Recouperating

Well, I guess I am stupid. I have been doing everything I could possible do. Walking, bending and throwing a Surprise Birthday Party for my friend Barbara Renick. Today I am in pain. I tell you what a pain is and that is not being able to do what I want to do right now. So, my dear honey set up the jacuzzi and I went in tonight and I feel better. The pain in my right thigh and back, right where my incision is. That is no fun at all. So, I guess I will just try to take it easy now.

Pictures of surgery

This is an xray of my spine from the front view. This is a view from the side. I actually have 4 screws inside my body and now I carry a card that says to call the Orthopedic office in case I set off any alarms. It's a bit creepy, but I feel pretty good right now. Pain is about a 1. I am released to drive and walk and go to physical therapy, but I'm still going to take it easy for a few more weeks.

8 days after Surgery

Today was the first day I have felt normal again. My pain is gone in my legs and I actually got some work done today. I would love to put a photo up, but now everything has changed and I can't figure out how to do it.

6 days after surgery

Today, Larry had to do the Funeral for Ron Gottula. As the Bishop, he really needed to concentrate on things that were pertinent to the Gottula Family, so he asked a wonderdul sister in our Ward (Wilkinson's Daughter) Sherry Vaughn, to come and stay the day with me. 1st Sherry came with her essential oils and rubbed my leg with a lotion, and then my feet with lavendar and then I called the Dr. about the pain I was experienceing in my legs. He said this wasn't right. So he ordered me a steriod Z pak and Sherry put the heating pad on my sore leg and gave me 2 Asprin Free Excedrin, and one of her muscle relaxers. I laid back down to sleep some more, and when I awoke, I wasn't hurting in my legs anymore! Oh, my goodness that was hugh! I got up and ate some lunch then went back to bed. I slept the sleep of the dead for the first time since I had the surgery. Larry came home about 3:00 pm and Sherry went home. I am so eternally grateful to Sherry for her service to me. Now I have been up, taken a shower, a walk, eaten dinner and now I am doing some blogging. Today was a good day and maybe I am on the mend- finally. Dr. said that the Asprin Free Excedrin was OK to take as was any Aleve, and the over the counter drugs, but I will just stick with my Excedrin.

Surgery day 4 after surgery

Well, I was pretty prepared for surgery but not for the 'other' things that come from operations that i ALWAYS forget about.

I can't make up my mind to stand up or lay dow or sit down. Right now I'm sitting down,but don't know how much longer.

When I sleet, it it like twilight sleep. I am talking to all kinds of people about I don't know what and my husband swears I am just having full on conversations with myself.

THat brings me to I should take a sleeping aid to sleep - wrong, now, when I go into a deeper sleep I wake up wringing wet from head to toe.Today is the second day for a shower. If feels better but only for a little while.

Surgery

I apologize for not keeping up to date on my progress, but it was a little harder than I thought. What was I thinking? I don't know I'm not that brilliant.

For 2 days I pretty much slept, on all 4 sides of me (Front, back, right, left). They sent me home with Darvoset (those idiots) I'm alergic to all Opium and all it's derivitives! I told them that. So, dad was giving me Darvoset every time I needed a pain killer and that is why I stayed in bed for 2 days. They did give me a patch that you put behind your ear to keep you from getting sick, so I didn't get sick, I was just dizzy an thinking all the time "If I could just throw up". Now, I am on only a light pain killer called Tramadol. Between that and Asprin free Excedrine l life is pretty good although all together a bit sore. You would think I'm an old lady puttering around with my little walker and back brace.

Today, Larry made Guacomole and that tasted so wonderful that I ate it all with a spoon. I'm getting tired, so will sign off now, but you will hear from me later.

Day after Surgery

My sleep last night was fitful at best I have always had a hard time staying in one place. So about every 2 hours, a wonderful Male nurse would come in and help me turn over. I still had the catheter in my bladder, a drain in my side (right) to drain the bood out so my body wouldn't have to absorb it. Today is another matter altogether. It started at 6:00 when my phical
trainer showd up and got me out of bed to start walking. I finally got the catheter out, The tubes out I had a good clear breakfast, and casedeious for lunch. I am walking around the halls by myslef and it drives the Nurses nuts, but they are all so busy and I am so independent.

I received some really beautiful flowers. My room is startin to look like a forest! Daddy got me a dozen of the most beautiful flowers, and then tw0 different arrangements from Steve Bock and his wife Blyth whom I am helping with their genealogy. The other one was from Tim Wagner, he used to volunteer on the same shift with me, but he sarted Work (A job that Dad got for him.)

Right now I am waiting for the Dr. To arrive and take out the final stint in my arm, the drain in my side and then I hope he will send me HOME! "Toto, there is no place like home".

Marky took time out of his busy schedule (He was at USC for a class) and he drove all the way here to see me. I so much appreicate Mark and his family. I love all my children, but Mark was the only one who could come, I will be seeing all my children and grandchildren a little later on in the Week and then I have my Birthday Party to look forard to. All my kids will be here and that is enough for me! Enough for today, I'm tired now.

Surgery

March 22, 2010: Today I went in to surgery at 8:00 AM. I was asleep before the surgical room. They couldn't find a vein for the IV until after four tries. Surgery took 5 hours. Recovery room was for 2 hours. The doctor said that everything went perfect. There were two incisions for the surgery. A small one on my right side. It was through this that the doctor inserted an artificial peace of cartilage between my L4 and L5 vertebrae. I was then rolled onto my stomach while under anesthesia and the main 4 inch incision was made in the center of my back over the L4/L5 area. It was through this incision that the doctor cleaned out my spinal canal to correct a major restriction in the spinal cord. This restriction was causing pain to occur in my right leg for the last six months on an ever increasing basis. Following the cleaning, the doctor connected my L4 and L5 vertebrae with two screws and a rod all made out of titanium. This has put my spine back in alignment without restrictions in the spinal cord. The basic problem was that my L5 vertebrae was not in alignment and you could actually see the difference in x-rays when I stood straight and bent over that the vertebrae was moving. This action was causing the body to react and put down bone spurs to try to strengthen the area. Unfortunately, some of these were in the spinal canal area and caused the pinching or restriction of the cord. With the artificial cartilage inserted in the front and the screws and rod now in the back, my spine is now back in alignment and not loose anymore. The doctor is predicted that tomorrow the pain in my legs will be gone. He is also predicting that my back will feel like somebody hit me in the middle of my back with a baseball bat. I know he is right on that so I am hoping when my surgery pain is over, which could take several weeks, I will be pain free.

After surgery my pain level was an 8/10 when I woke up but now that I am back in my room and on pain medication it is 2. The physical therapist came and I took a small walk around the room with pain at level 2. The doctor just came in while I was writing this and tested my leg strength. It is already stronger than before the surgery suggesting the spinal cord and nerves were repaired well. He predicted that tomorrow may be a more painful day as the local anesthetics from the surgery wear down. We will take it one day at a time.

That's today's report as transcribed by my nurse Larry.

Back surgery

All I have been doing lately is working on two more clients that I have. Tomorrow, Sunday I will be getting ready for my back surgery. In case you didn't know I will be having back surgery on 22 Mar 2010 for my L 4 & 5 disks. I will be getting a Lamenecktomy and they will be taking the calcium out of my spinal chord, grinding it up and then using it again to help to stableize the disks from moving again. I will also be getting a titainium rod with 2 screws put in through the back to help hold them in place. Hopefully I will come out and not hurt anymore.

Our first guests

Amanda and her friend are here tonight to use the new bathroom and guest bedroom. So, glad to have them.

As for me, I'm just doing a lot of paid lecturing which is why I put off my back surgery until 22 March 2010. Everyone can just pray for me. Right now I don't take PROZAK, EXCEDRIN, ADVIL, ALEVE, ALLEGRA, EXCEDRIN PM or any other medication for pain. Sometimes I just have to lay down for the pain to be tolerable. Standing is the worst. I'm pretty proud of myslef right now, no medications and down to a size 8. That's right, I went to get a pair of pants today since none of my pants fit anymore, and I bought a size 8. Let's see how long that lasts, at least until after surgery. I went down since I started eating clean and started at 149, now I weigh 123. Not bad for an almost 58 year old grma.

Come one, come all to Rober Taj Mahal

Welcome to the Refurbished-almost new Guest Bathroom at the Robers. Here you see it coming in the door. Notice the cute things over the cupboard doors. Notice there is no more clothes hamper, bring yourselves a Pillowcase and sew down the top about an inch, then thread a cord through, so it hangs. Notice a new washcloth ring, and no more bulky hair dryer stuff, just a holder for the hairdryer. We now have a towel rack for hand towels for after you wash your hands.

Walk in the door and turn left, you will see a new Medicine cabinet, and a new big Mirror for the wall, no more black stuff around the edges. Only the best for our guests.

Notice my cute little toothbrush holder, and holders for Q-tips and cotton pads, along with Kleenex. A matching soap dish and brand new fawcets! Only uptown here!


Turining around, notice no more wallpaper. New vents, and a real honest to goodness peg on the door to hang clothes, clothes bags or towels or what ever else you want, maybe a nightgown.

I got the photo's out of order no matter how hard I tried, but going back a step, you see the right side of the sink. Notice the new towel rack that holds the hairdryer only. And a new washcloth rack for wet washclothes after shaving. You ladies even have a hand mirror that is 5X the magnification on one side for close up.

This before looking behind the door. I've moved my cute perfume bottle shelf up here and notice another hook on the front of the door- permanently secured for anything, maybe even your Church clothes because there is still no room in the Guest room to hand anything.

Now, going into the bathroom part of the guest bath, notice new monogramed towels, with the bath mat hanging over the shower door. There is no more floor to ceiling rack for shampoos etc., now it is located on the shower door itself and you should bring your own brands of soap (I only provide Irish spring in the shower) but there is another place to place your special soap now. There is only 3 other items provided now, Cetiphil for sensitive skins, Baby shampoo for those occasions when kids take a bath in there and of course we provide Head and Shoulders. So, bring your own special shampoos and conditioners.

Next, look behind the door and you will see another hook (no more plastic) and only one towel holder, big enough for 2 bath towels. There will be 8 bath towels included in this hotel bathroom for your convience.

A full view of the towel rack.

Turning around there is now a nice towel rack behind and over the toilet. It has a candle and a bowel of sweet smellys. There will be extra towels stacked here when they all get out of the wash.

Just off to the right of the towel rack, you will notice another new vent and another towel rack (you can never have too many towel racks!

Now, the toilet, cleaned inside and out with ever imaginable chemical cleaner known to man. I did it while it was stored in the garage during the time the tile was being laid. Notice new extra toilet paper holder (only holds 2) and trash can to match the rest of the ensamble. We have a new stainless steel toilet brush. What you can't see is the the VENT is now in good working order. No more stuffyness while taking a bath or dump. New toilet paper holder too.

Now notice the new tile floor and more kleenex.

This is the new inshower shampoo holder. The shower doors have been miraculously cleaned and WD 40.
The shower is brand spanking newly cleaned.

There are a lot of other little things I didn't get in the pictures, but you will just have to come and see for yourself. All are welcome, ya'll come and see us now!

Amost all done

I've had a lot of fun planning how to decorate the new guest bathroom. Most of the work here in the house is done, we are just waiting for the big mirror to come back from Brea Glass. That will be next Wednesday.

Here's what we actually did: Tore out the bathroom carpeting in both the guest bathroom and the master bedroom. Replaced it with tile. Stripped wallpaper in Guest Bathroom and painted it. Bought all new fixtures. Replaced the sink fawcets. Replaced the big mirror in the guest Bathroom that was all black around the edges. Painted inside the cupboards (white) in the guest bathroom. Cleaned out all drawers, and under the counters. It's adorable now. Plenty of room to HANG towels, robes, bags or anything else you want in there. Then we also tore out the back patio where the cement had risin and was a tripping hazzard. It was repoured and the tiles went back in place, the entire back yard was re-grouted. We replaced the bottom row of tiles in the Master Bath Shower which were cracked with new ones. I'm not sure how much we spent, but it was sure fun to have a new, clean, organized bathroom that looks great! Now you will all have to come and visit to see it!

Kid Bath update

Today work started on the Kid/guest bathroom. New fawcets are in now. Toilet and carpet ripped out. Dad primed the inside with Kilz. You can see where Mark and Brian left their 'marks' on the floor around the toilet bowl. I really thought I taught them better than that. If their wives make them clean up around the toilets they might hit it more!

De Ja Vu

In 1990 I guess Lisa and I looked a bit alike. What do you think?

New Project

Can't I ever be just satisfied to sit around and eat Candy all day???

Well, now I have a list of Projects that need to be done.

Today, Larry gave me permission to start on the Guest Room bath. The Kids Bathroom.

As of tonight, anything that was in it, is gone, the wall paper is almost all off too. Updates as they happen will be posted.

Pain Free!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Until you have been in pain for a long time, you have no idea what a novel it is to have a pain free day. I had one of those yesterday. Boy, I cleaned up the house and did a lot of those 'little' things I had been trying to get to for months if not years! I give credit to the Lord for such a day, I have abused my body so bad throughout my lifetime, that it's surprising I'm not more crippled than I am. So, Thank you Heavenly Father for a great day!

It's also a great day because Larry came home!

Harvesting our Fruit

We have a wonderful Orange Tree, of course we live in Orange County. But they all come ripe at the same time, usually March, but with all the rain they are ready now. If we don't pick the entire tree, they just rot. So, we pick the whole tree and I make Orange Juice and replenish what we drank into the Tropicana Carton. I also make lots of lemonade to freeze and save for those hot summer days and dinner.

Happy Valentines Day

No photo's but I thought I would just make note that yesterday, Feb 13, 1010, I gave 2 lectures in San Diego and after that we were to meet Mark and Lisa and Kam at the Los Angeles Temple to watch Kam for them. Turned out poor Lisa forgot to get her Temple Recommend renewed, how everyone has checked theirs by now, so she had to stay outside the Temple with Kamden and we just sort of helped. We all went out to dinner at Islands afterward. Mark and Lisa had a couple of friends that were being sealed to each other and their children, it was really special and spiritual, even afterward when they were taking pictures. All in All, I ended up driving 8 hours yesterday, I was tired when I got home.

Spring Cleaning will lead into Summer

OK, I went to Girly's house and helped her clean it up and out. It was pretty easy compared to what I decieded to do for myself. After cleaning out her office and making it really liveable and organized, I decided it was time to do that to my office too.

I started a week ago. The hallway is packed with 'stuff'. I have thrown away 4 large brown trash bags of paper and stuff. Moved stuff around. Dusted. Vacuumed where I could. Cleaned off the book shelves, going through the books and getting rid of stuff that was out of date. I cleaned out my desk drawers. Took the doors off the closet so I can see what's in there. The doors are now stored under my bed. I'm still not done. There is so much more to do. I am afraid that it will take me until the summer to get it all done. Heaven help me to have the tenacity to complete this task!

I could sure use a few prayers!

Visiting with Lisa and John & kiddos

To tell the truth, Lisa's house wasn't dirty, just messy. We got caught up on Laundry in 1 day. We have played games with the boys, cleaned out a few closets (game cupboard was my doing). And Lisa went 'whole hog' in deep cleaning one room at a time. We still have her bedroom to go into tomorrow. Today is Sunday and we went to Church at 11:00, nice. However Beckham has his nap at that time and so it's really hard for him, so I brought him home from Church during RS and Priesthood. I fed him changed him and put him down for his nap, peace at last. My hip is bothering me today, although I have slept well on one of the kids mattresses off the bunk beds. (Thanks Caleb) Now I'm board, so maybe I will take a nap, or maybe not. I'll go do email, that should put me in a funk.

And thank you girly for changing my blog, I love it!

I really miss Larry, he truly is the love of my life and my soul mate. I sure hope his 1st
Ward Conference went well, he was trying so hard to make it good, and he worked on his talk all week. In my heart I now it went well. I will be home next Wednesday for sure.