It's been awhile!

Well folks, I know it's been awhile. There has been much chaos in the Holliway household...

After being released by my orthopedic surgeon, I lasted exactly 5 days without my boot...then made a poor footwear choice and proceeded to slip, fall, and sprain my ankle! So back to the boot for three weeks it was. Now, I am once again free! As long as I can keep my feet underneath me and firmly planted on the ground I will not have to go back to the ortho until June...let take a moment of silent prayer for that one!

And we're back! On Tuesday, before Thanksgiving, I picked Jax up at the baby sitter only to notice that not only was he still suffering from cold-like symptoms, but he also had a few curious spots...hmmmm...I was glad that I had already called the doctor and scheduled him appointment for the following morning. When we left the doctor she had given us the unfortunate multiple diagnosis...a cold in his eyes (not pink-eye!), an ear infection in the left & beginning in the right ear, AND CHICKEN POX!!! OMG! Poor baby, no wonder he wasn't sleeping or eating well the previous couple of days. Happy first Turkey day, Buddy!

Jessalynn is just as busy as ever, dance, book club, Musical Mules. She really knows how to keep me on my toes! She is beginning work on her competition routines for dance and really hitting hard the stuff for the Holiday Show (which, by the way is Dec. 14 @ the YWCA, if anyone's interested, let me know). She sang at Watkins Mill on Saturday afternoon with the Musical Mules for the first time for their "Christmas on the Farm" complete with a Victorian era "Father Christmas." The kids did a great job and Jessie really had fun. Now, if we can only get her to hold her music down so we can hear her voice and see her face!!!

Jimmy has been working hard to get the house ready for Christmas and we have been shopping like crazy. We hit the Black Friday sale at WalMart hard & have been trying to pick up other little things along the way. Jimmy got his Christmas present a little early. He figured out how we could afford a new 50" plasma tv & Blue-Ray/DVD combo! Christmas came early to our house this year!

I spent the entire day today baking & doing homework. I will be glad when this grad class is over and I can focus less energy on it, and more on my family.

I will try to spend some time tomorrow to post about my new recipes. I don't want to go into too much detail in case they flop. Hopefully everyone at the three places I will be taking cookies & brownies tomorrow enjoy them!

Boot Scootin'

Well, it appears that I can't catch a break...or maybe the real answer is that I may have caught two. To make a long story short, I was given a clean bill of health by my orthopedic surgeon last Thursday...no more crutches, no more power chair, no more boot! Good news, right? Maybe...After spending about 2 hours on the phone dealing with Sprint & my very stupid cell phone ( another story for another day) we met Jimmy's sister for dinner at 54th street. When we got inside I realized that Jessie & Jimmy had gotten Jaxon's food, but not his diaper bag, so I didn't have a spoon to feed him with. I proceeded to return to the car to get the bag. On the way I realized that cowboy boots on a slick asphalt parking lot less than a week after being released from the doctor may now have been the best idea. In the words of my boss, "Boot scootin' should not be in my vocabulary!" Back to the ortho tomorrow to find out if I reinjured the same ankle, or if it just hurts like the dickens for no reason. Here's hoping for good news & no more boot scootin'!

Sickness strikes the Holliway house

So surgery is done & life is moving on towards normal (whatever that is!)

Last Friday Jessie stayed home from school. She complained in the morning that her stomach was really hurting & she whined & moaned the whole time she was in the shower. When she got out, she made it as far as the kitchen sink...needless to say, Jessie won't be getting perfect attendance this year!

Then Jimmy got sick Sunday night & was sick all day Monday. H e felt bad enough that he asked our 17 year old niece to drive me to the orthopedic surgeon for a check up. He said he was worried about me having to walk so far from the parking lot at the hospital & at Wal-Mart. I think he was worried about me driving his truck that far on the highway with my left foot!

So Monday night I slept on the couch because I didn't want whatever he had! So, when Jax woke up at about 3:45 am, I hobbled in on my crutches to try to console him without picking him up. While standing beside his crib (thinking that I really needed more sleep after 2 nights of very little) I remembered that his music was pretty loud and I should turn it down because it had been keeping me awake. I started to move to turn it down and my crutches fell, Jax started crying, and I realized I was very hot & sweating. I realized I wasn't feeling very well and that's all I remember before Jessie came walking in. I passed out for the first time in my life. It was very weird! Long story short, I think I was fine & it hasn't happened again.

Then we roll around to Wednesday evening. Jimmy picked Jax up at the babysitter's & we met them at home. It was time for Jax to eat & I realized that he felt warm. I took his temperature and it was 102.8!!! He was sleepy & cranky, so I decided to let him take a little nap. He slept in my arms fitfully & was crabby & restless. When he kind of woke up & I started checking him out, I saw that he had spots all over him...HE HAS CHICKEN POX!!!! AAARRRRGGGGHHHH!!!

Well, the best I can say is that there is never a dull moment around here!

What a busy life

Well, broken ankle, or no, life goes on.

Jessie has such a busy schedule that we are constantly on the go. I missed my grad class last night because I was feeling lousy from the pain meds they prescribed, and my leg was hurting pretty bad. But Jessie has dance tonight so it's back to our busy life. After school we will pick her up and head to St. Joe where she has dance class for 3 hours. Wednesday night she has book club after school for an hour, Fridays after school it's Musical Mules (an after school choir for upper elementary kiddos). She certainly knows how to keep me on my toes.

As for my little man...Jax is growing and changing as rapidly as ever! He is crawling around, cutting teeth, and trying to talk a mile a minute! He says "mama" (sort of) and is working on "dada". He has two teeth on the bottom & is still chewing & drooling all the time, so I think he's working on more.

They are growing up too fast for my tastes, but I know that it will happen no matter what I want. They love each other, their mommy & daddy, and their big brother, Braxton. I must remember to take each day one minute at a time, and love each and every one!

Surgery, screws & drugs, Oh my!

So surgery Friday...not a fun day. Nothing to eat or drink after midnight, then wait until 3pm for surgery. The lack of food didn't bother me (and was probably good for my waistline, maybe I should do that more often!) but not being allowed to drink anything until after 5 o'clock at night?! That sucked!

The doc had told me in his office on Thursday that the bones in my ankle had shifted enough that he needed to fix it. So I asked if he would be putting in a pin or what. He answered, "A plate and a couple of screws." A couple? How many does that mean to you? 2, maybe 3? NOPE! 5!!! I now have a plate & 5 screws in my leg!


The nurses did tell me that the drugs they would give me before surgery act not only as a sleeping pill, and pain pill, but also as a memory eraser. They were right. The last thing I remember is the nurse telling my dad it was time for "la-la juice" and he needed to leave. Then, apparently about an hour later, I was waking up with my dad & a male nurse standing next to my bed talking. I did have some sort of a reaction to the anesthesia, because after I came to, all could do was scratch. I itched so bad all over & the nurse kept telling me to quit, I was leaving marks all over myself. At that point I didn't even care!



Now, two days later...still in pain & pain meds aren't making much difference. They told my dad at the surgery center that my doc would call on Monday, but they don't have the best track record with returning my calls, so I think I'll be calling them first thing tomorrow morning. Before Surgery, but after finding out the ankle was broken, my doc prescribed Vicodin. It made me a little sleepy, but didn't do a lot to take the pain away. After surgery they sent me home with a prescription for Percocet, which we filled on the way home. It makes me loopy and very sleepy but only dulls the pain when I take TWO pills! I can't go back to work on Tuesday still taking pecocet two at a time! Hopefully when I talk to the doctor's office tomorrow they will have good news for me. Maybe I can get into a removable boot cast, and they can give me some meds that will work better without knocking me out...wish me luck all my friends out there in blog world!

What a crazy (& painful) life!!!

Well, lots of changes since the last post. I went rushing to the orthopedic surgeon's office Monday because I called & told them my toes were turning purple when I was upright for any period of time. So they asked me to come in so they coud cut a slit in my cast. Long story short? It didn't make any difference!

So I called them back yesterday and told them my toes are still purple & the pain has gotten worse instead of better...they decided they needed to see me. "When can you come in?" "Well, I'm at work. I need to find a sub, call someone to come pick me up, & then make the hour drive to your office." Their response? "How about you come in tomorrow?" So when I went in they cut the cast the rest of the way off, then took more x-rays. The doctor came in and said "It has moved enough that we need to fix it!" So I have surgery scheduled for tomorrow...happy homecoming Lathrop Mules! I guess I won't be attending the pep rally to see my color guard girls perform for the first time this season... Oh, well...I guess it's better to get it fixed now. So at 3pm tomorrow I will be having a metal plate & screws attached to my ankle. Hope it helps!

Again, all I have to say is, "Why couldn't I have broken my left ankle? Then I could still drive AND they wouldn't have to cut through my tattoo!"

Pink IS my color!!! (and black & blue, too!)

So the story of the day is...NO SURGERY!!!

After 3 more x-rays & about an hour waiting in the office, I ended up with a pink cast from the knee down! Still can't put weight on it for at least 2 weeks, but at least I am officially on the mend!

So the funny story from Tuesday...I went to my dr., the ortho, radiology, Wal-Mart (where I rode the obnoxious electric chair!) to pick up a prescription & came home exhausted. I spent the evening laying around on the couch & then took a hot bath (after consuming a pain pill) & went to bed. The pain pill wore off around 2 am & it hurt enough to wake me up. I hobbled on my crutches in to use the bathroom, then sat on the couch to adjust my ace bandages. After taking another pain pill and sitting on the couch for awhile, I got back on the crutches to head to bed. In the process of squeezing between my bed & the aquarium I lost my balance. I was afraid to fall on the broken ankle and panicked as I wobbled on my crutches...in the process I kicked the crutch with the middle toe of my right foot. I was tired & just wanted to go back to sleep. Wednesday morning I was in a hurry to get to work, so I got dressed, put on A shoe, & headed out. Off & on thru the day I thought, "That toe really hurts, I must have bruised it pretty bad." When I came home and took my shoe off...the toe was black & blue clear down into my foot! I am pretty sure I broke my toe! What a mess I am! Good grief!