worth 10,000 words....

 

update! 14 & 1/2 weeks out from surgery =)

I've been trying to stay pretty busy now that I've been discharged from my home nurse and can actually leave.  I figure I have a lot of summer fun to make up for!!!

 

22nd Annual Balloon Fest in Centralia, IL  8.19.11

 

Anna & Mark eating funnel cake and drinking strawberry shake-ups =)

 Perry County Fair 8.20.11 Tractor pull show

(left to right) My little brother-in-law Matt, my son Mark and my daughter Anna

 

Matt & Mark, best little buddies!!!

Before we went to the Perry County Fair, I went to my grandparent's house to help my mom and brother clean up the yard. My husband watched the kids while we worked.  I ended up getting some poison ivy =/  overall it was fun to help out and brought back some really good memories of helping my grandparents many years ago.

My grandmother died last October and it's been pretty hard on me because she's the first person close to me that has passed.  I guess you could say I'm lucky... but I didn't realize how hard it is and maybe if I'd been through it before, I could handle it better.  I miss her a lot.  We were pretty close to her and grandpa growing up because we all lived in the same town.  I took a lot of vacations with them and spent my summers there swimming in their pool.  My grandpa taught me to swim in that pool.  He taught me how to play table pool in his basement.  Grandma taught me how to make award winning spaghetti in that kitchen ;)  I would go over to their house every day after school when I was in gradeschool and watch Jeopardy with them. Now grandpa is suffering from Alzheimer's disease and living in a nursing facility.  It's more like an assisted living center than a nursing home but it is still sad.  He can't do much on his own anymore and he always confuses me with a nurse that works there.  

Anyway... here are some updated pictures of my wounds...

Amazing how fast the size of this left wound is changing!  I took this picture a couple of days ago and it's probably half that size now =)

 

Right side is completely closed and scabbed over still (thank God!!)

As I said a post or two back, I was sent Actipatches to aid with the healing.  I wore them up until yesterday and I think they helped significantly.  Thanks again for sending them, Tracie!  

I had planned on doing a 5k Fun Walk on Saturday night but we ended up doing the fair.  Now that I am so close to being healed, I'd really like to get into some jogging/running.  I can't start the gym again until Sept 6 according to Dr. Camp and I don't want to rush anything and end up screwing my recovery but I'm itching to get out!!  

I have an appointment with Dr. Camp on the 24th (Wednesday), but I might need to reschedule because of the poison ivy =/  Overall, though, I am more positive than ever!  I'm looking forward to getting back in shape and toning up!

It's been a week since my last confession...

ahhh things are looking up friends!  A dear follower named Tracie sent me some actipatches... they are like thin circle bands that you tape down with the wound in the center.  Here is a link: http://bielcorp.com/products/recoveryrx/
I've been wearing one on and off for 4 days and believe it or not, the big wound on my left side is almost healed!! Every time I try to upload pictures to photobucket, they are rejected for being too graphic haha.  I'll figure out a loophole soon enough and get some updated ones up.
So.... my life lately has been planning marathons and I'm itching to start training!  I still plan on doing my first 1/2 marathon on September 24. I know I can do it.
This surgery and recovering has been taking over for the last 3 months and now I'm starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel =)  People have come to me or messaged me to tell me how my struggle and my story has changed their life.  Maybe everything does happen for a reason and this is just God's way of saying that I'm tough and other people needed me to suffer in order to change. 
Oh yeah! My mom called me and said that 2 of my sisters (who are extremely obese) are training now to do a biathlon.... they'll be running 3 miles and biking 10.  I'm pretty excited for them because I think that if they have a goal in mind (such as a biathlon), then they will start taking their health seriously.  I've tried to lead them in the right direction but sometimes it just doesn't "click" with people until they take it upon themselves to see the problem and plan a solution.
Beth has discharged me from home nursing care =)  I'm going to miss her!!  lol I have made a good friend in my home nurse!  As of Friday, the 12th, my front and right side were completely healed and the left side has gotten much smaller.  The red swelling is almost gone and my temperature has been average.  Dr. Camp said that I would most likely be healed before she saw me again on the 24th and I'm thinking she is right!!  How freak'n exciting!?
Mark has been talking about wanting to take a vacation with me... even just a stay at a hotel for a night with no kids, no phones, no obligations.  We need a break.  But, it's completely impossible to find a babysitter that wants to handle a 4 year old and a 1 year old.  Soooo... we shall see.... I'd really like to go somewhere when the wounds are completely closed =)

Oz

I've been watching this show on my Netflix called Oz... it's about the Oswald Correction Facility and covers the lives of inmates.  The first couple episodes are hard to get in to but I was told to stick with it because I'd really like it.  I'm in season 2 now and I love, love, LOVE it =)  Last night, my husband and I watched two episodes after the kids went to bed and a great point was made.  The narrator was talking about how he had been abused as a child and how that had affected his life.  He then stated that he didn't understand why he took the perceptions of a child and made them his current reality.  At the age of 8 or 10 or 12, you're not mature enough to assess a situation correctly.  Therefore, if you continue to harbor these feelings of betrayal, anger or sadness over something that was done to you at a young age, then you could actually be dramatizing a situation that today would not affect you at all.  Some food for thought =)

Last night I went in to Dr. Camp's so they could scrape the wound for a culture.  I am down to one wound now, the left hip, and I'm hoping that I can kick this infection soon and heal up!  It's high time!  I feel like my "cabin fever" is gone and I don't mind staying at home for a few more weeks if it means I will be healed.  Before, I was feeling so well I thought I could handle an outing... but that's proving to be wrong =/ 

1 step up 2 steps back

Felt like crap all afternoon yesterday.  By 8pm, I felt so cold and achy that I took a long hot shower.  Didn't help.  I took my temperature and it was 100.6.  I checked out my wounds and my skin was red around the left hip wound.  I called Dr. Camp immediately because this is what it looked like when I originally got the infection back in mid-June.  She prescribed me 2 new antibiotics (bactrim & clindamycin) and I have to use dakin's solution.  It was like everything was going so well and I even got out of the house for a day... then I'm back to square one with red, hot skin and my wounds have thick green coming out =(  pretty gross and I'm pretty bummed.  There's no way I'm going to be able to start running anytime soon.  I am going to even take a break from walking until I start feeling better.

 

From Friday to Sunday

Beth came over Friday and I took some new pictures of the wounds.  The front is now considered completely healed =)  The two sides are coming really close to healing, too!! 

^^^This is a picture of my right side... this is the side that was not operated on but hasn't closed since the original surgery in May =(

^^^This is a picture of the front, center wound =)  completely closed as of Friday, August 5.

On Friday (Aug 5), I decided to get out of the house and do something with the kids and Mark since he had the day off.  After Beth left, we drove over to St. Louis to the Museum of Transportation and had such an amazing day with our kids =)  I felt really good all day and wasn't sore except towards the end of the day.  It was SOOOO nice to get out and do something and kind of forget for a second what I'm going through. 

Last night my little sister had her graduation party for earning her Bachelor's Degree.  She's pre-med and planning on getting her master's and then eventually her PhD.  I'm very proud of her!!  Not sure what her exact career goal is, but as of now, she's doing a phenomenal job in school =)  We went out to eat at a local Mexican restaurant and I totally pigged out ;)  It'd been awhile since I had gone out to eat and had some awesome food so I don't really feel guilty. 

Anyway................. here are the pictures from today =)  AMAZING what a couple of days in the healing department can do ;)

^^^This is my right side... so close to healing!

Sorry, but photobucket won't allow the other pictures ?! Not sure why because they're just like the thousand other ones I've posted but whatever.... anyway....

I cannot WAIT to be completely healed and able to live normally again!!  Since my husband had off on Friday, I suggested we take a long road trip to the ocean (about 12 hour drive) and just relax on the beach, build sand castles, have a picnic, etc.  But.... he was the voice of reason and said it would be a really bad idea for me to have a problem and be down in Georgia at some E.R.  Ugh.... soon I will be able to just do whatever again!

Check. It. OUT!

I am healing up faster than ever! Well, I can't really and honestly say that considering I couldn't see the tunnels of my wounds healing... but I can see that my front wound is nearly healed and my sides are following close behind =) =)  I feel like doing a HAPPY dance!!!

There is still a (slight) chance I may get to swim this summer!!!  YEE HAW! 

Oh wait... I might not have the body for swimming anymore =/  I am weighing in the mid-140's which on a normal day I would be totally ecstatic about... BUT with the skin hacked off, I presume my weight should be more like 125.... and we all know there is nothing worse than seeing a girl in a bikini that should definitely NOT be in a bikini... so yeah, I better get my butt back walking and in shape!

I don't see Dr. Camp again until 8-9-11 (a week from today), and I'm guessing that if I've healed up enough on the left side, she'll let me know that I can start training for marathons.... this is some serious wishful thinking.