Ugh, the pain

It's horrible.  The pain has not gotten any better.  I'm miserable.  While I don't want to complain, I'm reaching out to my blog readers to see if anyone has any great ideas for pain relief (besides rx drugs).  I've tried an ice pack.  That didn't work.  I've tried wearing baggy t-shirts.  That didn't work.  I tried wearing a fitted shirt.  That didn't work.  I don't know what to do anymore.  I'm frustrated, I'm in pain, I just want to stay in bed all day.  Post your ideas.  Please!

2 steps forward, 1 step back

I knew it was to good to be true.  I was feeling great last week.  I couldn't believe how good I was feeling.  But Thursday I started getting pretty sore again.  So sore in fact that on Friday I called and asked for more vicodin.  I couldn't figure out what was wrong.  My skin was soooo sensitive.  It hurt to touch anything on my abdomen.  And then in an ambien haze of absolute pain on Sunday night I saw it.  A spot that very closely resembled shingles.  Seriously.  I just had shingles six months ago.  My worst enemy (who doesn't really exist) doesn't deserve to have shingles EVER, and absolutely no one deserves to have them twice.  In six months.  So, needless to say, I'm in pain.  Lots and lots of pain.  I would rather have surgery again than shingles.  Basically the only thing that relieves the pain is to lay in bed very very still.  Yuck.  I'm sick of laying around. 

Luckily I started some meds today and last time I was on these meds it went away pretty quickly.  Praying it does the same this time!

While at the doctor today he also "cleaned" out the wound again, took out the "debris" which is as gross as it sounds.  This whole packing the wound thing is getting old and from what I hear I have a ways to go.  Blech. 

In just two short days I will have a teenager in my house.  Seriously.  Almost 13 years ago I was  barely 20 years old about ready to have my first child.  Scared to death of what that mant.  He has been such a blessing to us, Love that boy!

Wishing everyone a great and safe holiday weekend!

Summer Reading

The weather so far has been good for pretty much nothing.  It's almost the end of June and we have done nothing summery (never mind the other obvious reasons for that).  It's wet, cloudy and cold today.  Landon had a baseball game last night, I wore a sweatshirt and jeans and was still freezing cold.  He has another tonight.  It's a home game, our home park is always very windy, meaning it will be about 10 degrees colder there. 

So, what do you do to keep your kids reading for the summer?  We used to participate in the summer reading program at the library, but we rarely completed it, not because the kids didn't read, but because I wasn't good at getting back to fill stuff in.  So, we don't do that anymore.  Last year we tried reading a set amount of time per day.  That was great for about a week, then we got busy and out of the habit and that went out the window.  So this year we are trying something new. 

The kids can read as much or little as they want.  But, thier screen time is directly affected by thier reading time.  For every minute they read they earn 1.5 minutes of screen time.  They can save thier minutes for the whole summer, I'm ok with that.  Landon is better at this than Bailey.  He currently has about 600+ minutes banked up.  Bailey might have 30.  600 minutes is a lot of screen time, but I know that there is very little chance that Landon will sit inside for 10 hours playing wii or watching tv.  Bailey on the other hand... well, we don't have to worry about it really.  Two very different kids, same mom and dad. 

Happy {summer} reading!

Messy

**Warning**** You may not want to be eating while reading this**

Ugh.  I feel like my house is such a mess!  Such is life.  We do indeed LIVE here! 

I'm feeling pretty good.  For the most part.  I'm really wanting to be back to normal.  I know for a fact that I'm doing much more than I should be doing.  I'm doing more than I should be doing if I was 6 weeks out from surgery, much less 2.  I'm very very sore.  My muscles hurt.  The scars I don't necessarily feel.  Which is a good thing considering I have a gaping hole in my stomach where they opened one spot back up.  (Yup, it's as gross as it sounds).  I have to bandage that twice a day to get it to heal correctly.  Good thing I don't have to really look at it. 

OK, enough of that fun stuff. 

Have you discovered Pinterest?  If you need another time waster in your life I would definitely encourage you to check it out.  It sucks up a lot of my time (but let's face it, what more do I have to do right now), and I'm sure it could suck up a lot of your time too!  :)  Happy pinning!

Happy Fathers Day

Happy Fathers day to all of the wonderful fathers in my life.  My father, my father-in-law, my kids father.  All amazing men!  Thank you.  I'm especially thankful for my husband.  Wow.  He has been absolutely amazing these past few weeks.  He has worked full time (and then some), he has been an amazing dad, nurse, house cleaner, cook, driver, laundry washer, furniture mover... this man has doen it all!  And for that I am so greatful.  Never do I doubt that he loves us, never do I doubt his committment to his family.  So greatful for him!

Healing is going great!  I seriously thought that it would be much roughter than this.  But, like I said last time, that doesn't make it easy either. 
Most all activity is limited. 
I've spent a LOT of time on the couch, in bed or in my chair outside.  When I do to much walking, I know it.  Yesterday we went to a baseball game for Landon (in the scorching heat), the field was much further from the car than I was used to but I walked back and forth twice.  I can tell today. 
I'm still not taking pain pills until night time, but that may be because I want to convince my husband that I am capable of driving too!  :)  Where I am planning on going I don't know, but I know that I need to get out of this house!!!! 
I have a LOT of bruising.  There are bruises lining my scar and there is a LARGE one in the middle of my stomach.  It hurts. 

Many people have asked me if I'm happier with the results this time.  YES!  I am SOOOO much happier.  My chest looks 100x better, but honestly, I'm thrilled with my tight stomach.  It's no secret that I had a tummy.  My muscles just weren't what they were suppposed to be, my skin was stretched, it wasn't pretty.  But now, it's all better again!  LOVE it!  I recently had a birthday and received lot's of gift cards for shopping and I can't wait!  (first I need to be able to walk though...)

Landon is back from a great week at camp!  He's spent lot's of time with his family this weekend and I'm sure he can't wait to get back to hanging out with friends every day!

Bailey has been gone ALL weekend.  She got to spend Friday night and all day Saturday with her friend Sadie and then went to Michigan's Adventure today with the neighbor.  She will be TIRED!

Elliot get's to start both swimming lessons and VBS tomorrow.  He is not excited about either one.  Or maybe it's that he's tired and just needs some sleep!  I don't get to help with VBS this year for obvious reasons.  I will miss helping out.  I've been helping for... ever.  But, it will be nice to have time with Lila as well.  Maybe.

One week post TRAM Flap surgery

One week ago I was cut open on the operating table.  What a change in a week.  Seriously.  Going into the surgery I was really worried that I was going to be immobile for a while.  I had heard rough things about recovery from this surgery, but I was prepared for it.  I had heard of a lot of pain.  But I was prepared to be asking for lot's of pain meds.  No problem. 

It has not been all sunshine and lollipops.  There is and was definitely pain involved, but nothing like I expected.  For a variety of reasons I have gone from taking 2 dilauded pills every 4 hours to taking 1 vicodin every once in a while.  I'm not letting myself feel a lot of pain or being stubborn about taking them, because one thing I've learned is that pain pills serve a very good purpose.  On the other hand, I do not like taking them because they make me SO tired.  So out of it.  So anyway, pain pills aren't a bad thing, I just don't need them as often as I thought I would. 

I've still got four drains attractively draped from different angles of my body.  I still have to empty them a few times a day.  But, on the bright side, I am able to shower and wash my hair this time. 

I can not stand up straight yet, my skin is just still to tight.  Nor can I lay flat.  The couch has been my home!

I'm tired.  My body is working really hard to heal itself right now, it's not leaving me much energy to do anything else.  So, as much as I want to get out of this house, it's just not going to happen. 

I can't lift up my dear Lila, but on the flip side of that, we are able to snuggle on the couch and watch The duck song on YouTube or read Brown bear!

And, she's still as spunky as ever, finding a way to get exactly what she wants. 

And... I really am kind of excited about this Tummy Tuck I got!  It was an added bonus, and I'll take it!  Now, to keep a flat stomach!  :)

Thank you for all of your prayers and support, we've felt all the love! 

6 days post-op

Feeling pretty good. Honestly this isn't as bad as I expected so far. But who knows. Thank you for all of your prayers, help and notes of encouragement.   Its all been so appreciated.

Kristi is now celebrating in Jesus' arms.  Her positive spirit and warm smile will be dearly missed here, but she is so blessed to ne made perfect again.

Lindy has received some discouraging news this week.

Please keep them and their families in your prayers!
Thank you!

2 1/2 more days

Yikes.  School is done.  That means that:
a) I have an 8th grader and a 5th grader, and a "young-fiver"! (oh, and a 2 year old)
b) have very little to consume my mind until Monday
c) oops, I lied, there is plenty going on to keep me distracted
d) the kids are home... all the time.  blogger!! MMMOKMMMMMA

QQLQLQLLLP
The last day of school is pretty uneventful at our house.  Landon is gone fishing with Matt, while Bailey, Elliot and Lila anxiously await the arrival of thier friends!  Hudson is hanging out with us today as well!  I feel like I should be doing something fun and exciting to make up for the next few weeks, but...

So, surgery is scheduled for 7:30, arrival time of 6am.  Please pray.  Pray that it starts on time, for the doctor as he prepares for the surgery, for me as I prepare for the surgery, for Matt and my kids and for a quick and easy recovery.

(Obviously, this was not finished on the day I started it, as there is now about 18 hours until surgery, just typing that gave me a funny feeling in my stomach)

I feel an urgency to get a lot of stuff done.  Like cleaning out and purging bathroom cupboards, moving Lila into a big bed which happens to be the bottom of elliot's bunk bed, therefore moving her room into his room, so they share a room now, cleaning my closet and bedroom... unfortunately this all means that things like mopping the floor are being put off, but those are things that someone else (aka my husband or kids) can do!

OK, now it's 10 hours until my surgery and I"m still trying to type this stupid post, so, I'm publishing, not everything is one here, but it will have to do, until next time!almamm1.wt

I need this right now...

Feeling a bit anxious tonight as 6am monday morning draws closer and closer.  I've found plenty of things to keep me really busy up until now... Now I try to sleep, and even ambien is not helping.  I've got a few things to do tomorrow, but fully anticipate this getting harder. For now, one of my favorite verses...

Philippians 4:6-7 NIV
Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.