Survived

I am at home and doing fine. I did get to come home on Wed - no overnight stay at the hospital. I was so thankful. I wasn't much help at home, but I was present. My poor husband has been bored out of his skull playing chaffeur for the kids.

I can't yet sit very well yet, due to the incision. Not that I am worried, but it is way below the "bikini" line. Here are a couple of things that I am learning..

*The pain medicine helps, but I now have no appetite and food has no taste. Can we say diet plan?

*I might have ADD. I am having a harder time just resting than I thought I would.

*General anesthesia is just strange. First you are in the operating room, the next thing you know you are in recovery. 1 1/2 hours of my life I don't remember. Strange.

*My kids can be helpful when they want to be. Even though they still bicker.

Thanks for your prayers. I am getting tired again. Blessings

Taking the dive

This has nothing to do with swimming - amazing but true.

I have suffered with a broken tailbone for about 2 years now. I have used the "donut" shaped cushion, cortisone shots and less sitting in general. (It has taken a toll on my scrapbooking hobby). It still hurts. I have decided to schedule surgery. In fact it is occurring on Wed - today is Monday.

I had my last phone call from the admission office at the hospital. My surgeon said that the "procedure" (removal of the broken tailbone piece) is an outpatient procedure. It is scheduled for 7:30 am - I was hoping to be home by lunch time. The hospital seems to think that I am staying overnight for "pain control". I have had two children - how bad can it be? Besides, I will get more rest at home than in the hospital with the nurses always taking my vital signs and the uncomfortable beds. Please - send me home if possible!

I am extremely nervous about the whole thing. Very little can go wrong. The biggest possible complication is infection because of the location of the incision (duh?). So, just keep it clean? I have also never been under general anesthesia and have no idea how I will respond.

Please, say a quick prayer. After this is over, the rest of the summer will be a breeze. Thanks!

Blessings

River Vacation

I am back and want to share my adventures with pictures today.

We have been on a journey to follow the Mississippi river from the headwaters in Itasca, MN (northern MN) to the Delta in New Orleans, LA. This summer brought us to St. Louis, MO. This is our fourth summer following the river, but it has been a great adventure learning about the history of all the places we stop and seeing the local sights - or as many as we can.

Charity and Eli sitting in the Mark Twain Caves. Naturally carved out of the limestone. Used as a source of inspiration for his writings.

This is us at one of the last Dams on the Mississippi. One of our main goals was accomplished on this trip - to see every Dam on the river. Their are 29 locks and dams on the river from Mpls/St. Paul to St. Louis and many more dams above that to the headwaters. And we can confidently say that we have seen them all! I have a Dam Scrapbook to prove it. Now all I need to do is add the final pictures of this trip.

Me, Eli and my hubby, Roger.

Several amazing pictures of the St. Louis Arch. The process and history of how and why this was build amazes the science teacher in me. It was built in the 1960's. What an engineering feat!!






This is a picture from the top of the arch and the shadow that it made at about 11 am. I thought is was a fun shot.








Eli had to have proof that he was at the top. We had to fight off an Amish couple for this shot. They had about 100 people in the space meant for about 50. You can stay at the top for as long as you want. But, who could stand being that crowded for very long. Roger did not join us. He is not one for heights.





We also did some fun and unusual things. We went to the international bowling museum. Okay, we sort of went for the laughs, but also got to bowl at the end of the tour. Not a bad deal!

We also had to take the tour of the Budweiser brewery and go to Six Flags in St. Louis. Eli had many firsts on this trip. He has reached that golden height requirement of 48 inches tall. He got the chance to ride on waterpark slides alone and ride the big roller coasters at Six Flags. He loved every minute of it! He fits right in since the rest of us can't get enough roller coasters.

Maybe that will be our next adventure - riding roller coasters.

Along the way, we prayed for those homes that we drove past that were full of water - sandbags and all. We have never seen the water so high. Roads were closed miles from the river. We were lucky to be safe. The pictures don't really do it justice when you just see the train tracks and roads just disappear into the water. Please pray for all those affected.

I think that this post is long enough. I will try to be more consistent.

Blessings

Cyndee