Recovery Week 2

This last week was super chill. Nothing new or exciting to really talk about. So this will probably be super short post... I have found it fun/annoying to ride my scooter to trax every morning and evening going to and from work, but whatever. Its fun cause its nice to be out... its annoying cause the sidewalks aren't super even and so I'm afraid of falling.

This week I have also gotten to that point where I am so tired of hopping. My left leg is exhausted all the time but there isn't much my right leg can do... But it's hanging in there.

This week a friend of mine taught salsa dancing on Monday. I love latin dancing so it was frustrating to just have to watch. I did try and help some but still I wanted to jump up there and join in.

Oh I remember what I wanted to talk about. Showering/bathing.... Oh my gosh! Talk about so unenjoyable and so annoying! I got a wound/cast protector thing for showering, that works well. However, having to balance on one leg the whole time is so tiring! I have almost fallen over quite a few times, so I'm waiting until that day. I have tried taking baths (which I hate btw) and they are just as unenjoyable. I find it so awkward and uncomfortable and ugh... What used to be a nice calming thing had turned into an awful chore. Lets just say, I look forward to the day when I can take a shower with BOTH of my feet again!

Anyways, until next week! I get my stitches out next Tuesday! Wahoo!

Recovery Week 1

So the first day I was okay. Not a lot of pain yet. They told me that Thursday or Friday would be the worst but guess it wasn't gonna be Thursday. I laid on the couch and worked from home for about half the day. I also watched a lot of Criminal Minds. I'm excited that it is available on Netflix finally. Nothing really exciting to talk about...

On Friday, they were right. It was so sore!!! The numbness had worn off and I could definitely feel my foot! Ow... I was taking my pain pills religiously but it was still sore. I tried working from home but it didn't work so well. I decided it was nap time. Nap time and I became such good friends during my few days. My pain pills made so sleepy so I "watched" Criminal Minds and slept... It was so nice to chillax but at the same time I wanted to get up and not hop anymore.

Saturday was uneventful.. My friend Gabriel came up from Provo to get my car. I am letting him borrow it while I can't drive so he can come visit me and so I have less of a temptation to drive. While he was here he made me and Kayla dinner and just hung out. He is so great. One of my bestest friends for sure!

On Sunday, my foot was super sore and the pain pills were struggling. I decided to stay home for 2/3 of church. Gabriel drove up and took me to Sacrament Meeting and then we stayed for the food after. I have learned that I am so sick of crutches. They hurt my palms... So I am so thankful for my knee scooter. Best decision ever! After dinner we came home and I took silly quizzes while laying on the couch and Gabriel was on the computer. We are super exciting when we hang out. hehe.

On Monday, I went in for my first post-op appointment. The nurse took off the bandage and I was able to see what it looked like for the first time. It looked kind of gross. Like a worm under my skin... or some bug thing... Bleh... I wanted to touch it and cut the extra skin off. But I didn't do either. The doctor came in and said it looked like it was healing well. We discovered I still couldn't feel half of my big toe and half of my second toe. He said that could be because a nerve was damaged or because I was still healing. I'm not too worried about it yet. He wrapped it back up and said that in two weeks I can come in and have my stitches out. He let me choose what color the wrapping was, so I chose purple!!! I also learned that my fear of my boot was silly. I was afraid cause it would put pressure on the balls of my foot, but I was doing it wrong. He showed me how to put it on, which helped. After scheduling my next appointment I scootered my way to the trax station and went home.

I live about 5 blocks from the trax station. So I scootered home and it was exhausting! I was going to go to work but I was so tired and sore that I decided to work some from home and just relax one more day. I mean... I had only have surgery 5 days earlier. So Monday I took it easy, worked some, napped some. It was great. I did go to FHE to be supportive, it was fun but that's another story...

Tuesday, I actually went to work. When I walked in, so many people were shocked to see me. Especially since I was on my scooter. I didn't want to bring my crutches, I really don't like them. anyways, work was pretty uneventful. Everyone is jealous of my scooter cause i can zoom past them. Katie dropped me off and picked me up, which was nice. That night we went to a friend's house to say goodbye (it was her last night before she left for bootcamp) and I had to use my crutches, ick. But all went well.

Day of Surgery

So I had my surgery on 8 October 2014.

My roommate dropped me off at the hospital at 9:35 am. I was supposed to check in at 9:45, so I was totally on time! I checked in and got all the paperwork done. They called me in around 9:50 am. I got all ready and they went to put my IV in. She went put my IV in the left side of my left wrist. It hurt! that was not a good place to put the IV cause any time I moved my wrist it hurt! But it worked I guess...

After they put the IV in, she told me that they were running late so it may be awhile before I went in. There was a TV in the room, so I turned it on and watched just over 2 hours of NCIS. It was fun but I kept seeing commercials for pizza and since I hadn't eaten since the night before, I was hungry too! The nurse gave me 2 blankets and I just was relaxing in the recliner I was sitting in.

The surgeon came in after I had been watching TV for about 2 hours and he was looking at my foot and explaining what he was going to do. He drew on my foot to mark different areas and answered all my questions. Then he left to prep for the surgery.

Enter the anesthesiologist... He was so nice. He came in and introduced himself and started to ask me questions about past surgeries, reactions to anesthesia, etc. I told him how nauseous I had been when I got my wisdom teeth out so he decided to give me propofol and something else and we walked to the just outside the OR. All the people who were gonna help out with the surgery came to introduce themselves before I walked into the OR and climbed up on the bed. (I thought it was really funny that I walked into the OR and climbed up on the bed. I was expecting to be rolled in or something, like all the movies

or tv shows, but no I walked in! hahaha)

After I climbed up, the nurses helped position me on the bed and put a strap across me so I wouldn't fall off. Then they put my arms out and took my glasses off. Then someone started to wrap something around my shin. I keep thinking why didn't I look to see who it was but it was because I couldn't see anything at that point. In case you don't know, I'm super blind. So then the anesthesiologist asked how I was feeling and I told him I felt fine except my arm was burning. He said that was the propofol. I'm pretty sure I passed out after that.

When I started to come to I was in the recovery room and my surgeon handed me a little jar with the bone in it. All I remember is thinking it was really yellow and looked like corral. Then I fell back asleep.

Not sure how long I slept but when I started to come to again, I realized where I was and decided I needed to wake up. So I kept my eyes open, it was so difficult! A nurse noticed me and came in to check on me. She found my glasses and gave those to me and went to get me a cup of water. I know this sounds silly but... they put my glasses in a bubblewrap bag thing and it was really hard to open... maybe cause I wasn't completely conscious but still! The nurse came back with water and told me if I needed anything to hit the button. I laid there for some time until I realized I was awake... and HUNGRY! I also had to go to the bathroom. That was when I started to realize that my foot was in this huge brace thing. I couldn't feel my foot at all; I'm grateful it wasn't hurting like my sister said her knee was after her surgery.

I called the nurse in and she helped me to the bathroom. She was impressed that I was so good on the wheel chair and that I was able to go by myself without any help. Thanks Mom for all the practice! Afterwards, I laid back down and waited for Kayla to come pick me up. Another nurse came in and told me Kayla was on her way, they called her when they realized I was really awake, so she went and got my things and helped me change into my clothes. She then went and got me juice to drink! She totally got me half cranberry and half orange juice, my favorite! It was so refreshing!

Kayla showed up shortly after and the nurse explained all the important stuff to both of us, in case I was too drugged up to remember. Then they wheeled me out and we left. They were so nice, I'm so grateful for the kindness of everyone at the hospital.

Kayla left and she asked if I wanted to go home and I told her I WAS STARVING!!!! So she stopped by Chipotle and got me a salad. The nurse had said don't eat heavy foods, so I got the salad. haha. We went home and I scarfed it down. It was delicious, even tho Kayla forgot to get pico de gallo on it.

Then I assumed relaxing position forever more...

Why the surgery????

A lot of people have been asking about my foot surgery. So I thought I would just tell everyone who cares about my foot.

So... When I was in the pow wow a couple years ago, I did something to my foot. I was practicing my dancing one evening and my foot was really sore. After that night, every time I danced my foot would hurt so I would just power through it. After the pow wow, I decided to wait for a while and see if it would get better on its own. I couldn't wear heels, which was annoying, but after some time the pain went away and everything returned to normal.

Fast forward to March or April 2013, I was on my way to work one morning. I took public transportation to work at the time so I would get on the light rail, called trax here. I was getting off the trax train and felt a shooting pain in my foot. Then my foot was in pain forever more... 

I hoped that whatever had just happened would just go away, like it had before. Finally, after trying to ignore it for a long time, I decided to go to the podiatrist in October. On 28 October 2013, I went to the podiatrist and learned what had happened. After getting an x-ray, they discovered that I had fractured my sesamoid bone. I had no idea what a sesamoid bone was. So they went on to explain what it was. There are two in each foot and they act like a knee cap to your big toe. They are positioned between tendons to provide protection and leverage to go up on your toes. Who knew? So they decided that to fix it, I should get an orthopedic insert for my shoes. They said that would hopefully fix the problem. 

I got the shoe insert and wore it faithfully, except to church. I still wasn't wearing heels, so I came to accept my height. I embrace my just under 5'5"-ness now. My foot started to feel a little better but remained slightly swollen. I went to the Bishop's house for a ward party and was walking across the backyard and I dropped to the ground. I had stepped on a sprinkler head and had hurt my foot again. My foot continued to hurt like it had before for some time. I went back into the podiatrist's office and they decided I should have an MRI. 

I got an MRI (it was so cold) and the results came back with..... My bone had healed wrong and was deformed. So it was putting pressure on parts of my foot causing the swelling. They told me my options were to just deal with the pain, get steroid shots to help with the swelling and pain but it would just be a bandaid on the problem, or to have surgery. I really didn't like the idea of steroids, the last time I had had them, I didn't like what they did. I missed hiking, running, exercise, walking long distances... I hadn't been able to do them in two years from healing or hurting... and I couldn't do it until something was done. 

So after much thought and prayer... I decided to have the surgery... on 8 October 2014!

I'm back!!!

I know it has been a while since my last post but I have been busy! A lot has happened since my last post. One of my bestest friends, Kara, got married and I was an unofficial bridesmaid! And to top it off, I caught the bouquet!!!

I was also honored with the opportunity to be the head lady dancer at the BYU Pow Wow! It was quite the adventure. I learned so much about how they dance and the history of dancing. I also learned how to dance and it was so much fun! 

Right after the Pow Wow I finished my final project for my Family History capstone class, turned it in and went to San Diego to present at a conference! It was really fun! The drive down was rough cause I was really car sick but the whole experience was a blast! Dr. Rysamp, Sister Ryskamp, Kelly Summers, Liz Miller, Debbie Gurtler, Brandon and I all went down there.We drove down on the third and stayed in a really nice hotel. For my birthday, we went to the Museum of Natural History and saw a Titanic exhibit that was in honor of the 100th anniversary. It was so-o cool! I love history and the stories and everything. Then we went to old town(?) where the area looked like a town from a wild west movie! We had delicious mexican food! Oh gosh, amazing!!! Then to end the night we went to Ghiradelli's Ice Cream Parlor and had ice cream. The next morning we woke up early to present out research and experiences. It was funny! I was really nervous until I saw who was there to listen to our presentation. It was our group of presenters (Dr. Ryskamp, Liz, Debbie, Brandon, and I) and our audience was Sister Ryskamp and Liz's husband. But it went well! Then we relaxed all day and just enjoyed the beautiful weather! It was amazing! We ended the night with a great italian restaurant! It was good! The next day we had the option of attending other conference presentations or doing our own thing, so Debbie and I went exploring down in the Sea Port Village. It was so much fun!!! The little stores were selling great things and it was so nice out! It was just fun to spend time being a tourist! haha. It was great! That night we all walked down to a little mexican restaurant where we had first eaten and had their great food! The next day we drove back. It was so much fun and great "spring break." 

After we got back, finals ensued but it was my last semester so it wasn't too bad. When graduation hit it was crazy! I couldn't believe I was graduating college! It was fun! My family threw me a graduation party at my aunts house so lots of my family came and I got cake shoved in my cake which was awful cause I don't like cake! haha

After graduation I started working for Global Genealogists which was a great learning experience. I learned a ton from working there. It was nice just working though and not having school/homework. I had lots of free time to have fun adventures. 

My first slip'n'slide. Cut my knee I could have gotten stitches (but didn't.) Now I have an awesome scar!

Water Balloon Dodgeball!!!

Flour fight! It was an adventure! We went to Awful Waffle after this and got funny looks! haha

Chelsea's first concert!!! Big Time Rush!!! It was way fun! 

Hiking Stewart Falls! Its always so pretty! :)

In October, I got my two weeks notice cause the company was going to shut down for awhile cause my boss was having a rough pregnancy and she didn't want to drop everything on me. So I did a ton of praying and job searching and applied for the assistant genealogist position at Progenealogists (a research company owned by Ancestry.com). I interviewed there (which was fun cause my mentor works there) and got a second interview and then... got the job! It was amazing! I ended my job at Global Genealogists on Friday and start the next Monday! I don't know if it could have gotten much better than that! 

There is still much to tell but I'm tired and will finish catching you up on all the big things later! Ttyl! :)

February

So ultimate fail on the once a week thing. I just get so busy and lose track of time! So sorry! But time to update.

Last weekend, there was a tri-ward valentines day dance. They set everyone up who wanted to be set up on dates. It was funny tho because they ran out of guys and still had like 60 girls left. Miracles happen tho and my dear friends, Melissa and Natalie, got everyone a date!

I went with one of Melissa's friends from BYUSA named Morgan. He is a really nice guy!!! I had such a fun time! I got all ready with Chelsea and I wore Cydy's old choir dress. Then he came to pick me up and we walked to his car. We then had the fun experience of trying to get his car out of the parking lot. Provo parking is terrible!!! But he is awesome and got his car out! Then we drove to the church building we thought it was out. Turns out we were wrong (we weren't the only ones), but there was a dance going on there for a married ward. The ballroom dance team was teaching them how to dance the fox-trot and the waltz. Morgan turned to me and asked if I wanted to jump in and learn how to dance, and we all know I love to dance, so we learned to dance! It was fun! Everyone was married there tho so after the lessons we left. We found the church and joined the dance! Oh it was so fun! I liked that neither of us seemed to care about how good of a dancer we were and just danced around and had so much fun! It was really hot in there tho. It was really nice outside so we went out there a few times too. After the dance, he brought me home. I had a fun time with him. Definitely one of my better first dates! haha.



Then this weekend has been so fun! Friday night, Ashley and I went to volunteer at a sock hop at the Eldred Senior Center. When we got there they didn't need any volunteers so we just got to dance! My friends from the Tribe of Many Feathers who had come to volunteer as well joined us and we had such a fun time dancing! There was a live band there and a really good singer. They played lots of different swing songs and 50s seeming music. We danced and I taught Eric how to do the fox trot and the triple step. Ashley and I also ran into some friends from our freshman ward, Steve and Justin. And Ashley is Miss Popular and knew tons of people there. We had fun! (pictures to come, hopefully)

On Saturday, I went to see my Kara Lynn and we went shopping at one of my favorite stores for engaged people. Then I bought new shoes, finally! Then Kara had her bridal pictures. Let's just say we have reached a new level of closeness. It was fun tho! Then after I got home Ashley and I went to the men's volleyball game and danced to Justin Bieber "Baby" with Cosmo.

I love my life can I just say! It is just awesome! haha

Oh and to top it all off, I was voted to be Head Lady Dancer at the BYU Cedartree Pow Wow 2012. So I am learning how to dance. It is quite an adventure!

Until next time! :)

Happy New Year!

So after school ended, it was so nice to have a break! I just love spending time with my family! It was a nice drive home, much better weather than last year! We made it back in pretty good time and with 4 people squished into my little car, that was good! haha.

While at home I was able to read quite a few books that I just love and it was just for fun! Not for a class or anything! The books I read were:

                - The Book Thief - awesome book! It is set in WWII Germany about a little girl, told by death (as if he were a person)

                - Devil's Food Cake - a culinary mystery. It was a fun read and has great sounding recipes I'm  excited to try!

                - The Mortal Instruments Series: City of Bones, City of Ashes, City of Glass, City of Fallen Angels -  Such an awesome series! I was introduced to them this summer by my sister, Brooke and now I am hooked! There are still 2 books left and I am so anxious to read them!

                - The Infernal Devices Series: Clockwork Angel - by the same author as the Mortal Instruments series. The same story world but set about 150 years before in London. So good! The second one, Clockwork Prince, just came out and I am excited to read it!

I also spent lots of time with my family which was nice. After spending the summer in Houston, Texas, I was only able to spend a day at home on my trip back and so it was nice to see everyone at home. My family is awesome. We took some family pictures. We are a silly bunch! 

Brooke and her family aren't included in the pictures but the next time we all get together we are sure gonna get pictures! 

New Years Eve we went the Ward's house and had lots of fun playing games and dancing! 

After all this fun, we had to head back to Provo, which was fun! We met up with Tim (my ex-home teacher) and his friends in Lakewood and went to the Kolache Factory and began the drive back. It was fun to travel with friends who drive faster than turtles. ;)

Now I am back in school and hoping to keep up this blogging thing. My goal is to blog once a week! 

Until next time! :)

photos courtesy of Nancy Ward.