hip but it is still shocking to me how tired I get.  I trimmed watson's hair yesterday and bathed him and then had to lie down for the rest of the afternoon.  I was so tired I couldn't even think straight.  My bad days are generally at night when I'm tired and become overwhelmed with how long it will be before I'm recovered so my "bad" days are more mentally bad than physically bad.

I'll keep you posted along my journey.  Hopefully things continue to improve with no set backs.

Trip to Grammie and Grandpa's house

The girls finished up school and had a couple days off before they headed off to Maine to spend time with Grammie and Grandpa over the 4th of July.  They had a fantastic time.  Ali had a slight fever one day but it was short lived thankfully.  Sofia headed into a bead shop with her Grammie to make jewelry.  She made a couple bracelets and a couple rings and did a nice job on them.  I will have to find some place local to bring the girls again this summer since she really seemed to enjoy it.  They went to a local farm to try to pick strawberries but the field was already picked over for the day but they did manage to get funky tie-dye t-shirts from the farm.  I think the highlight for them was going to the lake.  Grammie and Grandpa have a friend with a house on a lake and they spent one afternoon there.  Fortunately Grammie and Grandpa's friends had their grand kids for a visit as well so the girls had kids their age to play with.  Sofia made good friends with Grace (age 12) and Ali played with the younger boy.  They went out on a boat and jumped in the water and swam to a floating dock.  They definitely had fun.

While the kids were away Jason and I did not do much.  We did manage to get out to eat a couple times which was nice and we took a drive to Rockport, MA.  We had never been to Rockport before and I had heard it was suppose to be a cute village.  It was really cute.  We spent a couple hours just walking up/down one road since I'm quite slow on my crutches but it was nice to finally be out of the house.  We then went to Lat 43 restaurant in Gloucester which is one of my favorite restaurants.  The seafood is so fresh and I love sitting outside right on the harbor. We sent Sofia a picture so she could see where we were eating and she wants to go so I'm sure we will be back there again a few times this summer.

Piano Recital

Sofia had her second piano recital on June 28th.  I wasn't sure if I would be able to go but I did manage to get there which was nice.  Jason captured her playing (image is blurry).  She had a couple errors but overall played great.

Surgery

The day finally came for my hip surgery.  I had prepared everything as much as possible.  Schedules written out, meals prepped and put in freezer, laundry done, house clean...everything I could think of to make life a little easier once I was out of commission.  When the hospital called me on Friday to tell me the time of my surgery was the first time it was REAL.  I felt sick with worry.  What if it went horribly wrong? Was my leg going to be hideously bruised and ugly? How long was it going to really hurt? What if it was worse than they thought? On and on my scary thoughts rolled.  My surgery was scheduled for 7AM, the first of the day.  I needed to be there by 6:00AM to get all prepped.  My friend Margaret is awesome and arrived at my house at 5:15AM so she could be there to get my kids up, fed and off to school for me.  At this point most of my fear had subsided and I just wanted to get it over with.  The nurses were very nice and got me ready.  They gave me some drugs and put the IV in and the Doctor came and asked me some questions.  Jason asked him some questions and gave him his mobile number and was sent out to the waiting room.  The next thing I remember was someone telling me to open my eyes and wake up.  It was so strange.  I did open my eyes and somehow got dressed and wheeled in a wheel chair out to our car.  When my mom asked me days later how I got dressed after the surgery I realized that I had no idea.  I guess I was functioning while completely drugged.  I don't really remember getting out of the building or how I got in the car either.  I don't remember much of anything about the day of surgery.

Since the day after surgery I remember most of what has gone on but to be honest now that I'm off the narcotics I can look back and say I was not all there while on them.  The doctor did say that it was better in my hip than he thought it would be.  He did not have to shave the bone at all.  The labrum was in pretty good shape so he repaired it without any problems.  They gave me crutches and said to use them and walk flat footed weight bearing as tolerated.  I would say that I have not had sharp pains but general achey-ness.  I can put a fair amount of weight on my right leg without any issue.  My knee and quad or very stiff I assume from the traction used on my leg.  My heels get pressure sores on them from not moving in bed so I'm finding ways to keep them off the couch and sheets to let those irritated spots heal.  I'm off the pain meds completely now and only take Tylenol when needed.  Sleeping is more frustrating now that I'm off the pain meds and I have started sleeping on my good side with a pillow between my legs but overall I'm not sleeping well because I don't have the freedom to move around.

So, 8 days after surgery I'm doing pretty well.  I had six incisions with five of them being stitched.  They are itchy now.  My legs is achey but overall not bad.  I'm off drugs.  I'm sooooooo bored! I still can't drive and I'm slow to get around.  I tire pretty quickly and I'm getting frustrated that this won't just be better in 2 weeks!  I'm not good with just sitting and doing nothing.

Poetry Reading

Ali's class worked on poetry this year.  They spent time writing a lot of poetry and Ali really seemed to enjoy it.  Her teacher held a poetry reading in class.  Ali read one poem that she wrote by herself and one poem she read with her friend Maggie that they had written together.  It was very cute.  Ali was super nervous about getting up in front of everyone to read her poem but she did it.  The first video is a little hard to hear but enjoy...

Happy 8th Birthday Ali!

Ali turned 8!  How can she possibly be eight years old??  So weird that my babies are growing up!

Ali has been deciding what to do to celebrate her birthday since she finished her 7th birthday party.  The options kept changing and I just listened at all the options she put out there and waited.  As her birthday approached I needed a decision.  She asked if she could have a sleepover.  I told her she could but only with two friends.  There was no way I was having 5 or more girls sleeping over.  I really didn't think she would do it with only two kids but she did.  She was so excited to invite her two best friends, Maggie and Paigie.  The sleepover went great.  The girls all played well together.  We had pizza, painted nails, ate cake, watched a movie and had popcorn before the girls headed up to bed.



Surprisingly they only stayed up until about 10:30.  They woke up around 6:15 but kept the house rule and stayed in their room until 7AM.  As Ali requested I made my cinnamon rolls for breakfast so the girls were happy.  I even made the really big ones as Ali requested.  Paigie and Maggie had to have the rest of their wrapped up to take home they were so big!

After breakfast and getting dressed we headed outside for more playtime.  The girls and I had some handstand contests and then Jason broke out boochie.  The girls and Jason played boochie until parents arrived.  It was a great birthday for Ali and the easiest party for me.

Happy 40th Jason

This year Jason turned 40!!  It is hard to believe but he is 40!  I asked him what he wanted to do to celebrate and he wasn't really into having a party.  He didn't seem to be that bothered by turning 40.  I felt that it needed to have some kind of significance though so I tried to find something to make it stand out.  I found a company that would give him the option of driving either a Ferrari or Lamborghini around a track at Gillette.  That seemed like a good gift and I was right.  He was very happy to get that present.  He will get seven laps while being video taped.  He will have his drive at the end of August.  I will definitely post again once he has his chance to drive.

Sporting Activities

Not only did we see professional sports games the girls continued all their sporty activities.  Sofia had swim practice as usual and another swim meet.  Her swim meet happen to fall on Father's day so Jason got to celebrate Father's Day a day early with the Paw Sox game.  Ali continues loving gymnastics and is constantly getting better.  I lucked out and finally found a gym bar on craig's list and was fast enough to get it.  Of course it meant I have to drive to Connecticut to pick it up but less than half price was worth it!

While the marathon fitness challenge is over for the girls school the kids still wanted to run the Timlin 5K race.  I couldn't run it with them and with Jason's calf strain he couldn't run it either but they decided to run it on their own.  I can't believe my babies are able to run a 5K race by themselves!  They found a friend to stand with in the start line along with Jason and I went about a mile down the course to snap pictures.  The friend was planning on running a slower pace so I was curious if the girls would slow down or if they would stay on their own target.  I'm happy to say that they raced their own race.  They did awesome and beat their time from last year by 3 minutes.
Ali had some lace issues (they kept coming untied even with double knots) and her feet also started to cramp at mile 2.  I guess she was right when she told me her shoes were too small.  Oops!  They did great and had a lot of fun.

Here they are after the finish line all hot and sweaty and proud to have completed it on their own!  My girlfriend was watching the race with her daughter and has inspired her daughter to want to run the race with them next year.  I'm so proud of my babies!!

Pro Sports Games

The town soccer gets tickets for the New England Revolution but we had never gone.  This summer we decided to go to a game.  It was fun to go and sit with people from our town and it was fun for all of us to see our first professional soccer game.  The Revolution play at Gilette so the girls and I had our first trip to the stadium.  I must say the field looks much bigger on tv then it does in person.  We had the perfect weather for the soccer game and the girls had fun between watching the game and hanging out with their friends.

For Father's Day I decided to get tickets for the Paw Sox.  The girls had their change to go to their first professional baseball game.  I haven't been to McCoy Stadium since I was a kid but it really is a lot of fun.  The park is small and all the seats are good so the girls really had a nice view of the field.  I was very watchful as I remember my friend getting hit in the eye with a ball when we were kids so I kept reminding the girls to watching the ball.  I was thinking of ways to have the girls focus on the hitter and started to discuss how most players do something every time they hit.  Sofia was very quick to pick up on it and was quicker than me to pick up on one of the players.  She thought it was funny that they do it so it kept her interested.  Just at the end of the game a ball came our way.  Fortunately for us but unfortunately for the lady two seats down, the ball hit her in the eye! The upside is that the kids will definitely listen when I tell them to keep their eye on the ball now.  Even with the rather tough ending we all had a great night at the ball park.

Crazy June

June has been crazy!  I read a very funny blog post  HERE. It gave me a good laugh and made me feel not quite so inept.  I figure it gave me a free ride to slack on my blog as well. HAHA.  Anyway, here we go....

Bee Model - Why do kids have to build a model as a project?  Couldn't they just draw a bee and label it?  What about good old fashion memorization?  Oh well...as in the blog above I am the daily grind and Jason is the project person.  He enjoys the projects and really has fun with the kids putting the projects together.  He allows the kids to really do the project.  I on the other hand, hate projects and when I have to be involved my only goal is to get it done as fast as possible.  I recognize that that is not always in line with the kids learning so Jason does the projects.  Sofia has to make a model of a bee.  I bought the craft items that Jason listed and then washed my hands of it until the last moment when the glue gun was required.  As Jason had never used a glue gun I figured I would be helpful and take on the 3rd degree burn on my finger instead!  Don't worry Sofia had an awesome bee and my finger is almost healed 3 weeks later!

Water Slide - We haven't had a ton of nice days this June but when we had a nice sunny day the girls made the best of it.  The kids can really have fun doing anything and I'm always so happy when I see their imaginations as work.  They really love playing with the hose and under Jason's supervision they decided to make a water slide.  I decided to see where it led.  Fortunately no one got hurt but gotta love the dangers of a red-neck slide.