Post Surgery Update!

Post Surgery Day 2

The second day post surgery was much like the first, but Z's mom came to visit and brought soup and some yummy rubarb dessert! It was nice to have someone come to visit, and I think Z liked seeing someone other than my smelly self! The doctor called (or was that Saturday?) and said that my toe still being numb was ok, sometimes it takes up to 36 hours. Well, right around 36 hours I started feeling it, and it hurt!

Oh yeah, and Zach had a lesson, which meant I decided I needed to move up stairs for the first time to avoid being an ugly smelly piece of furniture during his lesson. Moving upstairs meant my smarty pants decided to hop all the way upstairs, which was a stupid idea that really hurt my foot. Since then I've been scooting up the stairs, which is a much better option.

We finally decided to move up to the bedroom to sleep tonight as well. I'm not certain if I slept better or not, but Zach definitely slept better! I am still waking up at 3 to take my anti-inflammatory meds and pain meds.

Post Surgery Day 3 - First Follow-Up!

Monday was my first follow-up day with the doctor! In honor of leaving the house, I decided I should be cleaned. Zach helped me upstairs, we wrapped my foot/wrapping up in a garbage bag and lowered my stinky self into the tub. It was an odd way to bathe, with one leg stuck out of the tub, but it felt good to feel a little cleaner! It was pretty exhausting though.

We headed to the doctors in the afternoon and got to see my foot for the first time! It looks pretty crazy! The whole thing was pretty swollen, and there was quite the line of staples down the two incisions. I got some x-rays of my foot and the doc said all was well. After taking all the bandages off, my poor foot got a few minutes of fresh air before it got wrapped back up. And then it was a full cast! This is my first full cast (it goes up to under my knee) and it is HEAVY! It definitely is very warm as well, which means I have a constantly HOT foot, something I HATE. I still haven't tested the cast with pants, I'm terrified I won't be able to fit pants over my casted foot (The cast is BIG on my foot). Although skirts are always an option (without nylons though, given that I could only nylon up one leg!) I'm a little nervous about the skirt/scooter option. That and the reality that I need my leg up whenever possible, and that and a skirt could mean flashing people unnecessarily!

Post-Surgery Day 4 - Relax/Light Work

I let my work know I'd do my best to make it in to the office on Wednesday, and that I'd be at home trying to work a little on Tuesday. I've started a little work so far, and it is very difficult to concentrate.

The pain today isn't too bad... I took my last 1/2 pain pill some time this morning, I think something like 8:00 or so this morning. I guess it's only 10:30, so that doesn't really mean much hey? :) I'm loosing track of when I took what, which I guess is ok, given that I'm not in sooo much pain that I can't wait for the next one!

Overall I'm most surprised about how difficult it really is to get around. I knew it would be a pain, but I didn't realize how much energy it would take to lug around this cast and wheel around the house. The scooter is definitely better than crutches. My arms hurt from just scooting my butt up and down the stairs a few times yesterday, I can't even imagine how bad they'd hurt if I was using crutches! Still though, maneuvering around with the scooter is tough. Just getting up a few times is pretty exhausting, and having my foot below my heart still hurts and is very distracting. I'm not sure that driving right now is the best idea, and I'm a little scared that tomorrow might be rough still too! Hopefully I can try out a little driving this evening or something, and see how it feels.

Post Surgery - Day 1

Today, Saturday, I awoke still not in any major pain. I can feel the wrapping, it makes my leg feel very heavy (it goes up to under my knee) and I can feel a few of my small toes (Zach tried touching them) but as of 8:00 this morning, I can still barely feel my big toe, or the largest small toe. That makes me a little scared, I'm really hoping that doesn't mean there was nerve damage or anything.

Zach had music lessons today (9:30 am - 1:00 pm) which means he's gone until 2:00 pm or so. It's about 12:37 pm at the moment, and my foot still doesn't really hurt at all. The wrapping feels tight, but that's about it. I'm eating, I feel fine, the pain meds aren't making me too loopy (I can at least read, watch TV etc, which I couldn't last time!). Things are good.

My only current worry is that there is nerve damage or something. It is over 24 hours since I left the surgical center, and I'm still numb in my big toe (or I was at 8 am) I'm going to check with Zach again when he's home in an hour or so. I might also do a little internet research. I can't say I mind the lack of pain, but a little pain is worth a lifetime of FEELING in two toes!! I can't really feel the incisions yet either. I can definitely feel my heel, my leg and my little toes, but those were all locations where no work was done. If there was going to be nerve damage, it would be in the places I can't currently feel!

Surgery Day!

Greetings from the other side! I was already through foot surgery once 10 years ago. I hated every minute of it, it was the most painful experience in my life. Suffice to say, knowing what I was getting in to again, I wasn't thrilled with the concept of going back for more. But I did.

Surgery Day

Surgery was scheduled for 7:30 am on Friday. I had to be at the surgical center at 6:30 am. I couldn't eat of drink after midnight. I ate dinner at about 10:00 pm and had my last glass of water as I went to bed at 10:30 or 11. We were up at 5:00 am for my last regular shower for at least a month and then the drive to the center.

Once at the center, everything went pretty smoothly. We checked in, filled out a few final pieces of paperwork, waited in the waiting room for about 5 minutes, and then they came over to take me back to get ready. I had to put on the terrible little "hospital dress" which was as ugly as always, take my pregnancy test and get settled to wait. All the nurses were amazingly nice and helpful. I got to met my anesthesiologist, and heard the plan for getting me through. I would be doing "twilight sleep" meaning I might very well wake up during surgery, but would likely not remember much.

The nurse came in to put in my IV, in what she said were "little veins". That all went fine and I was hooked up to my IV with antibiotics started. We waited a little longer for the doc to show (I think he was running a little late!). Him and another doctor came in, which would be assisting him in the surgery. Both were nice and making jokes, which was nice. Once they were there, I was whisked back to the operating room where they got me moved to the surgical bed and got me hooked up. The anesthesiologist got me started on the stuff to knock me out, and I was OUT. I remember waking up a few times. I remember saying I was cold and trying to stay awake, but wasn't very successful. I know I heard some mechanical noises (maybe a drill or some screwing?) but went right back to sleep.

Back in the recovery room I woke up pretty quickly. Taking one look at the clock I realized we were running a little behind and asked the nurse to go tell my hubby everything was ok. I know he was probably out there worrying about me!

They took quite a bit of my monitoring devises off. Then they offered me water. I've never been so excited about getting something to drink in my life! The nurse mentioned my eyes lit up when I saw the glass... I was SOO thirsty!! The not eating before the surgery was fine, but the next drinking was KILLER for me. I usually drink a lot of water, so it was rough for me.

They kept me in the recovery room for about an hour, and the anesthesiologist and doc visited me. All went well, except evidently the old screw in my toe was a b**tch to get out. They actually had to drill around it a little, and then use some needle nose pliers to twist it out. Otherwise things went well. They gave me some prescriptions and directions, and I actually remember them!

The eventually wheeled me out in a wheelchair to my waiting husband and quickly I was in the car and on my way home (it was roughly 11 am)! Zach dropped me off at home and went to get my drugs and some jell-o. We got my foot up on the couch, and the animals came to smell what was going on with my foot. Once Zach was back, I hit up the jell-o and some pudding to see if I could keep some food down. SUCCESS! Given the failure last time I had surgery, I was thrilled to be able to eat. Next we hit up the soup, and decided to take the antibiotics and anti-inflammatory, to see if I could keep it down. SUCCESS!

I thought they said the numbing agent would last 8 - 12 hours (but now I'm thinking it was 8 - 24 at least!) I followed all the directions I got (foot up, ice 20 minutes of every hour, take the meds, eat). The nurses said following the directions should make the numbing agent last longer. I would have done anything she said!!!

Around 7 pm I had the hubby make some dinner (frozen bertoli pasta in a bag) and scarfed down some food. Once again, no sickness!! We decided to split one of they hydrocodone I was sent home with, to see if I could keep it down. Once again, SUCCESS! I figured the numbing agent would start wearing off soon, so I decided to take 1/2 a hydrocodone every 4 - 6 hours (in accordance with the directions, but they actually recommended the full pill). I eventually fell asleep on the couch around midnight, still with a numb ass foot. I woke up at 3 to take the next anti-inflammatory and another pain pill. Foot still number, life was gong well! :)

Appreciating Time...

I spend a lot of time dwelling on the future. I'm a planner, always have been, always will. Sometimes I think I actually enjoy planning things more than I even enjoy doing them.

I have a vary difficult time "living in the moment". I put it in quotes mostly because I don't even really know what that means to me. I'm here, I'm living, but am I "in the moment"? Probably not. My mind is usually racing to the next thing I need to do, I'm often a few steps ahead of myself. The things I need to do now? Not too interested. I'm busy planning the next vacation, the next week or the next project. Sometimes it's a miracle I get anything done.

A few years ago I took a little training seminar for work, and one of the first sessions was about time management. At first I didn't think it could mean much to me, but for my personal life I think it could be very meaningful.

I think a lot of people are familiar with the concept of putting your money towards things you value, kind of a "put your money where your mouth is" type idea. In the same respect, I think I need to start focusing on putting my time where my mouth is. (Time is money right?!)

Realistically, on a typical week, I probably spend at least 20 hours watching TV, including weekends. Some of it, is watching shows I love, but the vast majority of it is just mindless TV. Of course some level of relaxation is good, but I think I'm way past that. There are things I want to do with my time! Craft projects to pursue, family to visit, shopping to do! All that TV watching is really getting in the way. Yet somehow, I get home and I plop myself down on the couch and watch TV for 3 hours a night and suddenly, it's bed time. What a waste of life.

I wasn't always like this, I swear. I spent College working a part (almost full) time job and easily finished all my school work. I when through Grad School with a 20+ hour a week job, no problem. When I have had a million things that simply HAVE to get done, I make it happen. I know it sounds crazy, but working 40 hours a week and having all this "spare" time is really making me lazy.

Looking at the numbers, 20 hours!? of shitty TV?!, really makes me think of all the work I could be doing in that time. I could have had a million projects completed in those hours, hundreds of dollars in crafting projects (well, if I actually sold them), tons of wonderful meals cooked, books read, hours of quality time, you name it.

That's it... I'm going to put my time where my mouth is and stop being so damn lazy. As Nike would say, Just Do It! I'm not sure how that is supposed to sell me shoes... but whatever. :)

Weddings are Dangerous...

So I haven't written here in well... forever it seems.

The wedding has taken over my life (well, at least my non-work life) and eaten my spare time up with projects and planning. It probably doesn't help that we decided in December that we were going to get married in a few months. By a few months, I mean February 13th. Oh yeah, and plan a 12-day Mediteranean Cruise with a Parisian side trip to boot. Yeah, I'm nuts.

That is a lot of planning to do in like basically 2 months. It seemed like a long time when I started, but it has gotten away from me very quickly. Early on I created a little breakdown of the tasks that would need to be accomplished each week. The lists have gotten longer, but having only 2 months really teaches one to prioritize. It also kept my crazy ideas in check. Our invitations were awesome handmade little works of art. They took a lot of time and energy, but given that our guest list is 25 people we love, it was 100% worth the effort.

Last weekend my mom and I made a bouquet for me and a corsage for Z out of all vintage flowers. I must say, it is pretty awesome.

I'm still mulling over doing some type of a handmade "favor". I hate the word "favor". Given that we're down to two weekends, it might not happen. I'm still not over the idea though.

Unfortunately, all the time I've spent wedding/honeymoon planning has left virtually NO time for other types of planning. Like business planning, and craft planning.

I can't wait for the wedding, and I can't wait to have some time to plot and plan some of my business ventures after that. We've got quite a bit of downtime on the ship during our vacation, and I'm hoping to spend some of that doing some business brain storming.

I'm hoping to set up some business goals for 2010 and actually meet them. Secretly, I'm hoping that some day I'll find myself working from home full-time doing crafty stuff I love. Don't get me wrong, I love what I do now. It just doesn't fulfull the creative side of my life, and I love that more.

Combining Finances....

Sucks.

I shouldn't say that... the end result won't really suck, but I can safely say the process if not much fun. It's awkward and uncomfortable... but I guess it's necessary.

You see, I have always been a very independent person. In the last few years I had develop quite the little budgeting system for myself, which included a list of what bills get paid by which paycheck (I get paid every two weeks, so basically it came out to what gets paid the first half of the month and the second) and then how much money I had to do with as I pleased. Included in that was a plan to pay off all my credit card debit, save for vacations and save for a 6-month "emergency fund". Yes, I had actually started doing that! I was very proud of how far I had come. I knew exactly what I made, and I knew pretty much where every cent of it was going.

When Zach and I first started living together I paid "rent", which covered my half of the mortgage and other home related bills each month. When we went grocery shopping we'd split the bill, and at times we'd each just sort of cover it. It took some getting used to, but it worked.

Then earlier this year Zach and I decided to refinance the house and officially put me on the mortgage. (Isn't that sweet, at the time I didn't have a ring but I did have the 30-year mortgage commitment. Nothing says love like sharing major debt!) Then Zach and I decided to create a "household" checking account (Yeah, I know. We were just tipping our toe into the pool of joint finances). We added up all the "household" bills, including all the usual stuff and then added food and other household type supplies to the list. We figured out about how much each of us would pay towards this account, and so we each tried to do that. I did mine direct deposit (because my work makes that nice and easy and it makes the checking account free!). Zach would deposit when he could.

Here is where the trouble started. I worry about money, well, a lot. I check my checking account on-line every day (Except on vacation, but well, that is mostly because I don't generally have Internet access). I have spreadsheets that detail when debt will be paid off. I signed up for mint.com so I could see where all my money was going. Is it all a little OCD? Probably. But I spent a lot of time in my past feeling NO control over my money, and I hated that. I like knowing where it is going and knowing I'll have enough to pay all the bills all the time. Hence all the lists and spreadsheets and madness. It all gives me the sense of control over my money that I really need.

Well, when Zach and I joined forces, it was no longer that easy any more. Zach's current financial position is less constant than mine, so he gets money throughout the month at various times, including often just cash. Zach's money doesn't magically show up in the account (he has to actually deposit it) and I found myself having to remind him about depositing the necessary money for his half of the bills. I would worry he didn't have enough, but wouldn't want to tell me. It wasn't too bad though. There weren't too many "variables" because mostly, it was just the regular bills, food and household stuff (lots of trips to Target!) and I was still basically paying for most of my personal stuff myself, and frankly I had a lot of "extra" money to spend as I pleased. I could fairly easily see that we were generally on track for our joint stuff, and I had to make comfort with that fact.

Well, then, Zach went to what I'll call "full" unemployment. Meaning his dad's company wasn't paying anything and it was no longer paying any of the benefits it was before (health insurance and gas mainly). So our household now had more bills to pay and less to pay it with. It became increasingly obvious that combining financial forces was the only option to make ends meet at our house. So now we're in the process of just having a joint checking account, and paying all bills and everything out of the joint account.

Suffice to say all the work that goes into changing everything over to a new checking account is 0% fun. Virtually all my bills are on auto-pay, so I had to go back and switch them all over to the joint account to get paid. Zach is still in the process of doing the same. So far, only one bill didn't get paid on time because of the change over, which isn't too bad.

The bad part? I've lost all of my sense of happy money controlling security. I'm trying to spreadsheet my way to happiness with the joint situation... but so far I'm coming up pretty darn short. You see, we've learned here that Zach and I have been using two VERY different means to control our checking accounts.

Zach was using the, I pay each of my bills as the come in, and I generally have X amount sitting in my checking account. He liked writing out the checks for each bill, so he knew exactly where his money was going. As he told me, if the X amount was going up, he would throw some into savings, or pay off some extra credit card or other bills. Oh yeah, and Zach likes paying for everything in cash if he can. He likes having a lot of cash on him. That's just how he rolls.

I, on the other hand, used a system of auto-bill pay. Half of my bills were paid with the first paycheck of the month, the second half with the second paycheck and they all paid themselves. I marked on my google calender when each would come out, but that was it, I barely thought about that money at all. I knew I had X amount of each paycheck to spend as I saw fit for gas, clothing or whatever else I wanted. Rarely would all of X not get spent. You see for me, when there was money waiting around, I like to spend it on fun stuff. I already had a fairly aggressive debt paying off plan built into the bill paying, so I was comfortable with those and didn't feel a strong need to pay off more with my fun money. Man do I love spending fun money. Oh, and cash? I don't really like having cash on me. A little is fine, but more than $100 and I get uncomfortable. I like using my debit card so I can track where the money goes easily.

It doesn't take a rocket scientist to see that these two money schemes aren't going to be very compatible. So how do we do it?

If you've got a good plan, let me know. :) We're still working through it. I think a lot of compromising is going to be in the schedule. For the moment we're reading "Smart Couples Finish Rich" which is a somewhat hokey book (You have to get past the idea that he has copyrighted half of the stupid gimmicky phrases he uses.) on I guess planning to become rich. I think you can imagine who purchased this book... but Zach seems in to the idea of getting us on the right track (and I think that getting rich part didn't hurt). It seems to have helped to foster some discussion about our joint financial situation and our joint financial future, which were both needed. I'll let you know how our progress goes!

A Little Move...

In an effort not to bore people with all my wedding thoughts (unless they want to hear them) I've moved my wedding related blabbering over to another blog.

Check out http://lefthandedpartnersincrime.blogspot.com/ to view any and all of my wedding thoughts and mussings!