Last day with Ryan

Woke up this morning and hung out with the kiddos. We played Junior Scrabble, read some books, and played hide and go seek. Macie played too. :p I quizzed Wilson on his NFL helmets and he did a great job! That boy is adorable...Elly is growing up to be such a sweet girl, too. I have the best niece and nephew in the world. You disagree, and I will fight you. 'Nuff said. :)

Dad and I went to the store and got an SD card for my video camera. I'm going to start a video diary of my recuperation process so that people having surgery after me can see how the whole thing pans out. We got an SD card, picked up Lion's Choice for the family, and brought it back. Ryan, Mom, Dad, the kids and I ate our food while trying to figure out the riddles Ryan threw our way.

After lunch, Ryan, Dad, and I headed to the Botanical Gardens. Ryan's newfound love for plants has piqued my interest as well, so we visited the oldest continually operating botanical gardens in the US. We visited the Climatron and Shaw's house. It was super interesting, and I want to go back when the plants outside are all in bloom. We went from there to the Galleria. I found some good after Christmas deals, and then we grabbed dinner at CPK. As we were sitting there eating, I ran into both Christina Andrade and Jesslyn Vezeau-Shipp. It was soooo good to see them and catch up a little bit. I missed those ladies.

We left the Galleria and headed back to Gretchen's house. I accidentally fell asleep on the couch and woke up to Mom, Gretchen, and the kids coming in from the mall. Elly decided to make late-night cupcakes as Wilson went back to commentating the football bowl games. The kids gave Ryan one last good night hug and went to sleep. Now Mom, Dad, Gretchen, and I are talking about Tuesday. When I'm getting to the hospital, when the procedure starts, how I need to prepare, etc. Basically trying to figure out how this upcoming week is going to work. Is it strange that I'm getting somewhat excited? Of course I am terrified in some ways, but I know that this is going to improve my quality of life. Later on in life I will be SO glad I had this procedure done. It's scary now, but it couldn't come at a more opportune time in life. I'm single, done with school, no job, and at the right place mentally and spiritually. Let's see how it goes! :)

Wonderful Friends

Today (Wednesday, December 29, 2010) was a fabulous day. I woke up, played with the kiddos, and had a great time. We played Headbanz with Grandpa Brad, made blizzards with Uncle Ryan, ate Grandma Vickie's mac and cheese...It was all around a good time. Wilson of course watched football and updated us on all of the scores. Elly made a card for Lynne (and a paper chicken leg), as well as other artistic creations. We watched How to Train Your Dragon while snuggling on the couch. Man I love those kiddos! :) Ryan also helped me work on my resume. He got it down to one page. Hooray! He's pretty much a pro when it comes to editing/proofreading anything. I'm lucky to have him take a look at my stuff before I send it in. I'll be sad when he leaves to go back to Hawaii. :(

At 4:30, Lynne came to the house. She gave me my Christmas present (which I loved!) and said hello to the family. We drove to Webster and headed toward Milagro (one of our favorite restaurants). She said there was a surprise she hasn't given me yet, and was pretty tight lipped about it. Walking in, she said she had reserved a table for us in the back. I turned the corner to see some of my best friends from college. Erin Craden, Erin White, Alex O'brecht, and Jill Williamson were all sitting there and said "Surprise!" I was completely shocked and so happy to see them there. Lynne was pretty good at organizing a surprise for me, I must say. Atta girl. :p I had balloons on my chair, a sweet "hot tamale" lei to wear that lit up, and presents to open from my friends. We ate a delicious meal, shared teaching stories, and enjoyed each other's company. I was sooo happy to see those girls and felt blessed that they had come just to wish me well for my surgery. If any of you are reading this, thank you so so so much. You made me a very happy girl, and I am lucky to call you friends. :)

After dinner, we went to Crestwood to bowl. Lynne had brought cupcakes (super tasty) from Whipt Cream. They were so good! Erin C., Lynne, and I bowled two games while chatting with Alex and Erin W. I stunk at bowling as usual, but it was a great time. It made me realize that I won't be able to do fun stuff like bowling for a while, but I'll eventually be back better than ever. It sort of hit me that a lot will change in the next week. However, it will all be over sooner than I know and I will be happier as a result. Thank you ladies for helping me keep a smile on my face. :)

Lynne drove me back to Gretchen's, where we played with the kiddos some more. Gretch broke out the home videos of Elly and Wilson when they were little babies. Soooo cute! Lynne was nice enough to stay and hang out until the kids went to bed. I planned out the weekend for Amber and I, and now I'm headed to bed. What a night! I seriously had a fabulous time with people who mean so much to me. I am one of the luckiest people, having a great support system and loving family that have never let me down. This whole surgery process is going to be rough, but I know that everyone I have here (and especially my Daddy up there) is holding me as I go through it. Just remind me of that when I'm complaining next week. :p Love you guys!

One week away...

One week from today I will be having surgery to correct my scoliosis. As you can see by the oh so lovely picture above, I have a double curvature of 50 degrees lumbar and 55 degrees thoracic. I will be having rods put on each side of my spine, screwed in with pedicle implants. Then they are using bone morphotgenetic protein to stimulate growth and solidify five of my vertebrae into one bone. For those of you who know much about the spine, I am having T12-L4 fused.

Next Monday (January 3rd), I'm going into the hospital to get my central line placed. I have a couple of pre-operation things to take care of, and then I head back home for the night. No solid foods afterward, and only clear liquids until midnight. Starting at midnight into the morning of January 4th, I can't eat or drink anything in preparation for the operation. I go into Barnes Hospital at 5:30 in the morning on January 4th, with the surgery scheduled for 7:30.

Basically, I started this blog for a few reasons:

1. I want to help people who are going to have the surgery. I have gotten peace from hearing about other people's experiences, and I want to provide that reassurance for other people.
2. Journaling is a cathartic experience for me, helping me articulate what I'm feeling and how I cope. I want to make sure I document how I've grown throughout this entire process.
3. I hope to keep people updated who are interested in my healing process.

Anywho, I just wanted to get this blog up and running a week ahead of time. Maybe I can look back on this in a year and see how it all came to fruition. All will go according to His plan, and I am resting in the fact that He never leaves or forsakes. :) Such a blessing!