by Julia | May 21, 2014 | Our Captured Life
Here’s who came and saw me today! My 2 adorable nieces…it sure cheered my afternoon just watching them play! And seeing all these tiny dolls and miniature little strollers and swing. And the teeny puppies that stayed ‘magnetted’ to the mama dogs mouth! Aww yes I know I sound like a kid! 🙂
Shania
Amy
So much adorableness…
And of course we can’t forget the handsome lil guy, which was trying so hard to be ‘all-boy’ with so much girl-ness all around him!
Mason, very proud of his new mitt and ball!
And just a lil update on my progress; since a shower alone seems to exhaust me I just frequently wash my hair in the sink and today I managed to do it alone. I am trying so hard to not become discouraged…all I want to do is be able to be up and working without getting faint and tired. Mornings are still the most difficult and always need help out of bed. Also haven’t stayed alone yet as trying to sit down and get my pillows to elevate my straight unbendable leg seems to be more than I can manage. I think my dear hubby is starting to wear out, he won’t complain but he’s been doing all the cooking, laundry and caring for me plus his job…I found some pickles in the freezer. I think it’s time someone starts bringing us some meals to ease the load for him.. til later, 
by Julia | May 20, 2014 | Our Captured Life
It really is quite strange to not have all those bandages on and actually be able to see what all they did. The worst thing is it feel so unsupported. We still wrap it up with ACE bandages, but with all the gauze gone the brace is so loose and when I walk it really hurts to try and put weight on it. Kinda feels like it is gonna ‘give way’. So I called the Dr and they said we can come upright away and they will adjust it. So as soon as someone could come take my Hubby’s place in the combine he took me to the Dr. I actually just saw his assistant Ms Diane Miller. She not only fixed the brace, she showed us how all the straps work! It’s quite the contraption!! But once it’s all explained, it’s actually kinda easy; but it sure had looked confusing. As much as we hadn’t felt like spending a $100+ out of pocket for the brace, we are now glad it was a requirement. With that not letting me bend and offering support in the right places I am allowed to put as much weight on as I can stand. But I still haven’t learned the art of walking without crutches 🙂
I’m feeling a lil more adventurous since ‘having’ to get out of the house. So I spent a few hours over at my sisters house and she brought me home then. That was so nice for something different!
Riding in a vehicle is still an interesting outing…because I only get to sit in the back seat sideways with my leg up on the seat. I told my hubby it’s starting to feel like he is having to “put the child in the carseat in the back” everytime we go somewhere.
I have been busy organizing everything for Amish Sweets’ baking which starts this weekend. So many recipes to copy. Ingredients to buy. Prices to gather. Itemizing everything to see what my prices need to be. Receipts to be tallied. So if you wonder just WHAT I am doing with all my spare time on my chair…that would be it!
Plus today I officially begin adding therapy-at-home to my list of necessaries.
by Julia | May 19, 2014 | me & my jewel
So May 19 has dawned again and today has been so unlike any 2 year Anniversary I could have ever imagined.. Life really has changed drastically here with my whole leg still being bandaged up from my surgery 5 days ago. Mornings have definitely been the worse and this morning was no different, me, not being able to get out of bed alone and then when I finally do so with my hubby’s help, sitting in the bathroom in a chilled state of sweat, feeling extremely nauseated, sipping on water to calm my stomach. However, once I have food and more pain prescription in my system things definitely start looking up! 
Yep, this is pretty much my station, not being able to bend my knee whatsoever.
However this Anniversary Day did find us doing something together, my dear hubby hauled me in to my first Physical Therapy visit. Where they took off my bandages for the first time and I got to see my incision with 8 staples and the other 4 small cuts with stitches. It really does look good, but with my queasy stomach I didn’t want to think about it too long.
And then we went shopping- (or rather Dan ran into Walmart, lol) We needed gauze and bandages, I know, super romantic!
After that long adventurous journey I was exhausted, and hubby had to go to work a few hours. So my sis said she would stay with me. And while she was here, she proceeded to clean up the house and prepare some food. I had told her along with my mother-in-law and sis-in-law that if they felt led they could fix us a meal or do whatever they wanted to spice up our evening. Well, they truly did just that!
Beings my bandages hadn’t come off in 5 days, I wasn’t allowed to shower in those 5 days either, so it was with pleasure that I was ready to tackle that task whether I could stand without my crutches or not, I was gonna do this, one-legged or sitting, whatever works! With a matter of time and hubby’s wonderful assistance we got it accomplished….and when we were finished and came out into the livingroom we were greeted with wonderful aromas, shades all pulled & candlelit house, table set and decorated in the livingroom by my chair, and a big beautiful bouquet my hubby had snuck in for me. It almost made me cry, they truly did a beautiful job!! My sis snapped a few pictures for us and then they all left, leaving us to our own romantic evening…
and the food was just as amazing, they had ordered + picked up some steaks 25 minutes away and seriously they were still hot and so juicy and yummy! We were soo tickled!!
not the most stunning picture, but the flowers sure were!
my hubby had the wonderful idea of playing our wedding music, which we still just loove listening to! And we looked at wedding pictures, then curled up (just as good as you can curl with a straight leg brace!) and watched a movie.. Honestly, it was one of the most fun, relaxing, MOST enjoyable evenings we had in a very long time!! (the winning cherry on top was that we weren’t supposed to clean up and they came back the next day and cleaned up the dishes and everything!)
We had the great idea that to save money on gifts we’ll buy something that both of us have wanted/needed…a GOOD (ya know, a Cabela’s one instead of a Walmart one) thermometer that does indoor/outdoor, along with a rain gauge. Plus then of course add in a lil chocolate 😉
Happy Anniversary my love, I love you so deeply that sometimes my heart feels like it’s gonna explode and I wonder how I could love you more, and yet as every year has passed I always look back in amazement because I know I love you more than I did then…how does that work?! We have been through a lot together and I look forward to so many more!!
by Julia | May 18, 2014 | Our Captured Life
Yep I was hurting pretty bad by this morning! And we agreed that I’ll be taking those pills before bed tonight. 😉 It’s a real chore to get everything accomplished every day. When I’m sitting I can’t move my leg whatsoever without someone else (or me) picking it up and helping it. Getting in and out of bed by myself is not an option. Makes me realize over and over again how very blessed I am to have such a wonderful patient husband! He does a truly amazing job of helping me with every lil thing and I don’t ever hear him complain.
When I went to have surgery done it didn’t even cross my mind that I wouldn’t be able to attend church the following Sunday. Yea, I know, I was really naive about it all! But now I’m wondering how Looong I’ll be stuck at home?! We had a message from Santosh Poonen that we’d wanted to listen to, so that helped our morning pass more quickly.
My dear Hubby cleaned up the house, vacuumed, and washed the dishes. We had high hopes of getting some visitors all afternoon. BUT. No-one showed up, we were kind of really disappointed. Not being able to get out makes one realize how ‘shut-ins’ feel and why we should go visit them. So take it as Lesson #1 Julia, Remember, even if you don’t have anything to offer or wise cheerful things to say. Just go visit those people. Just seeing something other than 4 walls will bring them a smile and break up their time!
Late in the eve, we finally called Hubby’s mom and siblings and they came up for about an hour. But it had been a realy loong day and we were so glad to see night-time. 🙂
by Julia | May 17, 2014 | Our Captured Life
Finally. Last night was my first night of sleeping through the night without having to take pills, matter of fact without even as much as waking up!! It was super amazing to wake up and discover it’s 7:30 AM and I had just slept all night.
I made a major discovery yesterday, when my husband wanted to leave in the afternoon to go to work and my sis came to stay with me. This was my discovery: “This recovery is going to take a LOT longer than I expected”! Yeah, I know, I didn’t say it was a good one.. It’s just that these pills that I’m taking really do have side affects, which I didn’t expect until I was having different issues and got smart and read up on the papers they sent with the pills. The main ones that I have bothered me are: dizziness, itchiness, nauseous, constipation, and sleepiness. The worst by far is feeling nauseous all the time and not being able to get up without feeling lightheaded. Drinking water and eating crackers to keep from puking.
Painwise: it’s very tolerable most of the time but I can tell that something is different in my knee as I am starting to feel more pain in it. Keeping it on ice 24/7 seems to help the most. Everytime I stand up I have to catch my breath before I start walking as it feels like all the blood is rushing into what I’m guessing is my big incision and it pulses n pains like it’s gonna pop open.
Honey has been home all day today, mowing the yard amidst taking very good care of me! It seems like all I do is sleep every few hours, which I do! But trying to accomplish anything while sitting here wears me out. So this is what I look at most of the day….from the top of my leg to below my heel..it’s bandaged up to where my finger is, my pants are just covering it.
Leah brought us a pizza for supper, bless her heart! Honey wants me to go to bed without taking pain pills just before sleep, I think he’s concerned that I don’t get addicted to them 🙂
