update on the ol’ pelvis

Mar 8, 2012

Well.

Hmmmm.

What can I say to give you an update on how I am doing?

The Good:

• The number of meals, cards, treats, messages, hugs, rides, smiles, and cleanings has been soul-filling, body-sustaining, and hope-building. This world is chock-full of good people who help and serve and love and sacrifice to bring joy to those around them. I am amazed at what my family and friends have done to help me.
• Last week Jen taught my iFamily classes, drove me to gym and along with her daughter, helped teach four classes.
• Amy brought dinner (enchiladas – yummmmm!), cleaned my kitchen & bathroom, loved on me, checked on me, laid on my bed with me, massaged my sore back, and drove Blythe to her activities.
• Jessica brought two meals, cleaned the same messy kitchen, stayed up late talking to me, took my children to iFamily, and has orchestrated all sorts of secret Take-Care-Of-Tracy plans behind my back.
• Tasha has given everyone lots of rides, brought in dinner, and let my little ones come and play when they were so done having a stay-in-bed mom.
• Cami has given Blythe rides, checked in on me, and helped me look at the situation with new eyes.
• Rachael and Ryan brought me yummy peanut butter-chocolate bars…so good! I think I ate at least ten!
• Anna made s’more bars that saved my children from feeling completely uncared for (how they can feel that way is a mystery to me since we are WAY cared for!).
• Stephanie brought over lots of leftovers from a funeral in our ward.
• Debbie gave me a foot zone that released a lot of pain.
• Heather made a wonderful batch of beef stew that we devoured last night.
• Jackie brought over something delicious last night and we are saving it for tonight. I heard lemon bars were involved…I love lemon bars!
• Kat has been Jessica’s partner in crime in creating a plan to help me stay in bed. She actually snuck into my house and stole my address book from my computer so she could enlist all my friends in her plan. I still don’t know what all their secrets are and I am so grateful they love me enough to take care of me in spite of my refusals.
• Mikelle, my sister, came for several days and whipped my house into shape. She did a gazillion loads of laundry (I was about a month behind when all of this started!), cooked delicious food, cleaned the whole house, put my children to work, cut everyone’s hair, and took amazing care of me. She also drove Fisher and Anne’s to Utah to meet up with my mom.
• And my mother? My amazing mother? There are no words. She drove to Utah to pick up the two little ones, drove them to Salt Lake, took them to their dentist appointments, drove them to Wyoming, took them to the movie, took them swimming, took them on the school bus, fed, entertained, taught, and loved on them for the past three days, drove them back to Salt Lake today for more dental work, drove to Logan to sleep, and will bring them home tomorrow when she comes to love on all the rest of us. Seriously. No words. She is an amazing grandma and mother. She did all of that so that Richard would not have to take a day off work or miss our caucus…meanwhile she took days off work and drove hundreds of miles. The children absolutely love their grandma and have been having a grand adventure. They call me every few hours and tell me how many belly-dumpers, flatbeds, dump trucks, airplanes, or yellow cars they have seen. She has them counting up a storm and learning all about the world around them. I have long believed the reason school was so easy for me was because my mom had a way of making the world seem magical and she taught me all about everything in the course of living. I see her do it now with my children and wish I had her gift to make learning seem effortless.

The Bad:

• Being in bed is getting really, really old.
• Being in bed without being able to be intimate with my husband is getting REALLY, REALLY old.
• Crutches are painful.
• Using the bathroom is hurting more each day (Is this normal? Should my bone hurt to toot or pee or poop?)
• My back aches from laying on my belly so much.
• Heartburn from eating in a horizontal position is wearing on me.
• Swallowing pills has never been my strong point. After two weeks of downing LOTS of them, I can barely get them in me without throwing up.
• Being a homeschool mama in bed is challenging and my children are ready for me to be out of bed.
• Richard isn’t getting home till about 8:30. It is just too late. I miss him. Greatly.

The Ugly:

• My bed is covered in books, papers, herbal concoctions, and dishes. Living in a bed isn’t an orderly endeavor.
• I have a whole pile of books to read and can’t get my brain to focus on the big ideas I am studying. Not only is this frustrating as I should at least be using this time to accomplish something, it is also disturbing to me that my brain is not capable of digesting these ideas when I am in pain. This is new and I don’t like it one little bit.

This post has taken me over one hour to type on my little screen, but I was a good girl and didn’t try to get down to my computer. Aren’t you proud of me?