This year has been a year of physical maladies for me. Beginning in July I started having some pretty bad hip pain. After a couple weeks suffering I went to the doctor. Based on the symptoms he believed I had sprained the hip and advised to not do any activity that further hurt it and come back if it didn't get better. Stubborn outfit that I am, I waited until October to return. At this time he prescribed an anti-inflammatory and muscle relaxer and suggested trying these out along with full rest. He also had x-rays taken which didn't show anything apparently wrong. Two more weeks, no improvement, so it was time to see the orthopedist. He thought it might be tendinitis and thought it advisable to have an MRI done. Unfortunately the insurance company decided that physical therapy should first be tried. Some humor at the time was that I was getting therapy for some unknown condition. Sigh. So I went to therapy and while I liked my therapist a lot didn't have any improvement. I was humbled at therapy however, seeing the patients recovering from stroke or other major conditions. I was definitely more mobile than they! Back to the orthopedist and, FINALLY the MRI was approved. What an adventure. Despite the headphones it was quite loud. And I can see why people who are claustrophobic don't like them. I found it somewhat fascinating during my 45 minutes in the thing. Tom pulled double duty that day, not only picking Abby up at school, but when I realized how late they were running, picking Maggie and another girl up from track and taking them home. At about 6pm that evening I received a call from my orthopedist -- certainly hadn't expected to hear that quickly. Apparently, he hadn't yet seen the films but was called by the radiologist (a couple alarm bells went off at this time!). The MRI showed a small tear in the labram, arthritis on both hips, and (the scary part) a great accumulation of fluid on the joint. No wonder I was in such pain! In any event, the great fear was infection, so I was to go for blood work the next morning and he scheduled me for evaluative surgery the following Tuesday (by now we were in January -- just a couple weeks ago). I made the mistake of googling "joint infection". Don't do that. So Friday I went for the blood work and enjoyed a movie and lunch with 2 friends as a great distraction. I attempted to not worry over the weekend. Tom joined me for the pre-op appointment Monday morning where the doctor first said that the preliminary blood work was negative for infection (first good sign!) and showed us the films. I quickly figured out that the big white blotch was the liquid. I went then to the hospital for all the pre-registration stuff and was done for the day. Quite thankful for friends to help with transporting the girls to/from school Tuesday! Tom and I headed to the hospital Tuesday morning. I spoke with the doctor before the procedure and the rest of the blood work was negative for infection, definitely a GREAT sign. He ended up suctioning out 15ccs of liquid and injecting some steroid to try to relieve the pain. We went home and all was better, if not entirely well. I returned the following Monday to learn that the culture of the fluid was negative, but as I'm still having pain and limited range of motion, I've been sent to a "hip specialist" for evaluation for arthroscopic procedure to fix/clean out the tear. I go there on the 14th of February.
So, that's the hip story. Last Friday (a week and a half later) I discovered a broken glass in the dishwasher and threw it away. Later that evening I went to push down the trash and, of course, cut myself on the inside of my left wrist. Cleaned it and put pressure on it with a paper towel, then had Maggie help me wrap it tightly with an ace bandage. I went about my evening activities for another hour and went to check on it -- still seeping blood and looking nasty. At this point it's about 9pm and I'm thinking to myself -- I'm pretty sure this will need stitches given it's depth and location, but should I go NOW or wait until the morning? Knowing that Saturdays are always busy for the girls, Tom and I headed to the hospital. When we checked in, the nurse asked "has any information changed since last week?" You know you've been at the hospital too often when they ask that question! The took x-rays to make sure there wasn't any glass pieces, cleaned it with betadine, and "glued" it together. It was quite sore Saturday, slightly sore Sunday and continues to improve. Of course it's on my left hand and I am quite left-dominant. Sigh.
Since the name of the page is "(Almost) All about Beth" and I usually talk about the girls, I figured it was time to update you on me! Hope to have more news soon. In the meanwhile, signing off as the early-on-set-arthritic-person you know!
Tuesday, January 31, 2012
Monday, January 2, 2012
Update for the New Year
2011 was quite the busy year (as usual) and the busy-ness continues. Abby is taking the babysitting certification class today. She was sick yesterday, so we're thankful all is well today as she was really looking forward to the class and wanting to earn some money! Maggie spent a good bit of last week (Tuesday-Friday from 9-5) at driver's ed class. Several of her friends were in the same class, so although she found it "boring" she had people to be bored with. Additionally, it was held at the JCC so she got to see some of her summer camp friends and go out for lunch with them.
Mom and dad came to visit the week before Christmas. They arrived Friday afternoon, just in time to enjoy Abby's play (a Cinderella Christmas). She was one of the narrators. It was with the Lakefront Youth Theater Experience (LYTE) here in New Orleans and where she did Peter Pan this summer. A great program -- staff are volunteers, and the overall aim is to put on a professional show but allow the kids to learn and have fun along the way. I've been very impressed with the program and thrilled that she wanted to do this play. Practices were every day after school from 3:30-6:30 for 2 weeks as well as all day on the one Saturday. She managed to keep her head above water AND prepare for both her violin recital and exams. And I managed with the extra driving all over the city! Mom, Maggie and I enjoyed the Friday evening show. Saturday afternoon mom and I met Abby's friend Ashley and her mom Lisa for the matinee. Tom and my dad went Saturday night. And on Sunday (rushing over after the violin recital!) mom, aunt Bonnie and I attended, followed by a short visit to the cast party (after 4 shows AND a violin recital AND a visit from grandparents we were all tired. Her violin recital also went very well. She played a quite difficult solo piece and played lead violin in an ensemble group which she seems to really enjoy (3 violins plus the teacher and a cello). After that Abby was ready to relax.
Mom and Abby went to see The Muppet Movie Monday. Abby and mom both hadn't seen it and, apparently, they laughed the whole way through. Maggie and I had seen it at Thanksgiving and I really liked it as well. Meanwhile Maggie was still having exams. She finished Tuesday at 12:15 and went to lunch with friends. Then she, mom, Abby and I headed shopping. We went to a different mall than normal to check out their selections. Somewhat successful trip for all of us. On Wednesday we all headed to see Sherlock Holmes. Definitely a fun movie (at least I thought so!). Mom and dad had to leave Thursday to celebrate Christmas with my sister.
On Friday Maggie joined some friends for an ugly sweater party. I think her's is quite a winner, no?
We chose to do all the Santa and presents on Christmas Eve this year. On Friday the 23rd our microwave stopped heating food -- the light worked, the fan worked, the turntable worked and even the timer worked, but nothing got heated. Since the girls weren't up Tom headed out on the 24th to try to find a new one (it's built in and the space for it is quite small -- below "standard" -- which makes finding a replacement difficult). 4 stores as well as my looking on line and texting ideas to him and no joy. By 11 he was home, the girls were up, and the unwrapping commenced. Nice to be together! We enjoyed our holiday dinner spread out at the dining room table and waddled off to bed. Christmas day we enjoyed celebrating with our church families and mostly relaxed. Maggie joined a friend and his family at Celebration in the Oaks that evening. The 26th Tom and I went to another appliance store and talked with a pretty knowledgeable gentleman. Tom'd scheduled a repairman for Tuesday so we decided to wait for that (4 days without a microwave is an eternity, no?). They showed up promptly on Tuesday and checked it out, ultimately agreeing with Tom's diagnosis of the problem -- broken magnetron -- had the replacement part and fixed it. Life is joyful again!
Wednesday evening we all enjoyed Tom's Christmas present -- the girls and I took him to Muriel's Jackson Square. YUM. Abby again ate her entire steak, the rest of us enjoyed fish and, of course, dessert.
New Year's Eve was pretty typical for us. Tom and I went to see The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo in the afternoon. The girls each had friends over and we ordered in pizza. I took down all the Christmas decorations and enjoyed my 2 glasses of champagne (yep, I'm a lightweight!). My light was off by 12:05am. But I did make it up and saw Dick Clark on the TV. New Year's day Abby and her friend and I met her friend's parents and sister at church. We'd planned to go have lunch together. Unfortunately Abby fell ill so she and I headed home. The up side for me was that I got to see the entire Saints game. And make my baby some chicken soup. Maggie went to the mall in the afternoon with friends and all was well in our house.
That seems to catch us up! Hope your year is blessed in ways you cannot even imagine.
Mom and dad came to visit the week before Christmas. They arrived Friday afternoon, just in time to enjoy Abby's play (a Cinderella Christmas). She was one of the narrators. It was with the Lakefront Youth Theater Experience (LYTE) here in New Orleans and where she did Peter Pan this summer. A great program -- staff are volunteers, and the overall aim is to put on a professional show but allow the kids to learn and have fun along the way. I've been very impressed with the program and thrilled that she wanted to do this play. Practices were every day after school from 3:30-6:30 for 2 weeks as well as all day on the one Saturday. She managed to keep her head above water AND prepare for both her violin recital and exams. And I managed with the extra driving all over the city! Mom, Maggie and I enjoyed the Friday evening show. Saturday afternoon mom and I met Abby's friend Ashley and her mom Lisa for the matinee. Tom and my dad went Saturday night. And on Sunday (rushing over after the violin recital!) mom, aunt Bonnie and I attended, followed by a short visit to the cast party (after 4 shows AND a violin recital AND a visit from grandparents we were all tired. Her violin recital also went very well. She played a quite difficult solo piece and played lead violin in an ensemble group which she seems to really enjoy (3 violins plus the teacher and a cello). After that Abby was ready to relax.
Mom and Abby went to see The Muppet Movie Monday. Abby and mom both hadn't seen it and, apparently, they laughed the whole way through. Maggie and I had seen it at Thanksgiving and I really liked it as well. Meanwhile Maggie was still having exams. She finished Tuesday at 12:15 and went to lunch with friends. Then she, mom, Abby and I headed shopping. We went to a different mall than normal to check out their selections. Somewhat successful trip for all of us. On Wednesday we all headed to see Sherlock Holmes. Definitely a fun movie (at least I thought so!). Mom and dad had to leave Thursday to celebrate Christmas with my sister.
On Friday Maggie joined some friends for an ugly sweater party. I think her's is quite a winner, no?
We chose to do all the Santa and presents on Christmas Eve this year. On Friday the 23rd our microwave stopped heating food -- the light worked, the fan worked, the turntable worked and even the timer worked, but nothing got heated. Since the girls weren't up Tom headed out on the 24th to try to find a new one (it's built in and the space for it is quite small -- below "standard" -- which makes finding a replacement difficult). 4 stores as well as my looking on line and texting ideas to him and no joy. By 11 he was home, the girls were up, and the unwrapping commenced. Nice to be together! We enjoyed our holiday dinner spread out at the dining room table and waddled off to bed. Christmas day we enjoyed celebrating with our church families and mostly relaxed. Maggie joined a friend and his family at Celebration in the Oaks that evening. The 26th Tom and I went to another appliance store and talked with a pretty knowledgeable gentleman. Tom'd scheduled a repairman for Tuesday so we decided to wait for that (4 days without a microwave is an eternity, no?). They showed up promptly on Tuesday and checked it out, ultimately agreeing with Tom's diagnosis of the problem -- broken magnetron -- had the replacement part and fixed it. Life is joyful again!
Wednesday evening we all enjoyed Tom's Christmas present -- the girls and I took him to Muriel's Jackson Square. YUM. Abby again ate her entire steak, the rest of us enjoyed fish and, of course, dessert.
New Year's Eve was pretty typical for us. Tom and I went to see The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo in the afternoon. The girls each had friends over and we ordered in pizza. I took down all the Christmas decorations and enjoyed my 2 glasses of champagne (yep, I'm a lightweight!). My light was off by 12:05am. But I did make it up and saw Dick Clark on the TV. New Year's day Abby and her friend and I met her friend's parents and sister at church. We'd planned to go have lunch together. Unfortunately Abby fell ill so she and I headed home. The up side for me was that I got to see the entire Saints game. And make my baby some chicken soup. Maggie went to the mall in the afternoon with friends and all was well in our house.
That seems to catch us up! Hope your year is blessed in ways you cannot even imagine.
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