Clearing things up . . .

I was told my last post was a bit confusing regarding the ability to email post. What happened is when I sent the email it automatically posted, but the text was all out of alignment and I had to spend a lot of time trying to fix it - so what is the point? You still have to upload the pictures - so what I thought would be handy is not gonna do the job for me - unless I am missing some component.

Later . . .

Email Posts

I don't think I will be using the email posts because they transfer over all out of format. It would have been handy, but the old way works just fine.

Later . . .

Catching Up

Well I have my cast and I wish I could say that all is well, but I am still having some pain associated with the thumb joint. It is really hard not using the hand, but I just can't use it. I am trying my best to not use it and the pain does remind me to stop! I got the stitches (and there were many) out and am now sporting a purple and pink cast. It is scheduled to come off on the 21st.

Duane and Denise came up the weekend before Christmas and we had a great time with them and the grandkids. We basically bought games for the kids and we spent most of our time playing games with them. The weekend went by rapidly as they arrived on Friday night and left on Sunday afternoon. We had our Christmas on Saturday. The kids had never been here for Christmas (we have always gone to their house) and it was really nice to have them here. We don't have any extra room, but we got out the air mattresses and it worked out.

Max and I took a couple of days and drove up to Reno - had some snow on the way, but not too bad. We had a really nice time just messing around and doing some gambling. We came back on Christmas Eve as Max's mom was having surgery on that day. All went well with the surgery
and she got to do the out-patient thing and went home that night. We spent the day at Debby's having snacks and watching movies (The Hangover and Four Christmases). For anyone who is interested, The Hangover was a total HOOT! Max ended up sick to her stomach and did not feel good for a couple of days.

We are having another Christmas on New Year's Day. Kathy is fixing dinner at our house and all the Lawson family will be here. Jesse only gets the kids for Christmas every other year and this was his off year - thus New Years.

I am experiencing some severe boredom due to the fact I can't do anything that I normally do. No sewing, no quilting and nothing around the house really. Not a whole lot you can do with one hand. I am sure Max will be happy when the cast is off and the PT starts.

Later . . .

Testing Email Posting

This is just a test for email posting.

No Infection

I corresponded with my surgeon today and he said that after checking all my test results, I did not have any infections. He said it must have been bruising or a reaction to the soap they used during the surgery. I guess still better safe than sorry, but all the blood taken and the IV was not much fun. He also indicated the bandages were probably fine unless I was having some severe discomfort (discomfort -yes, severe discomfort - no). The main problem I seem to be having is the darn itching! Ahhhhh well - suffer on.

Later . . .

OUCH MY THUMB

My hand is pretty swollen as you can see from the picture. Not going to be easy doing this post with one hand - I have never been a hunt and peck kind of typist. I could use the fingers of my other hand except it hurts like hell to move them. The surgery went well according to the doctor. It was delayed a bit and we did not get back home until around 6:30. I am still in more pain than I would like to be in. I was sent home with strict instructions to take pain medications every 4 hours for the first 48 hours. That schedule ended up having me sleeping or nodding off most of the time, but the pain level was pretty high so that was probably my best treatment.

We settled in to watch some TV last night and while we were watching Law & Order SVU someone in the program jumped out and scared me - you know that feeling when your whole body tenses up? Well I am here to tell you even with the half cast there was room for tension that resulted in unbelievable PAIN. OMG the tears were rolling down my cheeks and another pain pill was popped immediately! I declared at that time there would be no scary movies or surprises.

I progressed into Saturday doing pretty well. Not as much pain and feeling better and moving around more. Did not have much of an appetite and ended up being sick a couple of times. We then noticed the "oh please don't really be there" redness growing out from under my bandage. Started taking my temp and it was slowly rising with the redness spreading. Needless to say that required a trip to the emergency room. They took a bunch of blood and started me on IV antibiotics. Unfortunately, they had to remove the "very well placed bandage" from my surgeon to check the actual incision sites for infection. What an additional pain! So I was sent home with 10 days of antiobiotics and an email to my surgeon. The replacement bandage does not feel like the one they took off and I would not be opposed to going back and having my surgeon replace it again.

Soon this will be over. Max is doing a very good job taking care of me, but she does have to go back to work on Monday.

Later . . .

Sewing Machine

I finally got my sewing machine back from the factory - AGAIN. I had the chance to sew on it today and I am very happy to announce that it is working quite well. The machine sewed like I knew it always should have. I did this design on one of the shirts that I already had decorated for Christmas. It was over 55k stitches and I only had the thread break twice. That it a fricking miracle as previously I could not get 100 stitches without having the thread break or shred.

Kathy finished with the binding and now only has to do the hand work and make a label.

My doctor was very pleased with the way my nose is healing and said I should be healed in 2-3 weeks as opposed to 5-6. I will wait and see what the final result is to make the decision if I want to do anything cosmetically.

So I guess I am ready for the hand surgery tomorrow. I think I will play some video games tonight just to get some "thumb time" in before the surgery. Kathy is going to keep Max company tomorrow during my surgery. I have to be at the hospital at 10:15 for a scheduled 11:15 surgery. The surgery should take about 1 1/2 hours and with recovery time I should be home around 3:30 or 4:00.

Later . . .

I did my part . . .

My part is finished and it really turned out nice. Kathy is going to come over tomorrow and get the binding on. I have a doctor's appointment to check out the nose tomorrow, but it is progressing nicely.

Later . . .

Ready, set, go . . .

Kathy's quilt is on the frame and I am ready to start quilting. The decision has been made for loops and stars.

Later . . .

Bandage Off

It was not near as bad as I was expecting. Kathy came over this AM to play Dr. Ahre and help take the bandages off and proceed to clean the "holes". I was expecting more trauma than actually occurred. The tape pulled somewhat and was not pleasant getting off, but the cleaning of the "holes" with the hydrogen peroxide was practically painless. Getting the Aquaphor to stay in the "holes" is going to prove a challenge. It fills in good, but as my body heats it tends to slip out. I am not sure what the answer to that is. I can put bandages on the "holes", but the Aquaphor still seems to seep out. I have a doctor's appointment on Wednesday so I will be able to ask the doctor about what I am suppose to be doing. I can breathe a bit better, but I am still a bit stuffed up and that is likely to continue for a while cause blowing my nose is not going to be an option.

Looks like we are a go to work on Kathy's quilt tomorrow. I got the other quilt off the frame and hopefully will be able to get Kathy's on the frame tomorrow or Tuesday for sure.

Later . . .

Christmas Decorations Up

We had a somewhat lazy day today. We got the house decorated for Christmas. It looks very cute and I am happy we put up all the decorations. Max is having her office Christmas party here on the 16th and then Duane and family will be coming up the weekend of the 18th. It will be totally fun to have the grandkids here for Christmas. We usually make a trip to their house for an extra Christmas and it will be nice to have everyone here this time.

Kathy, Paul and Michael were over for dinner. I bought a new cookbook with all casseroles and I tried out one on them tonight. It was a chicken, mushroom, water chestnut, cheese, soup and bread kind of thing. It was a make the day before type and it turned out really tasty. We then watched "Night at the Museum - Return to the Smithsonian" which was really cute. Had brownies, hot fudge and ice cream for dessert.

Still not looking forward to the bandage removal, but also will be glad to have it done. I am really tired of not being able to breathe and I really don't see that improving a great deal in the near future. Time will tell.

Later . . .

Quilts

Considering I have not been feeling all that great (nose pain). I am making progress on the quilting front. The quilt that needs to come off (above) is almost done. I only have three squares to quilt and it can come off. Kathy's quilt, the one that needs to go on (below) is ready. Kathy just has to get the backing sewn together and we should have a completed quilt the first of the week. Of course Kathy will have to add the binding and then she will have a completed quilt. Diesel (Kathy's new kitten) will be so happy as the quilt is for him.

Tomorrow I get to take the bandages off my nose and I have mixed feelings about that. I am totally ready to have the bandages off, but pulling the tape off my face is not going to be a pleasant experience. I also do not think the cleaning and putting medication on my "holes" is going to be much of a pleasant experience either. However, be assured that I will blog about it and let everyone know how it went!

Later . . .

Skin Cancer Surgery

Max took the day off work to take me in for my nose surgery. She was a very brave soldier (as was I) and tried to be as supportive as possible (they let her be in the room for the cancer removal), but the ordeal was a bit much - she almost passed out and came close to throwing up). She was very good when it was over and we were waiting for the results - she turned into a surprisingly good lair. When I asked her if I had BIG holes in my nose she convincing told me they were not so big and the problem she had during the surgery was with the smell of the burning skin when the doctor was cauterizing the blood vessels. Truthfully, that smell is horrid, but it was the size of the pieces of "meat" he removed from my nose that completely grossed her out. She was sure that I would have a through and through hole in the side of my nose. It was hard for me to judge by feel how much he was taking out, but when I saw the holes - I was genuinely shocked. It took all I had not to burst into tears on the spot. I hated the procedure of shooting my nose full of Novocaine - that is the worst cause ALL the shots HURT!

So my doctor, AKA McDreamy/Steamy Hottie Hottington (OMG he is a young, gorgeously sexy , latte skinned, curly headed stud with melted dark chocolate pools for eyes) explained my options regarding my recovery and the holes. His recommendation is to treat the wounds for the next 5 weeks with hopes they will fill in naturally (He says there has been great success with this method). The other option was to graft tips of my cheek skin into the holes leaving the skin attached and then separating the skin once it had grafted. The option we chose was to treat the wounds (clean daily with hydrogen peroxide and fill with Aquaphor) and see what they look like in 5 weeks. If I am not happy with the results, I can choose to have the cheek skin grafts at that time. I am not very happy with the whole matter, but as Max says, "You are cancer free and that feels good". Of course, I am grateful to be cancer free and also that we have good insurance. I am a swollen mess and my nose HURTS, but I know it will pass and all will be good in a couple of days.

Next is the thumb surgery one week from today and I know that is going to be painful. At least I am getting things taken care of and it will all be for the better when it is over. I will be in a splint for 10 days and then in a cast for weeks (not sure how many). Due to having the thumb surgery next week, my priority this next week is to get Kathy's quilt on my frame and finished before I have my thumb surgery.

I plan to post a picture of Kathy's quilt and my Christmas quilt in the next few days and then will post again when I have completed the quilting. Since this was Kathy's first quilt, I know she is anxious to have it finished (and I don't blame her for that - I would feel the same way) . Unfortunately, the stupid swine flu set me back on my progress completing the "cheater" quilt I have on my frame now, but I should be able to finish it in the next few days and move on to Kathy's.

I am tired and in pain. Time for ice on the face/nose and perhaps another pain pill. I had a nice nap this afternoon and might do the same while Max watches football.

Later . . .