River trip 2009

Greg & I came to the river on Friday the 24th as did most of the family that is here this week. I rode in the motorhome lying on the bed which made the 5 hour drive much more bearable on the body, and Greg arrived later with our Explorer loaded with supplies. While I have not really been out of the room for a large percentage of time, I have been out amongst the family group about 5-6 times during the week. The first time taking a car ride to the gathering area, and the others I have walked the 30 feet... most went well, and one that was excrutiating painful til the muscles settle down... Greg purchased a gravity lounger chair, which was great for "sitting" the 20 minutes max allowed and than I could recline very comfortable and lock it into place. Very much like lying in a bed, so it allowed me to extend my visits with family. I can certainly sense the weakness in the body as I don't have much of an appetite and am eating just the minimal amount. Before we left I stepped on the scale and since arriving home had lost 13 lbs. But it has been a nice change of scenery from the three weeks at home and I appreciate that Greg was more than willing to take on the change also.. He comes back into the room and checks on me, and I sleep alot whichs has been the one thing that has passed time easily, and the drugs make me sleepy and so to fight it isn't easily accomplished. I've read a couple of books and have yet to start the third one.

Brian & April came in on Saturday mid morning, they are heading to Havasu today for lunch and than take off tonight when it's cooler for home.. We've had a nice week together and yet he will need to be heading back to Madera on Sunday, so he's heading home a day earlier. Shane worked Saturday, driving up early Sunday morning with cuz'n Trisha and her son Christian, he will ride home with Greg tomorrow. Ashley came up on Sunday with Briana after a day in Vegas after her Friday night maid of Honor wedding committment of friend Kristi, her friend Briana and they headed home Wednesday afternoon. The rest of the river family will stay through Friday check out at about 11am. Always seems that the next years river trip comes up right around the corner.

April & Brian

Ashley, Shane and Brian

Today as I sit out here by the river in the row of chairs with the clan (as close as I will get without touching it) there is a cool breeze blowing and the temp 98 degrees, it is much more bearable than it has been the last two days at 115 with a hot wind blowing. Right now the boat and the two wet bikes are gone and so there is a large # of our group out doing something together, most likely at the sand bar or down to the dam.
Ashley in the boat heading out

There has always been an uncanny ability by the Van Meeteren boys to dive and retrieve whatever has just recently been lost, or that was lost in a previous year by someone. This year Shane and Brent did alot of salvaging of sunglasses.. Ashley was so thankful that the youngun Brent found her glasses in about 18 ft of water.

Today we ventured home at 9:30 a.m. with our stuff, Brian took alot of the large bulky things on Thursday night when he and April left, following Trisha, her son Christian, her mom Tina, Shane rode along with this group also.

I rode home in the Explorer with Greg and with a cushiony blanket and a pillow under me had no problems at all, unless a sudden braking was required.. Home in 4 hours...

See ya next year at the river!

Thursday good company and a outing ~~

This morning I slept a little later than usual, passing on breakfast and than just dosed off and on without being engaged in tv or a book. Ashley came up and told me Aunt Elsie was downstairs... so Ashley helped me just by bringing a wet washcloth, toothbrush and hair brush to pull it together.. I had a nice visit with Aunt Elsie from the comfort of my bed, loved that she came to see me. And that I found a Hydrangea plant on my kitchen table when I went downstairs later...

After Aunt Elsie left, Greg came in to say that he had to run out to Irvine and meet up with a customer soon and "what did I need".. My friend Susan was coming in the afternoon for a visit. He brought me a light lunch and pulled my clothes from closet that I asked for and put where I could reach them after I cleaned up returned to edge of bed.. And he than took my desk tray with comp, book, blood tester, phone etc downstairs so I was setup for the rest of the day once I got down there. I than took pain meds and took in a short nap while they kicked in and yet before I took on some time in the bathroom & getting dressed.. first time I attempted and made it downstairs on my own. a milestone that had me nervous being home by myself at the same time.

I had enough time to "settle" onto the couch and relax before Susan arrived for our visit.. Ashley joined us for a little while of "OC housewives" discussion.. and than she went back to packing for her Lake Havasu trip, leaving us to continue our chatting...

Tonight we had the dinner that Susan brought of Meatballs for on subway rolls and mac/cheese and strawberries. And than since I had opened mail and had a check that needed to be deposited.. we went on what we thought would be a simple errands trip to the bank, and returning some plates, casserole dishes to those who had blessed us with a meal.. So after a while of riding in the car out amongst the living again, I was glad to be heading home and lay out prone in bed, do some of the P/T exercises I'd have to answer for in the morning and than hit the sack early tonight from being "tired"... what a good feeling to be just plain "tired".

good night

Tuesday doldrums

dol⋅drums 
–noun (used with a plural verb)

3. a dull, listless, depressed mood; low spirits.

It's been 16 days since surgery and while I had all the facts prior of what's going to be done to you, placed inside of me, you have NO IDEA what to expect afterwards in recovery, you're on a daily learning curve of whatever appears you have to deal with it. Besides the ache in the lower back where the "new hardware" was attached to the spinal column, I have been experiencing most annoying PAIN in the left leg around the knee and the calf area when standing up for much time. Assuming it might be nerve trauma postop... My being independent makes the current state of ever so dependent on Greg and the kids for some simple basic tasks and unable to care for myself ~ difficult and frustrating. Oh I'm appreciative of all that they are willing to do for me, and I know Greg loves me and is exhausted in keeping up... Thankfully I don't feel I ask for much beyond basic water,soda's and when they eat I eat....

And so I'm writing this a little while after having moved to a new location midday to the downstairs den. From the time I woke up this morning, I've been weepy on some thoughts going through my head, that "instant ache" that I wake up with, waiting for the pain meds to kick in about 20 minutes before getting up out of bed for a first trip to the bathroom... and wondering what I will be able to accomplish today once I'm up. I hadn't had pain meds during the night and so not wise to get up without them in the system.

Greg came home for lunch after a work mtg in office and he helped me downstairs within ten minutes of dressing and listing what I'd like him to bring down with him. Greg had to leave early this morning and so I had slept very late and than struggled to just do some time in the bathroom for simple cleaning up, wet/dry hair before Greg came home. I dropped a spray bottle of conditioner after I pulled the plastic top off of it, and I was unable to retrieve it from below my chair even though I could stand it up between my feet, couldn't reach down far enough to reach it for a good grip. I came close but couldn't quite grasp it.. frustrated I just blew the hair dry as much as I could and than the burn in lower leg and lower back makes it hard to sit on my tall chair quickly took over and I had to retreat to the bed and lay flat out and let it calm down... oh and cry a little...

End of the week and a Sabbath day...

Thursday morning Ashley drove me to the follow up appt with the Orthopedic Spinal Surgeon for 10:30am.. Now this is one doctor that the "wait" in his office lobby is ever anything but quick... somehow he's behind schedule even if your first of the day or first appt after lunch, it makes no difference. So I was dreading the fact that my appt fell in the middle of his morning schedule and the window of "sitting up" time that I was capable of is pretty short, was not going to help..

Once we were called back to an examining room and waiting for some xray's to be taken... I was starting to wear out.. and when "Jack" called me out to get the xray's a short walk down the hallway. I endured without losing my temper that he had me STANDING during the entire process of getting the 4 xrays, checking them on computer screen and doing the next one.. Only to get back to the examining room and the Dr. was not happy with the quality of them. So he (the Dr) walked down the hall and we HEARD him tell the tech, "those were LOUSY pictures now get me two that are clear"... ugh.. So this time I push my walker down the hall and he lays me down on the table for the four xrays.. which gave him a better view, but since the "spacer" is invisible due to it being plastic other than the metal front plate.. So he basically couldn't see if it was still in place like he could see clearly the artificial disk which being titanium/metal was completely visible. So a future CT scan might be taken should the pain level not reduce, but for now, we decided to keep believing all parts are still in the correct places they were placed originally and remain there. And that we would just assume a better pain med choice would prove that true.

Since we had already addressed slightly the difference between the pain meds I was given in the hospital and what I was using at home being so COMPLETELY different. I was in the hospital feeling no pain on what was a morphine drip of (sp/) "dilloudid" and yet alert and able to function, and walk with the P/T when asked and whatever was asked. The surgeon in the preop visit when asked if we were going to use Dr. Mikhail my pain med dr who has been doing the injections, his response was "it's not rocket science and I will take care of you".. That statement left me assuming there would be no gap and no change between hospital to home transition, but it became obvious they "hydrocodone 5-500" were a watered down version of a pain med for what I needed. Yet my go home orders from him verbally were to take the pain meds I had been using previously and no new written anything orders given... {I was released on Thurs evening and by Friday midday there was a definite indication that my situation on pain control was out of control.. Oh and it's 4th of July weekend and so I had to work very hard getting a hold of someone in the Dr office to COMPLAIN to... and I didn't other than to get a refill for exactly what I was already taking and running low on but I was instructed to call on Tuesday for anything new} WHAT that is a long time when you are at a point of relying on pain meds to function and it's not sufficient.

Tuesday I left a voice message for the Dr's assistant "that his comment to me that pain med prescribing was not rocket science" was apparantly not true, because I am suffering and he had not helped me out at all.. Well, with the appt being on Thurs to see him, I was going to need to pick up a prescription because they couldn't call in one that strong, but since they didn't call me back with that until AFTER Ashley had already been there on Tues. to pick up paperwork for disability - I would now wait until Thursday's appt to get it straightened out.

So I walked out of the office pushing my walker with a new prescription for the pill form of the morphine Dilloudid I was on in the hospital.. it has been a much better couple of days since starting this and while the pain is not completely gone, it's 80% better and some other muscles are cramping in the left leg are more of the surgery nerve trauma that will just take time to subside. The heating pad is my other treatment tool that helps with the muscles/nerves stressing in the left leg.

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I have pretty much stayed upstairs in our master bedroom/bath for the time at home with only two trips down the stairs for a short couch visit or dinner at the table. With the two dr appts, I than returned straight back upstairs to the comfort of my bed.

Today is Sunday and I am not ready for an outing, if even to church. I came downstairs after we had lunch. This morning I took a shower before Greg left and than a nap while the boys went to church...

Greg and I watched the movie "bringing down the house" with Steve Martin and Queen Latifah. Greg than went out to get some groceries and I flipped through some channels watching a little this and that, checking facebook.. and after 8 hours, I'm still downstairs, which is the longest in the two weeks since surgery and it has really felt good.

I look forward to now making the downstairs my new place to be during the day, that I am having good pain control and will feel more like making some occasional laps around the loop on the hard surface flooring for some exercise along with what the P/T assigns.. and my bed for sleeping at the end of the day.

This has been a good day and I will sleep well tonight from being less stressed about the progression of the last two weeks. In less than two weeks we will be at the river and so I need to be smart in that by than I have rested and made some much needed progress in order to be anything but "stuck" in our rented room and not able to be outdoors as much as is possible for someone who won't be able to ride in the boat or jumping off the dock for a float in the good old river water.

good night....

staring at the ceiling...

This morning I had a follow up appt with the vascular surgeon who removed the 15 staples. He declared the incision looks very good and that the relationship between he and I has now reached the end... He did a great job and the pain level in the abdomen has been ZERO throughout. In our conversation, he did say that the pain med IV'd into me at the hospital was the strongest narcotic available and so there is no good "pill" pain reliever available like it. bummer!

Over the last couple of days being at home I've had difficulty in sitting upright whereas I was doing it before, might be that I sat up to much in bed. Monday a home health P/T came in and a couple of exercises to do, positions to sit in or not to sit in... well, it's made the back pain increase and made just the simple getting up for a trip to the bathroom highly charged. So the trip to the doctors office today, I got up early and basically got ready in several time shifts so as to "rest" inbetween. At the Medical center from the parking lot it was uphill to the elevator... which was actually easier that the downhill walk back to the car. But I made it, although the sitting in the car was a tough ride no matter where the reclining position was situated.

Tomorrow morning is the followup with the spinal surgeon.. So we will see what he has to say and if there is anything "better" for meds to prescribe to get through the is time frame or if just "staring at the ceiling" in what is resting is the alternative to the pain in walking or sitting. Dr Ravessoud had told me that prescribing pain meds was not rocket science and he would take care of it.. Holiday weekend apparantly isn't "his shift" in order to receive an upgrade nor without seeing him in person like I will tomorrow.

Well, I've napped all afternoon, but it's time to call it a day... good night...

4th of July

We are home alone for the 4th, kids are all out with friends and Greg didn't care to bbq.. so we had just a simple meal of sandwiches for supper and soon there will be fireworks to witness outside of our bedroom windows.

My surgery went very well in the reports from the two surgeons. The vascular Dr ran into some extensive scar tissue in the abdomen and we could not figure where that came from as while I had 3 C-sections, they are located lower and would not account for whatever it was he ran into. So hence the incision is a little longer, bummer. The spinal Dr has the two new parts right where they are intended to be and the muscle soreness in the back will last a little while but is normal.

I came home from the hospital on Thursday late in the afternoon and was really feeling good... pain level was minimal and I had done as much walking and stair climbing for those three days of P/T that they asked of me and I had no issues. The IV was removed on Wed and so pain meds were than only whenever I asked for them and when I came home was told to just take what I had been using before.. WELL, it became very obvious throughout Friday and into the night that the pain meds I was now taking was not enough.... Because to just get to and from the bed/bathroom the pain was the kind that makes you lightheaded and shaky from the pain... I took a shower on Friday and while it felt good, it was a large "event" and took alot of energy and I did not dry the hair as the pain level drove me back to bed.. When I called the on-call dr, he said that I could only add a Motrin to the two pain meds hydrocodone 5-500 (but not to take more of the Hydrocodone) It has helped a little but I plan to increase the motrin to two.. The one side affect after surgery seems to be in the left calf muscle an intense pressure and my two toes on left foot go to sleep once I'm upright. Using ice/heat to try and bring comfort back to that area.

I have an appt for Wed. morning to remove the 15 staples across the 10 inch abdominal incision. (that I dread and will NOT be watching). maybe this will interest Ashley enough to be my designated driver so as to witness.

The goal for tomorrow is to make it downstairs, get the occasional walk of the loop during the day inside the house on the hard floors with my walker (woo hoo). For now, I'm behaving by just resting in bed as they recomended or once in awhile in the chair next to the bed.

EXCITING news for Ashley on Thursday

At 7:15am on Thursday Ashley was awoken by a text message from a friend who said "check the licensing website NOW" and so Greg said Ashley went down the stairs as fast as she could to find her computer and to check the licensing website that would list those who passed the NCLEX boards. AND HER NAME WAS ON THE LIST..... SO EXCITED.. Greg said there was some hootin and hollerin from the front room... she text me right away and so we played phone tag trying to call back and forth..

It's painful to cry tears of joy when your gut is stapled.. but worth it. But I had the nurses on my floor all rooting for her and excited when it came through that she had passed officially. The tears were also in the realization that it's also official that she will now be moving often to different places away from our home.

So thanks for the prayers and wishes of support for her. May God use Ashley mightly in his kingdom to bring aid to those who hurting and in need of medical intervention.