Recovery: Day 1

In retrospect, last night was pretty good. Linley did have some ups and downs as you would expect.

On the up side, she did get some much needed rest. The nurses were also very nice and helpful. They were very attentive and really helped the experience be more positive. I stayed there with her and was glad to see her be able to recuperate some. It was also nice to have a good visit from Dr. Gaufin this morning. He has been very forthright and very helpful to spend whatever time we need to answer questions. She did take a walk up the hall this morning and stood up on her own so that was good too.

On the down side, she did throw up 3 times between last night and this morning. I guess that's not too abnormal considering the anesthesia, but it was hard to see her throwing up, knowing how that must feel to her tender back. She also has been dealing with a lot of pain. They gave her some stronger stuff than the morphine they had her on this morning. That has seemed to help her.

Anyway, I'm not much of a blogger but I wanted you to know how she is doing. Plus it's a good excuse to post this picture on here when she can't do anything about it...he he he.

It's Been an Interesting Day...And It's Not Over Yet

Updated below...

Hi guys,

So I've never posted on a blog before but I told Linley I'd update her blog once everything was through with her surgery. I can't exactly do that yet, but I did want to write something for now.

This morning we came to the hospital (as instructed) at 10:00. We got through all of the pre-op stuff pretty quickly. Then we sat, and sat, and sat...for over 5 hours! Neither of us could believe it. Anyway, it was ultimately just over a 6 hour wait before she got into surgery. It's now 6:45 p.m. So, I thought I should at least write something. She has been in surgery for almost 3 hours now. I talked to the operating room nurse for an update a little while ago and they said to expect at least another hour in surgery, then 45 min to an hour for time in the recovery room. Needless to say, I know the inside of the pre-op area and the surgery waiting room pretty well by now.

I'll update this post a little later once I know more. But before I sign off for now...let me just say THANK YOU! to all of you for your overwhelming support and outpouring of love. We really appreciate your friendship.

See you a little later.

UPDATE: I just talked to the doctor and the results were somewhat mixed for me. First, he did say that she is in really good physical shape and her bones were in great shape. I guess her spine is a little different story. She was originally classified as a grade 1 (25% vertebrae slip) but he is saying she is actually closer to a grade 2 (50%). So, because of this and because of some cysts he found in the nerve canal on the vertebrae above the ones he was originally fusing, he actually had to do a two-level fusion. I'm not exactly sure what that means in terms of extended recovery time or other implications. But for now, I'm just happy that she made it through it ok. The surgery ended up taking almost 4 hours and it was a little nerve wracking for me. But I'm glad she made it through the procedure. I'll let you know when I know more tomorrow.

Tomorrow is the big day…

Well I’m not sick so let’s keep our fingers crossed that it will stay that way.  I’m scheduled for my surgery at 10:00 tomorrow (Tuesday).  Austin is going to keep my blog up to date with how everything went.  He said he was going to take pictures of me in the hospital so get ready for some sweet pics of me without make-up :)  Anyway, I guess by tomorrow afternoon this will all be over with!

BYU duck pond

On Saturday I thought it would be fun to take Kylie to feed the ducks.  There were several children that morning that had the same idea, so the ducks weren’t really interested in the bread.  I have a feeling those ducks are really well fed :)  Anyway, Kylie had fun throwing the bread to the ducks and also chasing after them.  Here are a couple of pictures.

Hogle Zoo

Yesterday my friend Jessica invited me to go to the zoo with her and her son Nico.  Of course I said yes, who doesn’t like going to the zoo!  It was a nice day out and the kids loved the animals.  I’m not sure which animal Kylie liked the best… I’m thinking the monkeys.  Anyway, it was such a fun day.  Oh, by the way, does anyone know an easier way to get to the zoo?  The instructions I printed off of mapquest got us lost.  Anyway, here are some pictures.

Kylie in the middle of saying “whoa” while looking at the monkeys

Kylie and Nico

Jessica and Nico