Sinus Background:
I have had a sinus infection since Dec 2008. It was really bad in September – so I went to and ENT. We tried some different methods to see if the sinus infections would stop, and I had a CT scan. He gave me a strong antibiotic to take for 3 weeks (it was a LOVELY 3 weeks – no sinus infection) and irrigation. 2 days after I stopped the antibiotics my sinus were COMPLETELY full again – back to a full blown sinus infection. I was devastated. The ENT said it was time for surgery – he would straighten out my septum, reduce some glands, clean out my sinuses, and make the openings to my sinuses bigger. All of this would first clean out the infection that was there, and second help it so I wouldn’t get more major sinus infections. I wanted to do the surgery – but couldn’t make it work until January – so I “survived” the rest of the year. Then with my school schedule and everything I decided to wait until the 2nd week of Jan for the surgery

Meanwhile – back at the ranch. Last summer I was “de-junking” my house – and as I was cleaning stuff out I dropped something really really heavy on my left foot. When it first happened I thought I might have broken something – so I went to community care and had it X-rayed - luckily nothing was broken. After rest and meds, it still hurt. Over Christmas I almost couldn’t sleep because wherever I put my foot it HURT. The 1st week of Jan I went to the Foot Dr to see if there was anything we could do. He did an ultrasound and saw some scar tissue around the nerve – and said it was now a surgical case – he would go in and “release” the nerve and it should recover and no more pain. I ½ jokingly said “what about next Wednesday”, where my sinus surgery was already scheduled. He said he would talk to the ENT and see if they could work something out – They did (and my Foot Dr completely rearranged his schedule to make it work.

Wednesday
Now as I go through the next few days I don’t want to “blame” or “accuse” anyone. I don’t feel like it was someone’s fault that this happened, it just happened, and I need to piece it all together.

I was in the hospital by about 6 am – the surgeries started at about 8. Everything went well with the surgeries – I was back in my room by 11 am. About and hour later I tried to go to the bathroom – it didn’t work – but it was ok. They asked if I wanted pain meds – and I said yes – so they gave me 2 Loritab and I went to sleep. No monitors were attached to me – so noting was “watching” my pulse, blood pressure, Oxygen stats, ect. I was deep asleep - I do remember my mom trying to wake me up a few times – but I was in a deep fog. My mom flagged down a nurse and told her that I wouldn’t wake up – they put monitors back on me and my Oxygen saturation was at about 30%. Your O2 sat is supposed to be between 90-100. If you get below 88 the alarms go off on the monitor. It took them a long time to wake me up. And when they finally did I was still pretty “out of it”. Everything was orange. And my ears were totally in a tunnel. If someone wasn’t standing right next to me I couldn’t understand what anyone were saying – it was just a buzz. But I did hear something about spending the night – I didn’t want to spend the night – but I could tell my mom was pretty worried. So the wheeled me from Day Surgery toward the ICU. I was ½ awake and when I saw them wheeling me toward the rooms Bonnie’s was in last year I had a panic attack. I remember (what I thought was yelling – but I’m sure it wasn’t that loud) no no no no no no no not that room no no no no no. The put me in a room – but it wasn’t one of Bonnie’s. I was stressed and worried and freaking out. By this time my sister Johanna and her husband Jared were there too. I had Jared get a hold of the Bishop and they gave me a blessing – so I was able to calm down. I was mostly out of it – just laying in bed barely able to move. My nose was all plugged up because of the sinus surgery – so I had a mask on my mouth giving me oxygen. I was a little scared to go to sleep – scared I wouldn’t wake up – wasn’t really sure what was going on.

Thursday
I woke up at about 6 am – I was still on oxygen – but feeling a little better. The first few hours were frustrating – I was worried about my insurance and if it was coving things. I switched insurance plans starting Jan 1st that would pay for most of the surgeries - and with the switch I was scared they had my old insurance plan and I would have to pay lots more. I wanted to know exactly what was going on. The nurses were really nice – but they weren’t quite sure who my Dr was (since I had surgery with two doctors there wasn’t a Dr listed on my chart). I was really stressed and worried. I finally was able to talk to someone in billing – and they said that they had my new insurance plan. That relieved some of the stress.
The nurses figured out that the ENT was my official Dr. He was going to come in on his lunch break to check on me. He wanted them to take some chest X-rays to see what was going on. Someone came to get me for the chest X-ray. They did not transport me with oxygen – so by the time I got down to X-ray I was really light headed. I told them – and the “in charge” person kinda freaked – but gave me oxygen. Then I had to stand up to take the X-rays. I was completely out of breath, and I couldn’t put any pressure on my left foot. So it was Exhausting to stand and hold still on one foot to get the X-rays taken. By the time I got back to my room I was a wreck again. Even though I was laying on back I felt like I was curled up in a fetal position and about 2 inches big. I was barely breathing – my little 2 inch body could only breath in a little teeny tiny bit at a time. It was really bad – I wasn’t sure if I could even keep breathing let alone live. It took a few hours and my wonderful mom often reminding me to BREATH until I was “back” to myself. The Dr came in and we talked. At this time my O2 sats were staying high enough only if I was consciously thinking about breathing. If I would focus my mind on something else my sats would drop – the alarm would sound, and I would have to focus on breathing again. I would not have lived w/out the oxygen they were giving me. The Dr said my lungs weren’t open enough – so I needed to stay another night and see if they could get my lungs working better. I was given and “incentive spirometer” (sp?) to work with every 15 min to make my lungs work better. I was feeling a little better but still a little scared. I stayed the night again with an oxygen mask.

Friday I was feeling much better. I got the word about 8 that the Dr was coming and we would make a decision. We decided it was time to go home. I still have to have oxygen – but now I’m home. I still tire very easily - and have to keep my foot elevated most of the time. But I can hobble back and forth in my house. My mom is staying with me until the Dr appt on Mon. Hopefully by then I can be off oxygen and will more quickly recover.

I really appreciate all the visits and calls I’ve gotten. I’ve felt your prayers – they kept me going – especially when I was only 2 inches big.

I'm HOME!!!!!

It is so nice to be in my OWN house and not in a hospital room. I'm still on oxygen - but I'm HOME. My mom will stay with me until my Dr appt on Monday.

Day 3 Morning

I slept really well last night. They had some moist air blowing in my face all night - so I was able to keep my oxygen up all night. Yesterday the ENT took the packing out of my nose - so I can now breath through my nose - which is really nice. I still have to take big deep breaths through my mouth to keep my oxygen up. I might have to take oxygen home with me - but at least I'll be home!! More updates later

Day 2 - still in the hospital

I woke up feeling a little better - but after a few hours I started having trouble with my lungs. They still haven't recovered completely from the anesthesia. I have to really concentrate to keep breathing. If I would try to go to sleep my stats would go way down. So I'm probably spend another night in the hospital. I'm pretty weak - but I've felt your prayers.

Amy is spending the night in the hospital. After surgery she returned to her room and was doing fine. She was in a lot of pain and was given pain meds. She slept very deeply and her oxygen levels dropped. It was a concern and there was a little panic, but after being on oxygen her levels rose, but she was having a hard time waking up. After she woke up she did not feel well and the decision was made to keep her overnight. She was moved to a new room, which was somewhat traumatic because she was put in the room next to where her friend Bonnie was after the accident. Amy was a little panicked. Jared and her bishop gave her a blessing and she has calmed down, is doing fine. She has great nurses and Johanna and Jared have come to visit.

Day 1 (at the Hospital)

Everything went well in the surgery. I may have to stay the night because oxygen levels are low. I will post again in a few hours.

Before

I'm here at the hospital waiting. I've signed my left foot - so they don't operate on the wrong foot. I didn't sleep very well last night - so I'm tired (I could fall asleep right now). Mom is reading, I'm watching Good Morning America and am feeling very blessed that I don't live in Haiti. The nurse just walked in - I guess it is TIME.

My Adventure

Next Wednesday (Jan 13th) I have having Surgery. I think most of you know this -but I wanted to make sure, and to update you. The main surgery I'm having is Sinus Surgery. I've had a sinus infection for over a year and have been pretty miserable. The Sinus Surgery will make me more miserable for a little while - but should eventually make things better.

Last summer I dropped something REALLY heavy on my foot. I had X-rays taken and nothing was broken, but I bruised a nerve. I've been to the Foot Dr and have been working with him, but it still hurts most of the time. Yesterday I went in and he told me I had a bunch of scar tissue surrounding a nerve and that is what was causing me pain. He said it would eventually lead to Surgery. Half Jokingly I asked if we could do it next Wed - and he said he would talk with my ENT and see if they could work something out. The did work something out - so I'm having both surgeries at the SAME TIME (hahahahahaha). I'll be in a lot of pain for a few days - but should be recovered enough to go back to work in about a week.

I plan on updating this blog at least once a day - so you can follow my fun adventure. You are also welcome to call or come visit if you live close enough.

My Lovely Morning

This morning I must have turned my alarm clock off. It is set to go off at 6:15 - I usually hit snooze once or twice and am at work by 7am. My first class starts at 7:45 - so I usually need the 45 min to gather my thoughts and make sure I'm ready to teach. Well this morning I woke up at 7:25!!!!!!!!! I panicked, quickly got dressed and did my hair, then hopped in the car to drive to work. As I was pulling into the parking lot at work I realized I didn't have my glasses on!! I have no idea how I was able to drive 2 blocks w/out my glasses, but somehow I did. I almost made it to class on time (2 min late) and survived teaching w/out glasses. Now I have two more classes to go and then I can go home and get my glasses. What an adventure :-) (And I'm soooooo thankful for glasses - if I had to live like this every day it would be really really hard!)

My lovely, neurotic, dog Scruffy

I LOVE my Scruffy - he is so sweet and kind and loving - and having someone else alive at my house who is happy to see me is a major blessing. But he is a little neurotic - I've know he has issues with the air vents (they are SCARY and to be avoided at ALL COSTS - including never EVER going into the back bedroom). Recently I bought him a set of "doggie stairs" to help him get up on the bed. I tried for 3 months to get him to use them. I used LOTS of treats to convince him that the stairs were "good" not "bad" He eventually would walk 3/4 of the way up - eat the treat I'd left, then get off and jump onto the bed right NEXT to the stairs. After a little while I moved the stairs over to where he usually jumped on the bed and he was perfectly happy to use them.

Well his latest OCD trend has showed up in his eating habits. I recently got a bigger bowl for his food so I don't have to fill it up every day. I now fill it up about once a week. Turns out he is a very "clean" eater - he picks a spot in the bowl and eats straight down. Then he moves over a little bit - and eats straight from the top to the bottom. Here is the evidence:

Day 1:


Day 3:

Day 5:



So it turns out that if my lovely dog was human, he would need counseling just as much as I do :-) I sure love him!

What I did this Summer Part 2

I went on a family vacation to Banff, Canada. We had quite an adventure - but it was a wonderful trip.

Here we are at at waterfall in Waterton



One of my favorite things of the trip was walking on a glacier - so very awesome (and cool :-)!


Later in August Chris, Natalie and family came for a while. The boys went climbing and the girls hung out with the kids. One of our favorite adventures was swimming at the Logan Aquatic Center.



I also did some sewing - but haven't completed anything. I promise to post pictures later.

What I did this Summer Part 1

Johanna and Jared were Married in the Logan Temple on July 2nd. It was a lovely wedding

One of my uncles was taking "Family Pictures" off to the side - and I wanted my "family" picture. So I gathered ALL my nieces and nephews




Later the Summer my Sprinkler system was having some struggles. Josh and his family were very kind and came up to fix them. He had plenty of help from JJ :-)


JJ and Kelsie in my hammock

Romance In Bloom Quilt

Here is my latest Quilt Finish. I originally picked this quilt because of the pretty pretty flowers - but I love it all. After piecing it I used Embroidery (on my new 830) to quilt the setting squares - this was my first adventure with quilting by Embroidery, so it isn't perfect, but I'm happy with how it turned out.

New BABY

At 9:14 this morning the newest Hanks made his appearance. No name yet - but here are some pictures.

Johanna and Jared

Even thought it is kinda crazy that my "baby" sister is getting married - I'm thrilled she is bringing Jared into our family. It is also fun to have them close. A week ago Johanna was "in charge" of the date - and this is what they did.




Then today I looked at my camera and there were some more pictures of them "together"


It is also nice having a "man" around the house. I've learned how to do lots of things by myself, but yesterday they both came over and I put them to work. Johanna weeded my whole yard. Jared got down in the "scary" crawl space to turn the sprinklers on. (It isn't that scary to anyone but me. I'm always scared I'll get down there and never get out. Whenever I have to go down I make sure my front door is unlocked and I take a phone with me - just in case I need to call someone to get me out!) . He also hung my bolt of batting on the wall, took down the Christmas lights, and carried heavy things. It was nice to have the help.

Love Is Quilt

I started this quilt last year - I finished the piecing and applique - but stopped. Now with my new machine, the blanket stitch around the applique is SOOOOOOO easy, so I pulled it back out. It took some work, but I was able to finish it in time for Mother's Day.

I'm Back

Ok - so I know I haven't posted much on this blog for the last year, but I'm making a change. I will try to post at least once a week about my life and what is going on.

Maisie's Daisies

Here is my latest quilt. I saw this in a picture from Spring Market a few months ago, and searched the internet until I found the pattern. I've been working on it the last few weeks and am glad to have the top all done.

Attack of the Killer Pumpkins

My Pumpkin plants are growing like CRAZY. They have just about taken over the rest of my garden.


They are literally killing some corn and peas by smothering them (look at the poor little corn plants, trying to survive).


I hope I get good pumpkins out of this, and next year I'll have to find another place to plant them.

Clean Pantry

So I finally got around to cleaning and organizing my Pantry. It has been a TOTAL disaster the last little while - I could barely walk into it (I should have taken a "before" picture, but I'm sure you can imagine ;-)

Here are some after pictures - it is amazing what 2 hours of hard work can do!!!