Post op update

September 7, 2018September 7, 2018 ~ msgracefulnot ~ 44 Comments

So many of you know that I had surgery on Tuesday, but I don’t know if I have ever explained the history to why I needed the surgery, or what the surgery was for.

Two years ago, I broke the first metatarsal in my right foot. I was in a walking boot for a total of 6 months off and on. During the treatment, I had cortisone shots, physical therapy, and was diagnosed with Osteopenia. I had custom orthotics made for my shoes etc. For the last two years, the pain has always been there, but it has been bearable. When I would over do it, the doc would advise me to wear the boot for a couple of weeks or use my wheelchair , do R.I.C.E. therapy, and take some drugs.

About a month? ago when I started walking on a daily basis, my pain got worse and worse. My foot began to be black and blue on a daily basis. I went to see the doctor and was advised that I had gout, I DIDN’T. I try to give everyone the benefit of the doubt. In the doctor’s defense, I WALKED into the office, granted I was limping from the pain, but I did walk. Maybe he thought, if I was in that much pain, I wouldn’t have been able to walk? Whatever the case, he sent me home with an order for RICE therapy again (REST, ICE, COMPRESSION, ELEVATION) and another RX to try.

The pain got so bad I ended up at immediate care where they finally did xrays and determined that not only had I broken my foot again, but I also had severe arthritis. I had surgery on Tuesday. The short story is that they cleaned up the arthritis, and have inserted a plate and screws to fuse the bones together. I was sent home bandaged and in a CAM boot to my knee.

Here’s the part where I get really angry

Before surgery I was told that after surgery I would be placed in a non removable, non weight bearing cast until I followed up with the doctor to have the stitches removed. I planned for that. What I DIDN’T plan on was all the conflicting information.

I came home in a CAM (walking boot) with verbal instructions to stay in bed with my foot elevated above my heart for 3 days, applying ice 15 mins on 15 off for the same amount of time. After 3 days, I could spend some time out of bed, but was still supposed to stay off of it and keep it elevated as much as possible. The boot was not to come off until my first post op appointment next week.

The surgery center called the following day to see how I was doing and how often I was bearing light weight on my foot. Had I taken the boot off to do ankle circles etc?

HUH?!?!?!

I was told NOT to take it off?!??!?!?

My parents, who had stayed the night with me after surgery reiterated that the doctor said the boot does not come off under any circumstances and absolutely NO weight on it.

I found the written instructions from the surgery center which give me a third set of instructions and all of them are conflicting.

I’ve called the surgeons office and can only get a nurse on the phone. Her instructions are to bear weight on my foot as tolerated. ( walk to the bathroom with the CAM boot on, but don’t get the mail, cook dinner etc.)

Here’s another problem…. I can’t bear ANY weight on my foot. The pain is excruciating! How do you define as tolerated? Is MS making me feel pain that isn’t there?

After I got home from surgery, my father told me that the doctor said he could not believe that I was able to walk at all with such a bad break, or that I had been able to tolerate the pain for as long as I had. I don’t think I have a high pain tolerance, I think it has to do with just doing what you need to do, something I have had years of practice doing because of living with MS. I know that MS screws with the way my brain interprets pain.

I don’t want to do more damage, or screw up the surgery. I don’t know who to listen to. I don’t trust my own ability to make decisions because of the pain pills, and I’m very emotional……not to mention bored out of my mind.

I don’t expect anyone to give me answers or fix this for me, I just needed to get it off my chest, and did want to let everyone know that I did survive surgery and really appreciate all the thoughts, prayers, and well wishes.

I am going to go with the thought that even the doctors don’t know, after all they are just practicing. ARGH…..

Too Many to count

August 30, 2018August 30, 2018 ~ msgracefulnot ~ 29 Comments

I’m not just talking about the number of speeding tickets I have had. (although that number almost equals the number of years I have been driving) YIKES!

I’m talking about the number of times I have been “put under”. When you get general anesthesia, you’re “put under,” which means that you’re totally unconscious and immobilized. You “go to sleep” and don’t feel, sense or remember anything that happens after the drugs begin to work on your system.

My very first surgery was having my wisdom teeth removed when I was 16. Between that time and my most recently scheduled surgery (having screws and a plate put in my right foot on 9/4/2018) I have lost track of the number of times I have been put under.

I really do need to keep better records.

The most notable surgeries were:

an emergency C-section with Thing One
a hysterectomy
CMC joint replacements in both my hands
the power port being placed in my chest (on valentines day…smh)
a laminectomy of my thoracic spine
and my every few months Botox in the BLADDER surgeries.

You could almost call me a professional surgeree? I don’t really think that’s a word though, so let’s stick with patient.

I’m not writing this post to elicit sympathy, but rather to share some of the things I have learned over the years to help me prepare for going under. For me, preparation for surgery begins more than a week before surgery.

The FIRST thing I do is take a look at the amount of recovery or down time that the surgeon is recommending, then DOUBLE IT. (Most people probably don’t need to double it, but I’m going with MY past experiences, AND the whole plan for the worst, but hope for the best scenario) Make a list of all the things that you are responsible for during that time period and begin to look for someone to COVER for you. Your list should include the basic necessities of adulting like eating, bathing, paying your bills etc.

In my case I have purchased enough groceries for a month. I won’t claim that they are the healthiest options available, but this will allow me to be as self sufficient as possible. All of my bills are set up for automatic bill pay. I have hired someone to take care of my lawn. My kids will be grabbing my mail for me a couple times a week etc. As far as bathing goes, I just won’t do it. I’M KIDDING!!!!! I have a shower chair and after the number of medical procedures I have had performed, I have no modesty left, so my kids and some close friends are helping with that.

If you are not comfortable sharing that much with your family, they do sell bathing wipes that you can use by yourself.

While on the subject of modesty, BEFORE surgery is also a good time to PUT away anything you might not be comfortable sharing with friends or a caretaker. (Don’t put spare cash for food delivery in the same drawer you stash, “OTHER” things. If you catch my drift.

Most importantly, don’t try to be a hero, super or otherwise. Just because you THINK you can do something, try to error on the side of caution, at least while you are on pain meds. If you wouldn’t do the task after drinking a 12 pack, maybe wait just a little bit longer or ask for help?!?!?

While I have figured out, kind of, how to drive with my left foot, I will be relinquishing my keys for the next couple of months. While I have proven to myself that it CAN be done, it’s really not safe and is against doctor’s orders. I would hate to have the issue come up if I had a flat tire, or worse was involved in an accident.

I have more that I would like to share about preparing for surgery, especially about the night before and day of, but I still have more to do and a few days before surgery, so I will write more later.

Have you ever had surgery? Can you think of anything I have missed? Any funny stories to share?

And then there were two….

August 17, 2018August 17, 2018 ~ msgracefulnot ~ 23 Comments

I wrote last month that my oldest daughter, Thing 1 was pregnant and that she was having twins. I didn’t share anything else other than I am excited as hell, oh and that I can’t keep a secret. But but, I have more to share….

But before I do, I would like to introduce you to Thing 1’s dog’s ( my grandpuppies) Atlas (left) and Juno (right). The picture above was taken on Juno’s birthday, she just turned 2. (More August Birthdays.) keeping with the tradition of being a better grandparent than I was a parent, I forgot to mention that my dog snuff turned 8 or 9 on the 8th. ( bad dog mommy)

Back to the original topic though….being a grandparent to two.

I am going to be a grandparent to two BOYS!!!!! SO EXCITED!!!!!

I couldn’t keep it secret and needed to share! I hope everyone has a fantastic weekend! If you have any trouble, reach out to me I have plenty of happiness in my heart right now!!!!!

The verdict is still out

August 7, 2018 ~ msgracefulnot ~ 20 Comments

While the verdict about if switching to self hosted was worth it is still out, I thought I would take a few minutes to update everyone on where I have been hiding.

First of all this is “birthday week” in my family. My birthday was Sunday, Thing 1’s b-day is Saturday and Thing 2 will be turning 21 on Sunday, so needless to say things have been a bit busy. (and been gaining a few pounds…yah cake?)

The stove/oven was identified as the cause of my C02 leak. I am happy to report that the shopping for, financing, delivery, and installation of a new stove has been completed.

3 out of 5 of my animals, have had to go to the vet. (2 cats for breathing problems and one dog for explosive diarrhea) I should be grateful that D.O.G. actually had most of her episodes on my bathroom floor, but if you remember, my bathroom floor is currently newspaper stuck to old tile glue, so it was actually a mini nightmare to keep cleaning that mess up. The bill for the vet hurt quite a bit too. 😦

My bank went through a conversion and payments ended up not being were they were supposed to go, So I have literally had to say, “the check is in the mail” which NO ONE believes or wants to hear.

One day, after reaching 7000 steps, I came home and took off my shoe to see this.

My foot hurts like hell, but I have still been walking every day. IMO, this is NOT gout, and the uric acid levels in my blood say that it is also not gout, however; the doctor is still calling it GOUT. I have purchased new walking shoes, and am having custom inserts made for my shoes, (yah more bills) hoping that that helps, while trying to find a new doctor, that will at least perform xrays….. again SMH

My Shadow

I feel like I should call this little guy more of a stalker now. He comes to my house Every day and either lurks in the tree at the end of my driveway, or rings my doorbell continuously. One day, I did have him sit at my patio table, and I let SNUFF out the meet him. I wrote a note for him to take home to his mother, I read him the note, and reiterated that he can not come over without a parent. I put my phone number on the note, and have still not seen or heard from a parent. Instead, he brought another slightly older brother over 10 minutes after he met my dog……smh that is NOT what I said. I did learn that he is six and his brother is 7. When I asked about his mom, he said she worked until 4

Switching to Self hosted

As far as the switch to self hosted goes, the jury is still out. As with most things in life, there are positives and negatives to everything. One of the positives, or at least one of the reasons I switched include having more options or tools available to use. When you are using wordpress.com, you are basically “allowed” to use what they tell you that you can use as far as plug ins etc. are concerned. Last month’s, 370k in spam comments, and no ability to change security plug ins was the final straw for me, so I finally made the jump.

At this point, there have been more negatives, but part of that can be a learning curve. I think I have said before, that I was skeptical about switching because I read the words “easy and free to transfer”….HA HA HA. Some of the negative things are:

My stats are bunk. I went from having 200 followers to having 5.
While “transferring your site” is “free, I don’t feel that it was easy and required a minimum of 15 tickets to wordpress.com and siteground.com to “complete” the process. To be honest, I still don’t feel that the process is complete.
Not only did my site “disappear” from Reader, I no longer have a Reader without going back to wordpress.com.
Most of my comments are still going to the old “whatever its called”, and I am missing several. To make it worse, some followers are no longer able to comment, and for the ones that ARE able to comment, most are not able to see when I have responded.
It WASN’T free. SMH

There is a completely different dashboard, and staging area. Siteground is also rolling out a new editor.

I keep trying to remind myself that it is all about the journey, and things will get better with time. To those of you who still keep looking for me and who have helped me “test” things, I am more than grateful. Ms Gracefulnot, is still out there, and I am hoping things will get better with time.

If you are reading this and don’t want to lose contact, please consider subscribing to the blog via email. (there should be a link at the bottom of this post ) From what I can tell, so far, THAT part works

So THIS happened today

July 26, 2018 ~ msgracefulnot ~ 24 Comments

The other night, I was making a pork chop on the stove, and my smoke detector went off literally saying. “FIRE, FIRE, FIRE”. There was no fire, there was no smoke, but because it was 10 pm at night, I did have an angry kid who had to be up for work at 5 the next day, running into the kitchen yelling at me. WHOOPS…

I kept hitting the button to turn it off. It did stop yelling Fire, but then it started saying “Carbon monoxide warning”. Thing 2 got angry and took the batteries out before lecturing me about making food so late etc and then she went back to sleep.

Yes I did 😛 when she closed the door. I ate my pork chop and that was the end of it, so I thought…..

This morning I woke up, made my normal path to the bathroom and stepped in dog vomit. SMH….cmon really? Why do animals always have to puke on the rugs or carpet areas?

I kind of hopped into the bathroom to clean my foot off, only to step in cat vomit. You have got to be fricking kidding me!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ( well at least in the bathroom it was on the newspaper that is still down on the floor from my last incident).

After cleaning everything up, I walked into the kitchen to start the coffee…. want to guess what happened there?

I am not kidding….. MORE animal vomit!!!!

When I finished cleaning everything up, Thing 2 came into the kitchen complaining of a headache and feeling like she wanted to be sick as well. You know, come to think of it, I have been feeling nauseous myself which I just attributed to taking wellbutrin to quit smoking….but what if…..

I googled what to do if you suspect a gas or c02 leak and called the number for our utility company. They advised me to take all the people and animals outside (2 dogs and 3 cats). Within minutes, emergency vehicles started showing up from all directions.

It turns out, my stove is broken and there is indeed Carbon Monoxide leaking from it. SMDH!