So Long, Farewell....

Once upon a time, 7yrs ago, this clumsy lady slipped on the ice and broke her ankle and her leg.  That slip led to an emergency surgery that ended with 10 stainless steel pins and 2 stainless steel plates taking up residence in the cracks of the once whole bones in her body.  After years of torturous winters, stinging pains, painful bone spurs and aching hardware, the metal that once resided within the confines of my ankle are now gonzo!  I have toyed with this idea for years and finally decided it was time to suffer no more. It was weird that I toyed with the idea for so long.  I kind of felt like it was a security blankets of sorts.  As long as the plates and screws were in there then I wouldn't break my ankle again.  But this last winter was a beast and it hurt more often than not so I decided it was time to bid farewell to the hardware. After a visit to the doc and much discussion with the balltrain I decided it was time to get the junk out.  As you can imagine I was a little nervous...OK a lot! I have never had an elective surgery before so I had some major anxiety.  However I would say it was pretty much over nothing.  The surgery went fantastic! The doc didn't even send me out on crutches, sent me home in a boot. I have to admit, I did not miss this old companion, but the crutches were even less desirable.  The pain has been far less than what I anticipated so no complaints! I am actually almost anticipating the next snow storm just to see whether or not I will be able to feel its arrival.

Here I am post surgery! Happy to be alive as I was nervous that I would not be waking up.  

At home Cannon took some pictures of my sexy hospital bracelet, my wicked awesome soft cast and of course my old friend, the boot!  

What I learned from this process...I pray a lot more often when I am nervous or anxious about something.  It takes a village to help with kiddos even when you get pic like this...

a marker covered, Brooklyn described "broken head"

which was quickly followed with a real life SUPER HERO squad!  I am so thankful for my kids friends as well as my own.  They make hard days easier and easy days better.

I learned that is hard to accept service but that by doing so you learn just how amazing your friends and family are.  I learned how greatly appreciated a meal brought in can be.  How a simple text can mean so much. How incredible moms of all ages and stages of life are.  How blessed I am to be able to live now where modern medicine exists but mostly I learned how lucky I am to have the BEST friends and family in the world! Thank you to all those who have helped in this process and who have helped me realize how lucky I am you made the farewell process that much easier.