Boys Camping Trip

This blog post is long long long overdue. Ben, Preston, and Preston's friend went on a camp out back in the day. We looked at the pictures, and Emily and Preston said they never saw them. So here are a bunch of pictures that I have no idea what they are.

The boys camped at Temperance River State Park, and also visited Gooseberry Falls. Ben loved it! He has talked about taking us there ever since then.

I think they also went hiking to the highest point in Minnesota. Does that sound right?

Medical paraphernalia

I promise this will be the last post that has to do with my surgery. You can just check me out in person this summer at the family reunion.

When Meghan was born, we didn't come home with any cool things. I was kind of bummed about it. I figured surgery would be the same. I got the typical hospital socks, which fit no one ever, but I did get two things that really are super duper.

#1.

A pill crusher. I am not a good pill swallower. Imagine trying to swallow big tylenols and big stool softeners after having surgery on my neck. Impossible! Luckily, the nurse let me keep it.

#2.

At one point several hours after surgery, I had to get up to use the bathroom. I was a little bit dizzy/nauseous as I sat up. The nurse rushed out of the room while Ben grabbed the barf tub. She came back in waving this stick into my face. It has a bunch of essential oils in it (like peppermint, ginger, lavender, etc.) I'm not sure if it helped with the queasiness, but it did catch my attention. And, then Ben and I couldn't get enough of it. I told Ben right off that it was coming home with us. I've wondered if it would help with morning sickness, so if any of you need it I might be willing to send it to you to try it out. Extra bonus points because it is manufactured for a company in Enterprise, AL. That is where I had district meetings for 9 months.

Christmas 2015

Since we moved into our house right before Christmas last year, and it was still a big mess, we were looking forward to this Christmas with out anything major going on to relax and enjoy the holiday. With the exception of the impending surgery, Christmas was such a fun holiday for us!

Ben took so many pictures of our Christmas tree.

We had a Secret Santa do the 12 days of Christmas for us. Russell loved it. Every morning he would ask what our Secret Santa. Ben and I know who it was that did it, but it is still a secret to Russell.

We had a football party to watch BYU's Bowl game. The food was the best part. Not pictured was some Reuben Sandwich dip and warm ham and cheese croissants. Tatsy!

This is only a small portion of Meghan's Christmas dress I sewed for her. She looked pretty cute, and you can see the rest over at SewScoresby.

We finally got snow two days before Christmas. It had been a warm winter, so this was the first measurable snow.

After Santa came but before his elves went to bed.

She's a little ornery girl and this picture shows it.

These are our watching jammies. I don't know if I feel like doing it every year.

                           

Christmas was a big success!!! It took so long to open presents because Russel and Meghan were so excited about the one they had just opened.

We had our Christmas dinner on Christmas Eve. The missionaries joined us. Ben thinks it is strange to have a Christmas dinner not on Christmas DAY, but both the elders said that that was how their family did it. We had his traditional Christmas Eve meal of eggs goldenrod the next morning for breakfast (which is apparently how some of his aunts and uncles do it). We'll see how we do it next year. I told him we might just have ham and funeral potatoes.

Surgery

I am glad it has been a week and a half (almost) since my surgery. I have finally felt like I am actually making recovery progress these last couple days. Each morning I wake up with less pain/soreness/discomfort from the surgery.

Here is how everything went down:

6:15AM--We were at the hospital waiting for the escort to take us up to the pre-pre-op room. This is where they had me change and verify a few things and make sure I was still ok to go for surgery.

7:00ishAM--I was taken away from Ben and sent to brood over the terribleness of surgery by myself in the real pre-op room. The surgeon and anesthetist and their nurses came and check and asked a few more questions. I spent the majority of that time alone, which is not good for me to be when something major like this is going to happen. PS. They made me walk there. I didn't even get to ride in a wheelchair or on a bed.

8:10ishAM--They finally took me and all the other  'first case' surgery people to the operating room. It was a long line of people in hospital beds being pushed through corridors of the hospital until they got to the right room. They started prepping me for surgery, hooking me up to monitors and machines, etc. The nurses and techs were really friendly and made me feel completely at ease, which was good because they just knocked me out.

Maybe 12:00ishPM, Maybe earlier--I woke up sometime in the recovery room, which must have been just a huge room with stations where nurses watched all the people coming our of surgery. I couldn't really see because I didn't have my glasses on (and I was pretty out of it).But, I knew there were lots of people in that room. I heard a little baby crying and I knew when the bed in front of me was wheeled off to their room.

By 1:00PM--I was in my hospital room. I was so happy to reunited with Ben. The nurse wasn't our favorite, but I just kind of laid around going between trying to sleep and trying to have a conversation with Ben.

4:00pm--Ben left to get Russell and Meghan and Dad and Sherri so they could come visit. I tried to feel really good, but given that they did more than was originally planned, I didn't feel good at all.

5:00PM--The troops came. Russell was a little confused, but I think he was just mostly upset that Ben took him away from shoveling snow with Grandpa. Meghan wasn't scared at all, which made me happy. Dad and Ben gave me a quick blessing, then I wanted them to all leave.

7:30PM--Ben returned for the night. My dinner arrived a little bit before he did, so I tried eating mashed potatoes, mashed sweet potatoes, pumpkin mousse, and applesauce, but my throat was still sore and it hurt. We stayed awake and watched BYUtv which the hospital has. My night nurse came about 11PM so he woke  me up to check my vitals and to talk to me a little.

We did not get very much sleep.

5:00AM--I was finally able to fall asleep and be somewhat comfortable until . . .

7:00AM Tuesday--The shift changed happened right when the surgeon's nurse came to do some simple bedside procedures. She unhooked the drain I was hooked up to. It hurt, and she gave me little warning. Then she had to check my vocal chords and sent a scope down my nose. I did not like that nurse for what she had to do.

8:00AM--The surgeon came and did his rounds, and said I could go home. They would get things ready for my discharge. I was out of bed by this point because my body couldn't handle another minute of laying in that ridiculous hospital bed. Then we waited and waited and waited and waited for about 3 more hours. During that time various people came in offering towels if I wanted to bathe, gave us some insurance information, the nurse doing her checks, etc. Our family doctor called to see how I was doing, and he said to call him personally if I had any questions or concerns.

11:00AM--Transport came to wheel me down to the pharmacy to get my prescription. Ben pulled the car around.

11:30AM--We were home. I got into my bed and was in and out for the rest of the day and that night.

Wednesday morning I was more awake, but still sore and uncomfortable, but I got up and moved around some. I napped. I tried to play with the kids, but really I sat on the couch and tried to not get hit by them.

Whew.

I wouldn't mind if I didn't have to go through that all again. I'm glad they took care of the other cysts they found, though I feel like the recovery process has been doubled. At least, I am getting closer to the two week mark where I can finally pick Meghan up again. Until next Monday, I guess Russell will just have to keep helping me get her in and out of her crib.