Foot Update

I know, I know...I said I wouldn't do these very often anymore.  However, it has been six weeks and I am thrilled with how my scar is healing!

Isn't it beautiful?!

I know...it's just me.  I am pleased with how it is looking, though.  My doctor says that in 4-6 months you won't even be able to see it.  Pretty amazing!

I would love to say that I am pain free and doing great, but that just isn't the case.  The healing and recovery continue...Physical therapy has begun, so hopefully things will start to improve. Here's hoping!

Recovery: Week 3

Warning!  More potentially disturbing (but totally cool) pictures below!

No, I'm not going to continue to do recovery posts every week for the rest of my recovery, but this week was a big deal and I wanted to share.

I was really looking forward to going to the doctor this week because it was time to get my stitches out!  I felt like the stitches had been the most painful/annoying part of this whole process.  They were itchy, they pulled, they hurt...they were just annoying!  I had been working on stretching/flexing my foot and always felt like it would feel so much better once the stitches were out.  I was also looking forward to moving out of the splint and into a boot.  As many months as I had spent in the boot already, I was ready to go back into it.

 I took the boys to my appointment with me.  They were happy to go since a trip to the doctor in Owasso usually means lunch at Chick-fil-A!  They weren't disappointed.

Luke likes to go to the doctor with me anyway.  They have good toys there!  It's the little things in life!  :)

I wanted a picture of the boys while we were waiting for the doctor.  I couldn't get Luke to just smile!  He had to be silly in every picture.  That's ok!  That's just Luke being Luke!

I also have to say that I couldn't have made it to this doctor's appointment trip without Ben.  He was so helpful!  At lunch, he was the "go-pher".  Ketchup, napkins, refills...he was happy to go get anything that Luke or I needed.  At the doctor's office, he made sure to hold Luke's hand, carry my bag, open doors...just so helpful!

 These puppies are ready to come out!

The nurse told Ben and Luke that taking out my stitches wouldn't really hurt me.  She was trying to make them feel better about being there, which was great.  However...It hurt plenty!  I think it had a lot to do with the fact that having had my foot down for so long, it was pretty swollen.  She really had to work at getting them out.  Then, one word...alcohol.  OUCH!!  I understand the need to clean the wound, but, holy cow, that hurt!  It's hard to be big, brave and strong while your boys watch!  I think getting the stitches out was the most painful part of this whole process this far!

But I am SO thankful they are gone!

AND, I got a brand new boot!  Woo Hoo!  (Remember this one?)

I am now allowed to start to put weight on my heel.  Not all the time and not on my whole foot, but it is a start.

This is what lies under the boot.  Pretty, huh?  Abby loved the hot pink wrapping.  I am happy to say that I can take this off tomorrow and take my first real shower in nearly three weeks!  Ahhh...I know it will be divine!

More amazing meals from more amazing friends continued this week!  We are one blessed family around here!  

Monday  (Jamie)

Pasta with chicken, veggies and rolls

Tuesday   (Sheila)

Buffalo chicken spaghetti with green beans and jalapeno beer bread

Thursday  (Kate)

Roast beef with potatoes, veggies and cornbread

My super, fantastic friend, Heather, brought over the most amazing treat tonight...a cherry diet Coke and a pumpkin cupcake from an amazing little cupcake shop she found while on vacation.  I love her!

(Today was...a rough day!  This, and the girly conversation, was exactly what I needed!!)

I (my whole family!)  has been so spoiled through my whole recovery process!  I just can't even explain what a blessing so many people have been to all of us during the past three weeks!  There aren't enough words to say how blessed I have been or felt!  All I can do is cry and thank the Lord that he has allowed me to have such amazing, real friends.

There have definitely been hard times in the last three weeks, but the good has far outweighed the bad!  My recovery is not complete and I know it is going to be quite some time before I am back on my feet without pain, but I believe I am through the roughest part of it all.  Please continue to pray with me for complete healing of my foot.  I know Jesus has heard each and every prayer and is going to make my feet good as new!

Recovery: Week 2

Week two was a pretty good week.  I am still overwhelmed by  the love, kindness, thoughtfulness and helpfulness that continues to be shown to me and my family!  I have been blown away by how God has shown himself to me and my family again this week.

Recovery is going well.  The pain hasn't been nearly what I thought it would and I have been able to sleep better than I thought I would.  I am most thankful that Jon was able to be home for the entire first two weeks!  I don't know what I would have done if he had had to go into work everyday!  He has continued to very overwhelmed with all of the demands of working from home, school, as well as all of the responsibilities of home life.  Being my "cabana boy" and getting me everything that I need. Getting the kids up for school everyday, making their lunches and making sure they are to school on time.  Getting kids where they need to be for all of their various activities... It's been a bit rough on him.

However, when he went to the grocery store, he knew just what I needed!  (:

He was definitely speaking my love language!

Oops!  I forgot to take a picture of all of the meals...

My amazing friends continued to bring delicious meals this week!  I can't even tell you how appreciative my family and I have been for such kindness!  It has been such a huge blessing to not have to worry about cooking.  (Especially since I can't stand on two feet, let alone walk around the kitchen!)

Monday  (Sheryl)

Grilled pork chops with dressing and roasted vegetables with apple dumpling egg rolls with vanilla ice cream

Tuesday  (The McDaniel's)

Taco Chili with jalapeno beer bread muffins

Thursday  (Kandis and her girls)

Parmesan crusted chicken with corn and green beans

Friday we took a rain-check on dinner and headed to Tulsa.  Jon needed to take his new bike to be assembled, so we ended up eating dinner there.  It was nice to get out out of the house and out of town for a few hours.  I was exhausted by the time we got home!

I was able to talk Jon into stopping in to Sugarica (a local bakery that is only open to the public once a week) for "Walk in Wednesday" for some if the most delicious confections!

This week, my sweet friend, Karen brought lunch over for the two of us.  (Jon picked up a cupcake for her too!)  Like I said last week, visitors are the best medicine!  Since I spend so much time at home and pain medicine doesn't really help, friends are the best distraction from the pain.  I was happy to have Karen here to visit with.  She brought over some fabric to make a blanket and the proceeded to tell me that it was for me.  She thought tying the blanket together would give me something to do while I spend hours sitting in the recliner.  She is so thoughtful!!  Thank you, Karen, for being so kind, thoughtful and generous!  You (and your family) are such a blessing to me and my family!

Look at that flexibility!  Following doctor's orders, I have been doing my stretching exercises one to two times a day.  Some days are better than others.  It actually feels good to move my foot back and forth!

Gorgeous, huh?  I think my flexing exercises will feel even better once the stitches are out.

Notice anything strange here?  Check out the size difference in my right leg verses my left leg.  Having been in a boot from the end of March up until surgery and then being completely off of my left leg, has left me with a mushy, floppy, muscel-less leg.  One of these days things will get back to normal, right?

This little guy can bring a smile to anyone's face!

I don't know what I would do without these two big helpers!  Ben and Abby are who have kept the laundry going.  I have to tell them to do it and they aren't always thrilled to do it, but they do it.  I am so thankful that they are able to help out with everything so much!

I am looking forward to going to the doctor in a few days and getting these blasted stitches out!

Recovery: Week 1

WARNING:  Potentially disturbing picture below.

Well...I am one week out of surgery and the only word that I can use to describe this past week is BLESSED!  I have been so overwhelmed by the sheer outpouring of love that has been displayed to me!  Week one brought many tears as I saw how loved I am by so many.  It is hard to even type this without bringing on more tears.  It has just been amazing!  Surgery day started out with unexplainable peace and prayer from my doctor and the blessings continued all day.  All week!  Texts, phone calls, Facebook messages, visitors, cards in the mail, friends that brought me lunch and then hung out for a few hours (I am really sad that I didn't get a picture with them!),

a friend that knows that everything is better with a fountain Diet Coke and girlfriend chat time,

flowers from my church family.  The list goes on and on.

Thursday morning I headed back to the doctor for my post-op appointment.  I was actually looking forward to getting out of the house for a little bit.  I was also interested to see what lied beneath the bandages.  I was counting on my foot/ankle being humongous and black & blue.

I know this looks pretty gross, but I was pleasantly surprised at what I saw.  It didn't look as bad as I had expected.  I was proud to tell my doctor that I hadn't taken any of the heavy duty pain pills in over 24 hours. Just ibuprofen.  I just didn't feel like the pain meds were doing any good and if they weren't helping, why take them?  (I, actually, discovered that the best pain medicine was visitors.  Seriously!  A perfect distraction!)  He was pleased.

Dr. Beasley said that everything is looking great.  In the next two weeks before I go back, I am supposed to start exercising my foot/ankle.  A few times a day I have to take off the wrappings and the splint and start working on flexing my foot.  Ugh...  When I go back in two weeks I should be moving from the splint and into a boot.  

I couldn't resist getting a picture with Dr. Beasley and Erica (the nurse)!  They have been so amazing in this journey I've been on!

(Erica insisted that Luke be in the picture.  Luke insisted that the lion and tiger, that he plays with every time we go to Dr. Beasley's office, be in the picture as well.)

Of course, if you go to Owasso to go to the doctor, you have to go to Chick-fil-A for lunch!

My family was beyond blessed to be fed by some amazing friends all week long!  I tell you what, my friends can cook!  We had some delicious food!  (I forgot to take pictures the first two nights...)

Monday  (Heather)

Chili, salad and snickerdoodles

(Heather even knew that my favorite thing to drink with chili is Diet Mountain Dew!)

Tuesday  (Deborah)

Cilanto chicken tacos, chips & salsa

Wednesday  (Kari)

Baked mac & cheese, green beans and breadsticks

(Kari dropped off our food and then came back to pick the kids up and drop them off at church!)

Thursday  (Anne Marie)

Ham, cheesy potatoes and steamed veggies

Friday  (Kasi)

Mexican pulled pork tacos, spanish rice, spicy corn & poblanos and pumpkin cake

If there was one disappointment in my week, it was the fact that I missed Ben's marching band competition on Saturday.  I really wanted to go.  I, actually, considered going.  The more I thought about it and how long and cold it was going to be, I just couldn't wrap my mind around actually going.  I decided that it would probably be in my best interest to just stay home.  I had encouraged Jon to chaperon for the day.  So I had the potential to be home alone with Luke.  (Abby wanted to go to the competition.)  

My friend, Heather wanted to go to the competition with me, but was just as happy to hang out with me at home for the day.  The whole day!  (She stayed until 1:30 AM!!!)  When Abby realized how cold it was going to be on Saturday and that Heather was going to be here for the day, she decided to stay home.  We had a fun day of watching girly movies, eating, painting nails, blogging, coloring...It was a great day!  Luke informed all of us that he is going to marry Miss Heather!  (:

I am so thankful that Jon was able to be off for the entire first week!  I don't know what I would have done without him!  He has done everything!  He had a lot going on with working at home and his class work.  I know it has been very overwhelming for him.  However, he got up every morning with Ben and Abby, made their lunches and got them off to school.  Got Luke ready and off to school. Made sure Luke had his meals, naps and anything else he needed or wanted.  Ran the big kids all over the city of Bartlesville for all of their various activities/responsibilities.  Worked the concession stand at the football game.  You name it, he did it!

THANK YOU, JON!  YOU'RE THE BEST!

I LOVE YOU!!

Week one went very well!  I had pain, but it wasn't unbearable.  I was so spoiled, loved on, taken care of...BLESSED!  I can't even express how thankful I am for everything!!  God showed himself to me in such a huge way this past week!

Surgery...

Surgery was scheduled for nearly a month.  I think I knew for much longer than that that it was coming.  I started this whole foot journey on Leap Day.  You can read the past "foot updates" here, here, here and here.  As the time for surgery drew nearer, I got more and more anxious.  It wasn't just any one thing.  I knew there would be pain involved and I really wasn't looking forward to that.  I was anxious about the house being clean, the kids getting to school each day with their homemade lunches, cooking for my family, getting the kids to all the places that they need to be on a daily basis, getting laundry done...I was anxious about everything!  I knew everything would be ok, I could just feel the heaviness all over me.  I know I was not a very pleasant person to be around a lot of the time.

Another thing was happening as surgery was getting closer.  Friends kept offering their help.  Sometimes you hear offers for help and don't really do anything with them.  Most of the time I figure, "I can take care of it myself."  However, being told by my doctor that I would be in a cast for two weeks after surgery, I knew I wouldn't be able to do much of anything by myself.  I realized that friends are what I needed and I would be happy to accept their help.  I, actually, became very excited to see how the Lord was going to orchestrate this whole thing.

Surgery day finally came.  I can't say that I was excited to have surgery, but I was just ready to move on and start the recovery process.  As anxious as I had been leading up to surgery, I have to say that I felt peace that morning driving to the hospital.  I was still nervous about the pain, but the peace I felt was much stronger than the anxiety.

I got all settled in and ready for surgery.  All of the nurses were wonderful.  The anesthesiologist's name was Dr. Friend...how could he not be good?

I proceeded to get more anxious again as we waited...

Dr. Beasely, my foot doctor, came and talked Jon and I through what would take place during the surgery.  (Things very much depended on what he found once he got in there.)  I have really liked Dr. Beasley since the first time I went to see him.  I was so comfortable with him and his staff and knew that God had led us to the right doctor during my first visit to his office.  Jon felt the same way.

As we were finishing up talking and getting ready to head back to surgery, Dr. Beasley asked Jon and I if we minded if he prayed with us.  He said that he really likes to pray with his patients before getting started.  REALLY?!?!  Absolutely!  I couldn't have been more thrilled to pray!  Jon, Dr. Beasley and I held hands and Dr. Beasley proceeded to pray for me, the surgery, everyone in the operating room and for my recovery.  I cried, of course!  That made my day!

The operating room nurse came and said it was time to go and we were off.  The combination of it being so cold the closer we got to the operating room and my nerves, made me very shaky. I got very nervous as all of the last minute preparations were being made.  My nurse was amazing through it all!  She even hugged me!  She encouraged the anesthesiologist that I was ready for my, "I don't care medicine."  I thought the drugs would never kick in, but after four big breaths...I was out.

I have a really great picture that I could insert here, but I will refrain.  The doctor took a picture during surgery and showed it to Jon when he was finished.  It's pretty cool!  Let me know if you want to see it! (:

Jon talked to Dr. Beasley after the surgery was over and found out all of the details.  Surgery went well!  There wasn't as much damage to the tendon as he had expected there to be.  The repair was fairly simple.  There was a surprise, however.  Apparently, during surgery Dr. Beasley took a few more x-rays and discovered that there was a bone spur on the bone that the tendon attached to.  He was able to remove that too.  I am so thankful he found that and took care of it instead of finding out later and having to do more surgery.  Jon was also able to express his gratitude to Dr. Beasley for his willingness to pray with us.  That was such a big deal to us!

The next thing I remember I was in recovery.  I remember thinking, "Quit clicking that mouse!", "They should really get mouses that aren't so click-y!"  I remember vaguely seeing a smiley face at the end of the bed.  I remember Dr. Beasley telling me that he would call me at home that night.  I also remember the recovery nurse asking me about my pain and then telling me that she was giving me morphine.  Nice!!

After that, things started becoming much clearer.  It wasn't too much later and we were on our way home.

I don't remember too much about the ride home.  I'm pretty sure I dozed all the way there.

And this is, pretty much, what I plan on doing over the next few weeks of recovery.  I am not allowed to put any weight on my foot for the next two weeks.  My friend, Heather, set up a meal train for my family and we have dinner coming in for the next 2+ weeks, so I won't have to worry about that.  I plan to read several books, nap, Facebook, Pinterest,  blog...anything I can do in the sitting position.

I also intend to do a lot of praying for a speedy recovery!

Please pray with me!

Thoughtful Girl

The other day, Abby was reading this book and came out with these instructions for me.

I think I should do what she says!

Could she be any sweeter?!

Foot Update

Ugh...just thinking about my foot issues brings tears to my eyes every time.  I wish I could say that, since my last update, things were progressing in a positive direction and my foot is getting better.  Unfortunately, that doesn't seem to be the case. 

Here's where we are at:  I went for an MRI at the end of May to see why my foot wasn't getting better with just wearing the boot.  I found out that, not only do I have tendinitis, but also tendonopothy (thickening of the tendon) as well as a tear of the tendon.  The MRI showed some other issues also, but they are apparently "non-issues".  The doctor gave me a list of options:

1. More time in the boot.  (Ugh...)
2. Fully immobilize my foot in a cast and/or us a knee walker or crutches.  (Seriously?!)

3. Surgery.  (He really isn't a fan of surgery since the tear is (apparently) not that bad.  I'm totally ok with that!)

We scheduled an appointment for a few weeks out to see how my foot was progressing in the boot.  I just prayed that by the time I went in, things would be better.  Unfortunately, that wasn't the case.  My foot just continued to hurt.  I went to the doctor not sure what he would say.  I was pretty worried.  He's not sure why my foot isn't healing and said that the next step is to not put any weight on my foot.  He explained that this is a process and I have to realize that I have a broken foot.  Having a torn tendon is very similar to having a broken bone.  It just takes time.  He still isn't in favor of doing surgery as surgery on a tendon is not easy.  It is tricky and a very long recovery.  

Sooo...in comes the knee walker.  I have dreaded this since the very first mention of it.  And yes, when he talked about it at this visit, I cried.  I have three kiddos.  We are busy people.  How in the world am I going to use that thing all of the time?  I guess I just have to suck it up, figure it out and continue to pray for healing.

If only the smile on my face meant that I like the scooter...

Please continue to pray with me for complete, miraculous healing of my foot.  This has been a long process and I am weary of it.  The emotional toll has been huge and I am SO ready to be done and feel normal again.  I will update again as soon as I go along this crazy adventure.

Boot Makeover

 So...I've been wearing this lovely boot for the past (almost) three months.  I'm a little over it.  I, however, have some great friends that wanted to "bedazzle" my boot.  This old boot sure could use a facelift.  How could I turn them down?  I couldn't!  I said, "Absolutely!" without any hesitation!

 Deborah, Kathryn and Lanae couldn't wait to jump on the bedazzle bandwagon!  Lanae ran to her craft room to grab the goods!

 Here is the very dull, boring before picture.

 And the after!

Thank you, friends!  I'm already getting great compliments!

I'm sure my doctor will love this one!

Ugh...

I'm not sure what the Lord is trying to teach me. Patience? Trying to just get me to slow down? I don't know, but I do know that this process has been frustrating and emotional. I feel like I have dealt with foot pain for so long. I often wonder, "Is this just something I should get used to?" "Is it ever going to go away?"


It started out with a brace on my left foot and some special tennis shoes to help heal some tendinitis in my left foot and plantar faciitis in my right foot. I did that for a month and then returned back to the doctor still in much pain. He informed me that the brace usually takes care of the tendinitis 80-90% of the time. Hmmm... The doctor was very apologetic when he told me that my foot needed to be completely immobilized. Yep...I had to go into the boot. ): I'm pretty sure he could see that the tears were welling up in my eyes as he told me that I would have to wear the boot for three weeks (all day long!) and then come back and check things out again. He also mentioned that the next step was one that I probably wouldn't really enjoy. Crutches or a knee scooter. What?! Have you ever seen these knee scooters? Here you go...
Mmm-hmm...can't you just see me rolling around my house on this thing? Ugh...

Please pray with me that my feet (especially the left one!) will be healed and I can move on from this! I never realized how emotional pain can be, but it truly is! I would love to be able to just slip on some cute shoes and go out or put my normal tennis shoes on and go back to the gym! I really have missed all of that!

I go back to the doctor on April 19th and will hopefully have good news to report.