Surgery!

I did it!  It's over!  I was supposed to check in for my knee surgery at 10:15 but at 8:30ish this morning they called and said someone had cancelled and they wanted to know if we could come in early.  Great!  The sooner I could get this over with the better!  So we hurried and got to the hospital around 9:30 (it was in Park City).

We checked in and they took us to our room.  Connor was happy that he was going to be able to hang out there instead of a general waiting room during my surgery.  I took a pregnancy test to make sure I'm not prego, and then got changed into my very attractive hospital gear.  At this point I was really nervous about them putting in the IV.  I have an unreasonable fear of needles.  It's like the bee thing.  I don't like things that prick me or whatever.  Anyway, the nurse numbed up my hand and that stung, but then stuck in the IV and it actually wasn't so bad.  I was relieved and very happy when it was all finished.  :)

Finding my happy place for the IV.

IV in.  I did it!

My doctor, Dr. Cooley, came in and marked my knee that they were going to operate on.  He wrote "Yes" on it.  I didn't think to take a picture of it.

Lookin' Good!

Then my anesthesiologist came in.  His name was Dr. Will Shakespeare.  No joke.  I asked him if his parents were trying to be funny.  He said his dad is an English Professor so they knew what they were doing.  How funny is that?  He talked to me a little bit and then went over to my IV and injected some stuff into it, and within 2 minutes I was feeling really strange.  Then he wheeled me into the OR.

The most traumatic part for me.  I really hate needles.

The last things that I remember are switching beds, and then they put an Oxygen mask over my mouth and told me to take lots of deep breaths to get my oxygen levels up so I was doing that, and then I was out.

Then I remember waking up in another room and the nurse asked me how much pain I was in.  It wasn't too bad.  Like a 4 or 5.  She gave me a percocet with some juice and crackers and then wheeled me back into my room with Connor.  

Sooo sleepy.

Still Groggy.

The nurse asked me about my pain again, and explained my brace to me.  I have this really cool brace.  It's huge and goes from my mid-thigh almost to my ankle.  It's connected with these blue cords to a cooler with ice water in it and the cooler plugs into the wall.  Ice water circulates through my brace and helps keep it cool and keeps inflammation down.  Apparently it reduces pain meds by about 50%. 

Then the physical therapist came in and told me some leg exercises I need to do to prevent blood clotting and stuff.  There's not a whole lot I can do with this brace on and I can't take it off until I go back to the doctor next week.  The physical therapist got me some crutches and a wheel chair.  Connor went and got the car, and we met him down there and went home.

I was getting really sick on the ride home.  That canyon coming down from Park City was not fun.  I have some medicine now for nausea but I hadn't had it filled by then so I was just trying to find my happy place and hoping for the best.  We made it home without any problems and I was happy when I could lie back down and plug my brace back into the cooler.  It felt soooooo good.  

My huge brace.  Those blue things at the bottom connect to the cooler.

Connor has been so sweet.  He's been running around getting my prescriptions filled ever since we got home.  He had to try 3 different pharmacies for one of my prescriptions.  Sheesh.  Poor guy.  He's such a good husband.  He's always very good at taking care of me when I get sick.

Happy Memorial Day!

Happy Memorial Day!  Today we are doing....nothing.  We went out to lunch with Connor's sister at Paradise Bakery ( I heart their Asian Chicken Salad).  For the rest of the day we're just hanging out and relaxing.

My Grandma is buried in Arlington National Cemetery.  My grandpa served in WWII and he will be buried there when he dies.  In honor of Memorial Day, here are some pictures from when Connor and I went in October.

My grandma's headstone.

The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier

My feets!

Once, when Connor was torturing me ever so lovingly by tickling my feet I exclaimed "My feets!" and now he will never let me forget it.

Today, I got a pedicure.  It was fabulous.  I figured I deserve a little bit of pampering before my knee surgery.  It was oh so nice.  Pedicures are one of my most favorite things.  :)

P.S.  Do you think we have enough remotes?

To Clarify.....

I should have said in my last post that Connor got into the Mortuary Science Program at ACC.  There aren't many Mortuary Science School's across the country.  There will be one in Utah starting January, but Connor doesn't want to wait, plus he can do the ACC program online.  They only accept about 60 people into their program, and they receive about double that amount of applications.  It's quite the accomplishment!

In case you were wondering (and I'm sure you were), to become a funeral director you have to do an internship, get your associates degree in Mortuary Science, and pass the National Board.  Connor's got the internship taken care of, but he's working on the other 2.  This next year is going to be extra busy because he's got work full time and now school full time.  So we will be enjoying our summer as much as possible before that happens.

Yay!

This is a little late, but better late than never!

Last week Connor got his acceptance letter to Arapahoe Community College.  He is very excited and I am very proud of him for getting in.  ACC is in Littleton, Colorado, but we won't be going anywhere as he can do it all online.  (Woohoo for technology!)  He'll have to go out there a couple of times for some labs, but that's it.  He's got 2 semesters of classwork and then 1 semester of an internship (he can't count what he's been doing for the last decade as his internship).  Anyway, he should officially be done with school in a little over a year.  Then he'll be able to take the National Board exam and become fully licensed. 

It will be so nice for him to be done with school.  There is light at the end of the tunnel....

Race for the Cure

Connor and I Raced (walked) for the Cure this morning (which I guess now is technically yesterday morning).  This is the second year in a row that we've done this.  Connor's co-worker was diagnosed with breast cancer in early 2010 and so we went last year to support her.  Then, in October 2010 my mom was diagnosed with breast cancer so this year we were supporting two teams.

The shirts were done by Memorial Mortuaries (Connor's work).

The back.

That's a LOT of people.

Easter

This is a couple of weeks late, but better late than never.....

Easter was momentous this year.  I made my first Easter dinner!  Really, I didn't make much.  I bought a Honey Baked Ham and had a couple more simple dishes.  We both had to work this Easter, so once we were both finished, we had a small dinner.  It turned out pretty well, if I do say so myself.