Update

Well as you know it has been a few weeks since my last post. My ankle is healing well. I returned to the doctor on Christmas Eve and had my surgery splint removed and my staples removed. I had 7 staples in my knee and 13 in my ankle. I was placed into a new short leg cast for 2 more weeks. So I go back on January 7th to have my short leg cast removed and be placed into my boot. At that point the hope is that I can start doing some partial weight bearing. With the plan being to be full weight bearing in a boot by January 26th at the latest. With the earliest I will be out of a boot and able to walk normally being the middle of February. Meaning no driving for several more weeks...ahhhhhhhhhhhh!Here is a picture of my ankle when I got a brief look at it on 12/23.



This surgery has been stressful in many ways. I am not a person who likes to sit and do nothing...and unfortunately I have had to do a lot of that! I am very independent and I have lost a lot of my independence, that's for sure. And well the financial aspect of it all....you should check out my husband Eric's blog he did a great job posting a testimonial about that aspect of it all. There will be new stresses arise when school starts. I will have to depend on people 4 days a week to get me to and from class and clinicals. I am not worried about class because Vanessa said she would take me and she like me is always early! It's clinicals I am a little nervous about because if we are late it is a really big deal, and well being on someone else's time that puts being late a little out of my control and unfortunately Vanessa and I are in different clinicals so I can't depend on her!!

Well enough about my pity party...let's talk about the holidays! Eric and I had a good but busy Christmas holiday. We spent Christmas Eve in Anderson with my step mom's family after Eric got home form work and then headed to my parents house in Parker to have Christmas with my parents, my brother and my nephew. That was a lot of fun. My nephew is 2 and was really into ripping open presents, but he didn't so much care about what was in the presents! Here are a few pictures from mom and dads on Christmas eve.






Eric and I stayed at his parents house on Christmas Eve. We then had Christmas with his parents, siblings and his Grandmother on Christmas morning. After opening gifts and eating breakfast we headed to Lynn to pick up my cousin then went to Centerville for Christmas with my mom's side of the family. We enjoyed hanging out and having lunch with them. We then headed back to Eric's mom and dad's house to have dinner with his parents, siblings, grandmother, grandparents and his uncle. We ended up staying at his mom and dad's house until Friday. We really enjoyed spending time with family over the holidays.

We went to a wedding on Saturday where Eric was excited to hang out with some buddies from high school. We had a good time and it was good to see old friends.

Well it appears as if we are now back into the normal routine. Eric is back to work and I am back to sitting in the recliner or on the couch not doing a whole lot! I hope everyone had a great holiday!

Trying to relax

Well it's been a few days since my last blog. We went to Wabash this Saturday and came home Sunday for Christmas with Eric's mom's family. We had a really good time. I was still in a lot of pain over the weekend but his family was wonderful. I spent most of the weekend in the recliner as usual! We really enjoyed getting to spend time with Eric's grandparents, his parents, his siblings and his cousins from Ohio. It was nice for Eric to get a little bit of a break from taking care of me, as there were several people who took care of me over the weekend. We had several great meals over the weekend while we were there! Eric's family is blessed with wonderful cooks, so I of course was blessed with wonderful food! After dinner Saturday evening we enjoyed opening gifts from his grandparents and his uncle. We too enjoyed watching them all open our gifts! It was a great time had by all. It was then time to head to bed. Eric's grandparents had gotten us a hotel for the night due to limited space in their home. They offered for me to stay in their recliner (since they knew it had been my bed for the last several days) and let Evan go to the hotel with Eric Saturday night. Eric and I talked about it and I really wanted to spend some time with Eric so I attempted to sleep in a bed. Well that didn't work out to well, neither one of us slept to well! LOL!! So long story short...I think I will be sleeping in the recliner for a while to come! Sorry honey!

We got home Sunday and relaxed. The boys helped me clean up the house before going to bed Sunday night.

Monday morning Vanessa picked me up for my last day of class! We had our med/surg final at 9 am. That went very well. I got an 84 out of 100. So I ended my first semester of nursing school with 4 A's and 2 B's. So not too bad at all! I am very glad that it is over for four weeks, however I am not sure what to do with myself now! After our final she helped me get my tuition paid and get my books for next semester. We then headed to IHOP with Alaina and Deidre for one last girls lunch of the semester. That was a lot of fun. We then headed to Central Indiana Orthopedics to see the doctor. We noticed on Saturday night that my ankle incision had bled through my plaster cast and through 3 layers of ace wrap. I had also rubbed the back of my knee raw and it was chaffed and bleeding, and I had developed a rash all over my leg. I was a bit concerned so we went to get it checked out. The doctor said that the bleeding was normal so not to worry. He then told me take benadryl and put hydrocortisone cream on my rash. And they cut the back of my cast down 2 to 3 inches to help decrease the rubbing! Vanessa thanks for running me around on Monday I really appreciated it! So that was my day on Monday. Oh, and then Monday night Debi Howell from church brought Puerta Vallarta for dinner. It was oh so good and we are very thankful for the thoughtfulness of our church to provide meals for us. Thanks Debi!!

Today I was a little bummed that I would be home by myself all day because Eric had to work and Evan had finals all day. But don't worry, Nikki came and picked me up at 11 today. We went to Target and then grabbed some KFC for lunch before heading back to her house for a few hours. It was so nice to get out of my house and hang out with my best friend for the day. I have really been lacking in that time lately! She took me home a little after 4. On our way home we made a few stops at the bank, Kohls (she ran in and got a gift for my mom! Yay!), Sears, Walgreens and then the gas station before heading to my house! Did I mention we had 6 kids with us on the way home?!? LOL! Don't worry Nikki ran in all the places on the way home and I held down the van with 6 kiddos :) Then tonight Joe and Debbie Frazier brought us dinner from their growth group. Thanks for the meal guys we really appreciated it and it was very good :)

I really just want to thank everyone that has been helping out this last week I really appreciate it a lot! My family, my friends, people from church for bringing us meals and for the prayers! I really truly am blessed to have you all in my life! I would be lost without you all! God Bless and I love you guys!