Scar & X-Rays! Not for the queezy!

I have been meaning to get some pictures of mom's x-rays on here, but I haven't gotten much cooperation from the technology department. Dad sent me these pictures of mom's scars and he managed to get a few x-rays. It will probably be the best I can do as far as showing the injury. The stiches going up and down her leg is from the surgery. The one going around the ankle is where the bones came out the side. The little ones right below the knee and on the sides of the ankles are from the external fixator that was pinned through the bones to hold them until she had surgery. The x-rays show before any surgeries, and then some after the 2nd surgery when she had the plate and screws put in. She is doing really well. She gets around pretty good and everything seems like it was before the accident.

She's Home!!

The day that we have been counting towards has finally come. After 12 days in the hospital, Mom is home now! She arrived home around 2p.m. We made her a welcome home sign and attached some balloons. She is moving around pretty good and is feeling better than she has in days. Being home will do that to you. The nurses and doctors did a great job and we are grateful for the care that she received while staying at the hospital. Welcome home mom and I hope you have a speedy recovery!

Progress

We are now one step closer to mom coming home from the hospital. When she comes home she will be in a wheel chair and that posed a problem since there are so many stairs to get into their house. Eric managed to find some help and in the matter of just a few hours...voila! A wheel chair ramp. I can't wait till mom can come home, but at the same time I don't want her to come home before she is physically able. The house is ready for her though. Now we just wait...

All framed. Just need a floor and a railing.

What a cute little helper!

All done.

Way to go Baylee Jo!

Last week Baylee made it to 100 A.R. points! As a reward the students with that many points do a little parade walk down the hall with Pella the Panther (the school mascot) All the students and teachers come out and stand in the hall and clap and cheer for them as they walk by. Eric went and took pictures for me. I was staying at the hospital with my mom. We are so proud of you Baylee. You worked really hard and I know it feels good to accomplish something like that. Way to Go!!

The beginning with Baylee right up front

Big smiles as she passes dad

Yeah Baylee!

Woo hoo Pella!

The Teeter Family Rock Band!

The Last of the February Birthdays!

Whew! We made it through all the recent birthdays. We have 4 birthdays in a months time. That's just the ones in our house. We have a few more February ones for a nephew and a sister in law, and a step sister, and a niece. This has been a very busy month and I personally cannot wait for it to end. My birthday was yesterday the 24th and since Logan doesn't get one this year (he's on leap day) we celebrated ours together. Less cake that way and we are all sick of cake. LOL. We started the day by sending the kids to school, then Eric took me and the 2 babies to Logan to go to my favorite store, Maurices, and he bought me some new clothes. Then we went to lunch at my favorite restaurant, Chili's, and then we went to the hospital to see my mom. She is still there, but she is healing slow and steady. We came home and I went to get my hair done. Finally! Then we had dinner and ice cream cake, and then Logan opened his present. He is at that age now where his toys are expensive. Everyone else got a new toy and a new outfit, maybe a new pair of shoes. Not Logan. He wanted Rock Band! One thing that costs as much as the 4 or 5 things that we usually do. He was sooo excited when he opened it. We hooked it up and played it till it was time to get the kids to bed. That was when I started thinking that we should have given him his present on a weekend! They could not settle down and go to bed. They kept singing and laughing. We were happy that he enjoyed it. It was neat to have him be so excited. I took a lot of pictures so of course they will be posted along with this entry. lol

Improvements

Here are some more updates on mom. She is in her new room. She doesn't have any I.V.'s anymore and she is off the oxygen. They have her up and walking (hopping) to to the bathroom. They will be working with her more over the next few days. They still have no idea when they will let her go home. It sounds like they want to keep her for a while, but it is up to the insurance company. She is still having pain, but not like before. She was telling them her pain level was a 9-10 2 days ago and today she is in the 3-5 range. So some improvement there. It's a slow road, but it's better to take it easy, then to rush it and make things worse. Thanks for the phone calls and well wishes.

What a Difference!

What a difference a day and a little sleep can make! I went to see mom in the hospital on Saturday and she looked great! They finally got her some new pain killers and she got some sleep Friday night. She was out of bed and sitting in the chair. She was able to carry on a conversation and tolerate the kids. I took pictures of some of her bruises. They are from the seat belt and one is from an I.V. She is supposed to be moving to another room for rehabilitation. I will try to get everyone the new room # when they move her.

Mom just relaxing in the chair. She just had her hair washed and Dee french braided it for her.

This is the bruise caused by an I.V. They put it in the top of her arm by her shoulder.

This bruise is from the seat belt. This is on her left side, but it goes all the way around her stomach and to the right side. Ouch! but it saved her life.

Sugery number 2

Mom had her second surgery today and everything went really well. They were able to remove the external brace and they put a plate and some screws in to hold everything in place. This may be her last surgery for a while hopefully. They are going to put her in a boot soon and start some range of motion exercises with her and then she should be able to come home in a few more days. Today hasn't been a great day for her. She hasn't had good pain control, but she is sure being a trooper. I hope tomorrow will be better.

Logan earns a badge!

Logan showing the cub scout salute

Waiting for the presentation

Troop leader showing the badges.

Receiving his badges!

Logan has started cub scouts and he loves it! He started later than all the boys in his troop and was the only one to earn his badge at the blue and gold banquet. They still gave the other boys their badges, but on the condition that they would work on it and pass it off by the next meeting. We are so proud that he has taken this seriously and is working hard at it. He earned his bobcat tonight and is already half done with his wolf. Way to go Logan!

Counting My Blessings!

Anyone who knows me, knows that my biggest fear is death. Death of a spouse, death or a child, death of a parent. Tuesday the 17th my fear was almost realized. My mom was on her way to work that morning when another driver lost control of his car and spun into on coming traffic. Mom had no time to respond and crashed head on into him. There were also 2 other cars involved. She was taken by ambulance to the hospital with a badly broken ankle. Thank God it wasn't worse! Her car is totaled! The whole front of the car is gone. No battery, no engine. It is all smashed beyond recognition. She took her new car to work that day because of the snow. It has a really annoying alarm if you don't wear your seat belt, so she was wearing it. She usually doesn't. If she had taken her other car everything would be different without a doubt. When the E.M.T. asked her if there was anyone else in the car with her she said just me and God. She has had one surgery and will be going in for another on Thursday, and then another in about 10 days. They said she might need up to about 6 total. Considering the alternative we will take the bad ankle. The driver of the car that hit her didn't even have a drivers license. I will try to keep this blog updated with her progress and I will post pictures soon. I am counting my blessings and thanking God that I still get to have my mom with me!

This is the car that hit her. She hit him in the front, head on and then he spun off her and hit someone else in his side door.

Here you can see how the car folded in on itself, just like it was supposed to do. The front wheels are pushed way back and you can see the wrinkles.



This picture shows how smashed everything is. Nothing is where it is supposed to be. You can see the battery was smashed and has a whole in the bottom. The electrical panel, the air cleaner and the belt pulley are not even close to where they are supposed to be and that metal bar is supposed to be in the front of the car. It just folded itself up.

The steering column is pushed into the dash. We can't even get the key out of the ignition. She says she doesn't even remember the air bad coming at her. It must have hit her teeth, because they are loose and I think that is where that little bit of blood is from. She doesn't have any scapes or bruises on her face. Only a few on her hand and arms. She has a small mark from the seat belt on her neck, but she really looks good.

This is her ankle after her first surgery. She has a titanium external brace on that is holding her ankle in place until they can do another surgery to screw her bones all back together.

Happy Birthday Hayden

Hayden's 2!!

Hayden had his second birthday on February 7th. Gigi went to Logan with us to buy presents and a cake. He got 3 new outfits, a new ball, some hot wheel cars, a car hauler for his hot wheels cars, and a neat little tractor. He picked the tractor out himself and played with it the whole time in the store and on our way home. His cake had tractors on it too of course. He loves tractors, trains, and dinosaurs. Grandpa Tom and Gigi, Aunt Dee dee, Sammy, Colten, and Rose all came over to help celebrate and have cake and ice cream. We all enjoyed ourselves and can't wait till the next birthday. Mine is the 24th and Logan's is the 29th. We will probably do those ones together. Maybe Logan will let me unwrap his presents. LOL!

Reagan's 1st Birthday!

Reagan's 1st Birthday!!

I can't believe that it has been a year already! Reagan's birthday was Friday and I just can't believe that she is a year old. It seems like yesterday I was in the hospital terrified about how I was going to handle 2 babies that were so close in age along with my 2 tweens. Somehow we have managed. We spent the morning in Logan shopping and buying a cake. Aunt Dee went with us. We went to lunch at Iggie's, then hurried home so we could have dinner and a party. Reagan got a few presents for her special day. Gigi gave her some new outfits, we gave her a doll and a new outfit. She loves her little fur vest! She cuddles it like a teddy bear. Grandma Erickson and Aunt Paulette gave her the cute little crochet doll. It was a good day and she found out what birthday cake tastes like and she is hooked! Now we have a week until Hayden's birthday. Yeah! More cake!

Winter Fun

Hayden's new favorite toy!

Baylee being pulled
wee haa!

Logan with a face full of powder!

New snow means sledding! A few weeks ago a friend of ours gave us a 4-wheeler and with a little work, Eric has got it running pretty good. We got the sleds down and took the kids to an empty lot across the street from our house and pulled them around behind the 4-wheeler. They had a blast. Hayden loves riding it. I had him on it with me and we pulled Logan around for a while, then Hayden got cold and Eric took over pulling the kids around.