Christmas Fun

Hey all!
So it's been 12 days post surgery and the recovery has been as expected. I'm still on vicodin, but am hoping to be off of it by today! I took a half of one last night for sleep, but am hoping Tylenol PM will be able to let me get a good nights sleep from now on :) I can feel exactly where my incision is (my doctor was able to cut in the same place where my previous incision was) but the reason I can really feel it is because my staples are definitely ready to come out. They recommend you getting them out 10-14 post surgery, but due to all of the holidays I can't get mine out until Wed (15 days post-op). They are a bit painful now, especially since most of the swelling has gone down and my cast is loose so when I get up it hangs on my incision which causes a lot of pain and throbbing along my incision but also cuts my circulation off soo my toes turn purple... I'm really not even supposed to be crutching around much, but since everyone has been visiting it's hard not to be moving around.... But yesterday Eric's family left so now im "sentenced" to the couch by my family. So on that note...

Christmas was great!! My family spoiled me with a bunch of things. Some of my favorites include these nice, wicked cute brown tall boots (like upper shin length) from Alta tech! They are super nice! Also, I got a wicked adorable necklace for breast cancer awareness, makeup from Ulta, a beautiful dress, Sperrys and a bunch of other things... That was all from my immediate family.

I then spent some time with Eric and his family and they spoiled me WAY too much! I got clips for my pandora bracelet (That I have been asking for for like ever! :)), a beautiful sweater, yoga capris, a calendar, a weekly calendar (both horse related ;)) and this unbelievably beautiful diamond necklace from Kays! (this was all from Eric, needless to say I have the best boyfriend ever! haha) and his family gave me a pandora charm (which is adorable!), a monagrammed pink pen :), a pink and black blanket and pillow which his mother made! The gifts were perfect and way more than I really needed! I just wanted to spend time with them! I already miss them :(

I completely forgot! As I mentioned before I went to Maggianos with my family, Richard, Gabe, Eric and his family and it was amazing! Here is a picture with just my family before the dinner :)

As you can see, I have a MASSIVE cast right now!
 

 


The Beautifull Necklace Eric bought me, I love him :)

The Truth About Childhood Cancer

Please take the time to watch this video and visit the website www.thetruth365.org for more information about how to reach out and spread the word!

Lots of updates

So as you all know I had surgery the 18th, however before that I was able to spoil myself with some fun ativities :)

first off I got to ride!!

 

 

And then I took the kid I nanny to the Carolina Tiger Rescue :)

I finally had surgery on Tuesday, and everything went well... I am in so much pain so I take my painkillers about 2x a day, once in the am and once at night, I hope to be off of them by wed or thurs because I hate being on medicine and I sleep when I am on it, ALL DAY!

Tomorrow is Christmas Eve and my family, Eric, Eric's Family, Gabe and Richard will all get together and go to this very delicious Italian place for dinner called Maggianos! :)

Then on Christmas I will be spending a while at my house and then go over to Eric's house and celebrating it with his family assuming I am feeling ok!

Happy Holidays!

So Blessed

So I've been feeling sorry for myself after finding out the news that I need surgery again... And as it gets closer the more foul I am getting. I have been angry, anxious, sad, you name it! However, today I was on youtube, and I subscribe to the Ellen Show because it is so funny and they also have some of the most inspirational people, like Talia (youtube Taliajoy) a little girl with two types of cancer who is unbelievable and should be a role model for everyone young and old. While I was on a break from studying for my last two finals (yay!) today and tomorrow I went on youtube and saw this women who I remember watching on the Ellen show in May! I remember crying because her story was so amazing... Well Ellen had here back on and here is her video:
http://www.youtube.com/embed/fQVMeg-Xysc

How amazing!? She is incredible and it makes me feel so stupid and inconsiderate to be whining about my surgery! This lady is a fantastic person and is clearly one of the better people in the world!

Just needed to share this with everyone, and remember, when your down, you should be blessed to have your family and friends :) Especially around the holiday season!

Frustrated!

So... to start with, I went to the ear, nose and throat surgeon and he said just to keep an eye on my lump :) He wasn't worried about and went spent most of the time talking about horses as he used to ride quarterhorses!! Later in the day I had my MRI for my foot/ankle... Then I went to my orthopedic surgeon on wednesday and for some reason I had convinced myself that nothing was going to be wrong and the pain I was feeling was normal...

I was wrong... wayyyy wrong

So there are two peroneal tendons that run from your leg to your foot (around your ankle area)... these are what the normal ones look like

This is what my peroneals look like... as you see one of them (#1) is completely torn! both parts of the tendon retracted so now I have this HUGE gap and frayed ends...

So when I found all of this out I just started bawling my eyes out right in front of my surgeon. I have the most amazing surgeon in the universe and he told me it was going to be alright. Like I have gotten to know him so personally because I have seen him like every week for over 8 months now! I would recommend him to anyone! People from all over come to see him and his team (who are also the most amazing people in the world!). Well anyways enough rambling about my amazing doctor and his team... So after I calmed down he told me I am very lucky to be at Duke Hospital because they are one of the few hospitals in the nation who perform this type of surgery and it's pretty new (3yrs old) but my doctor says he already has some patients running marathons who have had this surgery! This makes me feel better!

So the way he is going to fix me is by taking a tendon from a deceased person and connect it to both side of my tendon (after he cuts out my frayed ends of course). With that being said my tendon will wrap itself around this new tendon! It's pretty amazing stuff! It's the same recovery time as my surgery over the summer so I know what to expect...which means no riding for a long time :(

For now, my amazing friend Miranda is riding Jagger and I am trying to find someone who will rehab Fern back so I can lease him out! I have found someone who can do him for me, unfortunately they are an hour away and I am not sure I want him that far away while he is getting rehabbed... we will see... but I do need to make a decision ASAP as my surgery is the 18th!

Again? Really?!

Hey All!
So I forgot to mention I saw Breaking Dawn Part II with my family over Thanksgiving and am mildly obsessed with the new version of "A Thousand of Years." The movie was absolutely amazing! It was perfect! I suggest this video to anyone ;)

Also, Wednesday I had another appointment with my orthopedic surgeon... He's pretty sure I tore both of my peroneal tendons...again... I have an MRI Tuesday after my appointmet with my ear, nose and throat doctor (for my enlarged lymphnode) then I go back to my surgeon on Wednesday to find out if I need surgery again :( I am crossing my fingers because I don't want to go through the pain and I don't have time to be laid up on bed rest again!!

On another note, If you don't watch the X-Factor right now, you need to start watching it! There is a 13-year old, Carly Rose Soneclair, who is amazing! Goosebumps everytime! You need to watch it and vote for her! She's incredible!

That's all for now :)

Thanksgiving

Well as everyone knows Thanksgiving was last week!

My family had our cousins and my Aunt down for the holiday :) It was filled with great food and fun! Throughout the week we had lobster tails shrimp, Filet Mignon wrapped in bacon, turkey, pizza, and lots of desserts and Panera! It was so much fun! But now the stress starts... Finals start next week and I still have 3 research projects to do! I also got a call from my doctor, they got the ultra sound results back and I am going to an ear, nose and throat doctor because they think one of my lymphnodes is clogged and too big, or something... But didn't sound like a big deal, phew! I also see my orthopedic surgeon tomorrow, I don't know what to expect, but I am SO ready to get out of my walking boot! Fingers crossed!

Well I thought I should update you all! I know it's short, I am hoping for some free time to show up, but the next two and a half weeks are going to be CRAZY!!

Christmas Pictures!

So Eric, Fern, Jagger, Bentley, Paisley and I all got together for a Christmas photo shoot yesterday! Here are my favorites :)

Paisley was spazzing out! But look at Jagger being the best boy and standing still :)



Fern kept licking Bentley, Bentley did not like it!

Nice Little Date :)

I had a nice little date with my boyfriend after school... With all of the school work, puppies, eric's job, horses, appts, hunting, etc... we haven't had time (or the funds) to really go on a date! We went to Skyfall in IMAX, which was good considering I'm not a 007 kind of person... Then we went to the Cheesecake Factory where I got crab cakes and a greek salad and Eric got some sort of amazing pasta and chicken meal... Then we ran errands (romantic huh? haha) and then we went to the lake because it was gorgeous out! It was so nice to go out and do something different :) Here's some pictures from the lake...

 

 

 

 

 

Sometime this weekend, in between Eric's work and my homework, we are going to take a "family" Christmas picture with the horses and puppies :)

 

 

More Doctors Appts...

So a week ago I went to just my family doctor to check out a lump on my throat that has been growing for a year plus... I wasn't too concerned but it was time to get it checked out... They took blood and an EKG and ordered an ultrasound at Duke North Hospital that I have on Tuesday (11/20)... I went back to my doctor yesterday to go over my results for the blood, and everything was pretty normal, however... my heart (that has been fluttering for years) fluttered in front of my doctor, and I told her so she could listen to it... She didn't like the sounds of it and said I need to go see a cardiologist... yay... I'm not concerned, it's pretty normal for me, but just another dr appointment...

With that being said, after my ultrasound tuesday I am most likely going to have to go to an ear, nose and throat doctor to go through my results, if it's a cyst, it's probably not a big deal, however, if it is a tumor then I will need biopsies taken and maybe have surgery to get it taken out (I highly doubt it though, but with my luck, who knows!)...

This has been the year of doctors for my family! Hope it stops soon!!

Quick Update...

So not the best news in the world from the surgeon, but also not the worst...

I didn't break any bones, which I am not suprised about, but I am sentenced to the walking boot until further notice... I am not allowed to do much walking (except for class) or any riding for at least a month and a half... I see my surgeon again in 2 weeks to see how I am doing... He said I either badly sprained my foot and tore through scar tissue or I tore my peroneal tendons again... Hopefully it is the first option so I can get back to riding!!

In the meantime it gives me more time to focus on homework...Joy....

The Journey of a Crippled

I thought it would be appropriate since I am going to the surgeon's office after school today to show what recovery has been like since my surgery in the beginning of June!

On May 12th 2012 I had a bad dismount tearing two tendons (peroneals) and 3 ligaments

After a long journey of x-rays, mris, walking boots and air casts I finally got a surgery on June 5th!

When I finally awoke this is what I saw:

It was the most horrific pain I have ever been in! I was in this MASSIVE cast for two weeks then got my staples out and put in a cast, here are some pictures from that trip to the doctors:


30 Staples Before

After the 30 staples out (HURT TERRIBLY)

After :) My BRIGHT pink cast!

I was put in this cast for four weeks of the hottest summer ever! It was horrible, but it didn't stop me from going to the pool!

After the four weeks I finally got the okay to go in a walking boot, which meant I decided to ride little fern bare back (me rebelling against my doctor)...

 

I was SO happy, however, 2 weeks later (maybe not even) Fern got hurt... Finally at the end of August I got the okay to start lightly riding and walking without my walking cast

Riding hurt more than I thought I would, but thanks to my amazing trainer, friends and family and all of their encouragement I didn't get too bummed out... I was finally riding until a couple of weeks ago when I reinjured myself...

Like I said I have a doctor's appt today at 11:30am, so I will update you all with my status! Cross your fingers for good news! I need to get back on my horses again!!

My Broken Family

When I say broken I mean broken!
My mom is currently recovering from surgery, my older sister broke her foot last week, my twin sister needs surgery next month and now I may have torn my peroneal tendons again... How did this happen? Riding of course!

After my surgery in May I started riding in late August, then I found out I had qualified for NCHJA medal finals so pushed myself too fast to get to be able to compete in them November 2-4th. I rode this wonderful horse Teddy (who is for sale by the way) and rode too much and found my foot hurting, but I still decided to compete.

Teddy :)

 

Unfortunately, that was not the smartest decision I have made. I knew I had done something to it but didn't know what... After going to my surgeon a few days after he said I may have torn it again so I am allowed to lightly ride 2x a week and go to pt 2x a week for 6 weeks then come back to see him... Well last weekend I decided to ride, I rode Jagger first and he was fantastic, did all of his lead changes, transitions, etc... Even though it hurt, I decided to ride Fern who is being rehabbed due to a mild high suspensory tear, so it was a 10 min walk, 5 min trot, and 10 min walk all undersaddle... Well it was a beautiful day and he was extremely happy, which in turn brought on a bucking horse! I landed funny in my stirrup and felt this horrific pain in my foot... So I called the surgeon today and am now sentenced to the walking boot again and absolutely no riding :( Wonderful.... I have an appt with him on Wednesday after class for xrays and a consult again, I don't have a great feeling about it... Hopefully it is just a bad sprain! Thank you to my wonderful friend Miranda for rding Jagger while I am out and my amazing dad and boyfriend, Eric for taking me to these appointments! I will update you all on Wednesday with the results, but for now I will be taking it easy!

First Post!

Hey all!
So this is my first blog post and I am going to take the time to introduce myself! I am Stephanie and I have two wonderful horses, Fern (Fire & Ashes) my 11 year old Canadian TB, who I have had for over 5 years and Jagger (Royal Cavalier) my 6 year old Dutch Warmblood, who I recently purchased in August...

Fern :)

                                                                      

Jagger :)

 

 

 I also have a puppy who will be two years old on December, 25th... He's my little Christmas puppy and his name is Bentley!

Bentley :)

I am also blessed to have an amazing family! We have been able to travel all over the United States, Norway, England, Canada and Alaska (I know thats in the US but it's still cool enough to mention). My hobby horse back riding (which is pretty obvious) controls my life and unfortunately has landed me in several bad accidents. I have broken my leg, dislocated my knee cap and recently (May 2012) torn two tendons (the peroneals) and 3 ligaments which required surgery. I hope through my blog you will be able to get to know me and find my boring life (to me) not so boring :)