6 weeks

Today was Rich's 6 week Dr. Appt for his back. We had to go early for X-rays. The Dr. Was super impressed. He said he couldn't hope for a better X-ray and at this point Rich is way ahead of the healing game. Dr.Allen said the X-rays show more like a post op patient of 12 weeks vs. 6 weeks. His back is already fusing together super well.  He no longer has to wear his back brace and the goal over the next few weeks is to get off his pain pills all together. Rich has a little more freedom in things he can do but also has to be smart and not do any lifting over 10 pounds. He starts physical therapy next week. Hopefully in about 4 weeks the therapist will release him for work. He's pretty antsy and tired of being home. At the same time he also knows he's not able to go back to work yet even with restrictions. He has lost a lot of his muscle over the past 6 weeks and needs to build his strength up. He still gets pretty tired and can't to much without hurting.

We are right in the middle of moving. We close on the 16th and have to be out of here on the 25th. I'm pretty much freaking out right now. My work is being jerks and do not want to give me time off to move. It should be interesting and is so stressful. Thank goodness I have an amazing family who are always willing to help us out. I swear come November I'm going in hibernation. It has been one supper busy hellacious year. Honestly I will be glad to see 3014 go.

Surgery

Rich just kept getting worse and worse and it was apparent no matter how bad I wanted him to hold off on surgery that we had to get it done sooner rather than later. I was in the shower one day and a not so still small voice yelled at me in my head to schedule his surgery. So that is what we did. The doctor explained it was getting harder and harder to get this type of surgery approved and the waiting list to get it approved took 3 weeks where it used to take 3 days. Got to love insurance companies. Dr. Allen sent him for a MRI and x-rays and then submitted everything to the insurance company. The wait was on. In the man time Rich was missing more and more work and in more and more pain. It was clear something needed to be done soon. About 2.5 weeks later Dr. Allen called and let us know surgery was scheduled for Aug. 25th. We also were required to go in for a pre op. The pre op was about 2 weeks before surgery and he told us then we were lucky to get scheduled because he was filling up fast and was now booking through the end of October. He explained to us he saved us one of the last remaining spots he had left. There is one of those tender mercies again. I cant even imagine waiting another 2-3 months for surgery.

Both Rich and I have felt nothing but comfort with Dr. Allen since we met him. We knew he was an excellent Dr. The night before surgery we had Jaron and Chris D. come give Rich a blessing and we both felt very comforted. Sure we were a little nervous but knew it was time and Rich was in great hands. Rich was pretty nervous the morning of surgery and I was some what but I also felt a strong sense of peace. I was counselled in a blessing I received to take my scriptures with me and read while he was in surgery.

Dr. Allen owns a little surgery center here and that is where the surgery was to take place. About 11:00 A.M. they came and took Rich back to the operating room. I was informed the surgery would take about 2-3 hours. As soon as they opened him the nurse came in to let me know he was under and the surgery was started. I quietly read talks and my scriptures and watched tv. The room Rich was assigned was huge with a recliner, tv and couch. They also offered me free snacks and let me know the fridge was at my disposal for anything I may want at any time.

About 2 hours later Dr. Allen came out and informed me everything went well. He also told me the Vertebra was in pretty rough shape something he would expect to see in a car crash. He told me there was a lot of trauma and the disk was compressed about 70% he informed me he really stretched Rich a lot and the spacer or cage they put in to fuse the disk was usually a size 10 but he bumped it up to a 12. He said in the long run the 12 would be so much better and give Rich another 15-20 years before he needed surgery again.

Unfortunately because he did stretch him so much Rich had a ton of pain. I left while Rich was in recovery and took the girls something to eat and also got myself some lunch. When i got back he was in his room and in so much pain. None of the medicine they were giving him was working and he also had a pain pump. He was really freaking out and his oxygen was dropping quite a bit so they gave him some oxygen. We had to talk him through some panic attacks and honestly it was pretty bad seeing him in that much pain. I could see the nurses were concerned as well. Once Dr. Allen came out of his last surgery he agreed to up the pain pump and also allowed for some different medicine.

That night I had planned on going home but knew there was absolutely no way I could or would leave Rich. I called my dad and he agreed to bring my mom and stay the night with the girls.

What a rough night we had. I kind of thought he would sleep a lot after surgery and his pain would be controlled until the next day. Nope. Once he was out of surgery he didn't go back to sleep until 2 am and slept until 3 then we were up again he was able to sleep from 4-5:30 as well.

I did not sleep much the night before so by the time I had left the hospital at 6 am to get the kids off to school I had been awake for about 26 hours with maybe 1 hour of sleep in there.

I had to get the girls off then clean because we were having a Realtor tour Tues morning. After the kids left and my parents left I laid down and cried for about 20 min I was so beyond exhausted it wasn't even funny. After I cleaned the house (thank goodness there wasn't much to do) I showered and headed back to the hospital. About 9 am I got there and Dr. Allen had already been in. Our day nurse knew how miserable Rich was and was able to convince the Dr. to remove the pain pump. Something they normally do not do until day 3. It was clear for whatever reason the pump was doing nothing for Rich. They were able to give him some different medicine and a shot of Demerol to relax him. Finally he was getting relief and some much needed sleep. I stayed with him until about noon and all he was doing was sleeping. The nurses were beyond excellent so I was happy to leave and go home and catch a nap. By the time I got back around 3 he was still in pain but doing better. Physical therapy and the nurses were extremely impressed with how strong Rich was and how well he did walking.

Overall he was in the hospital Mon-Thurs and i was able to bring him home Thurs about noon.

 Waiting for the Dr and Anesthesiologist

 We have never done a selfie before> Hmm we should do more.

 Anesthesiologist giving him his cocktail to relax him

and hes off.

50!

My honey turned 50 this year. People kept asking me if we were going to have a party or do something big for him. The answer was no. Rich was having really bad back pain and had to have trigger point injections the week before and another (failed) epidural shot. Plus his birthday was his first day back to work after 10 days of medical leave so I knew he would be sore. Add a wedding into the mix and we didn't have the money for a party. I was going to cook dinner but had to be in Idaho Falls for counseling for Tymber so I picked pizza up. Jaron and Autumn got Rich a Steelers clock and a Steelers licence plate cover. We also got him some pants and I bought a cake. Unfortunately I did not get any pictures. i feel bad for it. I think once the wedding is over Rich ad I will go out to dinner by ourselves.

Honey and I

I cant believe 24 years later I am so crazy in love with this man. Life gets better all the time.

new toy

My honey got a new toy. A friend of his that worked at Lowes decided to sell his bike because he was quitting his job to become a long haul truck driver with his wife. We have been kicking around the idea of getting a bike for a while but it wasn't in our budget. The price was right on this bike so we went ahead and got it. It is a 1997 Honda Shadow 600 XL with 12,000.00 miles on it. The bike is in really good condition. Our main reason to get it was saving money on gas. We figure it gets almost 50 mpg and will save us about 300.00 a month in gas. With the truck not running it is very hard with him driving my expedition to work each day and Autumn has to take the car because she has a teachers aid class during second hour that she has to drive over to the kindergarten for, plus she works after school. That pretty much leaves me home bound on my days off, it is rough when I need to run errands.

I cant say I haven't been pretty nervous about the bike. I worry about him riding it but I know he is careful. He has no desire to be a crazy driver and we bought him a good helmet with a full face shield and a nice padded jacket. I know he will always ride with a helmet. He really has no desire not to. He also plans on going up the old highway to work and doesn't want to ride the freeway so that makes me feel a little better. I think he will be pretty content going 55-60 mph.  Its all the other idiots on the road I worry  about. One thing he will really have to watch is the cross roads on the highway, especially because it is farm season. I hope the weather finally straightens up for him. Luckily it isn't a really big bike and I think is the perfect starter bike for him.  

Rich and I picts.

We actually took about 1000 pictures total with everyone and these are the ones she picked out to give us. Hope was a riot,Autumn was helping her change her clothes while Rich and I were doing our pictures. Pretty soon Hope couldn't stand it and had to run over and get in a few pictures with us. I wish I had them to share.

Baptisim

Hope was baptized on Oct 13. It was a great day. Aunt Sondra bought her beautiful white dress for her birthday and came down for her baptism. Zoey Michelle played the piano for us and Autumn was the chorister. Tymber said the opening prayer and Autumn gave a talk on baptism. Richard was able to baptize her. This was wonderful because he was not able to with Tymber and Autumn. My dad and Rick were witnesses. Rich had to do it twice because he forgot to say her name the first time. After she was baptized KennaDee sang a song and Sondra gave a talk on confirmation. Then her dad confirmed her a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and gave her the gift of the Holy Ghost. The spirit was very strong and we could feel Bishop Adams and Grant in the room with us. Caralyn gave the closing prayer and Bishop Chapman said a few closing remarks. What a special day, one Hope had been looking forward to for a very long time. I am so proud of her and love the sweet spirit she brings into our home.

Cabin

Rich and I had the opportunity to sneak away one night. it was wonderful, we haven't been away for almost two years. My brother and sister-in-law bought a cabin in Palisades and told us we could borrow it any time we want. It is a GREAT cabin. Very nice. It overlooks the lake and this time of year was stunning with the leaves and trees changing. I wish we could have stayed another day or two. We plan on trying to get away once or twice  a year.

It was the first time I left the girls home alone. Autumn said she felt comfortable staying with them. Hope actually went to my mom and dads overnight. She didn't feel good and called me that night crying, wanting to go home. It was pretty late so I talked her into staying with my parents. Tymber had school the next day but Hope and Autumn were off. Autumn got Tymber off to school and then she had to work. 

How grateful I am to family who is generous enough to allow us the use of their cabin once in a while. Thanks Rick and Caralyn, we love you!

Heart

We also had tickets to see Heart in concert. There were a lot more people there then the night before. Rich and I are both huge Heart fans so we were thrilled to learn they would be at the fair. The concert was amazing. Ann Wilson has a crazy powerful voice. We were once again on the track standing and the whole ground was shaking. Her sister Nancy Wilson can play the guitar like mad. Excellent concert. They played for almost 1.5 hours rocking hard. Loved every minute of it

Three Dog Night

I bought tickets to see Three Dog Night and Heart at the fair in June. It was a special where you get both concerts for the price of one. Good thing I got them early or we wouldn't have gone. We chose general admission instead of assigned seating because the assigned seating is not that comfortable. It's pretty much on the race track so the seats are in the grandstands and I really didn't want someones knees in my back all night or to feel like a sardine. We were really close to the stage and I was surprised at how many songs I knew. The band is a little before my time. Most of the hit songs were 1969-1974. With the most popular of course Joy to the World, or Jeremiah was a Bullfrog.

The band has been together 43 years with 4 out of 6 original members still. They were pretty good for a bunch of old guys. One thing I quickly realized, there were a lot of older people there, that makes me old too I guess. Some people just come out of the wood work and are beyond entertaining to watch. Rich and I had a great time.

A lady came up to us before the show and had 2 backstage passes. She wasn't going and asked us if we wanted them so we jumped on it. Free backstage passes heck ya. I was really excited to meet them and sad I didn't bring a camera or anything to autograph. Figured I could get a few picts on my cell phone. The meet and greet was a total waste of time and ticked me off. There were only about 20-30 fans and basically they took us back and told us there was a professional photographer to do pictures. No autographs and they would post the pict on a website in a few days. We were to get the picture taken and leave. Stand by the band and the band would pose around us. There was a 12 year old boy who was first and his mom was saying how this was his favorite band of all time and how excited he was to meet them. He went up took a pict and they didn't even acknowledge him. We were second the lead singer said Hi to me, I told him we enjoyed the show and they acted like they didn't even hear me. They didn't even acknowledge Rich at all, took our pict and we were escorted out. We pretty much felt like pesky flies. It wasn't worth our time to walk back and see them. It is ridiculous they acted like we were bothering them. I felt like telling them without their fans they wouldn't have been around for 43 years. Oh well.