Back Surgery

Back in May I fell running and hit my hip hard but I felt ok after so didn't really think about it much.  The next day after teaching spin I went to crossfit and my back killed by the time I finished class.  I took a couple of weeks off to let it heal then again a few weeks after I was back running, spinning and doing crossfit I threw my back out worse than I ever have in my life.  I couldn't put pressure on either of my legs and Todd pretty much carried me out of the gym and got me into bed.  After a few days of my mom working on my back I was able to walk and function.  I got an MRI which showed bulging discs on both the right and left side at L4, L5 and S1. 

Todd and Eric gave me a blessing (Eric's first time to give a blessing) and in it they said that I would be able to deal with the pain and that the people taking care of me would know what to do for a full recovery.  Not exactly what I wanted to hear but it was exactly what I needed.  For about 6 weeks I worked through the pain as best I could.  I got through Cancun with very little pain but no matter what the pain in my left leg and numbness in my left lower leg and toes wouldn't go away. 

On July 4th I went to the gym and could tell something just wasn't right so I didn't finish my workout and when I got home I just laid down and tried to relax.  All day my leg hurt so bad.  Finally that night I took 2 muscle relaxers hoping that a good night sleep would help my back feel better.  Around 1:00 am I woke up in excruciating pain and sent Todd a text that said "i need you".  I couldn't get comfortable and was just laying there crying.  I tried heat, ice, moving, changing positions, everything I could think of that had worked over the past 2 months.  Nothing helped everything just kept getting worse.  We finally decided it was time to go the ER.  Todd was helping me pull up my sweat pants in the bathroom and I passed out.  He said I was out for about 10 seconds and twitching.  When I came to Todd was smacking my cheek and yelling my name right in front of my face.  I couldn't remember where I was or how long I had been asleep.  I remember it feeling so peaceful when I was passed out and when I came to I was completely lethargic.  Eric came over to watch the girls (the boys were in Vegas for the weekend with my parents) and we got to the ER just before 2:00 am.  It took about an hour to get checked in and then they managed my pain so I could wait to hear what the surgeon on call wanted to do in the morning.  It was so nice to be out of pain.  The drugs made me nauseous and I threw up a few times but for the most part I just slept off and on for a few hours.  Poor Todd had to try to get sleep in the chair in the ER.

Once Dr. Reichman (the best neurosurgeon in Utah) got in he sent me to get another MRI and then they moved me upstairs to the orthopedic floor.  I stayed there all day Saturday and my surgery was scheduled for Sunday morning. Todd stayed with me and took great care of me.  Megan was with me so much and hooked me up with great nurses my entire stay.  Sunday morning Todd and Megan came to be with me for my surgery.  At 10:00 am a cute couple brought in the sacrament and gave us a short message.  Todd even blessed the water.  Then at 10:45 they took me down to pre-op.  I almost didn't get my surgery though because of taking the sacrament!  Thank goodness they said it would be ok.  Before the knocked me out they gave me versaid so I wouldn't remember anything and when they came in to talk to me Todd said I was being very funny.  The nurse asked me if I had any teeth, jewelry or body piercings that could be removed and I said "I'd rather you leave them all in" (meaning my teeth).  Then she asked if I was wearing any undergarments and I said "nope just this hosptial gown and you can have it, it unties in the back".  Then they wheeled me off to surgery.

According to the doctor  the surgery went perfect.  And when I woke up I wasn't in pain at all.  I would be at the hospital one more day.  I had lots of fun visitors over the 2 days.  And once I was off pain medication started getting some serious reading done. 

 

 

Once I got home all I could do was lay flat and stand up.  I couldn't sit for more than a couple of minutes.  I took a full 2 weeks off work and didn't leave the house at all.  Except for short walks around the block.  My family and friends and ward took such good care of me.  I had dinners brought in for 2 straight weeks and it was such a blessing.  I had a few bad days the first week (I even passed out again because my head hurt so bad) but only needed pain pills about 5 times and feel great now.  Todd had to travel the second week so my parents drove the kids to all the activities and the ward brought in dinner every single night.  I have never felt as loved in my entire life as I have through this entire process. 

I see Heavenly Fathers hand directing everything.  I made it through Cancun then got the very best doctor.  Before my surgery I had the feeling we should postpone Claire's 8 year old trip (scheduled for July 17) until the fall sometime and we decided to move Todd's Canada week out from July 6th until the 13th.  Todd had already changed all his arrangements before I ended up in the ER.  I'm not signed up for any races so I don't feel bad that I can't run or workout for 2 months.  I know that Heavenly Father is aware of me and is actively involved in the details of my life.

Since the surgery 4 weeks ago I have read 17 books.  I am back at work with a standing desk and I stand in meetings.  I have only gone walking for exercise and I'm getting some of the feeling back in my toes.  I am so excited to be back to normal.  I can't bend down, twist or lift anything over 8 lbs so Todd and the kids are having to do EVERYTHING around the house.  They are amazing and I am so grateful for them and how much they are doing to help me.

Todd's Surgery

Todd finally decided to get his deviated septum fixed.  It ended up being a very long day of him in surgery.  His recovery was really fast and he even flew out of town 4 days post-surgery.  Hopefully this will help him breath better and not snore so much :)

My little daredevil

Today I was at work and I got a call from Meggan that Sophie jumped off the boxes in the front room (the ones with our wood planks for our floor renovation) and she had split her lip open and probably needed stitches. I told her I'd meet her at the InstaCare. At the InstaCare they had a nurse look at it and said she would need to go to the ER since it crossed between the pink of her lip and her skin (there is a fancy schmancy word for it but I can't remember). While we were meeting with the nurse Sophie showed her a small patch of eczema on her hand and told her she had an owie and needed a band-aid. The nurse made her day when she put one on and Sophie said "thank you I all better now".

So off we went to the ER. Meggan went home to take care of the boys and Claire and I headed over. They got us right in. In triage Sophie knew the drill and held our her arm for the blood pressure cuff then her finger for the oxygen check went right to the scale and turned her head for both ears to get checked. The nurse said Sophie was the best patient she had had all day. She has been to the doctors enough to know what to do.....I don't think that's a good thing. Anyway the doctor said with stitches on her lip it was best to sedate her because if she wiggled she would have a more visible scar on her face. They used some drug that was a conscious sedative so she wasn't really knocked out but her brain was pretty much disconnected from her body. Her stitches went fast but it took her so long to wake up. She couldn't focus her eyes on me, she couldn't talk so she would grunt, she puked saliva all over me and she kept jerking her arms and legs. Finally after a few hours she was able to hold her head up and answer a few questions so she could come home. She is sound asleep on the couch right now and hopefully when she wakes up she'll be a little more like herself.

showing off the injury

her real "owie"

At the ER

showing me her "watch that says Sophie Johnson"

Claire took a picture of Sophie recovering. She got a sweet little baby doll before her stitches and named it baby Hannah because that was her doctor's name.

The finished product

Sound asleep on the couch watching Barbie movies and sleeping with baby Hannah

"icing" it with a popscicle

Sophie's Stiches

It all started with a play kitchen. Sophie loves her kitchen and now fancies herself quite the chef.


She has had a few incidents with the spices in the house. First, I caught her eating green sprinkles while standing on the counter (after climbing up on the opposite side, crossing the sink and the stove - bad girl). When I busted her she simply looked at me and said "it's good!". The next time was right before we left for California - she pulled a stool over to the stove and added full bottles of cinnamon, red sprinkles, and basil to a soup I was simmering. We didn't hear or see her do this during the hustle and bustle of cleaning and packing but she left 2 of her binkies in the spice cabinet. The last time she wasn't as fortunate as the first and dumped an entire bottle of season salt in her mouth. She was screaming and spitting like crazy. Then I put her in the bath to clean her up and rinse out her mouth, fed her milk and bread and she was feeling much better. But when she stood up to get out of the bath she just slipped and went down hard. I was right there and there was nothing I could do! I hurried and covered it with the towel, yelled for Todd, put her in jammies, covered her wound with a band-aid and we left for the instacare.



When we got there she was happy as could be and kept saying "doctor". I'm sure they thought I was some over paranoid crazy mom since she had a barbie band-aid on and seemed perfectly fine. The nurse wanted to take a look before they even had me sign in. She definitely needed stitches - she just has a high pain tolerance and loves the doctors office. She knew the drill - weight, temperature, finger in the thing to check something...I guess she goes there a lot. Then we went to the "procedure room". She watched youtube on my phone sitting on the big chair waiting for the doctor. Todd and I both had to help hold her down while they gave her the numbing shots. Then the doctor put the paper over her face and she laid perfectly still during the stitches. After the first 2 stitches he asked if she was still breathing because she was laying so still and we could see her binky moving - she was sound asleep. She got 8 stitches total and was happy as could be when we woke her up to take her home. The next day she got in trouble for being on the counter twice and trying to slide down the stairs face first. The girl just will not stop!

The Doctor's Office

Last night was a bad night. Both boys ended up sleeping on our floor and Sophie was up 4 times crying.....not just crying though she was screaming. When I went in to get her she was so upset she was shaking. I knew something was wrong with her so I decided to make a doctor's appointment for her this morning.

The doctor I've taken my kids to for almost 8 years (Dr. Baird) recently closed his office so this was our first visit to our new doctor. We switched to a doctor in AF who I have known since my freshman year at BYU. He was great. However, there is nothing wrong with Sophie she was just cutting one of her molars and it looked like it broke through just the night before. How embarrassing to take my kid to the doctors for the first visit for a false alarm. Oh well. Better safe than sorry I guess. On the way home I told Luke and Claire that since they were so good I would get them an ice cream cone. Sophie loved hers too. When she came in the house she still had her entire cone left and she was trying to give Shadow a lick of it and he grabbed the whole thing out of her hand and ate it (wrapper and all). It was so funny. I'm very glad he ate the whole thing - it would have sicked me out for her to eat it after he took a lick and she would have ended up making a huge mess.

Back at InstaCare

Poor guy was feeling so sick. He had a high fever for 3 days, came home from school, was sick to his stomach and had a bad cough. Luckily it wasn't strep and he just had a cough so we just did over the counter drugs until he was all better. He wasn't happy when I took this picture and told me not to put it on my blog because that's "embarrassing". So don't mention you saw this...I have to get a picture a day on this year and it's HARD.

Kindergarten Shots

Today he had to get 6 shots so that he can keep going to school. When I told him I said "Luke we need to go get your kindergarten shots so you can keep going to school" and he promptly said "that's ok, I'll just go to first grade instead". What a crack up!

Then today after school Todd was going to bring him to the county health department (right across the street from my work) and we were going to get his shots then take him to lunch and then Todd was going to take him to a movie. But Luke decided to eat a lunchable at home and didn't want to go to a movie because he said he would rather just go back home and play World of Warcraft. Oh boy.

So, we got his shots and he ended up needing 6 instead of 3 to get caught up. He was so tough. (A long time ago I posted about Luke's 3 year old shots). He didn't cry or scream or make a peep. Just took a deep breath and set his jaw to get through the pain. The nurse even said "he's good and really has that deep breathing down". He did say ouch at one point (around shot #5) and his arms are still sore. Poor little guy.

We took him out to lunch with us afterwards and he got a chocolate shake. It was so much fun hanging out with just Luke and I really want to start taking our kids out one at a time.

Birthday Checkups

Today Tayson and Luke both had their annual checkups. In the last year Tayson grew 7 inches and put on 5 pounds. He is now weighing in at 49 pounds. Luke on the other hand is 45 inches and 41 pounds and in the last year grew a little over 3 inches and didn't gain a pound. He was a big boy last year :)

They both checked out healthy and neither had to get any shots so it was a good day at the doctors. Tayson's eyes weren't as good as they should be so I'm going to need to take him in to an eye doctor to see if he needs glasses.

Also last week Sophie had her checkup and was rounded up to 20 pounds. I'm so happy that my little pip squeak is actually that big since I thought she was about 18 pounds :) She was healthy as can be and I still haven't done any vaccinations on her. I will do them someday I just don't want to yet for some reason with her.

The Screw

This morning I got in my car after our run (it was the last one in our training .... 10 miles!) and I had a v-mail from Todd. This is what it said...

"Hey Kath, call me when you get this or come home fast Claire put something up her nose and I think I need to take her to the doctor so come home fast."

I wasn't sure at this point if I should laugh or be worried so I called then hurried home. Claire spilt all of Todd's computer screws and somehow one ended up lodged way up her right nostril. My mom and dad got to our house just a few minutes after I did and my mom suggested we try to "blow it out" first. You can tell she had 10 kids...and that Danny loved to put things up noses (and not always his own!) So we plugged the other nostril opened her mouth and I blew in it as hard as I could (similar to CPR) - nothing but snot came out both times we tried. My parents took Tayson to soccer and they took Luke too so we could take a quick trip to the InstaCare with the girls.

2 hours (oh how I hate the Insta Care on a Saturday) after we got there we finally got in to see the doc and she couldn't find the screw in Claire's nose. Todd looked through the fancy light contraption and didn't see it anymore either. So off they went to get x-rays. Another half hour past and then we found out the screw was gone....just gone. It wasn't in her nose or anywhere in the 3 x-rays she got. We asked Claire if she knew where the screw was but she didn't...so it's just missing and we have no idea how it came out. But we both saw it up her nose so we know it was there. What a long day.



A few side notes:

1. When the doctor asked Claire what her name was she said "Claire Bear". She honestly thinks that's her full name and it is HILARIOUS to me.
2. The doctor told us that if she is "one of those kids" who likes to put stuff up her nose a few tips. One was the blow trick and the other was that sometimes kids will put stuff like paper up their nose and it will start to get all nasty and smell. So she said if our kids ever just really smell bad and a bath doesn't help that we should get their nose checked for foreign objects. Funny but good stuff to know.
   

Oh my

Today was a day full of surprises.....

Sophie woke up covered in spots. We don't know what they are or how long she'll be our little cheetah girl. The doctor said it's just part of the infection she's had for the last week. Weird to me...we've had a LOT of colds in this house over the last 6 1/2 years and none of them have looked like this.

Then, while fixing Claire's hair tonight Timmy twirled it in the comb to enhance her natural curls and this happened. Oops!!!

What's in your purse?

Yesterday I took Claire to the doctor's and she has yet another ear infection...tubes here we come! But the best part of this visit was that she brought her purse with her. She doesn't like to go on outings without her purse.

What's in my purse? my wallet, my sunglasses, my phone, keys, pepcid AC, lipstick, lip liner, powder, frequent diner cards, a few bills that need to be paid and a pack of gum.

Nothing exciting...but when I opened Claire's purse at the doctors office yesterday I was amazed at what she had in it.

What's in Claire's purse? A Pirates of the Caribbean compass (happy meal toy from ages ago), 2 star wars galactic heroes, a headband, her sparkly cellphone holder (her plastic cellphone wasn't in her purse), Todd's bike tool, and about 50 goldfish (which she kept reaching in and snacking on).

She makes me laugh so hard with her purse. She fills it up with anything she sees and takes it everywhere she goes. I need to get some pictures of her carrying it around it is just adorable. I love that my little girl is such a girly girl. I really thought with having 2 older brothers she would be more of a tom-boy but she is an absolute princess.

I need my sleep

This week has been hard on me since my kids haven't slept much. I'm one of the lucky few who has been blessed with very good sleepers. Claire has slept 13 hours at night since she was 6 months old and only got up to eat and go right back to sleep before that. I usually have no idea when she wakes up because she will play in her crib quietly until I actually open her door to see if she's awake yet. Luke loves to sleep and is also a 13 hour sleeper and has been forever. Tayson wasn't quite as good but has been sleeping through the night since 18 months and his biggest issue is getting up at the crack of dawn. But he can entertain himself most of the time now so we can still sleep in. However, this past week the kids have been up every single night and it has killed me! So I finally took them to the doctors yesterday (to which Luke said .... "do I get a shot?" in a very excited voice - he's crazy) and we had 5 out of 6 ears that were infected. Luke and Claire both had double ear infections and Tayson was just coming out of an ear infection. No wonder I wanted to kill my kids this week! Thank goodness for good drugs which means my kids will be back to normal within days and I can go on sleeping as much as I want. :)

Claire's 18 Month Checkup

Today Claire had her 18 month checkup with Dr. Baird. She is 32" long (75th percentile) and is weighing in at 22.5 pounds (25th percentile) - tall and skinny :) Her head is in the 75th as well - so she is taking after Luke more than Tayson in head size. All in all she is pretty healthy and for the first time ever her ears looked great.

The funniest part of the appointment was Luke of course. He LOVES the doctors office and the nurse absolutely loves him because he's so silly and isn't afraid of anything. When he went to Claire's 12 month appointment he asked her if he could get shots too. Then a few months later when he turned 3 he was so excited for his shots and didn't make a peep or cry when he got two. Right when she finished he just looked at her and said "see, I'm not scared". She just cracked up. So today when we were there he wanted to get checked and get more shots which made her smile. Then I said "Luke you should be a doctor when you grow up" and he said as serious as could be "But I really, really want to be a robot". Which just cracked me up. He is so funny.