Well, this last week has been trying. :)
Knee Surgery Update
Rob is feeling much better today. The amount that he can move around now as compared to the day of the surgery is amazing. He's doing, I think, as well as expected, but not as well as he expected. He thought he was going to just bounce right back, I think. On the contrary, he has missed school all week, we didn't go to church today, and he's still not as mobile, or out of pain (since you can be in pain, you should be able to be out of pain, too). We've invited a family over this week for dessert and games, more for my sanity than anything, and it should be just about all we can handle. We've had a lot of support from people, but it's still been a little overwhelming for me. I feel like a single mom with Rob just watching me do stuff. :) But every day it gets better and I'd rather have this problem than lots of others we could have. ... There's a trip we're supposed to take on Saturday that involves a one way 3 hour drive. I can't imagine we're actually going to make it. Unless Rob is miraculously better by then. I might just go without him, because he'll be well enough to take care of himself, but I'll have to take the kids with me. And me, alone, with 2 kids for 3 hours? I'm not sure I'm excited about that, either. :) We'll have to see.
Elijah is Sick
On Friday Elijah wasn't doing so well. He started the day with a fever of 99.5 and the last time we checked it before I went to an Urgent Care place at 7:30pm, it was 103. Sheesh. The double ear infections that he had 10 days before hadn't gone away. So we're on round 2 of antibiotics. Elijah is doing better. There's no fever and he's not as fussy, but I can tell he's not back to feeling well yet. He's mostly not fussy, but he's not happy either. And it takes a lot for him not to be happy. So tomorrow I'll be calling his doctor to set up a follow-up visit to make sure we get this taken care of. I'm afraid we're looking at never-ending ear infections and tubes in the ears or something like that. ... From the way Elijah's been acting today, I have a nagging feeling the 2nd round of antibiotics won't work either. I'll keep you all up on how that goes.
Getting a Raise
And we're still really excited about getting a raise. That's been a shining moment for this week. :) I'm holding up okay, but probably only because when it's time for bed I'm so tired that I sleep like a baby. I think that's been God's gift to me this last week. I'm remembering that there are just times in life where you don't think about much other than just getting through. My dishes are perpetually not done, the house is usually a mess, I haven't done any of the "fun" things I normally do to keep myself sane, and just today I finally got together enough to make dinner. :) ... If Rob and I had known how hard the surgery and circumstances would be, we would have done it differently. But, can't change it now, and we're making it. And for now, that's good enough.
We love you all.
Tamra
Sunday, April 24, 2005
Thursday, April 21, 2005
Knee Surgery and IGERT
I'll send a little more detail later as we get detail. But Rob was in contact with many people today about the IGERT Fellowship. They all were very willing to work with him and get things in order so it's worth everyone's time to take the Fellowship. Rob just officially accepted the Fellowship and is excited about it. What the scholarship means for us is a hefty raise, along with the prestige of the award, as well as hopefully opening more doors for Rob in his career in the future. Rob will still be able to do the Procter and Gamble rotation this summer that he's so excited about. And it looks like we'll be able to work out Dr. R (his mentor) paying for family insurance (the one major expense this scholarship would increase for us). They're also willing to decrease the amount of classes Rob will have to take and they said they'd be willing to let him take them slowly, like one at a time, so he won't miss a lot of time in the lab. So all's looking pretty good.
Other than that, Rob's knee is doing okay. He's still feeling crappy and he's not able to do much at all, but he's feeling better. Not much to say on it. I took a picture of it for you all to see. We just took off all the dressings today. The leg is pretty swollen, but there's not much discoloration yet. I'm sure that will come.
Tamra
Tuesday, April 19, 2005
Rob's Knee Surgery
Well, some of you already know all this, so forgive the repeat. But here's the news from today.
To start with, I was really bored. :) Okay, that wasn't a tragedy, it was inevitable. But nevertheless, it was beyond true. I was the third person there in the waiting room and not a single person who started there with me (or was there even soon after that) was there when I left. They had all left hours before. I have now seen more soaps in a day than I have in the rest of my life combined (which means I watched 2 today). I saw Ellen (she's really funny), watched the entire process of the Pope being elected, from the announcers saying, "Is it really white smoke?" to the announcement in Latan, to the Swiss Guard and all the ceremony following. It was REALLY cool. I wrote a letter, wrote in my journal, read 50 pages in a book, ate very little and slept not at all (unfortunately on both counts). And all of this BEFORE 2:30pm.
Now, what you want to hear about. Rob went in at 8:30am. He was in good spirits and we were laughing about stuff. They gave him a local block for his leg. (He's just now, actually, finally starting to feel the ice pack on his knee.) They did the surgery. I was talking to the doctor who did the surgery, Dr. Kenter, at noon. He showed me pictures which were cool. Basically, from what he said, there was some more damage in there than they expected to see. Not unusual damage, though. There was a little arthritis in there. And the back of the knee cap was really worn down, which he didn't expect at all. But, he said because of that, it's a good thing that Rob went with the type of surgery he went with (there are 2 options), the hamstring option. The other option that he didn't choose would have taken away some strength from the knee cap, and he said with the damage there it just wouldn't have been good. So, that was nice to hear, that we made the right choice. But in spite of the damage, he said the surgery went really well. He sounded really positive and was impressed with his own handiwork, which is good. He said we'll have to see how it heals, but he expected it to go well and was optimistic. He also showed me a picture that caught my eye. You know how you see like shark attack wounds when they're fresh, and the flesh is just shredded? That's what this looked like. I think that was supposed to be his ACL. I can't be sure about that, and I'm sure he'll tell Rob on Monday when he goes for a return appt., but whatever it was, it was DEFINITELY not supposed to look like that. It just looked like carnage inside the body. Wow.
So all in all, we're glad we did the surgery now before the damage got worse.
As for recovery, Rob has a brace that he's supposed to wear (I don't know until when) that keeps his leg absolutely straight. He can weight bear on it, and he's already done so to get up the stairs to our apt. He is supposed to do minor exercises for now and hobble around and try to get off crutches as soon as he can, like in the next week or two, I think. Really, it sounds good. I guess there are a couple different philosophies doctors can take after this surgery. For instance, my friend's doctor is apparently anti-brace. Thinks people can rely on them too much. Obviously Rob's doctor is okay with braces. And that's okay with me. The drug docs said the pain will be the worst tonight and tomorrow, and if tonight is any indication, Rob should be okay. Granted, he's only sitting on the couch, but that's okay for now. The doc sounded like Rob will really be able to go as full speed as he wants to, within some guidelines. And we now own some cool equipment--crutches, a leg brace, and some rad ice pack that's like a cooler that constantly pumps ice cold water into a pack covering his leg. He's supposed to keep ice on it for at least 24 - 48 hours following surgery.
Other than that, let's see. Rob is not very grouchy now, which is nice. He was pretty out of it and grouchy when he first came out, which wasn't so easy. I guess I just didn't remember that pain and drugs do that (I'm sure I was like that after the 2 C's I had). Oh! That's right. The other thing the doc said was that he was able to repair Rob's miniscus, which is good. It'll increase recovery time, though. He said normally for the surgery they start pretty agressive therapy right away, with full range of motion. Well, with this, it'll be about 6 weeks before they start doing that kind of stuff. He made it sound to me like Rob should not move his knee past 90 degrees for those 6 weeks. I'm sure we'll find out more as it goes on.
Really, right now we're just going with the flow. And hopefully tonight things go just fine sleeping, cause I'm really tired, and Rob's really tired.
And S, don't feel bad. Rob's Mom came down to help us with the kids, or I'd be calling in favors from just about everyone I know. :) As it was, she was at our house to watch the kids from when we left at 6:45am - 5:00pm. And my good friend across the way cooked dinner for us, which was really nice. Even though I told her not to bother, we'd have it all taken care of, it was REALLY nice to have it taken care of by her. And with me and Rob not so emotionally on top of the world, it's nice to have Grandma here to help with everything we still have to do--like be nice to our kids.
We love you all and we'll keep you updated as this goes on.
Tamra
To start with, I was really bored. :) Okay, that wasn't a tragedy, it was inevitable. But nevertheless, it was beyond true. I was the third person there in the waiting room and not a single person who started there with me (or was there even soon after that) was there when I left. They had all left hours before. I have now seen more soaps in a day than I have in the rest of my life combined (which means I watched 2 today). I saw Ellen (she's really funny), watched the entire process of the Pope being elected, from the announcers saying, "Is it really white smoke?" to the announcement in Latan, to the Swiss Guard and all the ceremony following. It was REALLY cool. I wrote a letter, wrote in my journal, read 50 pages in a book, ate very little and slept not at all (unfortunately on both counts). And all of this BEFORE 2:30pm.
Now, what you want to hear about. Rob went in at 8:30am. He was in good spirits and we were laughing about stuff. They gave him a local block for his leg. (He's just now, actually, finally starting to feel the ice pack on his knee.) They did the surgery. I was talking to the doctor who did the surgery, Dr. Kenter, at noon. He showed me pictures which were cool. Basically, from what he said, there was some more damage in there than they expected to see. Not unusual damage, though. There was a little arthritis in there. And the back of the knee cap was really worn down, which he didn't expect at all. But, he said because of that, it's a good thing that Rob went with the type of surgery he went with (there are 2 options), the hamstring option. The other option that he didn't choose would have taken away some strength from the knee cap, and he said with the damage there it just wouldn't have been good. So, that was nice to hear, that we made the right choice. But in spite of the damage, he said the surgery went really well. He sounded really positive and was impressed with his own handiwork, which is good. He said we'll have to see how it heals, but he expected it to go well and was optimistic. He also showed me a picture that caught my eye. You know how you see like shark attack wounds when they're fresh, and the flesh is just shredded? That's what this looked like. I think that was supposed to be his ACL. I can't be sure about that, and I'm sure he'll tell Rob on Monday when he goes for a return appt., but whatever it was, it was DEFINITELY not supposed to look like that. It just looked like carnage inside the body. Wow.
So all in all, we're glad we did the surgery now before the damage got worse.
As for recovery, Rob has a brace that he's supposed to wear (I don't know until when) that keeps his leg absolutely straight. He can weight bear on it, and he's already done so to get up the stairs to our apt. He is supposed to do minor exercises for now and hobble around and try to get off crutches as soon as he can, like in the next week or two, I think. Really, it sounds good. I guess there are a couple different philosophies doctors can take after this surgery. For instance, my friend's doctor is apparently anti-brace. Thinks people can rely on them too much. Obviously Rob's doctor is okay with braces. And that's okay with me. The drug docs said the pain will be the worst tonight and tomorrow, and if tonight is any indication, Rob should be okay. Granted, he's only sitting on the couch, but that's okay for now. The doc sounded like Rob will really be able to go as full speed as he wants to, within some guidelines. And we now own some cool equipment--crutches, a leg brace, and some rad ice pack that's like a cooler that constantly pumps ice cold water into a pack covering his leg. He's supposed to keep ice on it for at least 24 - 48 hours following surgery.
Other than that, let's see. Rob is not very grouchy now, which is nice. He was pretty out of it and grouchy when he first came out, which wasn't so easy. I guess I just didn't remember that pain and drugs do that (I'm sure I was like that after the 2 C's I had). Oh! That's right. The other thing the doc said was that he was able to repair Rob's miniscus, which is good. It'll increase recovery time, though. He said normally for the surgery they start pretty agressive therapy right away, with full range of motion. Well, with this, it'll be about 6 weeks before they start doing that kind of stuff. He made it sound to me like Rob should not move his knee past 90 degrees for those 6 weeks. I'm sure we'll find out more as it goes on.
Really, right now we're just going with the flow. And hopefully tonight things go just fine sleeping, cause I'm really tired, and Rob's really tired.
And S, don't feel bad. Rob's Mom came down to help us with the kids, or I'd be calling in favors from just about everyone I know. :) As it was, she was at our house to watch the kids from when we left at 6:45am - 5:00pm. And my good friend across the way cooked dinner for us, which was really nice. Even though I told her not to bother, we'd have it all taken care of, it was REALLY nice to have it taken care of by her. And with me and Rob not so emotionally on top of the world, it's nice to have Grandma here to help with everything we still have to do--like be nice to our kids.
We love you all and we'll keep you updated as this goes on.
Tamra
Tuesday, April 12, 2005
The latest
Happy birthday, J. :)
Well, we're all doing okay here, meaning we're all alive and happy, so that's a good start.
I finally went to a doctor on Saturday for my sinus infection that wouldn't go away. I read a little on sinus infections and was seeing things like "chronic symptoms" and "could last for months to years," and I was inspired to go get an antibiotic. Lo and behold, the doc agreed that I was sick and gave me 2 drugs: an antibiotic and a decongestant-type. I feel much better and on Sunday, for the first time in a week, my ears didn't ring and I wasn't feeling a ton of pressure in them. So I'm well on my way to getting better (I hope). There's still some congestion, but it's so much better than it was, and my head is no longer throbbing when I get tired.
Elijah started getting a fever on Friday night. I didn't think much of it because he wasn't acting really cranky or anything. He was sleeping a lot and acting a little lethargic. I just assumed he was teething. Anyways, he had his 12 month visit yesterday, and by the time we got to the doctor's office his eyes were goopy and swollen and red and his nose was just gross. He still had the same low fever from 3 days ago (we hadn't given him any medicine). The doctor checked his ears and he not only has a double ear infection, but the doctor said it's one of the worst ear infections he's seen this year. So, how about that, my kid is a stand out. :) Luckily we had a doctor's appointment anyways, cause I probably would not have brought him in. ... Last night he woke up screaming in pain, and I felt really bad for him. It's brought back memories of an ear infection I had when I was young. I remember waking up in the middle of the night thinking I was going to die and being really mad at Mom for not taking me to the doctor RIGHT THEN. :) And I remember the pink medicine that I took religiously on time because I didn't want to be in any more pain. ... Elijah also picked up a hacking cough last night, so we set up a humidifier to try to help, again taking me back to my childhood. A humidifier is still a comfort object for me. :) ... After the doctor told us about the ear infection, I started thinking about what Elijah was doing to show us he had an infection. He hasn't been tugging on his ear, but he's been giving us and other people this weird sideways look where he scrunches up his ear down by his shoulder. He's also been occasionally grabbing his head with both hands in some sort of frustrated something (obviously, now, pain). I feel like a bad mom. But at least he's only been really sick since Friday.
As a side note, I called Rob's mom to tell her about how we were sick down here and she told me about Rob's sister and her family. They have 2 cases of strep, 2 kids with upper respiratory infections, and 1 kid (the baby) with an ear infection. So I guess our family is behind. :)
Anyways, the rest of us (meaning Rob and Miciah) are just fine. Rob is anxious for the surgery coming up, and we're semi-battling the insurance company to make sure they'll cover it. They sent him a form asking about pre-existing condition stuff. Everyone we've talked to in person says it should be covered because it doesn't qualify as a pre-existing condition, but they won't give us any guarantee. Well, we're going to make sure we have a guarantee before the surgery.
My friend that had the same surgery Rob is going to have is now in her 5th week since the surgery of being on crutches. She still can not bear weight on the leg. Let us hope Rob is not the same way. Her injury (though the same injury) was worse, and she was on crutches even before the surgery. She has 4 kids, including a 5 month-old. The ward has been helping her out a lot.
That's us. Hopefully next time I write, Elijah and I will be all better.
Tamra
Well, we're all doing okay here, meaning we're all alive and happy, so that's a good start.
I finally went to a doctor on Saturday for my sinus infection that wouldn't go away. I read a little on sinus infections and was seeing things like "chronic symptoms" and "could last for months to years," and I was inspired to go get an antibiotic. Lo and behold, the doc agreed that I was sick and gave me 2 drugs: an antibiotic and a decongestant-type. I feel much better and on Sunday, for the first time in a week, my ears didn't ring and I wasn't feeling a ton of pressure in them. So I'm well on my way to getting better (I hope). There's still some congestion, but it's so much better than it was, and my head is no longer throbbing when I get tired.
Elijah started getting a fever on Friday night. I didn't think much of it because he wasn't acting really cranky or anything. He was sleeping a lot and acting a little lethargic. I just assumed he was teething. Anyways, he had his 12 month visit yesterday, and by the time we got to the doctor's office his eyes were goopy and swollen and red and his nose was just gross. He still had the same low fever from 3 days ago (we hadn't given him any medicine). The doctor checked his ears and he not only has a double ear infection, but the doctor said it's one of the worst ear infections he's seen this year. So, how about that, my kid is a stand out. :) Luckily we had a doctor's appointment anyways, cause I probably would not have brought him in. ... Last night he woke up screaming in pain, and I felt really bad for him. It's brought back memories of an ear infection I had when I was young. I remember waking up in the middle of the night thinking I was going to die and being really mad at Mom for not taking me to the doctor RIGHT THEN. :) And I remember the pink medicine that I took religiously on time because I didn't want to be in any more pain. ... Elijah also picked up a hacking cough last night, so we set up a humidifier to try to help, again taking me back to my childhood. A humidifier is still a comfort object for me. :) ... After the doctor told us about the ear infection, I started thinking about what Elijah was doing to show us he had an infection. He hasn't been tugging on his ear, but he's been giving us and other people this weird sideways look where he scrunches up his ear down by his shoulder. He's also been occasionally grabbing his head with both hands in some sort of frustrated something (obviously, now, pain). I feel like a bad mom. But at least he's only been really sick since Friday.
As a side note, I called Rob's mom to tell her about how we were sick down here and she told me about Rob's sister and her family. They have 2 cases of strep, 2 kids with upper respiratory infections, and 1 kid (the baby) with an ear infection. So I guess our family is behind. :)
Anyways, the rest of us (meaning Rob and Miciah) are just fine. Rob is anxious for the surgery coming up, and we're semi-battling the insurance company to make sure they'll cover it. They sent him a form asking about pre-existing condition stuff. Everyone we've talked to in person says it should be covered because it doesn't qualify as a pre-existing condition, but they won't give us any guarantee. Well, we're going to make sure we have a guarantee before the surgery.
My friend that had the same surgery Rob is going to have is now in her 5th week since the surgery of being on crutches. She still can not bear weight on the leg. Let us hope Rob is not the same way. Her injury (though the same injury) was worse, and she was on crutches even before the surgery. She has 4 kids, including a 5 month-old. The ward has been helping her out a lot.
That's us. Hopefully next time I write, Elijah and I will be all better.
Tamra
Monday, April 4, 2005
Elijah turns 1!
Here are 2 pictures from one of Elijah's birthday parties. We had cake with icing. It's not as good as Chocolate Applesauce Chocolate Chip Cake, but it makes for better pictures of Elijah. ... It's so cute and yet still SOOO GROSS! :)
Tamra
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