Nelson's Wedding

My brother Nelson got married to Krissy in Oceanside, California a couple weeks ago. It was a beautiful wedding next to the ocean, and I'm very excited to have Krissy be a part of the family. It was also great to see some of my extended family there as we are all spread out over the greater united states.

while driving through california eric saw a sign for 20 avocados for $5!!! unfortunately, the day we were leaving the avocado stand was not there, so we didn't get to bring any back with us.

on the recovery side of things: I'm still using a cane but walking with only a minor limp now. i started physical therapy (Yay!) and am getting stronger by the day. I also started lap swimming and riding a stationary bike- both activities feel so liberating and good for me. i'm doing extremely modified yoga for myself- just trying to stretch the ole body back out. i still can't touch my toes on the right side and have considerable pain attempting a straight leg raise. My physical therapist believes that i have now given myself an over-use injury in my right hip flexor. b/c all the other muscles in my hip are so weakened from the surgery, the hip flexor has been doing overtime to help me move. now it's pissed. so i have some inflammation there along with quite a bit of pain. its' frustrating though b/c what hip muscle strengthing exercises don't involve the hip flexor? so how to strengthen the hip without affecting the hip flexor?? i'm realizing patience will be my biggest step toward total healing.

here are some of eric's photos of the weekend in california:




Baby Esther- she never did smile for the camera....


trying to capture the moment with a wave in the background.



Eric and I- our 4th year anniversary!



Nelson and Krissy



The Family



My nephew Elliot



Cousins



Mom and I after the rehearsal



Eric and baby Esther


My sister Miranda and brother in law Darin with a squirmy baby!



My dashing nephew Adrian


This one is my favorite!


cousins!



My Uncle Larry helping Mom out with the moves

Penguin Game!

Any time I have needed just a little stimulation for a brief(or long!) period of boredom, the penguin game has come to my rescue. I was never allowed to play nintendo growing up, and i thought that now, at the ripe age of 26, it would be a good time to learn. we've had trouble trying to round up a genuine old super mario nintendo game and system however. i tried nintendo 64 and couldn't figure out which way was forward or how to use the wand/paddle thingie and my hope was dwindling for learning the nintendo art. eric saved the day with introducing the penguin game to me. it's exactly like mario brothers except it was reverse programmed with linux (however you spell it) and a penguin is the star, not a little man named mario. except for that everything, absolutely everything is exactly the same. eric got it offline somewhere so i play iton the lap top with the arrow keys and have passed eric in the number of levels i have dominated (i'm pretty proud of that) my mom was afraid i was getting addicted, but i'm pretty sure i'll be fine without little penguin guy when i can actually walk.




one more level before bedtime please!!



sweet! i'm about to get flower power! (remember, the power to shoot the little bad guys?)



i had my first day back at work last saturday. it was long, but mostly pain free and i was very excited and pleased at how well it actually went. i'm working in our 23 hour short stay unit until september when i will hopefully be running around sufficiently to work in the main ER. still on 2 crutches awaiting july 22 when i have my post-op xray to show my bone completely healed. then i'll start physical therapy. yeah!!

Signs of Recovery

This is Eric again, and I wanted to put up a quick post to say the Polly is recovering well and has been up and about and also able to sit for longer spans of time (going out for dinner, games of Settlers of Catan, etc). Thanks for the continued support!

Settlers!

You know Polly's feeling better when she's in the kitchen!

Being Post Op in Salt Lake

I'm improving. the nights are still very long and i can't sleep through them because of positioning and comfort. I've gotten out a bit more though- my mom and i went up to the mountains last week and she pushed me around the one mile long wheel chair accessible hike around a lake. it was so incredibly nice to breathe the fresh mountain air and see the snow covered mountains again. that same day i also made my first foray back into grocery shopping... on the electric grocery shopping cart! that was the highlight of my recovery thus far. i got some strange looks in the grocery store though.

we've had a few friends over here and there and have been playing many games of Settlers of Catan. It passes the evenings quite quickly, my mom is quickly becoming a pro. ha. we've also introduced my mom to facebook, at which she is not quickly becoming a pro. ha.


i hosted our sporatic and random clothing exchange last week as well. a bunch of friends and i clean out our closets and pool the clothes so we can all pick and choose over which of each other's clothes we like. it's a great, free way to get 'new' clothes.

my sister also visited with her 3 toddlers. that made the week go by even more quickly- a visit to the park (pictured), the pool for a swim lesson, the zoo (in a wheelchair) all made the days fly by.

the last pic was taken of me in the hospital. i only stayed 2 nights. i kinda missed that hospital bed- it was so comfortable and convenient! (i think only someone truly sick or injured could say that....)


so really, the past 3 weeks have gone by relatively quickly. there are hours that last days and days that last years, but somehow the time is passing by much faster than i anticipated. eric gets to come home for lunches most days so it's a nice break in the day. and my mom and i have tried to do something each afternoon which helps the day along as well. i got myself into bed for the first time yesterday...yay!

we're planning on another mountain adventure this week, to get into cooler temps and fresh air.







My wonderful mother who came out all the way from arkansas to take care of me





The clothing exchange. My friends and I clean out our closets and bring the goods together to pick and choose to suppliment our own closets.


There have been many games so Settlers of Catan. I have lost many of them (thus the sad face)

Even Cowgirls get the Blues

Well, it's about time i post. but i don't have any fun pictures to put up. and i really don't even have any fun stories to tell. i mean, how interesting is: I made it down the stairs to the basement today. or I get my stitches out this Wednesday.

My sister and 3 toddlers just left this morning. leaving us a very quiet, lonelier, and cleaner house. I miss them already though because they made the week go by very quickly. I don't have any measure against which i could compare my healing/progression, but i think i'm doing well. I have been off narcotics for a week now. i was never taking very much, but what i did take affected me quite strongly and negatively (fuzzy headed and dizzy all the time). i'm getting around much better and am more comfortable in general. I still can't sit in the same position for too long, and standing on my left leg doens't last very long either before i get tired.

i was actually very positive about it all until about 30 minutes ago when i committed an error. i think. i started browsing blogs and found a few friends blogs i didn't know existed and checked up on a few friends that i regularly follow and discovered that everyone, absolutely EVERYONE on this planet is having a fantastic, fun and adventure filled, ACTIVE, and fabulous summer. except me. because i can't even walk. now i'm having a full fledged pity party. really, i was proud of myself because yesterday i crutched the farthest i have yet to crutch. about 100 yards. to the bathroom at the park. and i thought that was so good and i was doing so well. and maybe i am. maybe i'm healing by leaps and bounds. but nothing speeds up the 6 weeks it takes until i can walk on my leg again. or the 20 session of physical therapy i have to have afterwards to get my leg actually working again. nothing speeds up the 3 months i have to wait to ride a bike. nothing speeds up the 6 months i have to wait for full recovery and a climbing harness.

This is just a vent post. i'm sure i'll be feeling happier and more positive in a few moments and life won't seem so.... sendentary.

all you who can bend, twist, cross your legs, pick something up off the floor when you drop it, run, climb, bike, hike, MOVE or WALK..... please be grateful. and think of me.

okay a positive- my mom is still here. and we're going to get italian hot chocolate this afternoon at a cafe b/c i'm feeling up to it for the first time. as long as we bring along a pillow for me to sit on.

Recovery

This is Eric, and I wanted to put up a quick post that Polly is recovering well (has good parts of the day and less comfortable parts of the day). She was able to stand and make a latte this morning and get into and out of a chair for breakfast. Thanks to everyone for their thoughts and prayers, care packages, flowers, and support visits. It really is amazing the difference all that makes for Polly. Feel free to come visit or to call and say hi.

Thanks again!


All tucked in, but smiling!

City of Rocks

this past weekend eric and i went to a national reserve area in southern idaho called City of Rocks. Greg and Liz, our friends from Salt Lake went with us. My sister Miranda and Darin and the 3 kiddos came down from Boise and met us fora night of camping. It was a great weekend. I got to do some great climbing, for which i am thankful since this will be my last road trip for climbing before the surgery.



chillin' on top



happy birthday cake that miranda made for me!



the family in a covered wagon at the visitor's center



bloody fingers





setting that nut!




More Photos at Eric's Photostream

My Birthday Present

Eric bought me my birthday present just a touch early. i have been using a sunbeam we received when we were married for the past 3 1/2 years, and while it mostly worked it also mostly didn't work. i was constantly frustrated with how weak the motor and beaters were and had been longing for a stronger, smoother, faster, better mixer for quite some time. i got it! i finally got the kitchenaid artisan series mixer for my birthday! i found it used from our local news station's web site and i am so happy i've got it!!! Thanks E!

Operation Walk 2009, El Salvador

I just returned from El Salvador last week where i participated in a medical charity called Operation Walk. We take a full team of anesthesiologists, surgeons, nurses, scrub techs, and physical therapists down and replace worn out hip and knee joints. This was my second time to go with Op Walk and I was very excited about the trip. We replaced 59 joints in 42 patients (so several were receiving bilateral joints) in 3 and 1/2 days. We were busy! But the local staff was very helpful and I feel were able to learn how to care for our type of patients. There is no option for having a total joint replacement in Sonsonate, El Salvador so we were providing a service for these people that would otherwise never happen. We basically took over the hospital there. The nursing staff I was working with had never had patients with these particular surgeries since the operation isn't even available, so it was great to work with them and teach them how to care for the patients. I found that the vast majority of the patients had an incredible pain tolerance. They still hurt, and for good reason b/c that surgery isn't a small one. However, they seemed to walk faster, farther, and better than most patients i have experienced in the united states. They were so very grateful and happy to have had the surgery done. I came back very refreshed about nursing. After all, this is why I wanted to be a nurse: to help others with less opportunity-specifically in third world countries. it was also a great opporunity for me to practice my spanish. it re-awoke my love for the spanish language all over again. We are hoping Operation Walk will become a yearly endeavor and i look forward to our next destination.





The Ladies gathered outside the patient ward to get some fresh-er air


The coffee plantation with our one and only REAL coffee and latte experience during the week.


A sweet woman who was a patient 2 years ago with our first Op Walk. She returned and made us the most delicious 'pupusas'- the regional food which is basically a corn tortilla stuffed with beans and cheese and fried fried fried. She made us dozens and returned just to say thank you and show off how well she was walking. It was very encouraging.



Ever and I. Ever was a jehovah's witness and very worried he might receive a blood transfusion during the operation. He waved me down multiple times to make sure everyone in the group knew he didn't want the transfusion. He was a very nice patient and had his other hip replaced by us 2 years ago.

Two women with replaced knees from 2 years ago returning to show off their gaits and scars.


These sweet men wandered out into the courtyard just outside the men's ward to get some air. It was really hot-around 90 degrees- with minimal ventilation, no AC, and high humidity. phew! i did a lot of sweating that week.


Putting on the anti-clot stocking. that was hot work! and yes, fanny packs are all the rage now-a-days.


a patient with bilateral hip replacements walking with Physical Therapy.


Flowers in the courtyard outside the patient ward.


Patients awaiting to be screened on the first day. we had to turn many away.

Surgery

So I found out this past february that i have a problem in my right hip. i've had pain in my hips for several years now, associated with activities like running, yoga, horse back riding, climbing, skiing- pretty much everything i do. i finally went to a sports medicine doc after one particularly painful run in january and a few visits and an MRI later we discover that i have torn the cartilage in my right hip. the reason why i torn the cartilage is that my right hips is 3 degrees off in alignment. that mal-alignment is causing the front of my femur to hit against the rim of my acetabulum (hip socket) and causes pain and damage to the soft tissue (cartilage). the fancy name for this is Femoral-Acetabular Impingment (FAI). FAI only occurs in active individuals, and i was told i wouldn't even know i had this problem if i wasn't as active as i am. where it comes from is still under research- possibly it is congenital, possibly it develops in young children who spend any amount of time with deep flexion and internal rotation of their hips (think hocky goalie stance or, in my case, long hours horse back riding). all of this results in needing a fix to that damaged cartilage. i would have said no thanks i'll be just fine except that with the initial damage done and continuing to worsen basically every day and every activity, i will eventually progress through all of the soft tissue protecting my hip socket and start to wear bone on bone (osteoarthritis). at this point the pain is usually so bad the only option is a total hip replacement. I thought that was fine too b/c many older people have these. but i was told that my progression would actaully happen so quickly i would have the total hip replacement by the time i am 40. now that's a different story. i still want to be climbing and skiing and hiking and hopefully running when i am 40- not recovering with artificial hips! so surgery has become my reality. on june 8 i will have an open dislocation and debridement of my right hip. basically they cut a 6-8 inch incision on my hip, physically dislocate the hip joint, suture/sew the torn cartilage back in place, shave down the rim of my acetabulum, and shave down part of the femur. a pretty gnarly surgery. i'll be staying in the hopsital 1-3 days to recover. crutches for 6 weeks. cane until i stop limping and full recovery expected in 3-6 months. PER HIP. i have the exact same symptoms/pain/problems with the left hip as well but we have not imaged that side yet so we can't say what's going on. but 99% sure that i have the same problem and possibly worse on the left side. sooo, i'm looking at taking a full 12 months off from my almost daily life activites. sad. i've spent a lot of time processing this and preparing my mind for the change in lifestyle. i've never been so active before in my life as when we moved to utah. i love, absolutely love, climbing and the acitivity and exercise it brings me. but i am looking at this surgery as taking 1 year off now to save 40 years later on. this surgery will hopefully stave off having a total hip replacement, perhaps permanently. i may be able to ride a bike and maybe do some easier climbing and light hiking somewhere in that 3-6 month range. i'm hoping to have the second hip operated on in january. i've tried a few things to possibly avoid the surgery- namely some body work called Structural Integration or "rolfing". it is similar to deep tissue massage except that it focuses soley on the fascia(the connective tissue encasing every muscle) in hopes that i might be able to correct the 3 degrees and losen the hip socket to stop grinding away my cartilage. i'm half way through this rolfing process and i've still committed to having the surgery done. unfortuantely cartilage will never heal itself and that torn cartilage needs to be tied down so it will stop causing damage within the hip socket. so i recommend structural integration to anyone and everyone- we could all use some re-aligning and releasing within our bodies and i am seeing many positive changes from the rolfing. but i don't believe it can change the damaging process going on in my hips.

my mom is coming out for the month of june to help out as i am taking a full 5 weeks off of work to recover. it'd be hard to adequately work in the ER on crutches so i'm hoping to be off of them in the 5 weeks and return to our 23 hour short stay unit with a cane and then back to the full ER as soon as i can limp without assistance. the summer has drastically changed in light of my recovery. Eric and i changed our vacation plans and went to Red Rocks last week as a grand finale. i've got one more climbing trip planned to a nearby area in southern idaho and then i won't be climbing for a few months. lots of things will change, but hopefully it will be for the better. hopefully my hips won't hurt anymore. hopefully i'll be able to high step while rock climbing. hopefully i will run again (although the surgeon wasn't very positive about that. i guess running is just a pretty rough activity on our bodies). hopefully my hips won't hurt while ski touring. i'm hoping a lot of good will come of this- both short term and long term.

this is a fairly new diagnosis in the medical world. as in within the last 10 years. there aren't a lot of doctors familiar with this pathology or where it comes from. the surgery itself is still being pioneered. in fact, most insurances won't pay for the surgery at all. so i guess i am being a bit of a guinea pig with this, however, my particular surgeon has been studying on this very thing (FAI) for the full 10 years and i believe he can do a perfect job. i'm thankful i even have the option for the surgery.

so i will let all know how the surgery goes, recovery, physical therapy and the like. and if you have any hip pain at all you should get it checked out!

Spring Holiday

Eric and I spent a week climbing in Red Rock Canyon, Nevada. Nelson joined us for a day of multipitch climbing. The weather looked so great on the forecast- temps in the 60s or low 70s but i missed the wind forecast. it was WINDY! and the wind dropped the temps about 15 degrees. i was cold and annoyed at the wind 90% of the time. but i still had a good trip climbing and hanging out with eric. one night the wind was probably gusting around 50 mph b/c it was slamming the side of the tent into our faces and we had a bent tent pole the next morning. we're lucky we didnt' blow away. but i guess the proximity to the desert with the cool nights and warm days creates a perfect environment for wind. it's a beautiful place with thousands of climbs. we'll be back!




weather moving in


summit pic


climbing to the anchor


where should we climb next? AND avoiding the wind inside the tent!



My first Dim Sum experience. I'd like to rate this as 5.12 Dim Sum (on a climbing scale) Dim Sum is where they bring the chinese food by your table on little carts and you pic what you want. mostly it is composed of dumplings and the like, but the waiters were yelling about what they had and what you should choose in complete chinese and i had absolutely no clue what i was eating. i ate about 10% of it- i had a strong aversion to the texture of most. eric ate more.



nice weather setting in. of course it was probably extremely windy at the taking of this picture, but you can't see that.


first pitch of Dark Shadows



Last pitch of Birdland



Nelson, Eric and I on summit of Cat and the Hat




Eric and I on summit of Cat and the Hat



Nelson and I on summit of Cat and the Hat



Belaying on Cat and the Hat