And Then There Was Light

Our lights came back on September 21st at 7:57pm! It was funny though cuz we would forget to turn lights on, and I'd find myself getting the flashlight at night! Seminary and school started back up on Thursday, so Jarom is back in the swing. He's running with the Cross Country team and getting ready for basketball season.

Physical Therapy is going well. Now I get in the therapy pool - that's fun! I can pretty much walk without the cane, but I'm still pretty gimpy and using it helps with that. I've come to the conclusion that my low back and hip muscles are still pretty weak and tha'ts why I'm so gimpy. I'm going to talk to my PT Monday about starting some exercises to strenghthen my back.

Our little Ike refugee (the squirrel) is doing very well. His eyes are not open yet, but he's getting bigger and stronger. He's a cutie!

Our thoughts and prayers are still with all those in Galveston and Houston, and in Cuba and the islands who were hit so much harder than we were.

Trials and Blessings

We're told in the Doctrine and Covenants: "...after the trials come the blessings..." I think sometimes it's reversed and after the blessings come the trials. During and after Ike we were so blessed: the storm was tempered (I believe), there was no major damage where we live, we have our generator that has made our lives so much easier, no harm or injury, a cool front right after the storm blew through, etc, etc, etc.

Now, eight days post Ike we still don't have lights while those all around us do. Even harder hit areas have their lights back on. Also, the cool front has left us and the weather is a little bit harder to handle. We long for the regular routine of our lives - though I think Jarom is enjoying being out of school - and sometimes there's an emotional toll after the fact.

I've been thinking the last couple of days how easy it is to be thankful and cheerful when all is going well, and how easy it is to see the blessings of the Lord when they are right in front of us. What will my attitude be now? Will I complain about the humidity or the fact that we still don't have electricity? Will I stress and worry and cry over things that I have no control over? Now comes the test of my faith and trust in the Lord. Now I will see and He will see what I am really made of.

I pray that I can still see clearly all the blessing that are still right in front of me though maybe now a bit clouded. I pray for faith and trust in the Lord that He takes care of me every moment anyway so why not now? I have never been more sure that every breath, every heart beat, every moment of time is a gift from Heavenly Father, and I can do nothing without Him, and without the atoning sacrifice of my Savior, Jesus Christ.

Today we went to church and just had the sacrament. Nothing else - an opening prayer, the sacrament, a closing prayer. It was probably the most spiritual meeting I've been to in a while. What a blessing to have the gospel of Jesus Christ! We are blessed and all is well!

So...

So...we're still "roughing it" - I say that in quotations cuz though we still do not have electricity here at one week post Ike - we do have the generator! Everyday we watch TV, do laundry, run the fans, get on the internet, etc. Our generator was the best investment I think we've ever made. We didn't use it for three years, but now when we need it, it has made our lives so much easier.

Our little squirrel is doing very well! As a matter of fact the little guy is thriving! He squeals - very loudly - when he's hungry, he crawls all over the place, and we've had to move him into a bigger box cuz he's so active! It may seem like a little thing, but we prayed the little guy would make it. We're thankful to Heavenly Father for blessing us with this little joy!

I started back to Therapy yesterday. I missed a couple of visits last week cuz my leg and foot swelled up quite a bit. I got worried about clots, but I went to the doctor and it was just normal post-op stuff. Then this week I missed cuz of the hurricane. The first thing I told the therapist yesterday was that I didn't want to use the walker anymore. I'm ready for the cane! He had me walk with the cane a little bit yesterday and then when I got home I borrowed one from my dad-in-law and that's what I'm using! I still use the walker at night and if I go to Wal-Mart or something - mostly for safety. My goal is to get back out on the road walking like I used to.

Let's Talk Turkey!

Jarom and his turkeys! The tom, Penn is on the left and the hen, April is on the right.
Jarom loves Penn! We've had him since he was a little "turkling"!
I don't think that tastes like puppy chow!
Playing with Penn!

"There Ain't No Bugs On Me"

The Saturday before Hurricane Gustav Milton went to the sale as he does most every Saturday, and brought home this adorable little guy! After a lot of debate we named him Gustav after the hurricane, but we call him Gus! He's a cutie!

Misc Pics Related To Ike

One of our neighbors have a Crepe Myrtle bush that managed to bloom even through the hurricane!
Our generator - a must have in this neck of the woods!
Our little refugee: a baby squirrel named "Hammy". He's actually doing quite well; we're praying he makes it.

The horses seem to have survived the storm with no ill effects.

Ike's Mischief

As you'll see below, we were spared any significant damage: A few leave and branches in the yard
A limb down by the turkey pen
A pine limb in the pasture
This tree was across the road on the other side of the bridge
A light pole down - about a quarter of a mile from the house

Life After Ike

We're not quite forty-eight hours after Ike's arrival, and life really isn't too bad. We still have water and phones, but no electricity. There's no telling when we'll have that back - we'll hope for within a week and plan on within about three weeks.

We are blessed to have a generator, and we stocked up on gas right after Gustav. It's really nice to crank it up and watch TV, get on the internet, run some fans, and keep the freezer and fridge going. Things seem almost normal. At night we all pile up in Megan's room where there's a window unit and we sleep very comfortably!

Milton is still at the prison - I haven't talked to him yet today. I'm sure he's staying busy there! They had to take an inmate to the hospital last night; usually they take them to Galveston, but...so they took him over to Jasper which is a little town about thirty miles east.

I'll get some pics posted soon.

Cool Quote

"To worry is to say to God, 'Your're not big enough to solve this problem, so I'll deal with it myself.' Peace disappears when you try to do something about something you can't do anything about!" (Richard Daily)

Ike's Headin' North

I stayed up until about 1:00am with my dad-in-law and at that point we still had electricity and things were calm and uneventful. At about 4:30 am I woke up and noticed the lights were off and the wind was blowing! It wasn't really too horrible though - not compared to what went on with Rita. It was interesting to hear the wind rip up one side of the house, over the roof, and down the other side! I was really impressed with my dad-in-law's house; if the window had been closed I may not have heard much of anything. He and my mom-in-law built this house with their bare hands some sixty years ago. It's amazing what it has withstood all these years.

The only damage we have seen is some limbs down. There's a tree in front of my dad-in-law's house that lost a limb. Every storm we have takes a little bit more of that tree! There are also some limbs or trees down on the other side of the bridge and down the road toward Aunt Sylvia's house. We also have a storm refugee: a little baby squirrel who doesn't even have his eyes open yet.

We haven't gotten a lot of rain, so the creek has not flooded - that's a blessing. The wind is still whipping around quite a bit and at times we get some pretty good gusts!

Hurricanes fascinate me; they annoy me and stress me out, but they fascinate me too. I think it's because they are such examples of raw nature - a testimony of the power of God. We were sitting outside earlier and a big gust of wind came and rolled that limb and then turned right around and rolled it back to where it was - wow!

We have certainly been blessed. My testimony of prayer and the promptings of the Spirit have been strengthened through this experience. Heavenly Father loves us, He's aware of us, and He hears and answers our prayers!

Life With My New Hip

So...I am three weeks post-op. I'm still on the walker - which I want to get off of. I'm ready to move to a cane, but I'm really afraid of falling. My physical therapists are absolutely wonderful - I have actually walked with a cane once at therapy, but at that point I was still pretty weak and shaky. I'm feeling much stronger now, and guess what...I have NO pain!!! Well, I have discomfort where the incision is - in the muscles and such, but as far as pain in my hip - NONE!!! The two main things I've noticed is that I can walk backwards (I couldn't do that when my hip was bad) and if my leg gets bumped it doesn't hurt! Before the surgery even the slightest bump to that leg was horribly painful. My life seems to revolve around where my gadgets are: my walker and my grabber thingy. I use my grabber thingy for EVERYTHING! I love it!! I'm able to be very independent because of it. I have some limitations for the next three months - some hip rules, if you will. To follow them will allow my hip to heal properly so that it'll last me a good long time - which is what I want. I have no regrets about having this surgery, but I sure don't want to repeat it any time soon! So...my grabber thingy lets me reach stuff, etc. The coolest gadget I have is the "sock putter on-er". You just thread your sock onto it, stick your foot in it, and pull! Magically your sock is on - very fun! I am blessed! I am so thankful for this opportunity to be pain free and mobile again - to get my life back!

Comment...Anyone?

Ya'll feel free to leave a comment - you'll find a place at the bottom of each post. It's a great way to keep in touch with each other! All my love to all who visit my world!

Ike's A Bad Boy!

Just two weeks ago we evacuated due to the threat of Hurricane Gustav. I felt peaceful about that whole thing, but as I watched the weather channel and heard about Ike I had a feeling...

So, here we are anxiously awaiting Hurricane Ike's arrival. We didn't get the word to evacuate this time, so it's been a tough decision: should we go to Heber's house again, should we go some place else, should we stay in Odomville, or go to the church in Woodville? I don't know!!! I've done a lot of praying - asking Heavenly Father's advice (who would know better?), and the decision was made to stay in Odomville - over at my dad-in-law's house for the night. I guess this is where the faith kicks in...to have faith in that peace that the Spirit whispered to me when I prayed and told Heavenly Father my decision and asked if it was right. I have been earnestly praying that Heavenly Father would temper the storm; I couldn't bring myself to pray that it would go some place else. Last night as I was praying about it the words to a hymn came into my mind: "The winds and the waves shall obey my will; peace be still, peace be still..." So far Ike has stayed a category 2; I'm still praying (I know a lot of people are) that he has gotten too close to the coast to pick up any more strength. We'll see...

Milton will be staying up at the prison for however long they need him to stay there, and Kevin & Sarah went back to Temple which is just above Austin. They're in the same motel they stayed at when they evacuated for Gustav.

I'll be glad when it's over.

My Blood Clot Cheer

Wear those TEDS
Take those shots
Move those legs
Don't want no clots!
(ha ha)

I'm "Hip" Oh Yeah!

Friday, August 22nd: I was instructed to arrive at the hospital (Lufkin Memorial) at noon for a one o'clock surgery. I went into it knowing that it may get started a little later than that because I was kind of a work-in surgery. Dr. Guse did me a great favor squeezing me in - I only had to wait one month instead of three to six months. Milton, Emelie, Megan, and Jarom were all there with me. The kids had planned to go to the zoo while they waited, but they ended up just staying at the hospital. There was a two person rule for the pre-op room, but we had five or six in there at one point. Jimbo and Wendy Kethan came up - that was a really nice surprise. I found out later they had stayed with Milton and the kids until I was in recovery. That is a visiting teacher going way more than the extra mile!

In a little while a nurse came in and started my IV. She got it in one stick and it didn't even hurt. Of course she used Lidocaine, so...it was numb! Basically the wait was pretty boring. I just kind of laid there and visited with everybody and got more and more nervous. Finally things started buzzing and then someone came in and said there was another delay: no pregnancy test on the chart...AND??? We assured everybody that was NOT an issue, but they insisted. Finally I was in the operating room - the anesthesiologist was apologizing that I was even aware I was taken into the operating room - but explaining once again that they couldn't give me anything until they got the pregnancy test results. Not a problem, especially after he gave me the first hit of medicine in my IV! (the results must have come in) No more nerves - they could have started the surgery right then and there and I would not have cared! After they had me move over onto the operating table they gave me a second hit of medicine and that's all I remember until somebody was telling me to wake up and hold up so many fingers or whatever it was they told me to do! I remember Dr. Guse telling me to move my feet, and then a nurse put some TED hose on my legs. I could hear everything and follow whatever command they gave me, but I didn't have the energy to speak. I remember the nurses were talking about their blogs and going to "Cutest Blog On The Block" and one of them must have said a cuss word cuzz I remember hearing the other one say something about there being a patient in the room. I didn't hear what she said though, so...it was all good. The first thing that came to my mind was what time it was, but I didn't have the energy to ask. I did, however, see a clock on my way out of post-op: 8:00pm. I found out later that the surgery didn't get started until about 4:10pm
I don't really remember the ride from post-op to my room, but I do remember being wheeled into the room and hoping I wasn't going to have to move from whatever I was on to the bed. I didn't - they must have moved me onto the hospital bed in post-op. Pretty soon Milton and the kids were in the room and though I was still pretty groggy I was glad they were there. After a little while the kids headed home and Milton stayed with me. He seemed to sleep pretty good on the little fold out into a bed chair! My nurse that first night was really great. She offered me several options for pain control: a PCA pump, Morphine, or Percocet. I didn't have any pain in my hip at all so I kept turning it down. I didn't really sleep throughout the night - I would fall asleep and then wake up cuz I'd set off the alarm. The anesthesia was still having an effect so my breathing would get shallow and my oxygen sats would drop. I kept waking up to take a deep breath. Finally she just put some oxygen on me and that solved that problem!
Saturday, Aug 23rd: I finally broke down about four thirty in the morning and got a pain pill. I felt like I had been run over by a very large truck. My limbs felt heavy and swollen,; actually my face and hands were very puffy. Milton pointed it out to the nurses, but they didn't seem very worried and I felt fine, so I chalked it up to the surgery. My biggest complaint - even in post-op was that my low back hurt. I guess it was the hard operating table and not moving for several hours. That's actually what I need the pain pill for. The nurse and the aid came in and pulled me over using the draw sheet so they could kind of get me off my back. That was HORRIBLE pain. The pain was in the muscles and tissue where they had cut me open and did who knows what else while they were in there! Pretty soon I learned that Percocet was my friend, and we got pretty close! Dr. Guse came in later that day; he told me that both the ball and cup of my hip had no cartilage left, and were full of Arthritis. Also, my cup was pretty shallow so he deepened it and then screwed that part of the prosthesis in. He also told me he had to use a smaller pin in my thigh bone because though my bones are big they are young bones which means they are dense - that's actually good news!
That afternoon Physical and Occupational Therapy came in. I was very nervous about having to get up and move around with the pain I was in. I didn't think I could do it. Sarah was there with me and she didn't think she could stay in the room. I begged her to stay though and decided I would be brave! John Livingston had just called me not thirty minutes before they came in and had told me not to be afraid to get up when they got there. He said the hip wasn't going anywhere which was inspired advice because you do wonder if you'll be able to stand much less walk on this metal hip that was just put in less than twenty-four hours previous. The PT and OT were wonderful and the next thing I knew I was sitting on the side of the bed, then standing, and then actually walking down the hall!!! The doctor said I could be one hundred percent weight bearing which was also amazing to me! I had my walker and didn't put all my weight on it, but I was walking!!!
Sunday, Aug 24th: Dr. Guse's Physician Assistant came in and saw me Sunday morning. He looked me over, told me he was also pleased with how the surgery went, and even said there was help in the operating room that could not be seen. Caryn McCabe came by Sunday and brought some brisket and pork that her brother Court had smoked the day before. I didn't have much of an appetite yet, but it smelled SO GOOD! Milton said it was awesomely good! She also brought chips and other snacks - a great blessing to Milton. Physical Therapy came back on Sunday and I went walking down the hall again. It was a lot better the second time.
Monday, Aug 25th: It was kind of a sad day because it was the first day of school and I couldn't be there to take Jarom to school. He's a sophomore this year though so he was fine - better than I was! Dr. Guse came in that afternoon and wrote discharge orders. I didn't want to leave that day though because it had been less than thirty-six hours since the surgery. I don't know why - I just had this fear. He said I could leave the next day, and gave me the blood clot lecture. He scared me so bad I had Milton call Justin to come by later so they could give me a blessing. Getting a blood clot was one of my biggest fears and Dr. Guse didn't help with those fears at all! My second fear is that the hip will pop out, but they gave me the "hip rules" right away and I follow everyone of them! As far as the blood clots go - they had the TED hose on me, I was getting blood thinner shots, and I was ALWAYS moving my legs - no sitting still for me!
Physical Therapy that day was down in the Physical Therapy gym. She made me walk all the way down there and then while I was there she taught me how to go up and down stairs and get in and out of bed and the car. I also got to go and get a shower where they showed me how to use the shower chair and get myself in and out of the bath tub.
Tuesday, Aug 26th: Time to go home...in a way it was scary cuz I felt safe in the hospital. The PT went out to the car with us and made sure I could get in and out okay, and she told me to pump my legs pretty often cuz the drive home was about and hour and a half. I pretty much pumped my legs constantly!