Well Jeremy rode a mechanical bull. We had an opportunity to see Robert Earl Keen at this country bar and as Jeremy was returning from the restroom, he eyed THE BULL. He was determined to try it out. I tried to capture his heroic ride on my camera phone, but all I got was this blur. The bull was going so fast it was hard. I think he may have made the 8 seconds but it is hard to tell - influenced as we were by the whiskey. :)
One of our weekends, we were invited up to Winter Park ski resort with some friends. The big kids were hanging with their dad so Jeremy and I decided - what the heck...
We had a really nice visit with our friends and then Sunday morning we were able to do some snow shoeing. Obviously Isabella can't snow shoe yet so she got to ride in a sled.
I really enjoyed getting out in the snow and fresh air. I have not been able to do anything like this in a while. I wish we could do it more often. Isabella laughed as dad tried to keep up on the downhills. She is an ace at balancing inside the sled. She really loved being outdoors as well - never complained about the cold once.
Other than those 2 weekends - life has been pretty normal. The kids are doing well in school and Samantha has been the super girl we have been used to seeing.
Last week we met with the doctor that will be doing the 'skin envelope' to repair the skin around Samantha's ankle that has been damaged by the infection. The doctor was confident and definitely knows what he is doing - which made me feel good. Samantha of course was in rare form when she met him. After a 2 hour wait to see him, he informed her that he wanted to remove her cast to look at the leg. Samantha hates to have the cast removed and it is especially hard on her when she is not prepared for it. She grilled the doctor for almost 20 minutes before he was allowed to remove it - she wanted to know exactly what he would be doing and why.
Basically, in order for this skin repair to work the doctor needs to find a good artery to redirect into the transplanted skin. Most people have 2 main arteries bringing blood to the foot. Samantha lost one of those because it was interlaced with her tumor. We know the other one is strong because her toes are nice and warm and pink.
Ideally it would be wonderful if the other artery ended close enough to her calf to use. Sam had to do a vascular study in order to determine if there is a good vein for the doctor.
We originally scheduled that for Wed. We arrived at The Children's Hospital thinking that Samantha would have to have a quick injection and a special x-ray. However, as we were walking back to the procedure room they started describing the procedure. It turns out that they sedate her and give her some pain meds then cut into an artery near her groin. They thread a catheter down the main artery into her left leg using a camera. Then they inject dye into the blood stream and take a fancy x-ray. This allows them to see all the blood vessels in her leg. After they finish up she has to lie completely flat for 4 hours so the artery can scab over.
We really were not prepared for it and again Samantha was very upset - she hates surprises. We got her all prepped for the procedure and at the last minute she cancelled it. We ended up rescheduling it for today. It worked out much better. Wed evening we had planned on celebrating Daniel's birthday with the uncles and we would have missed that, plus Samantha actually need to stay bedridden for 24 hours after so she would have missed a day of school and 2 important tests.
Samantha showed up today for the procedure all happy and compliant. We have to wait until the doctors see the study to get any result. Although from looking at it today, I didn't see another artery that was very big. I guess we will have to wait and see.
This past weekend was really exciting for the kids. Daniel and Samantha's dad and step mom had their baby - 2 weeks early and on Daniel's birthday. At first Daniel was a bit upset but after he saw the baby he is now pretty happy it worked out this way. It is a good connection between the brothers. Samantha is of course so excited and very helpful. The baby is so adorable - I am really happy for them.
Next week will be pretty busy, her surgery is scheduled for Wed morning and it will take most of the day. We have been told she will be in intensive care for a few days because they need to check her pulses in the foot every four hours.
This weekend - Isabella has a birthday party - we have an invite from some friends - the wash and house need to be taken care of since I will be gone for a while with Samantha.
She has to stay flat for most of tomorrow and I think Jeremy and I may try to catch a movie - we will see.
Work has been super busy for me - I should probably work a bit over the weekend but I am not really good at actually sitting down and doing that. The result will mean I will still be behind at work next week - a never ending story. :)
I know I always promise this - but I will try to update more often and include more pictures - until then - take care!
Love to everyone!
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