Summer Update

We are in our 15th straight day of triple digit temperatures (104' today)....that's to say that if you don't want heat stroke, you should stay inside between the hours of noon and 7pm. Unless of course you find yourself in a nearby 90' pool. The dogs are even fighting to breathe during these hours.

I am doing my best to recover. I have to say that this is really the hardest thing I have ever had to endure. I feel physically that I am doing very well. The movement around my back is getting better and stronger every day. I am finally able to do the little things that we all take for granted such as putting on socks and shoes, shaving my legs, and even showering without help. My mental state, however, is not as strong. The doctors have said that it is all the spinal meningitis and that my brain swelling has had many consequences including exhaustion, depression, lack of sleep, vomiting, headaches, ect, ect, ect. Yep, I have all of them and seem to be able to cry at the drop of a hat. Really, I just want to feel normal again. Some days are better than others and I am sure as supportive as my family is....they are very sick of all the tears. I still have the IV/pick in my right arm and administer this super duper strong antibiotic every 12 hours. I am very anxious because exactly one week from today...July 2nd...I get this IV taken out. I have been looking forward to that day for 8 weeks now. That means, I can take shower without a bag taped on my arm, I can swim with kids, and I don't have to worry about what I'm doing at 8am and 8pm.

Josh has been working all summer, I feel like I hardly get to see him. Guess I had better get used to it since he leaves for college in August. His dorm room is reserved up at Texas Tech and orientation is next month to visit the campus and choose his classes. I can't believe all the hoops you have to jump through for college registration and financial aide.

Amanda has been a god send. She has been amazing helping to take care of me and the boys at the same time. She has driven me to doctor appts, cleaned house, cooked dinner, and so much more. While Tommy is at work, she is certainly my support system. I will really miss her when she goes off to volleyball camp next month.

The boys are both doing good. Carter is anxious to get back to school....Samuel likes to hang out at home and watch as much TV as I will let him. The heat keeps them inside most of the day, but they have swam a few times, and really enjoy going to softball practice and games with their Dad in the evening. I am very excited to take them to Colorado next month for my 20th High School Reunion. Since we had to cancel our two week family vacation to Florida, this one week trip to Colorado will be welcomed. We are all looking forward to this trip as hopefully, I will be back to normal, and our family will feel back on track.

Long Road to Recovery

Well, I guess I jinxed myself by saying that tomorrow I would be better on my last blog. As you know, I had back surgery and was released from the hospital. I was doing pretty well that first week. I was walking without the walker, bending a little and even walked the boys to the bus stop at the end of our street. I even had a post op with my doctor and he said I was doing well.
On Mother’s Day, I became very sick and threw up all day long. I couldn’t even drink water with tossing it a few minutes later. I went to the minor ER and was given a few bags of fluid and some nausea medicine. I felt better when I got home.

The next day May 11th, I woke up feeling very strange. I began to hear voices in my head and had conversations with people who weren’t there about nothing that made sense. Tommy laid beside me on the bed and just held my hand as I really felt like I was dying. In fact, I was so out of it that when Josh came into my room to say he was headed to work, I told him that I was going to die and that I wouldn’t be here when he got home. I still feel awful for saying that to him…I can’t imagine how scary that was for him. Tommy thought I had taken too much pain medicine, but I hadn’t. In the mean time, I was beginning to develop this god awful headache. I had never experienced anything this painful. So, Tommy took me back to the Minor ER and I laid in a dark room for about 5 hours. They had no idea what was wrong with me. They told Tommy that he could take me back to the hospital in Austin (1.5 hrs away) or take me home. I begged to go back to the hospital via ambulance as I knew my head could not survive the ride by car.

I had somehow developed spinal mengenitis and my brain was swelling. Once I arrived to the hospital they took me right up to a room. I was in so much pain (in my head) that I was crying and yelling. They were doing everything to control my pain but nothing would touch it. I had been given so much medication that they had over dosed me. I was unresponsive for 4 minutes and they were about to reverse all the medication when I finally came around. Finally, my pain was getting more bearable and under control and I could finally be scheduled for surgery the next day. After surgery, I was in ICU for a day or so and was still hearing voices and talking non-sense, but at least I wasn’t in pain. During surgery they also discovered I had a staph infection. So needless to say, I was fighting an uphill battle and am still trying to climb out. It took days for me to start feeling better, but slowly I was coming around.

On May 19th, I had a CT Milo gram. It was a test that showed I had tears in my spinal sac and leaking spinal fluid. At the time we had no idea how the tares got there, but later learned that the harshness of my vomiting since the surgery on the 13th caused the tears to happen. So again I headed to surgery for the 3rd time on May 20th. The tears were repaired and we kept our fingers crossed. I was put on a super strong antibiotic via IV for the next 6 weeks to kill the mengenitis. Bad news is this antibiotic makes me sick and I have thrown up a few times which scares me because I don’t need any more tears.

Finally after being bed ridden for 2 weeks, I was able to get out of bed. This was a huge set back from the first back surgery, however I was released on May 23rd. I still have an IV in my arm and have to give myself this antibiotic every 12 hours until the first of July. My leg muscles completely lost everything. It has taken me two weeks to gain enough strength to be able to rise from a chair without help. I still need help getting dressed as my right leg and foot are still numb. It’s very difficult to walk when you can’t feel your leg or foot, but I am getting there.
My doctor said that in all his 22 years of experience, he has never seen anything this bad. There were two specific times that I knew I was on the edge of death. Thank God that I was strong enough to pull through. I never expected this to happen or I would have put off the original surgery. I know I can’t change what I didn’t know, but I could just kick myself every day. Good thing I couldn’t literally do it.

So for now…two week out of the hospital, I am still at home, using my walker 100% of the time, but I have managed enough strength to get out of a chair on my own. I am struggling with depression on most days, but know in my heart that I will get better eventually. My husband has been amazing and I certainly wouldn’t have wanted to be in his shoes for those long two weeks. I really missed my kids and I am happy to be home with them, although my two older ones really took charge and helped out endlessly with the little ones.

I feel confident in saying that I am finally on the long road to recovery.