the afflicted

Remember back here, when Donovan twisted his ankle? He's been dealing with pain off & on ever since August & it was decided by the specialist that surgery would be a must, to fix the tendons that kept going slipping in and out because of the swelling that would not go down. So Wednesday this past week we checked in to the OSMC surgery center and signed up for new a new ankle.
Love how they required him to write "yes" on the correct ankle. So I saw the sharpie marker laying there on the table, and got to thinking....Let's just be extra careful and sure we got the correct foot, and write "NO" on the other one. I got as far as part of the "N" before nurse Betty let me know....if the Dr. would see markings on any other part of him...the surgery would be cancelled. So, I'm thinking the Dr. doesn't like to really joke around when it comes to which foot to operate on. I quickly got a alcohol wipe and it came right off. Whew...

The surgery went well, the Foot Surgeon reported after his surgery that the ligaments and tendons were shattered, he repaired what he could and used 2 screws to hold the rest in place. He also had to saw off part of his heel to correct the arch of his foot, to hopefully prevent further injury.

We farmed out all of the kids and got childcare to various very willing and wonderful people from 11-6 for Suzy and from after school on for the 3 oldest. Thank you Rose, Chris, & Julie!! When we got home we had a very yummy, homemade meal of freshly baked bread, poppy seed chicken, awesome applesauce, garden tea, cupcakes AND cookies! Oh how very very sweet, thank you Rose! So very tricky with all those cute little notes on each item, I can't stand to throw them away.

His first morning after surgery, it's looking like he's enjoying this just a little too much...do you think?

Don't worry I made him work for that special breakfast treatment. :) :)

It's been a very very different last 4 days for me~to say the least. Donovan picks up almost all of the slack in the evenings giving me down time...while still being at home. He usually is the one to bath the kids, tuck them in, pray with them, etc. I've always appreciated how he helps with the kids, and around the house~but now there is a whole new meaning to it. Esp. thinking about him being home for 6-8 more weeks. It's been a lot to keep up with medicine schedules, laundry, bathing one extra person in the evenings, meals, & cleaning. But I am very thankful I am healthy, esp. since I had strep throat last Monday and was majorly sweating still possibly being sick while he was having surgery.
And we've had some super sweet meals the last 2 nights brought in! And Ice cream cake!! Yummy! What a bonus.

I don't know what we would do without our church family & friends at a time like this.

Quote of the day:
From Suzy the night he got home from surgery:
Suzy: "Daddy, I'm just gonna stand right here until you need something, o.k.?" (standing 3 inches from the recliner)

under the knife

Well from the looks of yesterdays post y' all have realized that I am feeling much better after this last round of strep....I finished my last portion of antibiotic on Sunday and can still feel the effects of it because I feel great. Thank goodness last weeks strep episode didn't hit me as hard as in November because that round of strep left me beggin' for mercy. I had never been that sick in my life.

So now I am a bakin' fool. There is nothing like a surgery to motivate one to kick it in to high gear and get r' done. I'm am so thankful to have finished my baking and shopping and from here on out it's recovering from the knife in my throat feeling. Trust me I'm not trying to brag about the shopping and baking being done. Just plain happy to have it ready to go. Because I'm thinking this may take a little while to recover from.

And I will report I've had 4 c-sections, 1 kidney stone removed, and 1 appendectomy. I've never been this apprehensive about surgery. The c-sections were easy for me for the fact I got a huge grand prize at the end. I always looked forward to meeting the baby and the baby was a welcome distraction from all the pain. And the kidney stone and appendectomy were emergency so I didn't have much time to agonize over the pain about to happen. And I realize I'm not the first person to under go this kind of surgery, I will probably be just fine. I just have the night before jitters.

And sweet Jack has been having sympathy pains for dear ol' mama as he has been running a fever, coughing, and has a sore throat for the last 3 days. Tonight it was up to 101.9! So he's been home from school, waiting to brake the fever. Most of the time he is up and around and playing some, but not eating much- unless of course there is chocolate.



And let me tell you there was ALOT of chocolate today! Mama Gingerich, sister-in-law Arlene and I got together again this year to make chocolates. A tradition 2nd year running. I managed to even get 4 cream cheese danishes made.

William who begged to take a picture, shot this one of dear sick brother dripping infectious fever germs on the chocolate covered peanut butter crackers.

And here is sicky pants holding Suzy in front of all the beautiful things Arlene did today. She is a fancy one I tell you. Double Chocolate Oreo Truffles....are in the front and let me tell you they are sinful. Just plain sinful. They have a perfect texture inside and are just out of this world.

So off to getting ready for the big day tomorrow. The surgery is at an outpatient surgery center in Goshen at 8:45. No eating from midnight on, no water or even gum in the morning--so I'm already feeling sorry for the Doctor for the fact that my breath will probably cause him to reconsider his "no gum" rule on surgery day.