Mom's and Wives can't be sick!

I was last on here 21 April, telling you about my husband. What I didn't mention was my ankle. I had a total left knee replacement March 2008, one year ago. Well this past week, as it started on Monday, my left ankle started to swell up. it has swollen up before so I really didn't think too much of it, kept going doing my normal routines each day. Well, by Wednesday, 22 April, my ankle was really swollen and hurt, so I called my primary doctor up so he could sign some disability paperwork for me, as I'm medically retired. I wanted him to see my left ankle too, and went to see him. He looked at my ankle and said that he wanted me to start wearing some compression hosiery on both legs. My right ankle was slightly swollen, nothing like my left ankle. I even had some redness around my ankle and top of my foot when he saw me. He took my disability paperwork and said give him until the end of the week to get it filled out, which I told him OK. My primary doctor told me to take the prescription he had written for the compression hosiery to the medical store and I did. I had no idea they had to measure you for these things. He also had ordered me the kind you wear with a garter belt, in silver color at that! I couldn't believe what he had ordered for me. I told the lady at the medical store, and I don't mean anything by this, but I said to her "Do I look like a blue haired little old lady?" She laughed and said that blue haired old ladies wouldn't wear the garter type compression stocking if they were for both legs. The doctor normally only orders the garter belt kind if you only have to wear one compression stocking on one leg, not on both legs. Remember he had wanted me to wear them on both my legs, not just one! I asked her didn't they come in pantie hose style and a tan or more 'human' looking color than silver? She said yes they do and I should call my doctor back up before she ordered them and see if he'll change it to pantie hose in a flesh or tan color. I called and got his nurse and she acted put out when I ask for a different kind, pantie hose, not garter things and flesh color ones, not silver. She then said to me "Do you want those in white?"I couldn't believe my ears, had she not heard me say flesh color or tan? I then told her "NO, not white, flesh or tan color". She said she would get the doctor to sign the new prescription and fax it to the medical store. What a hoot. I had no idea they had to measure you for these things and the cost. I almost fainted when the lady at the medical store said they cost almost $100.00 a pair! I couldn't hardly believe it. I am on medicare and have two other insurances, as I'm disabled. She told me that medicare wouldn't cover the cost due to I did not have any lesions on my legs. I still couldn't believe my ears. I asked her why..she went on to tell me that is the way medicare was set up, normally diabetics have lesions on their legs and that is the only way medicare will cover some of the cost. I don't have diabetes either. I told her I have other insurance, and she sad that should cover the cost, but she would let me know. I pray these things will last a life time! I normally ruin regular pantie hose the first time I put them on! I can't wait..then again, this is what I found out when I had to go to the ER on Saturday.
Well by Saturday, and in the meantime my husband's back is still killing him, my ankle looked the size of a good sized grapefruit! The redness went down to the bottom of my foot, almost on the direct bottoms of my feet. The top of my left foot was so swollen, all I could get on was a slide on pair of bright pink house slippers! The swelling had gone up half my leg to almost my calf by Saturday. I told my husband I wanted to go get it checked out but was afraid they would put me in the hospital. He told me to go anyway, and if they did, we'd come up with something. So it didn't take for me to hear that twice, as I was getting my purse and a list of my medications and headed for our little favorite hospital here in Wichita, KS. I drove myself to the hospital, as my husband's pain level is still quite high and he's taking pain medication for the pain of his pinched nerve, whether it's in his back or in his pelvis. He sees his neurologist doctor this coming Tuesday, 28 April. Got to the hospital and they called me pretty quick, and the nice female doctor came in the room and looked at my ankle and asked me how long it had been that way. I told her it had started the first of the week, but told her our situation at home, with my husband's pinched nerve and his horrible pain, can't walk or do anything for himself hardly, and we also have custody of our 7 yr. old granddaughter too. She felt my leg and saw it was warm, red and swollen. She said that she was going to send me down to get a test on my leg to see if it was a blood clot. So they did put an IV type needle in my arm and drew blood. They left the needle in so if they had to draw more blood they could. Isn't it wonderful that they do that now a days instead of poking several holes in you for blood like they use to. So went down for the test for the blood clot and came back to the room. They put me in a wheel chair to keep me off my sore ankle and swollen leg. I got back to the room and another doctor came in and said it didn't look like a blood clot but they were waiting for the test results. It came back finally and it was not a blood clot. The first female doctor that had originally came into my room in ER came back in and said that it looked more like an infection to her. She looked all over my leg and foot, even in-between my toes. She was looking for a cut, bug bit or anything that could have caused an infection to enter. Well she kept looking and finally I saw a pin sized hole in the middle toe on my left foot. She looked at the way the swelling was going and she said that was probably the spot where the infection got in my foot. She asked me if I had been outside working in the garden recently or did I accidentally hit my leg or foot. I told her I had been out pulling some old weeds out of last year's garden a little bit this past week. My 86 yr. old neighbor had offered to come do it, but I felt so bad that he had wanted to do it, so I had gone out Wed. and just pulled them up myself, but left them in a small pile in the garden area. I guess I should have gone ahead and put the dead plants,old leaves and garden trash in my neighbor's garbage can, as he had come outside and told me I could use his garbage can as ours was always full and his is just about empty each week. See our next door neighbor is 86 years old and last year (2008) his wife died one day before her 90Th birthday. He had been her care giver and he is very lonely right now and wants to just help out to keep busy. He hated being inside all winter and now it's warmer, we both love to be out in the yard. So I should have known that if I hadn't picked the old dead sticks and leaves up and put them in his trash can as he said I could have done, he would go out and do it himself! Which he did just that! He has a riding lawn mower and cut our grass for us Wednesday, as he did ask me if I didn't mind if he had done that. I told him no I sure didn't mind, as I don't think I could have stood on my foot that long to cut the grass. As it was, just pulling out the dead weeds and old left over dead garden parts almost did me in. I had tried to weed-eat around the little trees and house after he cut the yard, or I'm sure he would have attempted to do that too. I know he wants to help out and that keeps him going, but my husband and I do feel bad, due to his age and my husband (nor I) had cleaned up the old stuff from last year's garden sooner before his back, had started bothering him. Our neighbor Loren, loves doing things for people, so I guess it was OK for him to just do it for us. Well he did come over Saturday, before I went to the hospital and he told us he had gone out to the pile of old garden stuff I had pulled up and left there, and put it in his garbage can himself. He didn't want us to be mad he had done it, for he said he had an old 'manure fork' in his shed and it only took him three forks full to get it all in the garbage can! Of course we felt guilty, but hey, by then my foot was killing me and I just wanted to not think of having to go pick up trash outside. I just wanted to see the doctor and get my foot and leg looked after, it was so swollen and red. Oh yes, Loren's wife had to wear compression stockings too, so guess what, he brought me over an old pair of hers he still had. He said he hoped I could use them, cause he paid a lot for them too..'back when'. He said he paid right at $30.00 a pair 'back when', and I told him what the pair the medical place was charging now, a pair, $100.00!, Loren almost fell off the recliner he was sitting in. He said he knew they cost a lot 'back when' he had to buy them for his wife, but they had gone up a lot. Like I said,he has such good intentions, and he and I both don't like to waste perfectly good things. So I tried on one of the compression stockings and it fit my 'not so swollen leg', but I couldn't get anything on the left leg it hurt like all get out and there was no way I could get that darn stocking over my toes even. So I told Loren, thank you and he only stayed a little bit and said he had to go back home to watch a TV show. But it was very thoughtful for him to remember what I had told him that my doctor has said the first part of the week when I saw my primary doctor and he had ordered me to wear compression stockings on both legs. Loren is a good decent man, and he is a great neighbor. He attends a church, not ours, but he goes to one that the pastor had did the services for his wife's funeral, so he was comfortable at that church and knew everyone. We told him if he wanted to ever 'visit' our church, to let us know, we'd sure want him to come. But like I told my husband, even if you can't get out and go to church, God can still be with you. As it is the winter time, Loren can't get out on the ice and snow, so he doesn't get to go to church much, and he sits home and reads his bible. I told my husband that God will watch over us, no matter where we were.
Getting back to my ER visit. The doctor examined my leg and said she though I had either a staff or bacterial infection. She had wanted to keep me in the hospital to give me antibiotics through an IV. I told her she could do what ever it was she had to do to me to get my leg and foot better, but I could not and would not go into the hospital. I explained to her and the other doctor that my husband was home with a bad pinched nerve in his back and couldn't take care of our 7 yr. old granddaughter we have custody of. She has a lot of emotional problems and she probably won't understand if I was in the hospital and wasn't home. There her Daddy (papa) was laid up with a bad leg, and her mommy (nanny) had to go to the hospital over her bad leg and foot. So the doctor said she would have to give me an bag full of antibiotics in an IV there at the ER and I'd have a prescription to take home with several different kinds of antibiotics to take for the next 10 days. So that is how it all went. She told me that her and the other doctor went out to research my symptoms while I was getting the antibiotics in my IV, and that I had what is call "Cellulitis. It is a kind of bacterial infection of the skin that has a tendency to spread. That was how mine was acting, moving up my leg and down to the bottom of my feet. It usually involves the skin and subcutaneous (under the skin) structures, but sometimes even deeper tissues can be involved. The most common way for cellulitis to get started is through a small break in the skin through which the bacteria enters. There are usually symptom of pain (especially with movement), just like I had. It has swelling, redness and increased warmth, enlarged lymph glands may be present. I had almost all those symptoms that sort of gave it away. There may also be red streaks extending towards the center of the body - this is evidence of spread of the infections through the lymphatic channels. Cellulitis is potentially very serious because of the ability for it to spread to the blood stream or to other structures such as tendons and joints. Along with the antibiotics, you are suppose to apply heat, like using a heating pad, and rest and elevate the infected part. It is very important that you follow the directions very carefully or else you could have a big mess on your hands if you don't do exactly what the doctor tells you. I guess with an already sick/disabled husband at home and a 7 yr. old granddaughter, no wonder they wanted to keep me in hospital..Like I told them, we don't have any relatives that live close by that can come and help out. Of course you have friends, but you don't want your friends taking time away from their family or things they have to do to 'baby sit' you. Plus, mommies and wives aren't supposed to get sick. Who else would take care of the family like "MOM" does? The doctor at the ER made me promise to call my primary doctor up on Monday and get in to see him. I had not told her that all he thought I should do was wear compression stockings..in silver with a garter belt. You just wait until I see him Monday! Needless to say, he'll get an ear full. Why didn't he recognize this infection sooner? Maybe it wasn't swollen up enough or red enough when I say him for him to recognize it. Maybe I shouldn't be so judgemental until I give the guy a chance..right? RIGHT!
This is how my week has been going. It seems when it rains, it pours! Until tomorrow, or whenever I get back to having time to continue my "Life as it is"...but it's a good life. GOD gave HIS only son so we can have a 'good' life. I am blessed~I live in a great country that lets me decide what religion I want to be. It lets me attend the church of my choice. But I have that choice and I know that God is always with me, no matter where I am and what I'm doing. HE can be with you too, so let HIM into your heart today. Let HIM help you too.

My Savior Is Always With Me

I would like first to say that I prayed today for God to take away my husband's pain. He really has never been a "sick" person. The biggest event in his life since we've been married, as it will be 22 years Oct. 3rd, was a broken ankle until last year, 2008. As you know we have custody of our 7 year old granddaughter. She has a lot of emotional issues, so she has to be rocked to sleep every night. She's never ever has just gone to bed in her bedroom. We leave a bright night light on in her room and she still won't just go get in her bed and go to sleep at night. We rock her, smooth her hair and sing to her, after we read her a story of course and she falls asleep in my arms. Craig, my husband, would pick her up and carry her to bed each night. Well last year, 2008, it finally caught up with him. He was having horrible pains in his low side area and went to see his doctor. He was diagnosed with a hernia. He went in hospital, had surgery to repair it and did fine. Came home, went back to work and the pain sort of continued, but moved to the other side. He and his doctor thougth at first it was just the pain from having surgery, the pulling and all one experiences in adominal surgery. But 6 months after the first surgery for his hernia, he went back in hospital and he had another hernia on the other side. So needless to say, he went back into surgery to have the new hernia repaired. He did very well after the surgery, until this leg pain he's been having started. Now you're looking at a 49 year old guy that has been in excellent health all his life, no weight problems, no smoker and boom, it seems that all he is having now is health problems. The pain he was put into hospital with this past week has not let us any. He is still having it, really bad at times, but the pain never leaves. He is taking a lot of medication to help with pain, but it doesn't really do anything except put him asleep. That is good in itself, but when he wakes up, the pain is still bad. Please everyone pray that the leg pain goes away or at least lets up some. He can't see the neurologist until 28 April, which is a week away now. I guess if he were in hospital, they would work him in, but since he can't stay in hospital they give him the next "closest" appointment. Please pray that the pain will go away or at least let up a bit. I can tell he's in pain by the way he talks, or should I say sort of yells. I asked him tonight, as he was getting onto Austin for not eating supper. I asked him "are you in pain?" He said "yes, how do you know"? I told him, well for one thing, by the way your talking to people. I know he felt guilty, but when your in pain, as most of us know, you can't always be chearful. Austin went over to her "daddy", as she calls him now, "oh daddy, I love you and if I can kiss it and make it go away I would". What comes out of the mouths of babes! As we tell her when she gets a 'boo boo'', "we'll kiss it and make it better". I guess she was only trying to do the same thing. We explained to her that sometimes kissing doesn't always make pain go away. But if she prayed to God, that would help her "daddy', papa', so very much. She said her prayers and hoped that God could take "daddy's" pain away from his leg. We all prayed and she said she could hear the angels tell her that her 'daddy' will be better. It makes you wonder if little children do have a direct line to our Maker. I know I won't doubt what she says, but it always makes me wonder when she comes out with these little tid-bits, if indeed she can hear Him. But that is between her and God, and who are we to question it. I would appreciate it if you all would continue to pray for Craig and that his pain levels go down somewhat. Thank you all that have called him and prayed with him. He knows that his Savior is always with him.
Good night and will continue this tomorrow. Looks like I never heave time to write on here until very late or early in the morning time. But with continued prayers, we'll all feel better.

Good Intentions Sometimes Go A-Stray!

Last Sunday, Easter Sunday at that, I had to miss teaching my children church kids. I teach grades 1st through 5th grade students. We don't have a whole lot of kids that age in elementary school. I'd say on a good Sunday, I'd have about 8 or 9 kids coming to my class. Last Sunday, Easter Sunday, I had planned out my entire lesson. I was going to do the story on the Resurrection Eggs story. But none of it happened. Why you ask? Well you see my husband of 22 years woke up early on Easter Sunday morning, as we were trying to get ready to go to Easter Sun Rise Service and breakfast at the church. Nope, didn't happen. My grandaughter, Austin, got up and dressed. My husband, Craig, tried to get out of bed, but he couldn't move his right leg as he said it felt like his knee was going to explode. I tried to help him get up on it, but the more he tried, the more it hurt. I convinced him to go to the ER so a doctor could check it out. I looked at his right leg and it was just slightly swollen. It wasn't red, or anything else. Just he couldn't touch it, nor could he put any pressure on that right leg any place on it. I took my granddaughter, Austin, to the church, where her wonderful babysitter was working with the Youth Group. She could watch over Austin, however, since breakfast was almost over by the time we got there. I then drove Craig to the ER, which is at St. Joe's hospital here in Wichita, Ks.
They were not busy, thank goodness, so they took Craig right in. The doctor's examed it, and felt it must be a blood clot or something to that effect. They sent Craig down to a special room where they did a doppler test to see if it was a blood clot in his leg area. Nope, it was not a blood clot. Then they did a special test to see if it the veins had stenosis, or narrowing in them so the blood wouldn't get to his feet and toes. His toes and feet are always cold and the doctor told him 'he'd hate to be his wife, with all those cold feet he hat!". I told the doctor that Craig had always had cold feet every since we'd been married 22 years ago! I guess for one you don't see too many couples being married for 22 years (together) now, and the fact that he still had cold as ice feet that long! But we will be married for 22 years come this Oct. 3rd 2009. The doctor's then said they wanted to admit him and run more test and do an MRI on his spine and legs. So they admitted Craig to the hospital Easter Sunday. That evening they did the MRI with and without contrast on his spine and leg, and did not really see anything that would cause this much pain. Out of 1 to 10, Craig's pain level was a 10+! You couldn't touch any part of his leg from the pelvic area down to the tips of his toes. You couldn't put any pressure on the calf part of his lef and you could not squeez or touch it at all. The doctor's said they had never seen a leg act like this. So they consulted some neruologist doctors. They said they saw in the MRI a slightly compacted disc in the lower back, but that it wasn't bad enough to cause all theis pain Craig was having. We prayed that the pain would subside and that it wasn't a serious problem. I know that God must have heard us because they did give Craig some shots and the pain subsided some what. The medicine in the shots was a strong narcotic and it made Craig sleepy and not able to do too much of anything. So given that, they tried to get him to just stay in bed and not get out for any reason. I brought Craig my prayer shawl that was sent to me by a dear lady on my online prayer shawl group. I wished that Craig had one, but I will try my best to make him one now. The doctor said that they wanted to keep him off the leg and on the pain medication to see if it would get any better. After two days in bed, they told Craig to try to get up and walk to the bathroom door and back, which with help from me or the nurse he was able to do that. (Here it is late again and I'll finish this tomorrow...I hope)

Colors - Have You Thought About Their Meaning?

ORANGE is for Heaven so bright. (2 Samuel 22:13-14)

YELLOW is for God's perfect light. (Matthew 5:48, Revelation 21:22-23)

BLACK is for the sins we've made. (Romans 3:23)

RED is for the blood He gave. (Romans 5:8)

WHITE is for our cleansing from sin. (Psalm 51:1-2)

GREEN is for our new life in Him. (Colossians 1:10)

PINK is for His free gift to share. (Matthew 28:19-20)

PURPLE is for the crowns we'll wear! (2 Timothy 4:8)

The colors explained:
Orange:Heaven is a beautiful and wonderful place where God lives. (Revelation 4:1-11)
Yellow: God is perfect and holy. Sin can not be with God. (Revelation 4:8b)
Black: We have huge problem. The Bible tells us that we do wrong things, we sin. It is impossible for us to be perfect! The Bible also tells us that our sins must be punished, and that blood must be shed to cover our sins. (Hebrews 9:22)
Red: The great news is that God loves you and me and sent his perfect SON, Jesus, to be punished in our place. When Jesus died on the cross, he took the punishment that we deserved. (2 Peter 2:21-25.)
White: Only Jesus' perfect blood can make us clean. (Hebrews 9:11-15.)
Green: God no longer sees us as sinful, but made new in Jesus. We can now grow to be like God, because his Spirit now lives in us. (Romans 8:9 and Colossians 1:10-14.)
Pink: God wants us to share his free gift! (Matthew 28:19-20)
Purple: When you believe in Jesus, you are part of God's royal family. We are a royal priesthood. He has promised his children a crown and a special room in his mansion in Heaven for eternity! (1 Peter 2:9-10, 2 Timothy 4:8, John 14:1-4.)

Dealing with emotions

I was trying to post something every day. That didn't work out now did it? NOPE! But I will try to get a little posted tonight. The house is quite and it seems that everyone is asleep but me. Of course my lovely granddaughter is asleep right now. That is why it seems so quite now. My husband, Craig, rocked Austin asleep. You see even though she is 7 years old, we still have to rock her to sleep. She has never gone to bed in her bed when it is bed time. We've tried believe me. But it's something with her emotions now and getting into her bed in her own bedroom. She doesn't have a problem with sleeping with us however. Say IF she has a little girl that is coming over for a "sleep over", she can go to the bedroom and sleep. She has her little tantrums too. I shouldn't call what she has tantrums. She has a lot or rage in her sometimes. I'm sure it' from what she was exposed to as a baby. Her mother left her at 13 months old, just took the three olest kids, Jessie, Johnny and Allie. She moved from California to outside of Reno, NV. Just left Austin in Ca. with her daddy, who was working about 16 hours a day. He couldn't pay for child support and hire someone to watch Austin too. Austin's Uncle Bill was her babysitter for a while too.I'm so sleepy I'll have to finish this tomorrow....until then..
Posted by MollieJ143