***WARNING*** Super long post. Lame pictures and too many words... so scroll down and enjoy the rest of what we have been up to if you'd like. Otherwise, read on and see the reason for lack of posts the past two months!!
There is no way to make this story short... so here goes. 10 years ago I tore my ACL playing volleyball with some friends in the park. A few years after that I tore my other ACL playing church volleyball. Both were reconstructed at the time I tore them. But, I have always had problems with them since. Lots of scope surgeries and still lots of pain. I am an active girl. Group fitness instructor. And wanted to continue to stay active. I found an incredible orthopedic doctor here in Frisco. He was the San Diego Chargers doc, he has done the X games, and numerous other athletic events. I wanted a doctor that would help me stay active and not one that would tell me I could never run again. Let's face it... there are people who don't have legs that do incredible things... someone with bad knees should be able to get them fixed... right? Well after seeing Dr. Berry... he told me my ACL's that were in there were positioned wrong. That had been causing all the pain. He would have to go in and fix them. My left ACL was super stretched out and ready to blow at any time.. so we did it first.
Here I am right after I got home from surgery. Walked in the room... and hopped right onto...
the CPM machine. This surgery went great. He completely re-did my ACL, there was meniscus damage, bone damage and arthritis. He took care of all of it. I was mopping the floor 2 days after surgery. At my 2 day post opp visit he said I was doing better than most after a month. I thank my healthy body and Heavenly Father for that one! I was all set to do the right one at the beginning of January. Surgery went great and same thing.. up and around the second day after surgery. THEN...
My knee filled up with fluid a week after surgery. It was very painful. I went in to see the doc and he had to aspirate it. If anyone has had this little procedure done you know how painful it was... if not, trust me... it hurt. He pulled the fluid and it looked infected. He was prepping me for another surgery. Dr. Berry sent me to the hospital to do pre-op blood work and to drop off the samples of the goo. He said to go home and to wait for further instructions. Well... the cultures all came back negative. There was no infection. (This was on a Friday) We went thru the weekend. Sunday morning I was back in his office having it drained again. He said if it fills up again, he would just go in and clean it out. Sure enough the very next day... fluid filled knee. I called their office and we had a surgery scheduled for Wednesday of that week. Later that day (Monday) I started to feel really sick. I had a fever of 102.1. I called the doctor and didn't get a call back from him... so I headed to the ER. While I was there Dr. Berry called and he said to come on out of the ER and the hospital manager was coming to get us. He was calling his team of people and they were going to meet us there and they were going in for surgery within the hour. I was admitted and surgery was shortly after. Dr. Berry sent the fluid to be cultured and I was to stay at the hospital for a few days. All the tests came back negative... no infection. A few days later I went home. Knee in a TON of pain. I would wake up in the night with excruciating pains shooting through my knee. A few days after I was home... my blasted knee filled up with fluid again. I went to the doc, he drained and it was just blood. That was a good sign. No nasty looking fluid. Well, 2 days later... you guessed it... knee full again. On Sunday... it was my birthday. Kenney made me my favorite breakfast and I couldn't eat much of it. I just felt sick. I stayed home from church and fought with myself all day if I should call the doc. I ended up breaking out with a fever again and took myself to the ER... on my stinkin birthday too. Kenney stayed home with the girls. I saw the ER doc and he said, we are admitting you. UGH. Not what I wanted to hear. Dr. Berry came by to check on me that night. They ran my blood work and FINALLY it showed infection. The white blood cell count was 3 times the normal amount. They ended up going in that night and doing surgery. He flushed everything and cleaned it all out. He never saw where the infection was coming from. But the fluid once again looked infected. I stayed in the hospital for a few days. I was told I would have to get a PICC line and administer IV antibiotics at home. This was all Russian to me. I was at the hospital by myself when the team of nurses came in to put the PICC line in. They had ultra sound machines and all kinds of equipment. It is a sterile procedure, so they were all in gowns, masks, hats and gloves. They covered me up as well. This was all so intimidating to me. I laid there a bit nervous and uneasy. The nurse went in with the big needle under my arm. They go in thru a vein... well, she missed and hit a nerve. My whole arm jumped and it hurt so bad. Tears were rolling down my cheeks. She took the needle out and tried again... same thing. Oops, another nerve. THREE times she hit a nerve. By this point I was a mess. My veins kept spasming and clamping down... that was her excuse for not being able to get it in there. They had to try my other arm. I kindly asked for another nurse to try. He was able to get it in one shot. My right arm was dead. I couldn't even move it for a week. There it is pictured below a few days after...
A few days after I was home my nerves started to wake up and spasm... so painful. I had to go back to the ER to get muscle relaxers. That week I was set up with an infectious disease doctor. I went to his office and was a wreck. I was still in a ton of pain. I looked around my and everyone at his office was over 80 or morbidly obese. I kept asking myself... Why is this happening to me?? I don't belong here. I am young and healthy and stuff like this shouldn't happen to me. For a good solid week all I did was feel sorry for myself. The majority of my days were spent with me crying. But we were on the road to recovery... OR so I thought! My knee ended up filling up with fluid again and the medicine they had me on made me sicker than I have ever been in my life. I couldn't eat a bite and anything I was able to eat... came right back up. This lasted a good week and then they switched my medicine. I was doing much better after that. Dr. Berry continued to drain my knee a few more times. One of the last times he drained it the fluid looked bad. He and the infectious disease doctor together decided that my ACL needed to come out. It was harboring the infection. The medicine I am currently on is super strong and my blood levels were not coming down. This was decided on a Friday... Monday they went in and took everything out. I have to be on my IV antibiotics for 6 more weeks and then when everything in my knee calms down... (around 8-12 weeks) they will go back in and re-do the ACL surgery. My body had just rejected the hardware used. Life is not easy right now. I am weak and tired. It takes a lot for me to get up and move around, but I try.
Here is my PICC line... all wrapped up ready for a shower. I have to hold my arm up in the air while I shower. If it gets wet... that means bad news.
This is what it looks like... all hooked up to the IV line. I have to do my meds 4 times a day. It takes an hour each time... so 4 hours of my day are spent hooked up to an IV drip. I have two different medicines. One is done 3 times a day and the other one time. While I was at my Infectious Disease doc this week he was telling my how bad the medicine is that I am taking. He said it's stronger than a lot of his cancer patients. He said if it isn't done correctly... it could be fatal. Awesome... I'm trying my best not to mess that one up. He also said if I stop... I will loose my leg. So, I guess it's a necessary evil. Like chocolate... right??!! It's not good for me... but I need it.
So now... here I sit, typing this post hooked up to my IV...
There have been many humbling experiences through all of this. I am surrounded by angels who touch my life every day. Number one is my husband. Kenney has been a saint. His days have been filled with washing my hair over the sink, sponge bathing me in the tub, getting the girls ready for school, fixing their hair, fixing breakfast and lunches, helping with homework, grocery shopping, running the house and all the chores that go along with that, laundry, running me to and from doctors appointments, all while still working full time. I will be in debt to him for a very long time for this one. He is an incredible man and I am blessed to have him. Our ward has been nothing shy of amazing as well. We had meals brought in for a month straight. A few sisters cleaned our house. We have had so much given to us it has been overwhelming. I am so grateful for all the service that has been rendered on behalf of me and my family. Most of all I am thankful for a Heavenly Father who loves me and know my needs. He has guided others to fulfill them and I know for a fact there has been inspiration given to a lot of the people who have done things for us. One example... my incredible visiting teacher... It was snowing and I was looking out the window on one of those feel sorry for myself days. I was thinking to myself how good chicken noodle soup sounded. I thought I should be in my kitchen making homemade chicken noodle soup... not laying here in bed. Well what do you know... she brought homemade chicken noodle soup, and homemade rolls. Coincidence? Nope... inspiration. I know we go through trials in life to learn and grow. My family has struggled to say the least. This has by far been the hardest trial we have been through thus far in our marriage. But I know good has come from it. Now I am filled with hope and I know that everything will be ok. I know that I am one lucky girl to be blessed with so many wonderful people in my life. My mom came out here this week after surgery and she was amazing. We didn't have to worry about a thing while she was here. She took care of all of it and left me with a spotless home. Thank you to everyone who has helped us out. Thank you for all the prayers... I have personally felt them. Thank you for your words of encouragement... they are what kept me going on many of the hardest days.
the CPM machine. This surgery went great. He completely re-did my ACL, there was meniscus damage, bone damage and arthritis. He took care of all of it. I was mopping the floor 2 days after surgery. At my 2 day post opp visit he said I was doing better than most after a month. I thank my healthy body and Heavenly Father for that one! I was all set to do the right one at the beginning of January. Surgery went great and same thing.. up and around the second day after surgery. THEN...
My knee filled up with fluid a week after surgery. It was very painful. I went in to see the doc and he had to aspirate it. If anyone has had this little procedure done you know how painful it was... if not, trust me... it hurt. He pulled the fluid and it looked infected. He was prepping me for another surgery. Dr. Berry sent me to the hospital to do pre-op blood work and to drop off the samples of the goo. He said to go home and to wait for further instructions. Well... the cultures all came back negative. There was no infection. (This was on a Friday) We went thru the weekend. Sunday morning I was back in his office having it drained again. He said if it fills up again, he would just go in and clean it out. Sure enough the very next day... fluid filled knee. I called their office and we had a surgery scheduled for Wednesday of that week. Later that day (Monday) I started to feel really sick. I had a fever of 102.1. I called the doctor and didn't get a call back from him... so I headed to the ER. While I was there Dr. Berry called and he said to come on out of the ER and the hospital manager was coming to get us. He was calling his team of people and they were going to meet us there and they were going in for surgery within the hour. I was admitted and surgery was shortly after. Dr. Berry sent the fluid to be cultured and I was to stay at the hospital for a few days. All the tests came back negative... no infection. A few days later I went home. Knee in a TON of pain. I would wake up in the night with excruciating pains shooting through my knee. A few days after I was home... my blasted knee filled up with fluid again. I went to the doc, he drained and it was just blood. That was a good sign. No nasty looking fluid. Well, 2 days later... you guessed it... knee full again. On Sunday... it was my birthday. Kenney made me my favorite breakfast and I couldn't eat much of it. I just felt sick. I stayed home from church and fought with myself all day if I should call the doc. I ended up breaking out with a fever again and took myself to the ER... on my stinkin birthday too. Kenney stayed home with the girls. I saw the ER doc and he said, we are admitting you. UGH. Not what I wanted to hear. Dr. Berry came by to check on me that night. They ran my blood work and FINALLY it showed infection. The white blood cell count was 3 times the normal amount. They ended up going in that night and doing surgery. He flushed everything and cleaned it all out. He never saw where the infection was coming from. But the fluid once again looked infected. I stayed in the hospital for a few days. I was told I would have to get a PICC line and administer IV antibiotics at home. This was all Russian to me. I was at the hospital by myself when the team of nurses came in to put the PICC line in. They had ultra sound machines and all kinds of equipment. It is a sterile procedure, so they were all in gowns, masks, hats and gloves. They covered me up as well. This was all so intimidating to me. I laid there a bit nervous and uneasy. The nurse went in with the big needle under my arm. They go in thru a vein... well, she missed and hit a nerve. My whole arm jumped and it hurt so bad. Tears were rolling down my cheeks. She took the needle out and tried again... same thing. Oops, another nerve. THREE times she hit a nerve. By this point I was a mess. My veins kept spasming and clamping down... that was her excuse for not being able to get it in there. They had to try my other arm. I kindly asked for another nurse to try. He was able to get it in one shot. My right arm was dead. I couldn't even move it for a week. There it is pictured below a few days after...
A few days after I was home my nerves started to wake up and spasm... so painful. I had to go back to the ER to get muscle relaxers. That week I was set up with an infectious disease doctor. I went to his office and was a wreck. I was still in a ton of pain. I looked around my and everyone at his office was over 80 or morbidly obese. I kept asking myself... Why is this happening to me?? I don't belong here. I am young and healthy and stuff like this shouldn't happen to me. For a good solid week all I did was feel sorry for myself. The majority of my days were spent with me crying. But we were on the road to recovery... OR so I thought! My knee ended up filling up with fluid again and the medicine they had me on made me sicker than I have ever been in my life. I couldn't eat a bite and anything I was able to eat... came right back up. This lasted a good week and then they switched my medicine. I was doing much better after that. Dr. Berry continued to drain my knee a few more times. One of the last times he drained it the fluid looked bad. He and the infectious disease doctor together decided that my ACL needed to come out. It was harboring the infection. The medicine I am currently on is super strong and my blood levels were not coming down. This was decided on a Friday... Monday they went in and took everything out. I have to be on my IV antibiotics for 6 more weeks and then when everything in my knee calms down... (around 8-12 weeks) they will go back in and re-do the ACL surgery. My body had just rejected the hardware used. Life is not easy right now. I am weak and tired. It takes a lot for me to get up and move around, but I try.Here is my PICC line... all wrapped up ready for a shower. I have to hold my arm up in the air while I shower. If it gets wet... that means bad news.
This is what it looks like... all hooked up to the IV line. I have to do my meds 4 times a day. It takes an hour each time... so 4 hours of my day are spent hooked up to an IV drip. I have two different medicines. One is done 3 times a day and the other one time. While I was at my Infectious Disease doc this week he was telling my how bad the medicine is that I am taking. He said it's stronger than a lot of his cancer patients. He said if it isn't done correctly... it could be fatal. Awesome... I'm trying my best not to mess that one up. He also said if I stop... I will loose my leg. So, I guess it's a necessary evil. Like chocolate... right??!! It's not good for me... but I need it.
So now... here I sit, typing this post hooked up to my IV...
There have been many humbling experiences through all of this. I am surrounded by angels who touch my life every day. Number one is my husband. Kenney has been a saint. His days have been filled with washing my hair over the sink, sponge bathing me in the tub, getting the girls ready for school, fixing their hair, fixing breakfast and lunches, helping with homework, grocery shopping, running the house and all the chores that go along with that, laundry, running me to and from doctors appointments, all while still working full time. I will be in debt to him for a very long time for this one. He is an incredible man and I am blessed to have him. Our ward has been nothing shy of amazing as well. We had meals brought in for a month straight. A few sisters cleaned our house. We have had so much given to us it has been overwhelming. I am so grateful for all the service that has been rendered on behalf of me and my family. Most of all I am thankful for a Heavenly Father who loves me and know my needs. He has guided others to fulfill them and I know for a fact there has been inspiration given to a lot of the people who have done things for us. One example... my incredible visiting teacher... It was snowing and I was looking out the window on one of those feel sorry for myself days. I was thinking to myself how good chicken noodle soup sounded. I thought I should be in my kitchen making homemade chicken noodle soup... not laying here in bed. Well what do you know... she brought homemade chicken noodle soup, and homemade rolls. Coincidence? Nope... inspiration. I know we go through trials in life to learn and grow. My family has struggled to say the least. This has by far been the hardest trial we have been through thus far in our marriage. But I know good has come from it. Now I am filled with hope and I know that everything will be ok. I know that I am one lucky girl to be blessed with so many wonderful people in my life. My mom came out here this week after surgery and she was amazing. We didn't have to worry about a thing while she was here. She took care of all of it and left me with a spotless home. Thank you to everyone who has helped us out. Thank you for all the prayers... I have personally felt them. Thank you for your words of encouragement... they are what kept me going on many of the hardest days. I am truly blessed.
18 comments:
Goly. I am sitting here in tears. I know this has been a struggle for you. You have been in my every thought and prayer the last few months. What an awesome blessing to have the family you do and the place you live to have that amazing ward and doctors that can finally get you better! I love you! I wish I could be there to help but know I am praying my lil heart out for you! Tell Kenney thanks for taking care of my sister!
Oh Mandy! What a horrible way to start the year! I am SO sorry that you have been going through this. It sounds like you have good doctors, a great ward and an amazing husband. I hope you get feeling better super soon! i'll be sending prayers and quick healing thoughts your way :)
Oh. my. horrible. I am so sorry! Your family has such medical trials!! I can't believe that about your arm, on top of everything.
But I always love reading people's posts when they can still be so grateful and recognize the blessings, and hearing about the goodness and service of others. A MONTH straight of dinners is so amazing! What a great ward!!
You have been through too much girl! I am glad you have so much help and doctors that are amazing. I hope you get to feeling back to normal soon.
I'm so glad you finally felt good enough to post an update on your family. I read every bit of it! Your girlies are so beautiful, of course, because they have a hot mama! I am so sorry about your stupid knee! It makes me feel so bad. I wish I were closer to be able to do something for you. Know that you are thought of and prayed for!
WOW. I knew some crazy stuff was going on, but I didn't know the extent. You are loved! You have a wonderful family and you WILL make it through this. Praying for you and sending lots of love your way!
Wow Mandy! You have been through so much! I hope you feel better soon. I'm sorry to hear it's been so difficult.
Medical issues stink!!! Hang in there. It is good that your husband can hold down the fort and that your ward is helping. Keep your chin up :)
I knew your knee was not healing well after the surgery, but I had no idea it was this bad!!! I'm sooo sorry to hear about all this. There is nothing worse than being unable to go about your daily life...I wish you were closer so I could have helped a little. Try to take it easy and just know that you'll get through it. And Kenney is awesome...thumbs up on husband choice! :)
I'm so sorry. You are one tough chick and it just plain sucks that you have to go through things like this to see just how strong you are. Good luck and I'll keep you in my prayers.
OH my goodness! What a crazy couple of weeks!
You deserve to be off your feet, not that being hooked up to an IV most of that time is resting, but man!
I'm sorry so much has happened to you and your amazing body. Maybe staying so active before will help recovery that much quicker.. and what an amazing ward to be helping a whole month! Now that's love :)
Wish we were closer and could help out!
Feel better & stay positive! There IS an end! Just takes a few tears & a couple acts of service for it to come around :) Love you Mandy!
ps
Hope your aunt found someone to watch her little guy, I didn't hear from her so I assumed she did!
Oh my goodness Mandy! So sorry you're going through all of this!! Know that you're in my prayers, and wishing you a quick recovery!!!
Holy Moly!! I just want you to get better NOW!! So glad you are on the mend. Tell the doctors and nurses to BE NICE!! So glad you are strong and getting stronger everyday!!
Oh my goodness. what an ordeal. I hope you are starting to feel better. what a great attitude you have. I hope this will all be worth it in the end. In the meantime I will be thinking about you!
Beautiful Beautiful Mandy. I wish I was there to spend time with you and make you feel better! Or just to watch The Hills and do crafts. Thanks for all of the updates. The girls look so old already and we miss you guys so much!
love
maggie
Bless your dear sweet soul. This is what has to happen for you to be the one accepting the service Miss Serve Everyone!
I feel terrible that you've gone through all of this. But your perspective is amazing! Hang in there dear!
Yo Mandy!
I just found your blog link on Gentry's blog. I just thought I'd stop by and lurk a bit. I know the whole knee fiasco has been so hard on your family. Please know that I'm here so amazed by you more and more everyday.
Email me if you want an invite to our blog. candrac@gmail.com
DANG!!!! OK, you have definitely beat me by a long shot in the totally crazy health issues department! That is super scary! You must be an amazingly strong person to be put through that and even though this story is horrible, I can still sense the positivity and strength in the way you tell it.
I am reading this post super late. I'm really hoping by the time you read this, you are doing so much better! I've been through crazy stuff with my husband's major health problems and it's only made us stronger, so I know it can only strengthen you and your marriage and family.
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