We are moving to Colorado

In 3 weeks.

Another surgery update

JD is still feeling great! Wanna see his scar? If not, do not scroll all the way down.... 

However, he is having what the surgeon thinks is a slight allergic reaction to the glue (dermabond) used to seal his incision. It has caused a slight cellulitis. In regular words the wound is inflamed, very slightly open and it's draining. (If you want full details, contact JD. Ew.)
He is taking antibiotics, and using routine wound care to treat until out goes away, hopefully soon.
Another side effect of this whole process is that he can't support his full weight solely  on his non surgical foot. We have no idea why or what that means, though we have hopes that it could be on the spectrum of normal.
Any way, this means he is still at home on desk duty for a little while. We are not sure what the future will hold for us, but i if you are still sending happy thoughts our way, we are still grateful as we aren't out of wonderland, or back in Kansas, or out of the woods, or [insert other fun turn of phrase used to express normalcy] yet.
Thank you again for all of your love-we have really felt it these last few weeks!

Scar below this line
______________________________________

There and back again, a surgery tale

In case my cute husband's post confused some people - surgery in fact went well.

We got to the hospital, prepped and waited for the doc.

The bed was way too short for the tall guy. Can you see his feet sticking like 6 inches off the bottom? His surgeon made us feel so comfortable right from the beginning - of course JD knew him from working with him with clients before and knew he was great, but for me it was hugely comforting to hear that JD's Independent Medical Exam (IME) MD fellow-shipped the surgeon and they had mutually great respect and good things to say about each other.

The surgery was planned for about 2 hours. It took almost 3. I worried. The MD came out and told me JD's back was a mess but it turned out great- I think JD mentioned this in his post. I was so relieved to hear it looked ok and he was alive that I just forgot to ask for details like I'd planned.

I expected 4 hours until he could come home, so I left to put Korrali down for a nap. An hours after I left the hospital they called me and told me he would be ready to come home in 20 minutes! Talk about your bounce-back-er (THANK YOU FOR ALL YOUR PRAYERS AND GOOD THOUGHTS!!). I dashed back to the hospital, where we found him looking a little white, very sleepy, and weak but otherwise completely mentally there and relatively painless, and nausea-less (thank you to his AMAZING anesthesiologist!) After a little while, we found out it would be a while actually before he could come home. He made a work call - I think he blew the socks off the guy he called from his hospital bed.. the conversation went something like:

"Hi I'm sorry I missed your call, I was having back surgery.. but -"

"WHAT?! WHY ARE YOU CALLING ME?"

"Because your question was important to me - "

"Hey, don't even worry about it, just get better and then we can figure it out"

Socks = blown off.

Anyway.. I dashed back home to relieve the babysitter. Later that night - ok maybe an hour after I actually got home - JD called me to come get him. I dropped Korrali again at the babysitter and hurried to the hospital. We drove him home, helped him to bed, made arrangements so he could get the things he needed within reach and thus began his recovery.

Within a day he could dress himself and get in and out of bed and do his own hygiene care without help. Within 3 days he could walk without support and sit up in a chair. Within a week he was driving himself and working from bed, shopping for groceries for short periods of time. We didn't explain much to Korrali - except that Daddy was at the Doctor and had an ouchie on his back and that he was resting. But she picked up on it ,and ran off to snuggle him as often as she could.

Aren't they cute together? Anyway, he is doing fabulously. We can't thank you enough for all of your prayers and thoughts - they truly made a huge difference I am sure.

Ok, now more than a few vague words regarding my back surgery since many, including family didn't know. Yes, I had a microdiscectomy. Ironically enough, it was treatment for a work comp injury I had.  And as you all continue to pour out your love and support as you learn about it, I am feeling very grateful and feel I should say those three words that should be spoken and heard much more often among friends and family:

Resistance is futile.

The surgery started well enough, but things rapidly descended into chaos.  The MD said that “it was a mess” around L5-S1.  After trying unsuccessfully to repair me the best he can, things started to look bad and the MD opted to make an emergency decision and amputate the lower part of my body, just below the navel. He then attempted to attach me to some next-gen, wickedly awesome cybernetic legs, only to have my condition severely worsen as my body harshly rejected the foreign leads connecting to my frayed nerve endings. Things only got worse from there.  

In a final, drastic decision and attempt to save my life, my brain was removed. It is currently housed in a 12 foot titanium mobile apparatus suspended by status fields.  A modified version of the laughably rudimentary tech you call functional MRIs transmit signals to my vastly upgraded titanium body. My limbs contain, among other rings, a taser net, flame thrower, and a micro nuke rail gun.  Think of the awesome weapon from the 5th element, on crack, and steroids, pumped with human growth hormone, and you will begin to comprehend the power in these “guns.” (pun intended… is that a pun? Who knows.)

Thank you for your support and I look forward to assimilating chatting with you all. 

Ok, so I did have surgery and it went well.  The injury occurred Dec 2013 and I've been treating since.  Surgery was scheduled, then cancelled, then rescheduled quickly as someone else cancelled on the MD. The MD did say my lower back circa L5-S1 was a mess (not sure what this means as Lianna didn't ask, being too relieved that it went to get details) and cleaned it out.  My anesthesiologist was amazing as I was awake and completely lucid enough to work 1 hour after leaving the OR room with no nausea. I'm doing well, and am in pain associated with surgery, but it isn't bad, so far. I did have a nerve block affected the S1-S2 dematome which means I have a had time peeing (TMI?  Nah)  Imagine an old man with a severely enlarged prostate peeing in squirts... over 30 minutes.  The end.  Boring.  But continued prayers are appreciated as Lianna attempts to take care of 2 toddlers, one of which is not quite functional.

SELFIE!!!!!

Hope J's Surgery Doesn't Turn Him Into A Zombie, but if it does...

We're Prepped!
So J is going in for surgery this Tuesday - back surgery that is. The long awaited day has arrived suddenly and a little unexpectedly but is nonetheless a good thing. We are hoping and praying for a great outcome. It really isn't a joking matter.. so naturally I feel the need to joke a little about it.
Not to fear though. If it turns him into a zombie, our family is so ready to hunt him down.

* please note. All weapons are props and not at all dangerous except possibly to the environment if thrown away.

Homestead - Home of the Steady Zombie Hunters

Train  'em Young

Laying the Trap

Waiting.. and Watching

Also, we took family photos at the same time, as is our tradition.

It was very cold and wet. We were numb.

This one is my favorite of the day:

I'm so grateful we live so near such wonderful cousins! I think this is the only real smile K gave us all afternoon!

Monstrously fun festivities

Halloween festivities with a toddler were fast-paced and exciting. And at the same time last-minute and low-key.

Our good friends invited us to go to a local Halloween party with them again this year.
It's put on by their school and it's always a bundle of fun. This year we went as:
KittyQ and her Mama/Owner and the friendly Vet.

We loved the games, especially that they were fun for all ages - literally. Genius games.




Korrali loved the choosing candy bit. In fact, her verbiage for asking for candy these days is "choose? One?! Please!?!?!"

She loved wearing her cat costume. And the balloon. And the candy. And sitting by herself.



They also had a haunted house, which they geared waaay down for us. Their scary clowns etc just basically stood there while we went through with our friends. Korrali thought it was The.Best.
She walked through, waving and saying hi to everyone - including the guys standing behind a curtain pretending to be disembodied heads - and the lady covered in fake blood on the "operating" table. I had to pull her away from that lady before she climbed up onto the table with her. Heh. She tried to run away with the xylophone from the scary doll room.. and was attracted like a moth to flame to the super-bright strobe light. I shielded her eyes, don't worry. But I think she spooked the spookers - who gasped and several of them twitched as if to cover the light.

She dressed up again for our Ward's party, but we were lazy and didn't.. (wow, that was lazy. Mine was just a sticker!)

Meow softly, carry a big stick.

Her little friend followed her around once he saw her. They played in the bushes, they sat on the sidewalk, they ran down the hill towards the street.... poor little guy being led astray by my slightly wild one. They are so cute when they play - his name was one of her first words and vice versa. His family was the wizard of Oz.

I'm not the yellow legs. That was just happenstance.

We were so grateful that by the time Halloween rolled around we didn't have to plan anything except being invited to Katie's for a little after-party. It was perfect. Korrali still got to dress up in Halloweeny wear - why not be festive? (not a full costume, but definitely a fluffy skirt.) And we all enjoyed relaxing and playing with family. Korrali LOVES her cousins, and I'm so grateful to them for being so accepting of her! They are such good little friends and such good friend examples to her. (Sorry, no pictures.. but imagine her dancing - by herself, in front of everyone - to some tunes with no inhibition and then running around screaming in delight when Eli ran after her. Oh, and disappearing  with her cute cousins upstairs while they helped her feel right at home.) We are so lucky!

ps. Stay tuned. Our traditional Zombie Apocalypse family photos are in process and are coming soon. What, you mean you weren't actually waiting with bated breath for them?

Just some fall fun times

What's new this fall? Well.. I'm rediscovering things I loved as a child. Like running with abandon just because I have legs.. and because there is a giggling imp running away from me and towards the duck pond. Or like climbing lifting a toddler up impossibly high things, discovering what noises look like, dancing to music in public, and chasing ducks and geese. They love to be chased less... but it still happens. Having in incredible energetic child is more work for sure, but the more work you put in, the more fun you have!

we got an auto-awesome from google+ ! The ducks did not think we were in any way awesome. 

 The Arboretum is always so so worth the $5 Wednesday pass. We love every inch of their children's garden.

There is a group of flowers with musical instruments cleverly worked into their design. This one squeaked.

Another automatically edited photo! This fountain could occupy us for hours. I bring a change of clothes and a towel for this specifically.

We love the parks here. Mostly because they are outside. But also because they're very well kept. We've gone enough times to have had some minor drama with them (not pictured here) but hey, now they're not just parks. They're family. 

She was a little terrified of the lawn mower she could hear but couldn't see.
So, like a good mom, I took a picture. (But really, she is never still so this was too good to pass up)

She wasn't quite daring enough to try her chances walking on the "dangerous" side of this wall when I was sternly looking at her around the camera, but look closer and you can see the impish delight she is taking in teasing me by pretending she's going to do it.

Fall is sometimes cold and miserable here, but we go outside every day for hours anyway. A wise friend once said "There is no bad weather, only bad clothes for weather". We agree. And we dress warmly.

Are we done with pictures yet? I need a push.
(She actually has been not a fan of swings until recently.. I think they make her a little dizzy)

Other random things from this Autumn.

She likes to reach onto my dresser and open my boxes of jewelry.
I love how happy it makes her to play with them under supervision.

If this looks familiar, you've probably had a toddler who recognizes a window of opportunity when they see a chair.
Our counters are no longer a safe place to dry knives.

Or  store dinner left-overs. Although, I was happy to let her move the chair herself and finish off that whole bowl of beans after dinner. 1 less thing to put away, and I knew she had eaten enough. The adage "presentation is half the meal" is true.

"Ousside. 'Side? Deor? 'Side!" Every day - even though we spend hours, literally, every day out there. It's never enough. Oh, and her hair is finally long enough for 1 piggy!

Squirrels are a major, major event every time one happens. Every day. Korrali and I can even imitate a squirrel, and they run up and listen to us. Kronk, watch out.

Stickers! Most of the time I am practicing patience as I attempt to teach her not to eat them. Sometimes golden moments happen when she decides to share with her favorite doll - from "Grandma" Eldredge. We call him nino (Spanish for boy) and he mostly wears no clothes at Korrali's insistence. I think Korrali lives vicariously through him.