Pam’s Blog

So today I went to the Podiatrist and talked about surgery.

NOTE *** Below is my understanding of what is going to happen based on what I have learned from my doctor and research on the Internet.  I am NOT a doctor so don’t take this as Gospel – just a layman’s understanding. ***

They will be doing three procedures when I have surgery.

#1 Repairing the torn Paroneal tendon (caution – yucky pictures) in my ankle.

#2 Removing the damaged area of the Plantar Fascia ( I have been getting treatment for 7 months now) in my heal.

#3 Lengthen my calf muscle. (I haven’t been able find any information on this on the Internet – but today is the first time we talked about it so I will keep looking.)

So all three of these procedures should work together to provide relief from the pain in my ankle and heal, the doctor said they have about a 95% success rate for those who follow the recovery plan.

Why all three?

–Well see, when you have plantar Fascitis it can be caused by a tightening or shortening of the calf muscle.  So even if you repair the Fascia but don’t fix the calf it can come back.  Pain in the Plantar Fascia can cause you to walk incorrectly which in turn leads to damage to the ankle tendon.

So

- if you don’t fix the calf then the heal pain can return

- and if you don’t fix the heal then the ankle can be redamaged

- and if you don’t fix the ankle then it keeps hurting and gets more and more damaged and hard to repair.

What exactly is recovery for this surgery:

- 4 weeks on crutches – no weight bearing on my left foot.

- then 4 weeks in a boot cast.

- So 8 weeks no driving.

After that it will be 6-9 months before the ankle is fully recovered. I need to talk to the doctor further about what my physical activity can and should look like during this period.  I assume it will be somewhat limited though.

I should be having this surgery sometime in the next six weeks – AFTER Disney. I really don’t want to wait much longer because my ankle is starting to become painful again during every day activities like Driving.

I  plan to be a perfect patient and follow all the directions for recovering from this surgery.  I don’t want to be in pain forever and I don’t want to have to have another surgery down the line to fix something I screwed up by not following directions. 

And oh yeah – the surgery costs between $8,000 and $10,000 dollars.  To which I can only say HOLY CRAP!!!

So that is where things stand right now.  Hopefully we can get everything (like insurance and childcare) worked out and ready by the time I have the surgery.

My only question now – When does life get LESS complicated?

No Comments »

In honor of his birthday here is my list of ten or so of Jason and I’s favorite things about Quinn…

This is of course not an exahustive list.  There are so very many things to love about Quinn also this list is in no particular order.

1) Dimples.  OMG the dimples are too cute. especially when they come out when he is trying really hard NOT to smile and the first thing you see is the dimples.

2) His favorite color is orange.  How many people do you know who’s favorite color is orange.

3) He gives great hugs. Really, no wimpy hugs from Quinn he wraps his whole arms around your neck and squeezes tight.

4) He’s smart – I mean really really smart. He knows how to spell his name and can identify all the letters in the alphabet and has been able to for about 6 months.  Not only that but he gets stuff that I totally expect to go over his head.

5) He loves Cars.  I had no idea that you could be born with an innate love for motor vehicles but apparently it is possible.  He LOVES cars. He has a toy car collection that takes up two bins.

6) Quinn is the child that is the reason they say children need Schedule the child THRIVES on routine.

7) He loves to play – anything, anytime, just make it a game and he’s in.

He gets excited over little things.  He sees the joy in the small things of life and he wants you to see them too….of course if you don’t he’s going to scream at you…but that doesn’t go on this list.

8.5)He loves the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.  He changes weekly but either Mikey or Leo are his favorite.  Personally I think Mikey fits his personality best, besides he’s the orange one so it fits.

9) He loves girls – if you’ve met Quinn you will understand this.  He is a total flirt. In fact at this point I think girls are third on his list – behind Cars and TMNT.  Of course he is totally into older woman. – and yes – he does make me very nervous.

9.5) He is very musical.  He remembers the lyrics of songs after hearing the words just once. He can sing the theme song from TMNT – the one from the nineties and the current one.  He can sing the song from the end of Wall.e and pretty much any song Jason and I have on our laptop he can sing.

10) He is sweet and snuggly. He is full of personality. He knows what he likes and doesn’t like and he wants you to know too.  He loves to be the center of attention but is able to play by himself.

In short – Quinn is a wonderful person.

Quinn – Mommy and Daddy adore you. Happy Birthday

No Comments »

What can I say it’s Thursday.

Quinn was throwing up last night but decided that he could do it himself and never bothered to come up and get Jason or I.  I feel really terrible because he told me he didn’t come get me because he didn’t want me to yell at him.  I have NEVER yelled at him for throwing up… why would he think that?  It made me feel awful. He has already thrown up three times this morning and he has been up less then two hours.

I like my new job a lot.  Teaching online is fun and I can do it while Quinn plays on the floor right in front of me.  Yesterday he played with Lego Duplo blocks while I worked. It went really well.  He played very quietly and I was able to interact well with my student.

As far as Chocolate goes – well, one week down, 52 to go. The first week wasn’t that bad at all.  I think that my trip to MD this summer will be the hardest… they have Berger cookies in MD. 

I started WW on New Years day.  I had my first weigh in today. I lost 7 lbs my first week on WW.  I will post monthly updates and let you guys know how I am doing as far as weight loss/fitness goals go.

My ankle has been hurting quite a bit lately – I have been wearing the brace the doctor gave me – oddly though my ankle still seems to be getting worse.  Last night it was hurting while I was laying in bed.

Anyway – happy Thursday everyone.  I hope you all have a wonderful day.

No Comments »

So far so good – I have not eaten or drunk chocolate of any kind in 4 days.  I even had Jason modify a recipe he usually makes to omit the cocoa powder that was in it. The meal still tasted wonderful so I guess the recipe didn’t really need it.

At the moment my biggest fear in the whole thing is that I am going to eat some chocolate without thinking about it.  Just pop it in my mouth and swallow before I realize what I am doing. 

For example today we ate at the Olive Garden after Jason spoke and I had to remind myself that those little mints they give you with the check – yea, they have chocolate.

I guess that’s part of the point of all this.  I am trying hard to think about what I am putting in my mouth and why. I am trying to think before I eat instead of just randomly eating without thought.

Anyway – so far I have held up to the temptation of my favorite food.

No Comments »

I have to admit I have been looking forward to the kids return to school tomorrow. I love being home with them, playing with them in the snow and all but… they have been home since December 17th. It’s time for school to start again.

As we drove home from church up in Everett this afternoon watching the grey heavy sky all around us my fear began to built. We saw the first few flurries as we drove up the hill into West Seattle. Now when I look out the window it is more like terror. 

Is it really snowing – again – in Seattle? 

Do we really have another two inches of snow on the ground? 

Are they going to **shudder** – close school tomorrow?

I guess I will just have to wait and see what happens – but I swear if the phone rings at 5am I am going to cry.  Seriously. 

No Comments »

I had a rough night last night.

I have a really active imagination.  It is a blessing and a curse sometimes.

Last night we watched “The Happening”.  Allow me to first say I didn’t like it – at all.  I think it was dark and bloody for the sake of being dark and bloody. Which has not been my past impression of M. Night’s work before so I was very disappointed.  Also I felt that there were too many plot problems for me.  Had I written nature fighting back I would have done it differently – yeah – ok I know the drill on that one. 

Like all M. Night’s stuff the creep factor was done REALLY well – too well for me.  I don’t like gore as a rule and when gore and well done creep are combine in the way they were in “The Happening”… well it does not do good things to my imagination.

So last night I lay in bed reviewing all the issues I had with the movie ( I won’t go into them now – but maybe in a future blog post) – Over and over again.  Nothing I did could seem to shake the film from my head.  Finally I fell asleep.

Then sometime in the middle of the night I woke with the need to go to the bathroom.  Except I couldn’t.  I was too creeped out to get out of bed – too creeped out to get out from under the covers.

It’s just like when I was a kid.  I would lay in bed at night too terrified to move imagining things out of the bed that would get me if I got up.

Now – as a grown up I should REALLY not be so tweaked out by things like this.  However… obviously I am. It’s  the imagination thing. In my imagination the bed is safe and warm and protected by a warm snuggly shield – like my blankets.  Everything outside the bed is scary and cold and unprotected.

Anyway I lay there for hours – unable to sleep because I had to go to the bathroom and unable to get up because I was too scared of….well – not the movie exactly I know it’s just a movie – but – well by all the frightening things that I imagine go bump in the night that my mind can conjure.

I should be able to dismiss things like this – but well – I have a lot of trouble doing it.

In truth that is why I usually avoid creepy and gory movies. However I took a chance on “The Happening”  because in the past I have really enjoyed M. Night’s stuff (yes – I am avoiding using the last name because I cannot come CLOSE to spelling it right.) I thought “Signs” – although also high on the creep scale was an EXCELLENT movie and I enjoy watching it – even though I STILL jump every time they show the alien on the birthday party video tape. “The Village” was also a good movie, and I liked “Lady in the Water”.

So my advise to anyone who hasn’t seen it – “The Happening” is a movie worth missing in my opinion. Unless you like gore and creep thrown together in such a manner it makes it impossible for you to get out of bed at night.  Personally that is not my cup of tea.

I may have to avoid M. Night’s next movie.

No Comments »

Welcome to 2009.  I have to admit I am both excited and terrified by all the adventures this year hold for me. My kids will be a year older, I will be teaching online for the first time – actually USING my Masters Degree?!?!?! I am heading a PTA project and…. well… I have set a challenge up for myself for the entire year.

I have taken on a major challenge this year. I have decided to give up two of my favorite foods for one entire year.  Completely.  At first I thought I would just try to do it for most of the time and most of the year but – well that’s just not me.  I need to go cold turkey all the way 100%.

So for the next 365 days I am not eating any Chocolate.  At all…

No chocolate milk, no brownies, no chocolate chip cookies, no Hershey kisses, no candy bars, no ice cream sandwiches, no fudge bars, no chocolate at all. Period.

So why am I doing this crazy thing? 

Well first I’ll tell you why I’m NOT doing it.

This is not a fast – there is no spiritual rational behind this decision.  God didn’t tell me to give up Chocolate and I am not doing it to get closer to Him.

This is more because I am getting to know myself more and more over the years.  I have tried the whole moderation thing with dieting about a hundred times and failed.  Moderation does not seem to be my thing.

Also I need to challenge myself – something difficult but attainable. Exercise will be a real challenge this year with upcoming ankle surgery and at least 8 weeks of not exercising while I recover.

It will not be easy to not eat chocolate for a year – but I know I can do it – I can do anything for a year.

Jason gave up alcohol for four years, I can give up my favorite food for one.

So while I don’t really have a resolution this year I do have an adventure.  This will be my adventure of “The Year Without Chocolate”.  I’ll keep my blog updated and let you know how things are going.

No Comments »