and the snow continued to fall

Over the days leading up to Thanksgiving, it continued to snow.  She snow accumulated to a good 4-5 inches and was very wet, heavy snow... perfect for building forts, snowmen and for snowball fights! This was really a blessing in disguise for us because the kids were so excited that they literally played outside for 4 straight hours.  This gave Andy some good quiet time to rest, and me some time to finish getting our home clean and ready for the crowd that would converge upon us the next day.  It also meant that there was a fresh clean playground for the twelve cousins that would be coming the next day on Thanksgiving!

Elsa

Last week we got our first flakes of snow.  Cassidy saw them and exclaimed "Ohhhhh Elsa!"  The next thing I knew, she was in her Elsa dress, holding her cape telling me to get my camera, because we were doing an Elsa shoot.  It doesn't take much coaxing for me to play along when photographs are the end game, so out the door we went, into the beautiful falling snowflakes.

These photos bring me back a few years, to when Frozen first came out.  Cassidy was a tiny little thing, but her love of Elsa burned strong.  I am glad that she still has the desire to become a princess once in a while, given the big girl she has become.  I am happy that there is still some magic in it for her.  ♥

♥ my sweet little 6 year old ♥

Thanksgiving

We enjoyed Thanksgiving at our house this year again. It is the perfect size to stash 12 kids away in, and not really notice them too much.  And bonus, this year we had snow so they spent a good amount of time outside sledding and building forts.  Even though Andy was only about a week post surgery, having it at our house gave him the opportunity to sit on the couch and protect his leg (and avoid ever-painful transitions into and out of the car, not to mention the ride itself), and the option to head upstairs if it got to be too much.  The family pretty much brought all the food to us, with the exception of the cranberry- raspberry salad I made, and the couple pies that Lucy made with Andy's guidance from afar.  Since I really don't like to cook, that in itself is reason enough to have it over here.   In total we had 34 people over!  After we filled our bellies, I love that the musically inclined side of the family sits around the piano and sings Christmas carols and cheers for Lucy and Cass as they play songs for everyone.  It really creates a special feeling here. ♥

a week out

The past week has brought many changes.  Andy's leg is still quite sore, however I can say that I see improvement in his level of activity and function every day.  He is able to bear more and more weight on that leg, and moves it around with much less pain.  I shudder when I think back to those first few days home ... both of us trying to adjust him so he could either simply change position and shift weight to find comfort (what comfort!?), or try to get up. Those first few days seem so very long ago compared to how he looks now, but the picture of the excruciating pain on his face will forever be etched in my memory.  He now has a system down for moving that leg (incorporating the good leg when the bad leg has reached its limit/ pain tolerance).

He spent a good portion of time over that week resting, sleeping when he could (because finding a comfortable position to sleep in is so difficult), and watching Netflix. Oh and icing his knee.  He got a few PT sessions in and added a few stretches and exercises to his regimen. He has been weaning off of medications and this has been difficult because he is feeling more pain, but necessary.

He went back to work today.  I am a little surprised that he was able to get back so soon, because typically, patients with ACL reconstruction take off between 3 and 4 weeks.  But as he says, 'the business won't run itself!'  He gets around on his crutches well, and has a plan to sit between 10 and 15 minutes per hour. The hardest part is going to be having his knee down in standing position for an extended period of time because that is when it swells and throbs.  Here's to hoping those breaks will be enough.  We set up his downstairs office with a comfortable chair and ottoman and he has his ice machine there to use during those times. He has always been a hardworking, 'work through the pain' kind of guy, and while we have been assured he can't do further damage by going back sooner than typical, I just hope he can handle the pain. I have faith he will get through this.

I have not heard from him today, although I check my phone every half hour or so, and I am hoping no news is good news.  Heck, I will even take okay news.  I know today will be mentally and physically challenging and demanding for him so I can only hope that we can be whatever he needs when he gets home.... whether that be attentive or absent so he can get some rest.

Here is what his knee looked like 3 days out:

 And the killer bruise from the tourniquet they used during surgery.

ACL reconstruction

A good year ago Andy tore his ACL and meniscus playing in his basketball league. It was a huge blow- as basketball is one of his passions. After much thought he decided to give it up in an effort to avoid surgery.  If he was able to still participate in less rigorous activities and pretty much do whatever he wanted within reason, he was happy with that at this point in his life.  He spent a good 9 months or so rehabbing and regaining strength. At one point he was back to running 3 miles a few times a week. He didn't have the instability, clicking, locking or severe pain that can be characteristic of such an injury.

But his good luck ran out and he ended up injuring it again about 2 months ago.  This time he started having painful knee lockups and related muscle/structural soreness.  It got to be a consistent thing and surgery ended up being his only option.

This past Friday he went in for surgery.  They weren't sure exactly what they'd find, and went in with the intention of repairing his meniscus arthroscopically, then scoping the ACL to see if the damage there was bad enough to warrant full or partial reconstruction.  When they got to that point in the surgery, they found that his ACL was completely severed.  This was unexpected and they were amazed that he had been walking around with stability and functioning at an amazingly 'normal' level (only pain with certain movements).

Fast forward to Friday afternoon.  Surgery went well, but coming off of anesthesia proved to be challenging.  After counseling with the Nurse Anesthetist we decided that our best option given her input was general anesthesia.  The downside she failed to mention was that once he was no longer under-- the pain would come back at 100%.  I feel like she did us a dis-service by not mentioning this to us-- and wonder why the spinal wasn't given as the primary option because most staff (nursing and PT) were pretty surprised that he hadn't received a spinal.  Nurses spent the majority of the day trying to bring his pain level down.

He was pretty nauseous and his leg was 'on fire'.  He spent the entire day trying to feel any sort of comfort.  Unfortunately that didn't really ever happen. They sent him home that night about 5:45 in what was probably the most excruciating pain he has ever been in.  The short 2 mile drive home was painful for both of us.  I drove slowly to avoid any bumping or jarring but it didn't help much. (I never never realized how many bumps there were in that stretch of the road until that moment- and I drive that stretch of road every day!) In hind-sight, I really think he should have spent the night there.

We somehow managed to get him into the house- bending a knee that had no bend in it to get in and out of the van.  He spent the last two nights on the couch unable to bear any weight or move that leg independently at all. I have been 'mama bear' to him in an effort to protect him from my children who very simply, are just being children.  It has been hard for me to find a balance.  I feel immense pressure to be the one to make things all better. And that pressure is from no one but myself.  It is the hardest thing in the world to see someone you love so deeply, hurt so badly AND THERE IS NOTHING YOU CAN DO ABOUT IT.  I have been hovering over him hoping that somehow I can do something (anything?)... that I can anticipate his needs and magically swoop in to make it easier or to avoid pain.  But it is exhausting.  I kept it up for the majority of Saturday pretty well but come Saturday night, I found myself barking at the kids.  The stress just got the best of me.

This morning Andy awoke feeling a slight bit better.  He has been able to get up on his own with his crutches and hasn't needed me to support that leg as he lowers or raises it.  He is able to bear about 20% of his body weight (his approximation) on it and made his way up the steps to our bedroom this morning.  We have kept a regular regiment to his pain medicine and this has helped to keep things at a more tolerable level.

The kids and I got to sneak away to church and give him some well needed quiet time to rest and recover. It also gave me a well needed spiritual pick-me up. I came back to check on him part way through and to re-ice the Jetstream which so conveniently keeps his swelling down before I took the kids to his parents for a wonderful lunch.

Tomorrow is day 3 and we are able to open the ace bandage to see and clean up the area.  He will also have his first Physical Therapy appointment tomorrow.

I don't think either of us really anticipated the severity of this surgery and recovery.  It is going to be a long road... but he (we) will get there.

the elusive muskie

We used to always tease Steve-O that he was jinxed when we'd go ice fishing.  He could never get a fish to bite.  And then there is Jake.  The man loves to hunt and plucks ducks and geese out of the sky no problem.  But for some reason deer seem to run the opposite direction when he is in the woods.  And then there is Andy.  For the longest time muskies have eluded him.  His friends would be catching them consistently.  They'd take him with and no one would even get a pick-up.  The next day his buddies would go out and catch some again.

It has been very frustrating for him, as this has been going on for years.  But I am happy to announce that he broke the streak and finally harvested a very nice fat forty-inch muskie last week.

celebrating with Cassidy

 We celebrated Cassidy's birthday last Saturday with Grandma and Grandpa R.  She got some pretty great gifts- like an Our Generation doll and some specail accessories to go with her, a new softball bat of her very own, a set of scriptures complete with a carrying case for easy travel to and from church, some earrings and a cool new cardigan sweater.

 And as we promised, when she turned 8 years old, she was able to get her ears pierced!  She was excited and nervous all rolled up into one. It got a little worse when they told her they only had one earring gun so she'd have to have them done one at a time vs. both at once.  But she braved through and did great!

Then Grandma helped her to make her special cookie cake complete with Reese's Peanut Butter Cups for after her baptism.

That evening we sang to both Cassidy and Isaac and indulged in the chocolate cookies and creme cake Isaac and I made a few days before.  It was a delicious way to top off a pretty great day.

baptism

Cassidy and I did a little photoshoot of her in her beautiful baptism gown before her birthday.  She wore the same dress that Lucy wore, and someday their girls can wear that dress as well.