So for Christmas I got knee surgery... yup knee surgery. I know I could hardly contain my excitement when I realize that I would be on crutches for about 12 weeks throughout winter.
On the 22 of December my mom and dad took me up to the U of MN Fairview Clinic to have surgery. When we got there they took me into a little room and made me put on this paper gown that had openings for hot air to circulate through... I know it sounds as exciting as it was in person. Then I had a nurse ask me all sorts of questions and take my heart rate etc... Then she took my temperature with this fancy thermometer that they roll across your forehead... they were all about technology at this place I tell ya.
Then after being there for about 2 hours the doctor that does surgery came back and talked to me and put her initials on my leg to make sure she knew what she was operating on and okayed a femoral nerve block, which was weird! The anesthesiologist came in and the stuck his ultrasound on my leg until he found the muscles that controlled the knee cap and then he stuck some big needle in it and made it go numb.
The last thing I remember before the surgery was asking if I was in the operating room because it didn't look like one to me, I never heard the answer and next thing I know I am waking up in the recovery room. It's weird that I had no idea that I was under for 3 hours and I had no sense that I was even out.
From there I was sort of in and out of it. I don't remember getting wheeled to my room or when exactly my parents showed up. I ordered strawberry jell-o and water for supper, my parents watched Home Alone on the tv and then left me. I had the privilege of getting pain killers every 3 hours-ish and went through 5 wonderful nurses while I was there.
The morning after surgery I got sick from the pain medicine (not that anyone really is wanting to know all about this but I figured you might as well get the full effect), and in the afternoon the physical therapist came in and made me do some standing and leg exercises. She wanted me to try the stairs but I still didn't feel good enough so she told me she would be back around 3 to make me try. My mom made it up at around 3:30 in time for me to walk half way down the hall only to feel sick and have to go back to my room. I had to get the ok from the therapist to go home that day and to get that I had to be able to climb stairs, so she just said she would be back at 5 on her way out and if I could do it she would clear me.
At 5 she came back and I made it to the stairs, sat down in a chair, threw up all the fettuccine alfredo they made me eat, got up climbed up and down the stairs a few times and then back to my room. By the time I got back to my room I was in a lot of pain and ended up having to spend the night once again. At about 5:30 my mom got a call from my dad that the shed roof had caved in with all the snow, so that was one more thing on the to do list for the weekend.
Eric showed up at about 7 and ordered a cot and room service and my mom went home so she could get up to milk in the morning.
this blog is getting rather long so I will finish Christmas day on another blog... thank you for all the well wishes and people that have come visit me AND A BIG THANK YOU! TO ERIC, MARY, MOM, DAD, AND MY FAMILY! I appreciate everything you guys have done for me.
Friday, December 31, 2010
Tuesday, December 28, 2010
Here's the story as I see it
Ok, so last Thursday Grace had the great misfortune of having knee surgery. So, her in all her boredom decided we need to do 2 sides to the story. So here my side is.
I have no clue what on earth they did to her but all i got out of the story she told me was that they took a ligament out of a cadaver and put it in her leg.
So after a long christmas eve day in which we were expecting her to show up at home she had to spend the night in the hospital once again so she got to grandma's house at about 10 am on Christmas day on time to begin the present opening fiasco that is our family tradition. Once again the only story i got out of her about coming home was that she rode out in her little wheelchair, got into eric's car (which was a fiasco in itself, since she didn't want to get into his little putt putt of a car, but finally she did) and she threw up! Yuck! well, anyways, eric being the good boyfriend he is took her little puke bucket into the hospital rinsed it out and they were on their way. So, Christmas came and went, it wasn't quite the same as i was the only one to go to church on Christmas eve with my grandma and cousins (meanwhile, my dad was at home trying to get feed out for a couple days out of our feed shed that decided to collapse at 5 pm on Christmas eve, what great timing huh?) and instead of usual domino's pizza dad and I nachos with sloppy joe meat. Oh and she has this HUGE honking machine that is supposed to bend her leg to certain angle measurements, apparantly she has to be up to 90 degrees by next thursday and she is currently at 54 degrees.
So here comes the next couple of days and how I see it.
Grace is demanding! always wanting one thing or another. (but i've decided i'll get over it and be the world's greatest sister because she would do the same, hopefully she won't ever have to but hypothetically speaking)
She has cravings for weird things at weird times of the day. for example: the other day she had toast or something like that for breakfast at like 8 am and then at like 10:30 she decided she wanted popcorn (i found this a little strange, but maybe this is normal?)
She has a VERY dedicated boyfriend who is even willing to spend the night in the hospital with her while I sit at home and don't even go to the hosptial to visit her. Also one that's willing to empty her puke bucket.
She has the world's best sister!! (that's me, in case you were wondering)
Of course, although we may complain about doing chores most days, she would rather be out feeding calves than laying around on a couch.
She has some good friends who are willing to come visit her, with her favorite candies, while she sits on the couch all day and I make fun of her.
She is quite the coloring fool. I swear she has like finished 2 coloring books already and she only got them on saturday!
Finally, that she (and I) has the world's greatest family! One so great that the cousins and aunt came up with a plan to break her out of the hospital just so she could be at Christmas day with the rest of the family. (after all, it wouldn't be the same without her).
So as I'm leaving for the next 2 days for a basketball tournament, I only hope that she will be able to manage without me being there to lift her leg up on the couch or get her a Dr. Pepper.
I have no clue what on earth they did to her but all i got out of the story she told me was that they took a ligament out of a cadaver and put it in her leg.
So after a long christmas eve day in which we were expecting her to show up at home she had to spend the night in the hospital once again so she got to grandma's house at about 10 am on Christmas day on time to begin the present opening fiasco that is our family tradition. Once again the only story i got out of her about coming home was that she rode out in her little wheelchair, got into eric's car (which was a fiasco in itself, since she didn't want to get into his little putt putt of a car, but finally she did) and she threw up! Yuck! well, anyways, eric being the good boyfriend he is took her little puke bucket into the hospital rinsed it out and they were on their way. So, Christmas came and went, it wasn't quite the same as i was the only one to go to church on Christmas eve with my grandma and cousins (meanwhile, my dad was at home trying to get feed out for a couple days out of our feed shed that decided to collapse at 5 pm on Christmas eve, what great timing huh?) and instead of usual domino's pizza dad and I nachos with sloppy joe meat. Oh and she has this HUGE honking machine that is supposed to bend her leg to certain angle measurements, apparantly she has to be up to 90 degrees by next thursday and she is currently at 54 degrees.
So here comes the next couple of days and how I see it.
Grace is demanding! always wanting one thing or another. (but i've decided i'll get over it and be the world's greatest sister because she would do the same, hopefully she won't ever have to but hypothetically speaking)
She has cravings for weird things at weird times of the day. for example: the other day she had toast or something like that for breakfast at like 8 am and then at like 10:30 she decided she wanted popcorn (i found this a little strange, but maybe this is normal?)
She has a VERY dedicated boyfriend who is even willing to spend the night in the hospital with her while I sit at home and don't even go to the hosptial to visit her. Also one that's willing to empty her puke bucket.
She has the world's best sister!! (that's me, in case you were wondering)
Of course, although we may complain about doing chores most days, she would rather be out feeding calves than laying around on a couch.
She has some good friends who are willing to come visit her, with her favorite candies, while she sits on the couch all day and I make fun of her.
She is quite the coloring fool. I swear she has like finished 2 coloring books already and she only got them on saturday!
Finally, that she (and I) has the world's greatest family! One so great that the cousins and aunt came up with a plan to break her out of the hospital just so she could be at Christmas day with the rest of the family. (after all, it wouldn't be the same without her).
So as I'm leaving for the next 2 days for a basketball tournament, I only hope that she will be able to manage without me being there to lift her leg up on the couch or get her a Dr. Pepper.
Sunday, December 12, 2010
why we are who we are
So, this huge amount of snow we got yesterday has got me thinking. Why are we who we are?? What in our lives has affected the way we live today and the people we're friends with, the way our families interact. Why you may ask would snow lead to you think that?? Well, my answer is I have no idea, but it did so I decided to write about it.
So for my life I have come up with many reasons that I am the way I am. First off:
Why did my dad decide that he wanted dairy cows instead of sheep like my uncle had decided before him?
Next, why did my dad decide to breed his heifer instead of selling her and buying another one?
What made him want to milk cows while he was still in high school?
Why did he choose to milk cows over going to college?
All of these decisions my dad has made in his lifetime have had more affects on the lives grace and I lead than we will ever be able to tell.
I often wonder if my dad had chosen to go to college what job would he have now? Would he have met my mom? Would I be here today?
Then, this all boils down to:
Would I be in 4H?
Would i be in FFA?
Would i still be friends with the same group of kids at school?
Would I be really good at sports because I have time to do more with them in the summer?
What would I end up doing with my life?
Eventually, I come up with agriculture plays such a key role in my life that it's unfathomable what life would be like without it.
So on days like yesterday and today where I spend the whole day outside taking care of baby calves or helping my mom milk her 3rd shift in a row for that day, I'm thankful that my dad chose the lifestyle he did to make me the person I am today. For some this may seem strange considering days like this weekend are almost the worst time of the year for a dairy farmer, yet it gets you thinking everytime. So at the end of one of the longest weekends I've had in a long time, I'm grateful that my life has turned out the way it is, even though at times I would rather be sleeping in on a saturday morning than out feeding some unintelligent calves. So in the end, life makes you who you are because of the decisions and experiences people go through in their lives.
So for my life I have come up with many reasons that I am the way I am. First off:
Why did my dad decide that he wanted dairy cows instead of sheep like my uncle had decided before him?
Next, why did my dad decide to breed his heifer instead of selling her and buying another one?
What made him want to milk cows while he was still in high school?
Why did he choose to milk cows over going to college?
All of these decisions my dad has made in his lifetime have had more affects on the lives grace and I lead than we will ever be able to tell.
I often wonder if my dad had chosen to go to college what job would he have now? Would he have met my mom? Would I be here today?
Then, this all boils down to:
Would I be in 4H?
Would i be in FFA?
Would i still be friends with the same group of kids at school?
Would I be really good at sports because I have time to do more with them in the summer?
What would I end up doing with my life?
Eventually, I come up with agriculture plays such a key role in my life that it's unfathomable what life would be like without it.
So on days like yesterday and today where I spend the whole day outside taking care of baby calves or helping my mom milk her 3rd shift in a row for that day, I'm thankful that my dad chose the lifestyle he did to make me the person I am today. For some this may seem strange considering days like this weekend are almost the worst time of the year for a dairy farmer, yet it gets you thinking everytime. So at the end of one of the longest weekends I've had in a long time, I'm grateful that my life has turned out the way it is, even though at times I would rather be sleeping in on a saturday morning than out feeding some unintelligent calves. So in the end, life makes you who you are because of the decisions and experiences people go through in their lives.
Tuesday, December 7, 2010
Sunday, December 5, 2010
The adventures of cookie making
This last weekend has been an adventure in cookie making to say the least... My roommate Amelia and I decided to make some cookies this weekend starting with what should have been the easiest cookies ever: peanut butter between ritz crackers and dipped in chocolate almond bark. The first part of peanut butter between the crackers went well, but when we went to melt the chocolate is where it got a little sticky... three batches of chocolate later we finally got it melted to the right consistency. The cookies taste great they just look a little messy haha...
Then we decided to make pretzels with kisses and m&m's and pretzels with rolos and pecans... first problem with that was the fact that this town did not have rolo's at the local wally world and the grocery store wanted $3.75 for a small bag, so we only got one bag of rolo's. Anyways getting the melted chocolate over the pretzels from the tray to the counter was interesting. We finally found a method that worked and they turned out pretty good.
Finally in the afternoon when I got bored I decided to make sugar cookies and those turned out to be the best cookies of the day! The cookies are soft and I spent my evening decorating them with frosting, m&m's, sprinkles, and crushed candy canes. They turned out pretty and taste good if I do say so myself (and it only took me 2 trips to walmart to get all the supplies :) )
I am sure I will make more cookies this week between writing papers and studying for tests, hopefully they turn out more like the sugar cookies and less like the peanut butter cracker things.
by the way...ONLY 19 DAYS UNTIL CHRISTMAS!
On a side note having nothing to do with Christmas, I went to the gym this morning and did the eliptical machine for 20 minutes and then I walked a mile around the track and I was feeling pretty good that I even made it to the gym and that Jessie didn't get us kicked out, when out of no where an older lady in a denim track suit up and passed me! haha So I finished my mile and left the track since I was so ashamed haha maybe tomorrow I will catch her!
Tis the season....
Since it is only 20 days until Christmas that means Mary needs to start writing the Christmas letter. She informed us that we all needed a list of exciting things we have done this year otherwise she will write a whole letter about herself. I have no doubt that she could and would write a whole letter about herself.
My year has been uneventful, not like when I was in high school and had a whole page of things I had accomplished over the year.
This is my list of things that I have come up with:
- I am still going to school at SDSU for dairy production and agriculture business and am currently on the 4 1/2 - 5 year program....
- I worked for the LeSueur County 4H Program as their summer intern this summer and had the time of my life! I love 4H and it was a dream job planning camp and activities and helping with their fair... now if only I can find an exciting job like that for this summer, so if anyone knows of anything let me know! haha
- I got to show cows at the county and state fair once again as an FFA'er. The end of the summer ends as it usually does I went back to school sick after spending 9 days at the MN State Fair. I was privileged enough to be a MnFRAC peer mentor for the 4H weekend. I got to teach the kids how to talk to the public and educate them about agriculture effectively.
- We got to go on vacation once again up north to agate lake and this year we got to bring along a boat! and Eric. haha The 4 days I got to spend there we went tubing, water skiing, sand castle building, explored Brainerd, and laid around in the sand.
- Once again weekends that were not filled with county fairs, working, or other obligations were spent at the lake tubing, water skiing, and hanging out with friends, it was a great summer!
I am sure Mary will be able to make up for the rest of us having a boring year. Although my parents probably had a more exciting year then me with my dad turning 5-0! and my mom traveling to Guatemala this fall.
Anyways I am sure that Mary will post the final Christmas letter when she has time and hopefully we will get a classy picture taken to send along. Ever since we sent the one with us "fishing" on the frozen pool we have tried to out do the last Christmas picture. I hope everyone is enjoying the holiday season as much as I have been!
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