Adventures in ACL land

Just when I thought the fun was behind me.... I always seem to be in a situation that is blog worthy :) As Nick says, "only you would this happen to." :) Crazy at the time, but luckily, things have definitely settled back down for the most part.... so no alarms to anyone as you are reading this....

Yesterday, I had my regularly scheduled physical therapy (PT) appointment. I go twice a week for now and am still doing fairly basic exercises since my big goal is getting my quad strong enough to do anything else. So I sit down with my PT and we start talking through our agenda & goals for the day. She asked how my rash was doing. For background, earlier in the week I had developed a small rash around the incision points that raised a little concern. She thought it might have been from me using lotion close to the area, so she encouraged me to not use lotion at all on my left leg. Well, the rash hadn't gotten better, but I didn't think much of it. Come to think of it- I had barely looked at it since we noticed it. I am only allowed to have the brace & compression stocking off during my shower, so I don't really get to "see" my knee much. Well, the rash was visibily worse when I got to PT... and not only worse in that area, but had spread across my entire knee cap and surgical area. It was bright red & inflamed. Ok, most of you are probably wondering how I didn't notice that... Well, when you have a stocking you wear basically 24x7 and have a brace that keeps your knee locked-- not much of anything feels comfortable or normal, so I had gotten used to some soreness and weird feelings.

So, back to the rash..... My PT was sure that it was an allergic reaction- but she wasn't sure to what, which is what made her so concerned. I was quickly getting the most attention in the PT office as all the PTs were coming to look at my rash. It was nice to see the widened eyes as they looked down. Real comforting- thought my leg must be ready to fall off or something. Well, one of the reasons I love my practice so much is b/c of the setup. Each PT office has a clinic within it or next door. So, there were doctors in the bldg that were available. My PT tried getting a hold of my doctor, but he was in surgery, so luckily, there are close to 20 other doctors in the practice to choose from. One happened to be in the same bldg and was called down to see me. Keep in mind- all of this is happening super fast and with an audience, as all the other patients have been left by their PTs so that I could have all the help & attention. Well, the doctor took one look at it and said that he thought I was allergic to the stereo strips (sp?)- the white bandaid type things that cover the stitches. He asked when they had been put on me... I had said in my follow up appt on the 8th... and I have had itching and redness ever since, but I had assumed that was just part of the wounds healing. He pulled back all of the strips and it was amazing- I had raised red marks in the exact locations of the strips and then red bumps all around them. He said that I must be allergic to the adhesive part of the strip to cause it to react that way. He asked if I had had trouble with bandaids in the past... b/c they probably use the same adhesive... I was like, um, I don't use bandaids and haven't needed them for things other than shots which maybe happen every few years and aren't left on for more than a few hours. And its not like I use stereo strips on a regular basis either. Well, he said most all of the coverings that they had in the practice used the same adhesive so he didn't want to put anything back on me for fear of the rash getting worse. After a few minutes of the strips being gone, my skin started to calm down, so that was obviously the issue.

The story doesn't stop here..... The doctor said that I can't not have coverings for my stitches b/c of the compression stocking and the exercises I have to do, he was afraid I would easily be pulling on the stitches causing bleeding or tearing. Not words I wanted to think about. He decided that the only solution was to remove my stitches- right then & there. Ok- so usually I like to mentally prepare myself for things like this, but no time to do that. I asked if it would be painful. He said that 2 of the 3 would hurt a little. Well, when they tell me it will hurt a little, I know that it means it will be fairly painful. Great. And to think, I hadn't even started my exercises yet. I was also freaked out b/c MY doctor didn't want to remove them until next week due to the depth of the wound- and from what I could see- I wanted them to stay a little longer too. Well, no chance. The doctor said that I would be worse off leaving them in with no coverings. Goody. He did say that after 10 days, stitches are technically ready to come out. I was on Day 11. He did the first one and I felt the pull, but it was completely painless- it was the easiest of the three- good place to start. Well the other two were much different. He even said as he was pulling them out that Dr. Boes secured them tighter than he normally sees. Great words to the gal laid up getting these yanked out. Geez. Well, he managed to get the other two out without me screaming though I did look like I was giving birth. I had a PT on each side holding my arms and telling me to breathe. I was flushed and in pain. I can only imagine the new patients coming in that afternoon thinking they were walking into PT but seeing someone laid up on an exercise bench getting stitches removed. Don't think that was the advertisement they were looking for :) And let me tell you- those bad boys HURT coming out! It was awful. I was shocked that I wasn't bleeding and felt very dramatic for causing a scene, but it wasn't pleasant. I am impressed with how small the scars will be. You would think I had more to show for getting a new ligament and 2 screws put in. Doctors amaze me!

Good news is that I'm doing well and met one of my goals yesterday that allowed me to drop the crutches all together! Loved hearing that- so now I'm ahead of schedule and just have the brace to wear now. Woo hoo. I think Camille is equally as excited, even though I still can't carry her. Baby steps.

After all that trauma/drama yesterday, all I wanted was a treat when I got done with PT. Well, that didn't work out either. I was already running late to meet John (who helps me get Camille in the afternoon). I figured I could scoot through the drive thru at Chick Fil A and still not be too late meeting him. Well, I get in line and after 5 minutes- still haven't moved in the line. So- I marked it a loss and left- and pouted until I got home. Ha!

some randoms....

I was looking through some pictures on my camera today and thought some were must posts. :)

Camille has been teething non stop since she was three months old.... so we have been dealing with over a year of teething! Well, finally we have a break I think. Camille's last 4 teeth popped through recently. Poor thing was in so much pain from these last four that we were trying everything to keep her happy and soothed. Well, I had heard frozen waffles were a good trick for kids to chew on since Camille doesn't care about teethers now that she is older. Well, it did the trick- for all of 2 minutes until she somehow managed to devour a frozen waffle! Here is the fussy girl with her waffle in hand- you can see how quickly it is going!

Camille also enjoyed her visit with Mimi last week. She didn't like that mommy wasn't able to be with her, but she loved having Mimi to play with. Here is Camille with her Mimi.

Camille enjoyed the warmer weather last week and the fact that it was still light when she got home from school so that she could have some extra play time. Check out that belly!

Camille gets very excited sometimes and starts to run... and her little run is soooo cute... its more of a fast waddle. Too cute!

When it rains, it pours..... literally!

So, I am almost a week into my recovery. I had a doctor's appointment yesterday with went very well. They removed all of the bandages- I felt like it was the revealing of Frankenstein! My knee didn't look as bad as I had expected. Very little blood and only 3 incisions that were very clean and small- pretty cool for having a drill put 2 screws in your knee! I did have a small freak out moment when I thought my knee cap was gone. There was a fair amount of swelling still which made my knee area inflammed and flat looking- no outline of a knee cap- so just to make sure I asked the doc if my knee cap was still in tact. He laughed and said that things were just swollen and it will look more normal soon. He actually thought the swelling was better than expected even though I was thinking it wasn't. Can't imagine what my doctor sees on a regular basis. I do still have to wear a compression stocking under my brace, but at least I have a little more freedom there. The doctor felt like in another week, I could probably be off crutches and just stick to the brace for another 4-5 weeks. Here's hoping for a speedy recovery.

After my doctor's appointment, I had my first physical therapy appointment post op. It was not fun. For starters, I had to see a different PT than my normal one since I was already at the Raleigh location. I liked the guy I saw, but still prefer Gina the best. I will start back with her next week. Well, we did a lot of measurements of where I am and where I need to be kind of thing- basically comparing the left knee to the right. Let's just say there is a long road to go. I was frustrated with how much I had lost in a week- both flexion and strength. So all my exercises were very basic, but now challenging and left me very sore. I did learn a better way to get up and down the stairs.... the going down on my butt method was getting old and didn't seem professional for when I return to work on Monday :) So I was in a ton of pain last night just from all the work that day- lots of icing was needed. However, I do feel better today. I have some at home exercises to do in between my twice a week PT appointments. Not a fan of any of them as they are so hard, but I know its baby steps to get me to where I need & want to be.

Camille's demeanor did seem better today now that I am at least somewhat mobile. She wasn't liking having a mom that did everything from a couch or bed. She slept great last night and has been in a great mood today, so I think she senses that things are slowly getting back to some normalcy. She dislikes the crutches big time. She won't come near them and when she does, she hits them out of the way. She knows that when I use them, it means I can't pick her up. She does like the brace though. It has some intriguing buttons and locks that she enjoys trying to master. She is cute when she points to my leg and says "boo boo." Yep, that is one big boo boo I have, but I think she is starting to somewhat understand that is why mommy can't do the things she normally does.

Well, to get back to the title of my blog... when it rains, it pours.... After a painful day yesterday, Nick & I were awoken at 11pm last night by a loud banging at the door. I panic thinking it was John or our neighbor and something was wrong. As Nick ran down, I could only listen from the bed (what a help I would have been if it were a robber.) It was a police officer- all I could hear was him asking if he was Matthew Cox.... I was thinking to myself- Is Nick about to get arrested? I mean, I know he has that outstanding ticket for running a red light, but that case keeps getting continued to a further date...... So luckily, he didn't get arrested and came back upstairs. Well, he had the weirdest look on his face. He said our condo is flooded and I need to call the officer on duty. WHAT!!??? I then started to think of the plumbing job that John & Nick did there recently...I was going oh no- they flooded our place!!!! Well, wrong again. Nick was on the phone with the officer and all I could hear was his side of the conversation.... which left me more confused and is suspense. I heard him say words like entire unit and shot. I'm thinking "oh my, was there criminal activity?" Wrong again. Nick finally got off the phone and said that the guy that lives in the 3rd floor unit above our 2nd floor unit, was cleaning or messing with his gun and he accidentally shot the sprinkler system. It went crazy and started pouring water which ended up going through our ceiling and floor and down to the 1st floor unit. Oh joy.... It was also storming last night, which didn't help the cause. So yes, when it rains, it pours, at least in our new sky light condo. Nick had to go over there and talk to the officer and the HOA, and the sprinkler crew that were onsite stopping the water. Well, we did get word that the ceiling, floors, walls, light fixtures, etc all are ruined and need to be replaced. Lucky us. The good news is that insurance will cover all that and our 10yr old condo is going to get a face lift for free. The bad news is that we have a group of renters moving in on May 1st.... not sure that is going to happen. Depends how quickly the insurance folks can sort things out. So- that was our night last night. Imagine the looks on our faces when we had to figure out who to call and what to do when your condo floods... and 2nd floor unit at that, and nothing in your control, but caused by our responsible condo owner above us. Whooo weee.... what a story! Hope some folks get a laugh out of that one! I will once I hear that insurance has settled and getting started with repairs.

My new ACL :)

Let's just say I won't be going skiing again for a long long time! I had great care at Rex for the whole surgery process but boy is this harder than expected! A few of you have asked for some details, so here is my attempt at providing those before getting sleepy again (still on heavy meds).

We arrived at the hospital around 10am yesterday morning. I was very impressed with how quickly we were moved through the check in process. By 11am I was in the pre-op room where you get the lovely hospital attire and go over the schedule for the surgery. They also start an IV at that point to keep some fluids going, while also giving some preventative antibiotics. It was a very small room, but Nick and I were able to relax for about 45 mins before the real fun began. Around 12pm Nick had to go back to the waiting room while I was taken for the anesthesia prep. I had a nerve block put in which wasn't as scary as expected. The nerve block was put in near the hip area and blocked the series of nerves going to my knee. They numbed me before the actual block, so it wasn't bad at all. It was quite odd though b/c I had to be shocked a few times to make sure the right nerves were being blocked... they got it right on the first go. Within minutes my leg felt HUGE and I couldn't move it at all- quick work!! I really appreciated how the doctors explained everything step by step to me, as they could tell I was a little nervous. I also got oxygen around that time too, just b/c the anesthesia can slow down your breathing. At 1pm I was on the operating table being greeted by my doc and his team. No memories after that! I was put under light anesthesia since my block would take care of most of the pain.

It was kind of amusing to wake up to a hospital bracelet in bright yellow that red FALL RISK. They wouldn't let me lift a toe without assistance. I got taken to Recovery which is where my memory picks up. I woke up but was soooo tired and couldn't seem to keep my eyes open- b/c of this my blood pressure wasn't going back up as quickly as they would have liked which is what kept me back there so long. The doctors made sure to keep Nick updated, as it had been like 3-4 hours since he had seen me. I also had some pretty bad nausea too. They gave me two different nausea medication, but neither worked. Goody. After trying very hard to stay awake, they allowed me to the next recovery room, where Nick was. That was when the real fun began. I had a nurse that had just started her shift- I was her first patient- but I greeted her with "I'm going to puke." ) And puke I did :) After that they decided to give me yet another nausea medication- this time it was via a shot in the rear- oh joy! I couldn't be released until I ate & drank and you can imagine how slow that took since I was feeling queasy. So, we didn't end up getting released until almost 8pm. What a long day!

It was a huge blessing that Mom was with us, b/c last night b/w my pain & having to be carried everywhere, and Camille's continued teething and waking up screaming... Mom & Nick had their hands full.

I am doing fine today, just very sore... and thinking that this recovery was nothing like I expected- a lot harder than I had assumed.... but i'll get there :)

Thanks for all the thoughts & prayers!

16 Months Old & Happy St Paddys Day

I  know... I'm a week behind on this post.... better late than never, right?

Camille turned 16 months old last week! I think this month has been a complete test of mommy & daddy's nerves. However, I am amazed at the new vocabulary she seems to picking up on a daily basis. Some new words she started saying since my last post: "ouch," "melmo" (elmo), "up", "eyes", "uice" (juice, but she uses this word for anything in her sippy cup), and "more." She is also getting better at saying some of the grandparents names like PawPaw and Mimi. She is becoming an expert at pointing to every part of the body when quizzed, as well as her animal sounds. I personally think her kitty cat noise is the cutest.... "maow" is how she says it. While she has been an expert at saying "Daddy" and "Dada" for quite some time, my name seems to change depending on the week/month. I went from "mama" to "baby" to "may may" to "mammy." :)

Her 16 month birthday was on St. Patricks Day so we found this cute little shirt to dress her in for school that day. It says, "I'm a Wee Bit Irish."

I also wanted to share a picture of Camille in her "big girl" carseat. She LOVES it. (if you can't tell from her cheesy grin)

Camille has a mouth full of teeth, but still has gaps between her molars and front teeth. We still are waiting on 2 more on top to come down. They have already broken through, so just a matter of time before they are like the others.

The joys of parenthood.....or should I say, the trials.... :)

Camille has been quite the little trouble maker for the past week or so. I know those of you that don't get to see her too often are thinking I'm crazy for suggesting that...... but I think the terrible 2's have struck early!! Don't get me wrong- Camille still has a very sweet personality- loving to hug & cuddle most anytime. However, she is very strong willed already and loves to "test" the boundaries. Usually, this behavior is reserved for just mommy & daddy, but occasionally she will give a sneak peek to others.

These pictures are from dinner this week. And this wasn't a one time occurrence. This was pretty much a regular thing, which led to earlier bath times. These pictures were taken with my phone, so hopefully they are clear enough to give you an idea of what we were seeing :)

She is Miss Independent and doesn't want us to feed her, yet she refuses to use any utensils yet. Therefore, this is what we end up with. She pouts if we aren't feeding her what she really wants (bananas or bread). So she does eat whatever is in front of her, but not without a fight. She loves to rub her food in her hair, on her face, and the walls. When we tell her not to throw, she does what I call her peace offering. See below.

That is, then you eat it or I'll continue to throw it. Boy oh boy.
She also loves to continue to do things, especially after hearing the word "no." Its actually more fun for her if she knows she isn't supposed to be doing it.

We did find a break in the madness this weekend when the weather was nice enough for us finally to put her princess car together. It was a Christmas gift from Dad & family, but we haven't been able to break it in yet. Well, we finally needed a distraction- and thankfully, Camille loves it!

She also got her first big girl haircut this weekend. She didn't actually need it too bad, I've been able to maintain it myself up until this point. I just needed it trimmed all around to help tame some of the curls and length. She wasn't a fan of sitting still, though she did a fairly good job. She kept trying to grab the scissors as the stylist cut, so luckily she still has all ten fingers and doesn't have a bad hair job! She looks like such a big girl now and her curls are higher with the shorter hair- very cute!

Camille also graduated to the big girl carseat facing forward today. She wasn't sure what to think at first, but once we got going, she loved every minute. She enjoys being able to see out of the window and she mommy too. Time is flying by!!

Welcome John Aaron Kohler, Jr!

A new addition to the DesVergers clan! Baby Jack was born this morning, around 1:30am, via c-section. He weighed in at 3lbs 11oz. Still awaiting word on when Jack will have his surgery to correct the exposed intestines, but the good news is that he is here, healthy, and in GREAT hands. Mom is doing well too!

I had one more picture to add just because I found it to be so stinking cute! The paci is about the size of Jack's head!