December 2017

December 5th Steve had his pre-op visit.  Since we had already met all our deductibles for the year because of the the kidney stones, we opted to rush the surgery and get it done in 2017, which meant not doing much of anything over the Christmas break.  After Steve's appointment, we went to the post office and got all the Christmas packages mailed off.  

December 6th I got to sub for Mrs. Herron in the library at the elementary school.  It was a fun day, but I was completely exhausted by the end of the day.  Those kids are high energy.

December 7th we almost hit a deer on the way to school.  I  missed it by inches.  It wasn't so lucky in the other lane.  A huge Duke Power truck hit it with the big winch set on the front of the truck.  Naomi was really upset to see the dead deer.  It really shook us all up.  

I can't remember exactly what night this happened, but it was a fun night with the Relief Society sisters in our ward.  They are all so much fun.  

December 9th was a fun day.  It snowed a little bit!  I got to eat cheesecake and shop at Charming Charlies.  I found the perfect purse for me.  

My new penguin purse.  It was made for me.  

December 14th Steve had surgery on his shoulder.  We had to be to the hospital by 9 a.m. so we dropped the kids off at school and headed straight down to the hospital.  It was a long day of waiting.  I ran a few errands since we were so close to the Scout Shop and some other stores that had things we needed to finish our Christmas shopping.  For the most part I sat in the waiting room and prepared my seminary lessons for the next couple of days.  He came out of surgery about 3 and was in recovery until about 5.  We finally got home about 6:30.  He was still feeling pretty good as the nerve block hadn't worn off yet.  The nurses warned me to keep him drugged up because when the nerve block wore off the pain might be hard to manage.  They were not kidding!!!!  About 11 o'clock the next morning the nerve block was gone and he was in excruciating pain.  It was a rough 48 hours after that, but we made it through.  I was supposed to volunteer some time at the school but ended up pulling Naomi early so I could get back to Steve.  Jeremy had picked Nick up earlier in the day for me so I didn't have to leave his dad.  I knew it would be somewhat painful and uncomfortable, but I wasn't prepared for this level of pain.  I didn't dare leave him it was so severe.   I called Brother Croshaw to come and give him a blessing which seemed to calm him down and then the nurse FINALLY called back and I had the answer on how to rotate his pain meds for better pain management.   

Before

After

The ice machine really helped with the pain.  It was down to a matter of finding a comfortable position.  

December 16th the CPM machine arrived.  This was to help him passively move the arm and start getting some range of motion in order to prevent scar tissue.  It was painful, but necessary.  We would get him strapped into the chair, turn it on and let it go for about 30 minutes three times a day.  By the time he got to physical therapy his range of motion was looking really good.  The chair helped shorten his time in PT.  

Since Steve was finally not in so much pain I was able to leave him for a short time and do some Christmas shopping with Naomi and Jeremy.  Nick held down the fort while we were gone.  

The Torture Chair - once Steve was strapped in I would hurry and take my shower and do a few things that needed to get done because it was a guaranteed 45 minutes that Steve would not really need much from me.  The kids laughed at me and I told them this is what it was like what they went down for a nap when they were little.  

December 17th, Steve made it through Sacrament Meeting on Sunday and then we had to get him back home again.  

December 19th Naomi got to bring Hogan, the sixth grade snake, home for winter break.  Her band teacher also challenged her to learn a new instrument and send a bass clarinet home from the break for her to play around with and see if she liked playing it.  Steve and I also made a quick trip to the mall to find a wedgie pillow which would hopefully help him sleep better (or sleep at all for that matter).  IT WORKED!!!!  He only woke up once to take more pain medicine.  I LOVED A FULL NIGHT'S SLEEP.  Needless to say, I was much more patient with everyone the next morning.  Keep in mind I still had seminary every morning until December 20th.  It was rough, but we made it.  

We really liked having Hogan around for the holidays.  

December 20th, Nick took his last midterm and was done with school at 9:30 a.m.  Steve wanted to try driving since he had stopped taking the narcotics and was feeling more independent.  He did a reasonable job, but the brace made it slightly uncomfortable with the center console moving his shoulder into a weird position.  Once we figured that out it was not so bad.    I went back over at 11:30 and got Naomi.  WINTER BREAK WAS FINALLY HERE!!!

December 21st we spend the day cleaning and doing the grocery shopping.  One of the kids would stay home with Steve while myself and the others would run errands.  Steve was doing much better and wanted to have some errands of his own.  We ended up with a nail in the tire of the truck and he took it over to the tire place to have it fixed.  He felt like a new man off doing something on his own. 

December 22nd, I finished all the holiday shopping with the kids.  Jeremy found the best ugly Christmas sweater.  He loved wearing it to work the next couple of days.   That night, Nick fixed dinner and Jeremy got to spend some time with all his high school friends who were home from college for the holidays.  Steve went to see Kev perform.  I felt like I have the night off.  It was weird not having to run somewhere to help someone with something.  I read a book. 

Jeremy's ugly Christmas sweater.  

Nick, the family chef

December 23rd we took the whole family to see the new Star Wars movie.  It was fun to have some time to do something as a family.  

December 24th was sacrament meeting only.  When we got home we found that the snake light had gone out.  Hogan needed that light to regulate his body temperature.  Steve and Naomi made an emergency trip to the pet store before it closed for another light.   I stayed home and fixed the chicken cordon blue for dinner.  After dinner we went to deliver some homemade caramel corn to the Muller family.  I love visiting their home.  They are always doing something fun and are so inviting.    Back home we watched the David Archuleta and Mormon Tabernacle Choir DVD.  When the camera was panning the audience we had to stop it and double check something.  Derran and Sarah were at that concert and were on the DVD.  Too cool.  

December 25th we were up early.  Breakfast was a build-your-own omelette bar.  They loved the new tradition.  We also had the sweet rolls, but they were later in the day so I didn't have to be up at the crack of dawn to get them done. It was a really chill day.  

My friend makes these amazing dolls.  I asked her if she could do a Bob Ross doll for Naomi.  

The boys enjoying their air hammocks from their cousins.

We got one for Steve since it was one of the only chairs in the house where he could be comfortable.  I love things that help him be more comfortable.  

Naomi got Amazon money from her cousin and promptly ordered a digital drawing pad.  She has always wanted to try digital art.  

December 27th we took Nick to see Dr. Bradberry about his sore shoulder.   It turns out that Nick has an impingement and shoulder tendinitis.  We have him set up for a series of appointments for adjustments and PT exercises to help with the pain.  

Jeremy came home from work all worried about his first encounter with work politics and the games that his fellow employees like to play from time to time.  He handled it really well, though.  I am proud of him.  

December 28th we had another doctor's appointment for Steve as a follow-up to his surgery.  His shoulder is getting better and he no longer has to wear the pillow part of his sling.  He was so excited about this little thing because it was the pillow that was causing so much of the discomfort.  

December 30th I finally cleaned the living room carpet.  It was getting really disgusting with all the traffic from seminary.  Naomi and I took a break and went to see The Greatest Showman with Laura and Monica Arias and Abby.  We loved it and want to go see it again already.  Back at home Naomi I were able to just chill and read.  The boys were out pricing computers for Jeremy.  His old computer was no longer adequate for what he needs to get done for school.  He told Naomi she could buy his old computer off of him when his new computer arrived.  I was thrilled by this because Naomi was using my computer for her digital art, which meant I did not have access to it for balancing the checkbook, doing seminary stuff, updating the blog....

December 31st we still made Chinese food but only enough to feed our family.  We made it a low-key night because we didn't know how Steve would be feeling.  Maybe we will do a big party next year.