Surgery in December

This bearded man is truly the 
most sweet, kind-hearted, caring and giving man that I know!

This past week was probably near the top of his most stressful weeks thus far. Not only did he have to assume his normal responsibilities, (which were crazier than normal, due to snow days and power outages), but, had to don the hat of mom, chauffeur, nurse and cook when I had my knee surgery all while dealing with a scout campout, work stress, a bad, deep cough, etc... He came through with everything in flying colors!

He treats me like a queen, in every sense of the word and last night as we snuggled on the couch with the kids and watched "It's A Wonderful Life", I got teary-eyed thinking of how my sweet Tracy is SO much like George Bailey... Always doing for others and sometimes putting his own life goals on the back burner because he's such a great family man (and maybe even losing it from time to time). 

I don't know a sweeter man in this world and I just LOVE and adore him more than anything, or anyone! I just feel SO grateful that I'm the lucky one that gets to have this guy by my side in this wonderful journey of life! I'm so happy to be feeling much better so I can be by your side once again, helping out and enjoying life together to the fullest Mr. Smith!!

Friday, December 13th, 2013 at 8:15 am
Kimmie had knee surgery to repair
 a torn meniscus and to drain a Baker's Cyst.
Surgery went well, however, I'm what they call a "light-weighter" and it took me close to 5 hours to be able to wake up enough to be able to go home.

Tracy made the following comment about this photo:  
"She won't wake up, I wonder if they'll haul her to the Jefferson Institute". 
(referencing the movie "Coma")

I was pretty out of it for the first 2 days.
I think the anesthesia stayed in my body much longer than it does for most people.
We had SO many wonderful people bring in meals to us and check in on us. I felt kind of guilty, but, it was SO nice for Tracy and the boys to not have to deal with fixing dinner for a few nights.
We are truly blessed beyond measure!

Monday December 16th...
Checking out my knee for the first time...
OUCH! 

 I made it through the most stressful week of my life 
AFTER my knee surgery.
I had to do a Pack Night for my Cub Scouts 
and sit in on my last 2 PE classes before Christmas Break.
However, after I got those behind me, I was able to take it easy and relax and let my body heal.

(AND I also made thank you notes and treats to 
deliver to all of the people that showed kindness to us during this trying time)

Monday December 23rd...
We met with the doctor to see how I was healing.
He told us that the anterior lateral horn of meniscus had a severe tear, requiring removal of 80% of the thickness. Medial side was 30%.
I also have stage 3 arthritis in my knee.  
(they rate it 1-4), 
so most definitely in the next 10-15 years I'll be needing to have a knee replacement. 
AND, my Baker's Cyst has returned.
However, we're hoping that with a few months of NSAID's 
(non steroidal anti-inflammatory drug)
 the swelling will go down.  
We'll see how things are when I see my doctor again on January 21st. We're most definitely hoping for the best! 

Life is good.

I'm healing.
I've been given the go-ahead to Cross Country ski, which makes me want to jump up for JOY!

However, all high-impact exercises are out of the picture for participation (like running, Zumba, down hill skiing, etc...)
I can however, show my PE kids
 jumping jacks and how to "Skip rope", as long as I do it in moderation.

So very grateful for my wonderful husband who has been such a ROCK and pillar of strength to me through all of this!
I can truly say that I'm the luckiest girl on planet earth!

Love and adore him...
and I LOVE his winter beard!

The curve balls of life...

Life has felt like a blur lately...

so many things to do, 

obligations to fulfill,

people to please!

As if the normal life wasn't 
enough to keep you busy,

 you get a fun curve ball thrown at you! 

That would totally be my life right now!

Zumba....
Oh how I LOVED you!

I loved dancing and moving and burning calories in such a fun way that didn't feel like exercise at all!
I guess my poor knee can't handle all of the quick movements!
I guess I'm doomed to not be able to enjoy dancing to the fullest!
(I had knee surgery in High School from an injury I got while on the drill team and had to give up dancing my Senior year).

I've had a Baker's Cyst on the back of my knee
 for the past year or so. 
 It's ugly, but it hasn't caused me any trouble at all. 

However, the first week of August, I went to Zumba and while doing the most FUN dance to "Jai Ho" that I have ever done, 
my knee starting bothering me a bit.

The next week we went on our yearly backpacking trip 
and I survived without too much pain on the trip, 
but, a few days after we got home, it started bothering me again. I dealt with the pain and irritation and in about 2-3 weeks it finally seemed better.

The end of August, I started up teaching PE again and my knee seemed okay for the first 5 weeks of class.
I ran, skipped, jumped rope, the whole nine yards!
I even ran stairs on the beach when we went on our California Trip!

BUT, one fine day in October while doing Jumping Jacks, something gave way and I was in excruciating pain and my knee swelled up SO bad. 
I knew that I wasn't going to be able to get better unless I went to the doctor.

I called and made an appt., 
and of course, it would take a week to get in.

I have the sweetest hubby in the world that took me on several dates to Heise Hot Springs to give my knee some therapy during that week of waiting.

This was the sunset we enjoyed on one of those nights of soaking.

I was finally able to get in to see my doctor, 
they did an X-Ray on my knee and they didn't see anything wrong with it and they drew off 25 cc of fluid from the Baker's Cyst. 
WOW! 
 No wonder why I was in such discomfort! 

 The doctor thought that draining the cyst
 should be the end of my problem.  
It was awesome to be able to run again without pain!  
I was in heaven.

However, 4 days later, my cyst filled with fluid again
and we realized that there was a worse underlying problem that would need to be seen using an MRI.

Sure enough the MRI showed a torn meniscus, 
and quite a bit of arthritis.  

SO, I'm scheduled for knee surgery on Friday, December 13th to fix my meniscus and drain my cyst again!
(they won't be able to do anything about the arthritis)

I'm excited to finally have my knee back so I can be active and able to confidently do all of the things that I love doing SO much! 
Can't wait to enjoy a winter of cross-country skiing with my family! 

SO, because my month of December is filled to the rim with normal holiday activities, planning a Pack Night, working on my Wood Badge projects, perfecting "Silent Night" for a duet I have play for the Christmas recital, school projects  and now adding surgery into the mix,our friends and neighbors got their goodie bags from us for Thanksgiving rather than Christmas! 

As I reflect on my wonderful life, I can't help but focus on the good and positive things I have in abundance...

The most AWESOME and supportive husband and kids!!
A healthy family!
A body that works perfectly, even with a less than perfect knee!
A home full of LOVE where we get told DAILY how much we're loved and appreciated!  

Nourishing and delicious food to eat, 
clean water to drink,
clean water to wash and bathe with,
WARM and toasty house,
wonderful and thoughtful family and friends!

Life is wonderful, 
even when it throws you 
some curve balls now and again!
The most important thing,
 is focusing on all of the GOOD you have,
which far outweighs the bad!