Well, it's been a long while since I've blogged and yes, we're still around, just a little caught up in our everyday lives . . . so let me review what's been going on.
The kids finished their baseball seasons at the end of June - with Kaleb and Navia's tournaments giving them medals and Emma's, well, a first place trophy!!! Her team played the entire season winning every game and the final game of the year - she got 2 home runs and pitched 2 3-up/3-down innings - yep - she rocks!!! We're really proud of all three of them and their teamwork.
At the beginning of June I hurt my back, had to quit boot camp and was seeing a chiropractor 3 times a week. My back was getting better and better so we booked a trip to Saskatchewan for 3 weeks! The kids were so excited! My mom, Delores, was going to be celebrating her 60th birthday at a family party, along with my uncle, and Brade's dad, Joe, was having a surprise 60th birthday party that all the kids were coming for - even Dustin and his family from St. Louis. Although Brade and I have been back, each for a weekend, the kids haven't been back to SK in the last 2 years, so they were really excited about it.
Braden and I celebrated our 13th Wedding Anniversary in July and instead of doing a date we decided to have a celebration weekend - family style. Brade had been working at the office from early morning to after 11pm for quite a bit so we thought that hanging out with all 5 of us would be a good thing. And it was! We went to a baseball tournament and took the kids to eat at "The Landing' - a favorite place of Brade's and mine as we can sit on the deck by the river's edge and watch the boats go by. The kids had fun and tasted their first taste of calamari . . . which Emma could have done without - hehehe! We even went to a Medieval Festival, swimming, biking and of course we went to 'Burger and Shakes' for the most amazing shakes around - just lots of family fun!
Our real anniversary day was the following Monday, July 11 and that day ended up not going as planned. My back had started hurting again and I went to lie down for a bit. While I was laying there I reach over to grab something and suddenly I was in a lot of pain - in my back and shooting down my leg. Braden was working late and I knew that I couldn't drive myself to my chiropractor's 20 minutes away so I ended up driving myself (with my left foot) to a massage therapist (only 3 minutes away). She worked on my back and leg and although I still couldn't walk properly and was still in a lot of pain she was able to relieve my leg so that the muscle wasn't in the tight ball anymore. The muscle had been rock hard and would sporadically jump - the kids thought it looked like there were aliens trying to come out - ew!
By the evening the pain was unbearable. I could only lie on my left side in the fetal position and couldn't move without crying. The one time that I actually had to get up hurt as much as labour did. It was horrible. I had warned the kids that if they heard me crying or anything to just realize that I'm okay and pray that my back would get better. I guess as I walked to the washroom my crying in pain was too much for them and Emma had secretly called Brade to ask if he could please come home. When I got back to the couch and stopped crying I heard Kaleb. He was sobbing and sobbing. I asked him what was wrong and he said that he thought that I was going to die. I felt so bad for him and reassured him that I was okay. Navia, wanting to help, piped in "ya, you need to have a crumply forehead when you die", I think meaning that I wasn't old enough - and it made us all laugh.
My chiropractor is a friend and I had left a message with him at home so at 9:30pm I got a call from him saying to come over to his house. Brade arrived home just before so he helped me out the door and to the car. Needless to say it wasn't the quietest or easiest thing to do. When the chiropractor opened his door he just stared and said that he didn't realize it was so bad. It took a long time for him to adjust me, as I could still only lie on my left side without pain. I did find though, that if I was on my back with pillows under my knees and he was holding my upper body up and to the right that the pain was way less . . . but it really wouldn't work for him to stay there with me. I got home and went straight to bed, although didn't really sleep much. Over the next couple days I was adjusted 5 times, with each time me getting better, little by little. Brade would have to take a bit off of work to come home, pick me up, take me to the chiro, bring me back home and then him go back to work. I had pinched the nerves of my L5 and S1 - thus making my entire leg numb (like pins and needles) and couldn't sit still, let alone drive.
The hardest part of all of this is that we were booked to fly to SK on July 13, and this all happened July 11. There was no way that I could sit for even a few minutes, let alone an entire flight, so I had to cancel the flights. No one was happy that day and I was praying and wondering why God would allow this to happen - it just didn't seem fair that I had ruined our family's summer. When I called to ask information on cancelling they said that because we didn't have flight insurance it would cost us almost $800 when we re-booked our flights. I was devastated. But that evening I called to cancel. As I explained why the flights were being cancelled the man that I was talking to commented that because I must be in such pain he was just going to waive the $800 and there would be no extra charge when we went to use the tickets again! This was truly a God-send! It kinda felt like God was letting me know that although everything was changing, He still was in control and was taking care of us. After that call I felt a lot better - emotionally, but not physically.
I spend almost 2 weeks just on the couch, as all I could really do without pain was lie down. The poor kids spend a lot of time on the TV, Wii and reading as I was pretty much on bedrest. I finally was able to sit for short periods and walk, although with a painful limp. This allowed me to drive to the chiro myself and take the kids to the park, so I could lay on a blanket while they at least were able to play.
The first week in August I started physiotherapy. My leg had started to get better and I had feeling in most of it. I'm still numb on toes 4 and 5 and all the way up my back leg to my waist, but I guess that's because the S1 nerve was really damaged and it will take a while for it to repair itself. It's really weird having it numb for such a long time, but I've been told that it could heal in a few days to up to a few months - ug! So, I've been doing my physio exercises, trying to strengthen my lower back and to relax the muscles that have been agitated and won't calm down, which is causing the nerve pain and my limping. If I walked really slow I could walk without a limp, but I really had to try hard. If I walked at a normal pace I automatically go back to limping and I can't fix it.
The end of July Braden was booked to travel to St. Petersburg, Russia for almost a week for work. This was going to be tough for us because I was mostly resting, doing my exercises and not bending or lifting things. My mom called, out of the blue, and said that she was going to come down while Brade was away so that I could continue to heal. She was a God-send!
Braden left on Tuesday and Mom came on the Wednesday. She kept the kids busy and they loved every minute of it! They went for bike rides (showing Gramma their favorite trails), slurpie runs, baked, went to the park, went shopping, made crafts, went raspberry picking and even camped in tents in the backyard twice! I haven't been able to pick weeds all summer as my back won't allow me to bend down and Mom was pulling weeds every day - even getting the kids involved (which they didn't seem to complain because she was paying them!!!) Braden came home on Sunday night and all of us went fishing on Monday - or at least that was the plan - the kids were in the bathing suits and decided to swim with the fish, rather than catch them! Every night Kaleb would pray that God would let Gramma stay for 2 more weeks and by the end of her time at our place I think it was clicking that Gramma was going to be leaving. The night before she left he prayed that maybe Gramma could stay for just 2 more days or even a week, pleeeease. It was sweet to know how much he loved playing with his Gramma. On Tuesday evening Brade was working another past midnight day so we made up a great dinner of ribs, mashed potatoes, brocolli and Emma's chocolate chip cookies. I couldn't believe the food stayed so warm as we took it out at the park across from Brade's work to have a picnic together. Sometimes having supper picnics are the only time he can see the kids and the kids can spend time with him when he's working such long days.
Mom left on Wednesday and when I told Emma that she would be leaving in 45 minutes her eyes welled up with tears as Emma told me that she likes it when Gramma is here and did she really have to go? The only thing that could have made her visit better would have been if she could have brought Grampa with her!
So, for the rest of the summer it was just us. The kids played on the bike ramp that they bought with their earned money (Kaleb and Emma put theirs together) and the mini-hoops that Gramma gave to each of them. I'm thinking that I need to get a first-aid kit for the garage though, as they are getting more and more adventurous on the ramp! (and if daddy starts trying we just might need to call an ambulance as he shows off his skills - hehehe!)
So for the rest of the summer I was still going to the chiropractor 3 times a week and the physiotherapist 2 times a week - but I'm willing to do anything to help me heal!!!
September came around and the kids were back to school and I was back to teaching Music for Young Children - which was a challenge in itself. School is pretty exciting for the kids and they are loving their new teachers (although Kaleb has the same teacher as last year, but still loves her!). I learned how to ask for help from my parents in the classes - getting them to do the up and down actions, lifting books up for me, and now I sit on a regular sized stool instead of being on the floor with the kids. I find that it makes my back hurt less when I'm sitting up with my leg out in front.
In September my Gramma McGifford was able to come up for an extended wknd visit, which was a lot of fun. We took her to the Landing for ice cream and Braden started laughing at me because I was walking even slower than my Gramma - she was a speed-walker in comparison to me :) Braden still is travelling and spent a week in London and the kids were super excited to have him back home with us - oh - and so was I!
October has come and I can't believe it is almost over! We had a great Thanksgiving at our friend's house and Brade took 4 days off just to hang out with us, which was pretty awesome! Braden's Dad came down for a week as well, which was perfect timing because Braden could take a few more days off of work and they went overnight to Trenton to see Dad's sister, Auntie Susan, and also they were able to watch Emma play in her school's soccer tournament - where they lost in the semi-finals after an extra 5 minutes of play, 3 shoot outs and then the last shoot-out to the death . . . it was intense!
Concerning my back/leg, I've only been going to the chiropractor 2 times/wk and the physiotherapist 1/wk. They both are helping me a lot and the physio exercises have made it so that I can walk without a limp slowly AND fast! I'm pretty excited about that. I'm doing more, but really watching that I don't overdue it. I still don't have feeling down the back of my leg to my 2 smallest toes (now been 3.5 months without feeling) but I am on a waiting list for an MRI and hoping that I will get in by the end of this month or beginning of November - we'll see. I have a new desk chair so that I can work on the computer without my back hurting as much - a kneeling stool . . . the kids think that it's funny because there isn't a back and I kneel on a padded area. But it works!!!
So, this post is way too long, way too overdue and picture-less . . . I got a new computer and need to install my photo editting software before I can add pictures, but the next post will be the pictures to go along with this long post.
Oh, and I forgot to mention . . .we are going to Saskatchewan for Christmas!!! Yep, because we couldn't make it this summer we decided to go from December 24 to January 8!!! It will be the first Christmas there since 2007, so we're all looking forward to it and hopefully by then my back will be able to handle the time sitting for the flight! Yay for Saskatchewan and Christmas!!!
