Thursday, September 13, 2012

Big Bessie is gone....

I had my two week post surgery follow up today.  The doctor was pleased and said everything looked great!  I didn't think it looked so "great", but I guess my version of "great" and his are different.  


Big Bessie was cut off.  I couldn't believe how much padding was in this cast.  No wonder it was so HUGE and heavy.  



The first view I got after Bessie came off.  There is quite a bit of bruising but not nearly as much as I thought there would be considering they fished up the whole side of my foot to get the tendon from my big toe.  Notice the lovely incision on my calf.  That's gonna be a nice little scar.. 



After airing it out a bit, they took the stitches out.  Notice my nice hairy legs....


Another beauty...


Still so pretty....


On goes cast #2


Purple this time....


The final product.  MUCH lighter and smaller then Big Bessie. This cast will need a new name.  I will be taking suggestions.   
They have moved my foot to a "neutral" position, which means they have pushed my foot up to stretch out my achilles tendon.  The doctor said I would be cursing him later today because it will hurt like the dickens.  So far it's ok...thanks to Lortab I'm sure. 









Monday, September 3, 2012

When all else fails...

When all else fails, hug your dog!

Sunday, September 2, 2012

4 days post surgery

Achilles tendon decompression and debridement with flexor hallucis longus 
transfer and gastrocnemius extention. 

According to my surgery paperwork...that is what I had done on Wednesday.

My translation:  A very long and painful surgery with lots of incisions.  


Surgery was scheduled for 10:45.  I was supposed to arrive at the hospital at 9:45.  At 9:00, my phone rang and it was the nurse telling me that Dr Faux was already way behind so I didn't need to arrive until 11:00.  I thought that only an hour behind wasn't bad so I continued to watch a little tv and waited to head to the hospital.  We arrived at the hospital at 11:00, got the IV placed and then began to wait, and wait, and wait.  There were still two surgeries ahead of me...so we waited.  FOREVER!  Finally at 2:30 they arrived to put the block in my leg and by 3:00 I was being wheeled to the OR.  

I then went to sleep under a warm blanket, and woke up under a warm blanket.  I love that part! 

I awoke to my new friend "Big Bessie".  Bessie is the biggest cast I've ever seen.  I swear she weighs 20 lbs.  And yes, Bessie is pink.  Let's just say that a small hospital doesn't have many colors to choose from....




Because of all the tendons that were taken out of my toes.  The cast has to go high enough so that my toes are immobile too.  Libby was here the other night and I asked her if my toes were in there.  She grabbed my phone and took a picture and said "yep, and here, you can see them"  


It has been a pretty painful recovery so far.  I thought I was doing so well, and feeling so good until the nerve block wore off.  Then I wanted to die!  

Today the pain is better and is under control for most of the time.  Until I have to get up for the bathroom or something.  :)  I'm stuck down in my bed for another 2 days and then I finally will be able to leave my bedroom and go see my kitchen, or living room...and hopefully by the middle of next week I will be able to see outside again.  

The original recovery plan was 2 weeks with a cast and no weight bearing and then 12 weeks of a walking boot.  After the surgery when the doc saw how bad it was and had to do so much more repair then he expected, the recovery plan is now 4 weeks non weight bearing and about 6 months in a walking boot.  As long as this will fix me for good, I will do whatever it takes!  

I've had a lot of visitors and meals brought in every night.  I have the best family and friends and it's times like these that I realize just how blessed I am.  

Some of my favorite visitors:


London came to paint my toenails.  She was a bit sad that she couldn't paint the nails on my bad foot, but she did an awesome job on my other foot.  


McCall came and sat by me and made me laugh.  She is such a funny girl and got a hold of my chocolate licorice.  She loves it!  Just like her Aunt Kim!  

And now we continue on the recovery...one day at a time....

AND, I'm still taking donations of diet coke and chocolate!  





Wednesday, August 22, 2012

Here we go again....


For the third time....next Wednesday the 29th I go under the knife again.  I get another cast (maybe pink) :) and back on crutches.  Dr Faux, pretty please...fix me for good!  

He is going to detach my achilles, clean up some diseased tendon, grab tendons from my big toe, rebuild the achilles, reanchor with new anchors, and then go in and do some muscle repair on my calf muscle.  Apparently I have "powerful" calf muscles and unless he loosens it some, my Achilles will never heal.  Sound like a party?  

I will be taking donations of Diet Coke and chocolate beginning on Thursday the 30th.  :)

These pictures tell you how excited I am :)

Surgery #1







Surgery #2






And a picture to remind Teddi to not follow in my footsteps again!  :)
But we sure had  fun with all the looks we got and the many stories we made up of what happened to us.  The three legged race was my favorite!  



Just start calling me "Gimpy" again.  

Saturday, March 3, 2012

Date time!

Every once in a while I take my favorite girls on a date. Libby and London are getting old enough now that it's really fun and they have a great time. I've spent the last two saturdays doing the "dates".

McCall's date was the easiest. It consisted of laying on the couch, drinking a bottle, sleeping, a bit of crying and some playing. She is getting so big and is so fun!

London's date was next on the list. We started a build a bear where she created her new friend "Sparkles". As you can see, Sparkles needed silk pj's, slippers and a sleeping bag. Since Aunt Kim doesn't say no very well, Sparkles got it all!

After build a bear it was off to Iggy's for dinner. London was in heaven with the HUGE ice cream sundae that came as part of her kids meal.

Today was Libby's "date". She also wanted to go to build a bear where she created "Daisy". When asked how she picked the name Daisy she said, "duh Kim, can't you see she is covered in daisy's?" I guess I missed the obvious.


Libby putting in the information for Daisy's birth certificate. I can't believe Libby is getting old enough to do most things by herself. She didn't want any help filling out the information.



Libby's dinner was at Brick Oven. She loves pizza!

We had a GREAT time on our dates. I always love spending time with the girls!


Friday, February 24, 2012

Happy Birthday London!

I'm a bit late, but better late than never!

London had a birthday on February 9th. She turned 5!



Here is the annual birthday video.