Bionic Woman

 Four days ago, I had hip replacement surgery on my left hip. Just as the doctor anticipated, I was able to go home the same day as the surgery. It really amazes me that they have you get up within hours after the surgery. The physical therapist showed me the proper way to use a walker and how to go up and down stairs properly.

Still in recovery 

First time sitting up after surgery. 

Leaving the Hospital

For the surgery, I was given anesthesia -  "twilight sleep" like with a colonoscopy- not general anesthesia, like Alan had for his heart surgery. I was also given a spinal block to block the pain in the hip during surgery. The spinal block wore off during the first night after I returned home. That's when the real pain started happening.

So far, I have had less pain each day since surgery. I hope that trend continues. I can get around pretty well with the walker. I have learned that I need to stay on top of my pain meds or the pain will get too bad and it's hard to get around without pain.

I'm not really looking forward to my second hip replacement surgery on May 23rd, but I know I have to go through it. At least, I know what to expect now.

Surgery Prep

 I guess I inherited my dad's hips. He had 3 hip replacement surgeries (one hip had to be re-done). I need both of my hips replaced. The first surgery is scheduled next Monday (March 28th), and the 2nd is scheduled for May 23rd.

I'm not the only one of my siblings with bad joints. Neal has had knee replacement surgery, Kent had his hip replaced after he broke his pelvis, Jane has had hip replacement surgery, and Phil has had knee (twice) and hip replacement surgeries. Quite the history of bad joints in our family. So far, only Janice and Gayle are immune from this type of surgery.

To help build up my immune system for surgery, I am required to drink two protein drinks per day for five days prior to the surgery and another one on the way to the hospital for the surgery.

These drinks are vanilla flavored. I would prefer chocolate, but vanilla is fine.

I've never heard of anyone having to do this prior to having surgery before. Maybe its a new thing. Besides boosting my immune system, they are supposed to aid in my recovery after surgery.

The hip I'm having surgery on first is my left hip. Both hips are bone-on-bone, but evidently this one is a little bit worse, so the doctor wants to do that one first. I will be having the surgery at St. Marks Hospital in Salt Lake City and my surgeon's name is Dr. O. Brant Nikolaus. The procedure he's using is a newer procedure with an anterior approach, which is, evidently, less invasive and easier to recover from. There is a 50% chance that I might not even be admitted overnight in the hospital afterwards. Evidently, about 50% of the patients are sent home the same day of the surgery. That could happen to me, depending on how well I do after the surgery. 

I'm not really nervous (yet). I guess I would say I'm anxious to get it over with. I'm hoping that things go well and that recovery is smooth and uneventful. That would be a huge blessing. 

This is what I have to look forward to:

Blind Faith

 One year ago, Alan and I left California and drove to Utah to see our new home in Riverton for the first time. We purchased it without ever stepping inside of it or seeing it in person. Crazy to think about! We weren't familiar with the area, the ward,  or the neighborhood. The first time we saw our home was after escrow had closed and we were issued keys to the home. That was a glorious day!

Sometimes we ask ourselves in hind-sight "what were we thinking buying a house without seeing it first?", but now I realize that sometimes we just need to move forward with faith and trust in the Lord that all things will work out for our good. Such was the case in this situation. We trusted in the Lord that He was leading us here and that everything would work out fine. Thank goodness it did!

There are many examples in the scriptures of blind faith. The first story that pops into my mind is in the Book of Mormon where Nephi and his brothers are asked by their father to return to Jerusalem to retrieve the Brass Plates of Laban. Once they got to Jerusalem, they didn't know how they were going to get the plates, but Nephi relied on the Lord, not knowing before hand what he should do. By trusting in the Lord, all things worked out for their good and their trip was successful.

The Brass Plates

I'm so glad that blind faith turned out so well for Nephi and for us. We love our home, we love our neighborhood, and we love our ward. We just couldn't be happier.

Disney on Ice

 Yesterday, we (Alan, Eric, Ethan, Ella, Livi, and I) attended the Saturday matinee performance of Disney on Ice. Eric's family loves Disneyland and Disney characters, so I thought it would be fun for us to all go together. Yes, it indeed was fun. Even though our seats were very high up in the Vivint Arena, we still enjoyed the show. Thank goodness they had jumbotrons available so we could get a close-up of what was taking place. 

They highlighted several Disney movies including, Aladdin, Beauty and the Beast, Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, The Princess & the Frog, Moana, The Little Mermaid, Cocoa, and last but not least Frozen - a fan favorite. The dialog was delightful, the skating was fantastic, and the music was perfect. So glad we went.

Waiting for the show to start. 

Cinderella

Beauty and the Beast

Grand Finale!

Promotional Picture

Although parking was a problem and traffic and the arena was very crowded, we still enjoyed the show and we are glad that we went. 

Maybe the most excitement we experienced happened on the way home. A storm came in while we were in the show and it hit us full-force while on our way home. At first we only had a few sprinkles and then it  turned into the worst hailstorm I have ever experienced. It was extremely loud and I thought the hail would damage the car for sure. Thank goodness we had good working wipers. The hail really piled up quickly on our car and windshield. As we kept heading South toward Riverton, we could see lightening lighting up the sky and then the hailstorm turned into a snowstorm. I much preferred the softer snow falling on our car than the hard hail. We ended up getting about 3" of snow at our home. Not too bad.

So glad this didn't happen to our car!!!