A Pain in the Foot...

This whole experience has been a "pain in the neck" or rather a "pain in the foot!" I wanted to post earlier to let those keeping up with me through the blog know how things are, but I have been in a lot of pain. Not to mention being quite "out of it".

I'll start with the surgery. They took me in on time which was good. After waiting all day with great anticipation and an empty stomach I was ready to be done with that stage in the process. We informed the nurse, as we always do, that I am a hard "stick". Rather that it is difficult to get an Iv going on me. Like most nurses, he was quite sure of himself and declared that he would definitely get it on the first try. He told me not to move and then quite forcefully shoved the needle into my vain. This made me jump from the pain and the force. He then accused me of moving too much and said he had lost the vain....but then decided he would try shoving the needle around just to make sure. I had been trying to hold it all together for days and I guess that was the last straw. I just began sobbing. And couldn't stop. I have had such bad experiences with needles and was just so tired at that point, I couldn't hold it together anymore. He quickly decided he wasn't going to try again and would leave the job for the anesthesiologist.

When she finally came in, she was wondering why I wasn't ready to go but saw me crying and went to work at once to find a good vain. She was much more kind, gentle and motherly. Unfortunately the only good vain she could find was in my hand. She did get it the first time but had to do a bit of digging as well and almost lost that one. Thank God it took! She then gave me some meds in my IV to help calm me down as I was still very shaken. And wow did those burn! After that they told me I could walk to the surgery room. Really? Seriously? Walk to the surgery room? With the IV in my hand and the BROKEN FOOT I'm having surgery on? My goodness...so the staff was a bit...interesting.

Thankfully the Dr. seems to be very good. I feel comfortable with him and he is very caring. When I was finally in the surgery room they hooked me up to all of the monitors. Then I started to feel sleepy but was still awake enough to attempt to ask questions. Without meaning to I often fight medications that make me sleepy....I guess it's the feeling of losing control. Before I was completely out though I did feel the shots in my foot...all of them. I just remember saying. "Ow...ow...ow..." until it was over. And the crazy thing is I don't even remember falling asleep or waking up exactly. A very weird feeling. I remember feeling like someone was bandaging my foot up and thinking, "well that can't be right, that was only about 15 minutes!" But when I looked at the clock, it had actually been nearly an hour and a half! Thank goodness for modern medicine! Soon after the Dr. came over to tell me the surgery went well. The injuries were more extensive then he thought and there was quite a lot of blood, but he thinks he performed a perfect surgery. When I opened my eyes again it was to the Dr. saying I had a visitor and Craig was at my side, stroking my hair and arm as I went in and out of consciousness.

At home I was able to lay on the couch and rest all night. I was still super groggy from the anesthesia. My best friends parents, Linda and Dave, had taken care of the kids during the surgery and had dinner waiting for us when we returned. Such a huge help and a big load off of our shoulders! With their help, the night went smoothly with the kids fed, bathed and off to bed.

Friday morning I woke up in a great amount of pain. The shots had worn off and I had not woken up in the middle of the night to take my pain meds. I didn't think it was necessary. It was! I have been trying since then to gain control over the pain, even waking last night to take the meds. I wish I could report that I feel OK, but it really hurts. Much more then I thought it would. It burns and the foot is so tightly bandaged I can't cool it down with ice packs. I just pray that the pain will decrease everyday!

And if you do pray, please pray that I would stay strong and that depression would not set in. I am overwhelmed with how I am going to get through the next few months of healing. How I am going to keep the house clean, my family fed, get to the grocery store, take my kids to school, take showers, etc. Last night I had to miss a concert for Habitat For Humanity that I had been looking forward to for months. Today a festival that we had been also planning on attending for months. It is hard for me to be out of control. To sit by while other "do". Thank you for your prayers!

On the bight side Susie sent me a beautiful gift from Edible Arrangements that literally made me cry! It was such a bright spot in my dreary day! And I thank you to all who have sent me comments through email, this blog and facebook! I really appreciate each one and they always make me feel better! Hopefully I will get to posting a few pictures soon! Thanks for reading about my journey.