might as well add one more in my scheme of blogging...

Goodbye Katie T :( Katie is leaving the state of Utah and our awesome crew of co-workers for Oregon. She is going to be missed so insanely much that it hurts to think she's gone. I love love loved working with her, she gave hugs like a champion, and always put a smile on your face. I hope she has a blast in Oregon!

Katie is in the middle, Michelle G is on the left and I heart her too. I will kidnap her if she tries to move away... just kidding, but kinda not.

My brother helped me get dressed, notice the two different pairs of shoes, his idea. I may have been born in the 80s but I sure don't remember what I wore.

This is Sarah and she's my saving grace. Her brain is so full if knowledge it's insane. I heart her forever and am one lucky girl to have her as my post orientation mentor. Love her light blue eye shadow and my eye shadow to my hairline? And side ponytales.

This is Danni and her hubby Shane. She might have purchased her dress, jelly shoes, and bracelets for $5 at the Salvation Army. Danni was my main orienter at work and my goodness I adore her. She's superfantastic!

Love love love my danni!

My two Michelles! Michelle in the yellow started a little after me and can I say how happy I am she moved here? Michelle is one of the HCAs, currently in nursing school, who is AMAZING! I wish you could see the back of her dress, gotta love the puffy shoulders too!

This is from Halloween at the Sugarhouse house, Tigg and Shaunananana.
Meagan and my Fishy
Wilbur looks like his dad. I don't think he looks at all like my family.
Poops aka Callell aka Superman
Waiting to go on their Halloween walk. Scout is wearing the one my mom made Callell as a puppy and yeah she is full grown. His full grown cape always falls to the side, we're not sure why.
She wore this tutu last year and absolutely hated it. When I pulled it out this year she was wagging her tale. I think she knew she'd be told how pretty she was when wearing it and it made her happy to see it. Thanks to my sister Jenn for donating it to me for my dogs Halloween costume.
See she was totally relaxed

I think I might be bad luck

A week ago I got a call from my sister, she tells me Monkey wants to tell me something. So she hands the phone over and we start talking, I ask her what she had to tell me and she says, "I broke my wrist in 3 places at school today." Really really?!?! So far so good for her that she is not needing surgery and her break wasn't or isn't as bad as mine. She got a pink cast and she looks absolutely darling. I will post pictures soon.

Well there's November

I don't know why but for some odd reason I actually really really like the month of November. You would think with my addiction to the sun and warm summer months that anything cold and wet would be on my S list, but there is something about November that I love. Okay, okay yes Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays so that could be part of it but I don't think that is why. I just love November, I actually appreciate the fall colors on the trees. I love watching the wind blow the leaves off of the trees and the way the leaves fall to the ground. That's all.

Mel was right

I guess MWK was right in saying "You have too had things to blog about." So here goes:

We had to put Tilly to sleep on September 11. Can I say it was one of the worst days of my life. I couldn't even bring myself together to go with my dad to the vet. I suck I know, seeing my dad carry his limp lifeless body to his spot in the backyard almost killed me. My eyes were swollen beyond measure from all the tears. It was bad. But he is not in pain anymore. I keep having dreams that he's alive and happy and his old self and I wake up looking for him, only to realize it was a dream and in reality he's gone. I know lots and lots of people don't love, or even like cats but this cat was one of the most amazing cats ever. He would come when I would call his name. He acted more like a dog than a cat in the sense that when I was having a bad day he wouldn't leave my side until I calmed down. If I ever had a guy over he'd come out and sit on my lap and just glare at the guy, on occasion if he liked the guy he'd leave. Tilly had the most amazing emerald green eyes, they were gorgeous.

He was utterly amazing and I miss him so much. I cannot get my scanner to work with my laptop so I'm not able to get a picture of him on here yet.

Let's see other stuff, I've been working as a nurse again!!! I have been back at it for almost 2 months, although it seems like more, and I have had some of the most amazing patients. Honestly I had some of my very favorite patients, I've had some who I've cried with, some who I've laughed with, and then some who I've been glad to say goodbye to but through and through going through the whole wrist saga has helped me appreciate what I do and my co-workers even more than ever. I am grateful to still have my hand, when Dr Sullivan told me that we had to operate that night (the 2nd surgery for the infection) he pretty much had me freaked out to the point that I was thinking I was going to lose my hand. That is one of those experiences I

never wish to revisit. P.S. I'm still mad Sullivan moved away. I mean adding the part that I had 3 different orthopedic surgeons operate on me in 5 months does make the story a little bit cooler, but really he was the best of the 3. He was straightforward, honest, and was a just a great doctor.

Two of my sisters are pregnant. Mary is due in December and Sara is pregnant in February.

I went to the zoo the other day with my sister Jenn, her girls Monkey and Bugs, and my sister Mary's son G-Monster. I decided another career I would love would be working with animals. I know the communication is not the same, but seriously I love animals. Minus most of the reptiles, alligators/crocodiles/snakes= gross. Seeing the tigers made me want one, well I really want a lion but a tiger would be so cool too!

yes i am still here

i just haven't had anything to blog about...

adios

i got the plate out of my wrist today. thank you pain meds and zofran and/or phenergan. thanks to everyone who listened to me whine, gave support, hugs kind words, & made me laugh through all of this. i am so lucky to have you all in my life :)

Fantabulous news!!!

I got my picc line out!!!

If you can't tell I am a little excited but six weeks of a continuous IV antibiotic gets old fast!

I will always have a little scar on my arm to remind me of the fun times.

Yesterday at church I noticed two small circular spots on my arm, it took me a few

minutes to realize it was from the line itself where it was out of my arm (like 8 cm or so)

and the lines were tan lines. Even though I kept it covered with the mesh

thing the sun worked its way through to tan my skin. I want to thank Sarah for

being my personal nurse at work, she changed my dressing multiple times and did a superfantastic job making sure it was clean and that the staylock was in a different

spot so my poor irritated skin wouldn't be so raw. Thanks to Christine as well,

she helped with one of the first dressing changes, as did my neighbor Suzie B.

It is soooo nice to be able to get in the shower and actually be completely wet.

I know that sounds odd, but for a good while my upper left arm couldn't get

wet because of the picc (direct access to my heart-- I didn't need or want

another infection!!) and my lower right arm couldn't because of the

incision on my wrist from the clean-out surgery. Showering was a joke, as many

of you heard me complain about~ Thanks for letting

me complain and sorry for being a whiner about all of this!

Oh and once again thanks to my mom for ALL of the help she's been and for all

of the support she's given. She is pretty much freaking amazing.

I have other great news, I get to go to Powell again. Because of the stupid infection

I missed the June trip with my family :( but we are going again this week and I am sooooo

happy! I am a little stressed out about the money thing but I think Powell is one

of the most stress free, relaxing, and healing places on earth... so I'm going. I'm smart with

my money so let's just hope I have enough saved in case things don't go as planned!

Two posts in a matter of minutes! I am amazing, I know

I have a few common themes to my blogs, Scout is one of them. Last night or early this morning I should say Scout wakes me up with her whiney I want to go downstairs to get breakfast whine. I tell her it's too early and that she should go back to sleep. She doesn't, I say Scout get on my bed and let's go to sleep. She jumps up, doesn't sleep but continues to whine. Then the lightbulb turns on, maybe she needs to go outside. I carry her downstairs so she doesn't bark and wake everyone else up, when I put her down in the kitchen she runs straight to the backyard. Thank you brain for turning on, she enjoyed her 3 am potty break and went back to bed without complaint. I am so glad she doesn't pee on the carpet

I know you all are probably sick and tired of my updates about my arm but let's be honest since it is all I have that is update worthy.

There are more pictures on this post, and honestly you probably will get grossed out by them so if you like this gross stuff go ahead and take a look. If not, call a quits on looking at my blog for a little while until my wrist is healed... So come back in 15-20 years, okay.

So the stupid granuloma thing that caused all the fuss on that dreadful day on May 28Th is displayed below. As a friend said when I sent him the picture, "It looks like a drop of blood." Trust me it didn't in real life, it looked like a stoma for those of you who know what they look like. For those of you who don't, it looked like a mini bundt cake. Jealous?

The next few shots are from June 1st when I got the post surgery splint off for a dressing change on my open/closed wound. The doctor wanted any remains of the infection to be able to drain... lovely huh? Also a small disclaimer here: I almost didn't post these pictures because 1. my arms look like man arms, 2. the hair on my arms is humiliating, it's nothing like the hair on my left arm--soft, bleached blond, not gross and oddly hairy, 3. My hand really looks so gross that I have to focus on the hair on my arm rather than the hideous incision.

So here's sitch, swollen looking man hand. Currently I have regained some of my knuckles!

The next three are pretty much the same, couldn't decided which one was the best shot.

This one is from June 18Th (HAPPY BIRTHDAY TAISJA LEE) after physical therapy. Notice the six stitches that have been removed. Oh also notice how white my arm is, I didn't know my skin turned that color. The three holes don't look that bad, honestly I feel like the picture doesn't do the incision justice. Anyone who has seen both the before and the after is impressed with how good it looks.

On a completely different note, Scout became a "woman" last week. I was at physical therapy and I see that my mom called. She says "Heather, you need to stop at the pet store on your way home and get Scout a diaper, she's started her first heat." We've been enduring this together, she hates wearing her washable diaper-- secretly I think she loves it-- We have to take it off for her to go outside and putting it back on isn't easy because she doesn't want to wear it, but it is keeping her a lot cleaner and her brothers aren't harassing her too much yet. I have a funny story about my mom google-ing dog heat. She typed in "bitches in heat" and got some very verbally descriptive search results. My brother taught her how to make her searches PG rated. I asked her why she didn't just type in dogs in heat, she said "that is what they refer to dogs as in London" and in the crazy parade your dog at the Westminster Dog Show, but really?! I love my mom and her innocence. She is fantastic.

it's been a while

but since there wasn't much to say i didn't blog.

you know how they say "when it rains it pours" or "you've gotta roll with the punches?" welcome to my past few days.

5/28/09:

i wake up, get ready, go to the ortho center to get my cast off, get x-rays, see the doctor, schedule surgery for tonight because of an infection apparently it's shady enough to operate tonight, try to talk to the boss to see if she'll let me work tomorrow, she's out of the office at meetings, come home shower, got ready to go back to the hospital for surgery, sat and waited for a few hours because i had eaten a small bag of cheerios before seeing dr. sullivan, dad came to give me a blessing, going to get an iv.. no wait she needs a picc line... no we'll do that tomorrow iv it is, consented for surgery, told lake powell in 3 weeks is a no go, told that he'd most likely operate one more time because he wants to take the plate out, almost cry again--not because i'm sad or in pain but because i'm sooooooo frustrated at this point, meet the anesthesiologists, happy i recognized the resident and think he's good down on l&d, go to one of the new ors, it has pretty tiles on the wall, hold the mask on my face for the anesthesiologists mcallister and lui, wake up in pacu scratching my head, rn gave me meds probably demerol, wake up again asking my mom about the surgery, my throat was sore so i asked about being under a general instead of tiva like they had discussed, asleep, wake up text people... no i don't remember texting but they were in my sent box as proof, asleep again, time to go, change into my clothes, wait for the messenger to come get me with a wheelchair, peter is his name, he was nice. i don't remember my nurses names except the two pre-op nurses kathryn and sonja, ride home spent sleeping, wake up at the off ramp and am surprised we were so close to home, super grumpy with my mom-- why? not sure, it was all a big blur, get home see balloons on the front porch, go inside set my stuff down, check out the balloons, they're attached to some calcium enriched grape juice, a toblerone, & a cute card--thank you!! refill my ice pack (actually my mom did this) drank some grape juice, went to bed. anyone else had as good of a day as me?

5/29/09

 dr sullivan cleared me to work, woke up felt a little groggy and my arm hurt a bit but the ibuprofen worked wonders for my pain, got to work, everyone looked at me like i was looney for being there, sat through part of a meeting, felt like puking, excused myself, paged Bob the picc line guy, got my picc line, apparently my basilic vein is huge and perfect for him--said it looked like an overweight person's vein, got my second dose of vanc, learned that is what caused my head to itch so much the night before, re-learned sash, went home, took benadryl, more ibuprofen & went to sleep. woke up for a little, next dose of vancomycin, back to bed.

today:

  home health care nurse (yep i said home health care nurse) came to change my picc line dressing & explain when they'd come to see me, told me how expensive my little non-reusable infusion devices are, talked a bit more & left.

remember how happy i was to pay off my student loan? i'm pretty sure these medical bills are going to kill me. wohoo!

oh anad my once again skinny fingers are now swollen and stiff.

okay so here's another little gross out opportunity for those of you who enjoy pictures of my wounds ... ahem fishy don't look at this...

I had a different doctor operate on my arm because he had a spot open on Monday instead of Wednesday like I was originally scheduled with Dr. Sullivan. 

This picture is of my ginormous fingers post surgery, not sure what day (I was a little out of it)

Notice how huge my right arm is in comparison to my left.

This is my yucky frail gross skin, not the best picture but seriously it looked like a few days dead persons skin. (I think, I haven't seen a few days dead per

sons skin before but I think you'll know what I mean).

The surgeon isn't sure how I got this fun little cut on my hand, his respo

nse "Uh, you know 

there are drills and tools all over the table..." I've never really seen the obgyn's leave their instruments all over their tables. 

I was told the incision would be on the bottom of my wrist, so it looked 

like I slit my wrist (for a visual), or so I was told. But they told me at my appointment that they took x-rays before cut time to make sure they go in the right way, it all depends on the direction the bones go out of place.

Again my insanely swollen and fat fat fat fingers.

 These are the fun. finger socks (kinda like ted hose) that I get to wear. I know totally ugly right?! Wrong, hello my disgustingly fat fingers are now somewhat back t normal looking. My knuckles on the other hand, goo! My elbow is not nearly as swollen as it once was and no longer looks like I have congestive heart failure edema anymore. I also have a fun. multi colored yellowish green bruise on my elbow. The lighting isn't very good right now so I can't get a descent picture of it. I get to move my thumb in the cast I have this time, I won't lie it's a little odd, none of my prior casts have allowed me any sort of thumb freedom. I keep this cast for 4 weeks then who knows. I am meeting with my original doctor next week to find out what will happen after the cast, I didn't believe asking the surgeon who operated would give me any answers merely because all he told me about my surgery was "That was a difficult surgery." His resident gave me more information.

p.s. surgery sucks, pain medication makes me vomit, & sleeping with a splint/cast is a pain... but I am grateful to have it over with. With a little physical therapy my fingers are moving a lot better, still super stiff, but with a little work will hopefully be as god as new. I am going to have a pretty legit tan line from the cast. I now have a plate and 5 screws in my wrist, pretty cool?! Spring is still trying to figure out how to be Spring but it's doing better than it was. I was able to work today doing 'this-es & thats' but work is work and making money to pay for my new metal. 

p.p.s. I paid off my student loan with my tax return! Life has a funny way of doing things, don't ya think?

x-rays

I finally managed to scan them in for you. These aren't the very first x-rays I had done in PC, but the scans from Dr Sullivan's office.

the results are in and....

Looks like it's bad news bears, gonna have a plate and some screws placed in my wrist. i'll try and scan the new x-rays in tomorrow.

BUT on a happier note, I was able to work a little bit today and will work tomorrow...

oh and yay for tax returns, might be able to pay off that student loan by May after all.

Gosh I love making lemonade!

sorry this is so delayed...because I know you all are dying to hear about my wrist

Last Thursday, 04.02.09, I met with a Dr. Charles Sullivan and one of his residents, after they looked at the x-rays from PC they were not sure if I would need surgery (yay!!!). Dr Matich and the nurse did an amazing job setting my wrist. My two options were 1. cast it, watch it very closely to make sure the medial part of my radius, the part they are worried about, doesn't move. He would follow me a lot more closely than if I had gone with option 2 because the bones could still move. If it doesn't move then I will have to keep the cast for a total of 3 months... EW I know! If it does move then I will have to have surgery, he says it's a 20% chance that it will move. Considering Dr Matich said she was 99% sure I would need surgery I am hoping the odds are with me again!  Option 2. was to have surgery. Dr Sullivan said he could place a plate and screws, which would not require as much following of the broken-ness because he would know that the bones would stay in place with the metal. He feels like sometimes doctors operate too quickly rather than letting things heal on their own. As far as he was concerned I was going to have to convince him that surgery would be best for me. I was tempted because it meant I would only have a cast for 6 weeks and could possibly go back to work earlier. But the cost of surgery and everything would probably not be worth the pay of going back to work.

so for the next two weeks (now one) I will be wearing a cast with my fingers crossed that my bones don't budge!!! Oh yeah my right hand has been cleared for typing!!! Great news huh :)

I see the doctor again on the 16th for more x-rays.

p.s. I got a water proof cast, yeah for showering without a plastic bag on my arm!

p.p.s the first two pictures are of my arm right after the splint came off, you can see the mark of the bandaid I had on my arm from where the lidocaine was injected as well as all the fun indentations from the splint. The third picture was with the waterproof understuff placed on my arm. The fourth is obvious, my cast, I just took it... hence the bad shot. There are only so many angles/positions that are comfortable for my arm. so getting a good shot wasn't easy. But yay for being able to bend my elbow again!