All Kinds of News

We FINALLY got our bloodwork paperwork for the MS agency mailed off!! (I'm hearing angels singing the Hallelujah Chorus.) So now we've officially turned in both completed applications. Now what? You ask. I have no idea! Ask me in a week or two. I have yet to hear from either agency. Will they let me know whether our applications have been accepted??? I have no idea. I guess I should be more pushy and badger them to death about where we stand, but I just don't have the energy. It's frustrating, for sure, but right now I am just too tired.

I am now in a boot, but it didn't come without it's own share of drama. But I'll spare you the details and just ask that you rejoice with me in the fact that I AM NO LONGER ON CRUTCHES!!!! Let's PARTY!!! I can now take a SHOWER!!!!!!! That is just music to my ears!!!

So what was the 1st thing I did after getting my boot??? Well, I went to meet Kim's PRECIOUS new baby girl, of course! OMG she's BEAUTIFUL!!!! She's got the most beautiful skin and so much hair. Congratulations Kim and R!!!

I'm soooo NOT believing this!!!

I went back to the doctor today b/c the walking knob on my second cast was bothering me, the cast was coming unravelled b/c they didn't get all the ends pressed down before it dried, and the cotton around my toe was coming off. (Can you say, rush job?) Anyway, I got Dr. S's nurse this time, not the NP, or the LPN (or whatever you call them). The nurse asked me when I had my surgery and I told her 6/10 and she looked at me funny, and asked, "Why are you still in a cast?". I told her about the bone not growing back correctly, and she pulled up my x-rays. She asked me who I had seen, and I told the NP and that I hadn't seen the DR since surgery. She left the room and came back 20 minutes later.

She had talked with Dr. Syperek and showed him the x-rays (which he had not seen yet!). He said that they showed the bone WAS growing back, but it just wasn't complete. (btw...this is NOT what the NP told me...she said it wasn't growing together like it should be, which made me believe something was going wrong in there.) RN told me he wanted me off the foot completely for 10 more days. I asked her if they should have ever put me in the walking cast to begin with, and she hem-hawed around trying to cover NP's butt, I guess, because she said that it's all a matter of opinion. (HUH??? Shouldn't it be the opinion of the DR, not the NP if there were serious concerns???) She said that the cast didn't do any harm to my foot (but obviously it didn't HELP). And she made sure to tell me that everything is healing like it should, it's just taking me a little longer to get there. So I have another appt on 7/21, and J gets to start working 1/2 time work/home at his busiest time of year. GREAT!!!

I'm just so tired of depending on everyone else. The walking cast at least gave me a little more freedom, and quite honestly I don't know if I'd be this angry if they would have delayed the walking cast in the first place. It's the "going backwards" that has me so frustrated. That, and the fact that they didn't do x-rays before they put on the first cast. It just boggles my mind. I think this all could have been avoided if 1.) they would have let me see the doctor before now, and 2.) if they would have done the x-rays before the first cast so they could have seen that I needed to continue staying off my foot for a while longer. But instead they waited to do x-rays until after I'd been walking on the first cast for 2 weeks and then put me in another cast for another 1/2 week. So now I've been walking on my foot for 2.5 weeks and it's slowed the healing process down.

Sorry for the rant. I'm just mad at this whole situation. I knew this would be a long healing process, but I didn't know it would be so caotic and backwards.

Good and Bad Day!!

So the bad news first...
I was SUPPOSED to get my cast off today, but the bone between the 1st and 2nd screws hasn't healed up completely. So I'm in a cast for another 10 days. GRRRR!!! I was SOOOOO looking forward to a shower tonight! I still have A LOT of swelling, but when an arthritic foot is immobile for 2 weeks, it's gonna swell. The best thing for an arthritis is to keep moving...kind of hard for an ankle to move in a cast! And when my ankle swells 9 times out of 10 my whole foot swells, and the swelling has interfered with the bone healing. I'm not a happy camper in regards to my stupid foot!!! I was supposed to be in a boot, but now I'm stuck in a neon green cast! GRRR

Now for the GOOD news...
I went to a resale shop today and found our stroller!!! It's a Graco MetroLite stroller in purple, gray and black. And the best part...it is in MINT condition and was only $40!!! Unfortunately the infant carrier wasn't with it, but we'll cross that bridge when we get there. Maybe I'll find the carrier somewhere else. Or maybe I won't, and I'll just buy a carrier that doesn't match.

Another Surgery Update

I know my last few posts have had nothing to do with our adoption journey, but quite honestly, there's not much going on at this point. I need to call St. E's to ask "what's next?" since all our paperwork is in. And our appts for our medical testing for New Begin.nings is Monday. Other than that, we're at another stand-still.

I had another appt for my foot yesterday, and praises that the swelling had gone down and I was able to get my stitches out. But my incision isn't healing as well as they'd like. (Thanks Remi.cade!) So they put some really sticky tape on it, and then gave me the decision of rewrapping and continuing to use my crutches or getting a walking cast. I still can't put any weight on the front of the foot, but the walking cast puts all of it on my heel and it gives me a great deal more freedom. So I opted for a purple cast!!

I'm still in a little pain, but an occasional pain pill or Ty.len.ol helps for the most part. I'll be in the cast for 2 weeks and then on July 8th I'll be fitted for a boot. I still haven't been cleared to drive, which is highly annoying! So that means I'm not able to return to work yet. By July 8th when I get my release to drive I will have been out of work for a month! So I told J that I was going in to work next week and that I promised to go straight to work and straight home each day. I need to get back to work so we can start building our baby fund in our savings back up. Since I bought the bedding (YEA!!) we're a little on the low side.

So that's where we're at! I haven't been able to read all my favorite blogs much b/c I've had to have my foot propped up at all times, but hopefully once my foot gets used to the cast I'll have a little more reading time! I'm dying to catch up with all of you!!!

I'm Getting OUT!!!

I'm so excited!!!! I'm getting out of the house for the first time since my surgery. I literally haven't stepped foot outside the door of our house, but today that ends!!! I get to go to the doctor!!! WOO HOO!!!! **imagine me doing a hobble dance**

I'm sure after an hour or so of not having my foot propped up I'll need to head straight to the couch when we get home. So I'll have J update about the appt when we get home.

UPDATE:

I went to the doctor for my follow-up appt yesterday, and when they took the bandages off the nurse practitioner NP (my doc had an emergency) said I had too much swelling to remove the stitches. So they wrapped me in a compression wrap to help with the swelling and told me to come back Tuesday. Last night around 7:00 I started having shooting pains up my toe, and the pain meds didn't do a whole lot so J called the after hours number. My doctor finally called me back (an hour later!!) and told me that they probably wrapped the compression wrap too tight and to go in this morning and have it rewrapped. By midnight the pain had finally subsided, and now J and I think my foot just had to get used to the tightness. There's a little pain, but it's bearable so I decided not to go in. I told him I was worried it would do the same thing after getting the new wrap, and I didn't want to go through that pain again. I hope I don't regret that decision since it is the weekend and all!!

I asked if I could start driving, and the NP told me no, to wait and see what Tuesday's appt holds, so I'm still banished to the house. But yesterday's appt nice...I finally got to see something other than my house for a change.

J is working part time in the office and full time here at home. He's taking good care of me, but he's working until 11:00 at night trying to get everything done. Talk about feeling like a burden!! Please pray for him. He's so overworked, stressed, tired, and now he's got a sinus infection. I'm worried about him.

So that's what's going on in the Haik household. Thank you so much for the comments and well wishes!!! They really mean a lot!!!

Update on Janna

Thanks for the great ideas! Movies, gossip mags, chocolate, and ice cream have worked well. Janna has been a model patient so far. Of course, it also helps that Maddie keeps her pinned down! That's right...I bribed the dog! It's amazing what a little cheese will buy you.

We have that rolling office chair, but it won't navigate the terrain well--thick burbur (sp?) carpet to hard wood floors to tile to sunken living room with transition strips between each. I just realized we have some chaotic flooring!

I also thought about the towel on the crutches, but Janna's mom came up with a better solution. Lamb's wool has done the trick. Who knew?!?

If engineer's are cut from a special cloth, it's probably Nomex (fire retardant) or burlap (cheap and functional). With all this fabric talk, I wonder if I could be the next Design Star. I bet there's a shortage of engineering influence amongst fashionistas.

Goodbye Old Bunion

Today is my last day with my annoying bunion!! YIPPEE!!! No more funky looking foot! Bring on the bunionectomy (and cute shoes)!! It's actually called an ostiotomy (sp?), but when I say that people look at me funny so I've gone with calling it a bunionectomy. Apparently this is a pretty painful surgery, but I'm ready!!! I'll be unable to get to the computer for a few days b/c I'll be under the influence of pain meds. I'll have J update when we are home from the hospital and give you periodic updates until I'm able to get back to the computer.

I'm Having Foot Surgery

I've had a rather large bunion on my left foot since high school, and I haven't had anything done with it because my mom had her's fixed and her foot has never been the same. But when I was shopping for a new pair of black heels last week (because my comfy ones that I've had for 5 years finally bit the dust) I just couldn't find any that didn't hurt. The styles now hit right on the bunion, and just having them on my foot while sitting hurt, so I didn't even attempt to walk in them. So I finally gave in and went to a podiatrist yesterday, and he recommeded having it fixed. I'm scheduled for surgery on June 10th. I wanted to have it May 13th, but I wasn't going to be able to put any weight on my foot for at least 3 weeks, which meant that I wasn't going to be on my feet for VBS June 2-6 (highly necessary since I'm leading the music and need to be jumping around doing choreography to the songs on stage). So June 10th it is!! And Mom is going to come take care of me since J's busiest time of year at work is June (another reason I wanted a May surgery date). J will take off for my actual surgery, but then he'll go back to work the next day and leave Mom to take care of me. He said, "This will be the first time I'll feel comfortable leaving the two of you alone together. I know you two won't be doing any shopping with you on crutches. Man, think of all the money we'll save while you're recovering." He's a funny, funny man!! I think I'll be hitting him A LOT with my crutches!! :-)

Computer update...
We bought a new HP computer last night. I'm so excited!! And the cool thing is, the Ge.ek Squ.ad at Bes.t Bu.y will load all the spyware/virus protection for us and then clear off what we don't need that the manufacturer loads on there so I don't have to do it!! They are supposed to call today to let me know when it's finished and I can go pick it up. YEA!!! I can't wait to say "Sayonara" to our De.ll!!!