Back Home

In case you were wondering...We are back home! I know I should have posted sooner, but oh my goodness gracious has it been busy at our house?! From the moment we walked in the door it has literally been balls to the wall (yes I said balls), full force, back into the world of the Stone family.
First of all....LOOK AT THIS FACE!!!!!!!!!! Missed him so. I think he grew up while I was gone.



Renzi is still in quite a lot of pain, but I just know it has to be good for him to be at home. Everything is always better when you can sleep in your own bed. Right?!! He is very sore and moving slow, but he gets up and walks every hour or so. He has to wear a brace and can't lift anything heavier than a gallon of milk for two weeks nor can he drive for two weeks as well. He also gets to wear these really pretty compression hose. My man has great legs I tell ya!

Jackson was SOOOOO beyond happy his daddy was home!

So...I have begun the task of caring for two little people and one big person. EEK! Also, managing a major renovation project in our house (pics to come soon!), planning a first birthday party for this weekend for Walker, oh and trying to get to my office and actually do my job that I actually get paid for, while also trying to make sure everyone is fed, comfortable, has something to drink, takes their meds, gets to school on time, gets dressed, bathes, lunches packed, etc. etc. etc. I thought it was hard getting it all together for just the kiddos, but add one more person in there who can't bend over and put shoes on and it adds a bit more chaos to our everyday lives. Honestly, I wouldn't change it for the world, because my greatest joy is caring for my family.

It made me think of this quote by Shauna Niequist, one of my favorite authors:

“...now that I am a mother, I understand what Mother's Day is about: it's about looking through our lives and recognizing the act of mothering everywhere we see it, and more than that, recognizing that when any of us mother-- when we listen, nuture, nourish, protect--we're doing sacred work.”
“Many of the most deeply spiritual moments of my life haven't happened just in my mind or in my soul. They happened while holding my son in the middle of the night, or watching the water break along the shore, or around my table, watching the people I love feel nourished in all sorts of ways.”

“I think preparing food and feeding people brings nourishment not only to our bodies but to our spirits. Feeding people is a way of loving them, in the same way that feeding ourselves is a way of honoring our own createdness and fragility.”

If you haven't read any of her books, run out and do it now! I am reading "Bittersweet" right now and it really hits home for me.



And this picture pretty much sums up most of my days. What is it about boys and wanting to wrestle all of the time? How come no one is ever interested in coloring quietly???

I wouldn't have it any other way.

Love,
Lee Anne

Surgery day 4

This will be brief because I am exhausted!!!

We checked out of the hospital around noon today and headed to the hotel. Renzi has has a really good day and he slept really well last night. He is still very sore but all to be expected.

He slept off and on for the afternoon and I finally had the chance to work out. The treadmill I was on said my pace for a mile was 6:03. Pretty sure it's broken, otherwise I am totally trying out for the Olympics.

We watched a movie (Argo! So good!) and ordered dinner in our room. We have his post op appointment tomorrow at 8:15 and then we get to head home!!!! We are going to try to beat the blizzard that is apparently heading towards Oklahoma. Oh goodie! Ha!!!

That's all for now! Goodnight!


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Surgery Day Three

Right after I posted last nights post, things went a bit south for our patient. About 5:30 he started telling me he was cold and was literally shivering, and that was with two sheets and three blankets on. We called the nurse in and sure enough he had a fever.

The next four hours were a swirl of people in and out of the hospital room. His fever kept rising and at it's highest it was 102.7. They ran labs and took an X-ray of his chest and all the while the poor guy just couldn't get comfortable.

The labs and X-ray came back normal, thank goodness, so we could rule out an infection in the surgical site. I called my brother in law and Renzi's brother, Grant, who is very knowledgable about this type of surgery, and he consulted with some of his doctors and they all said a fever after a surgery like this is normal. Whew!

This morning he was still feeling awful so our nurse decided we should switch his pain meds. And POOF, my sweet hubby finally got some relief. His eyes cleared (they seemed a bit cloudy), and he started making fun of me (which is a good sign, and don't worry, I made fun of him right back!).

We've had a pretty non eventful last three hours and it seems like Ren is finally getting some relief and that I am forever grateful.

Here are two pics of his X-rays after surgery I wanted to share.






Pretty amazing eh??

Until next time.

Desperately in need of a shower and a glass of wine,

Lee Anne

Surgery Day 2

Last night was a fairly good night's sleep for our patient. Even though people were in and out of our room every few hours, when we did sleep we both seemed to sleep hard. At 2 a.m. the nurse had Renzi stand up and walk to the door and back. It wore him out so the next time I heard him stir it was at 5:45 a.m and that was because the doctor was in the room.

He said everything was looking good, the soreness Renzi was feeling was normal and told him to get up and move more today and to stay on top of his pain.

I dozed off right after he left but was awakened ten minutes later by the strangest sounds coming from the hospital bed. I sat up, put my glasses on and realized that Renzi was doing his PT exercises on his own. At 6 a.m. (There is that overachiever thing again!)

About 10:30 this morning this happened!


Cute little Jeana the feisty PT gal. Love her.

This afternoon turned a bit sour when some pain set in for Renzi but the nurse say it is all normal at one day out of surgery. He's been moving a lot and the body is a bit shocked. He just was able to take some pain medication so he is finally resting again. Bless his heart.

The boys are doing great at home with Kayla and we miss them terribly. I somehow got into a deep conversation with the janitor this afternoon and showed her about 50 pics of my kids. When her eyes started to glaze over I realized it had been fifteen minutes of me talking and her not talking. #imgoingabitcrazy.

Hoping for a good nights rest with minimal pain and more mobility for Renzi. We should be released to go to a hotel close to the hospital tomorrow morning until his post operation appointment on Monday morning. And let me tell you....this girl needs a shower and an actual bed like nobody's business so I can't wait. I'm looking like a hot mess minus the hot.

Thanks for the prayers, texts, calls and concerns. We feel so loved!!

P.S. I've now watched the first two episodes of Downton Abbey. Holy canoli! I'm loving it! Why did I wait this long to get on the bandwagon????

End of surgery day one

Renzi had a bit of trouble when he got of surgery in that he was in a lot of pain so they wouldn't let me see him until 2:15! Torture!!! But finally they let me in his room and it was so good to see his sweet face!

He rested a lot this afternoon and even did PT! The physical therapist said he was an overachiever! Ha! He even stood up but quickly got light headed and had to lay back down but he still rocked it.

Hoping for a good nights rest for us both and a good day for tomorrow. Again, thank you everyone for your prayers!!!


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Renzi is out of surgery...

Quick update:

Renzi is out of surgery and all went great! Dr. Ziegler said his discs were really really bad so he thinks this will reduce his pain greatly if not completely. He is in recovery for the next hour and a half so I haven't been able to see him yet and give him a big fat kiss but I will update later on this evening. Thank you for all of the prayers and for loving us so well!

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A long time coming...

A Long Time Coming
Special contributor, Renzi Stone

I usually leave the blogging to Lee Anne, but felt I needed to share that I’m having major back surgery Thursday. Specifically, Dr. Jack Zigler at Texas Back Institute is doing a disk replacement surgery on my L3-4 and L4-5 disks which are in my lower lumbar spine. The surgery will last three hours and has some risks associated, including all the normal risk with major surgery and the chance that it won’t work. I’m OK with that. I’ve been dealing with this pain for a long time and now is the time to address it.

When I was 17, I pinched my sciatic nerve while playing basketball. There was pain in my lower back and pain running down my leg causing me to miss most of my senior season of high school basketball. Fast forward to four years of running, jumping (albeit not that high) and diving on a wooden floor and you might imagine I was putting my back in a precarious position for later in life. Somehow, I got through four years of college basketball and the rest of my twenties with minimal problems. The big issues started when I was 30 and doing a workout called CrossFit. After about eight weeks (which I loved), I felt that same pain in my back. It has never been the same.

For the past five years, I have done everything imaginable to find a solution. I’ve received the opinion of six orthopedic surgeons, countless other specialists, done PT, acupuncture, chiropractic, massage, yoga, rest, pain drugs as well as six epidural injections and multiple steroid shots. I have iced my back every night. I have become more flexible. I lost 25 pounds. I have not become addicted, thankfully, to Lortab or Oxycontin, although I have taken a lot of ibuprofen the past six months. Nothing has helped.

Lee Anne and the boys have been so helpful and encouraging. Lee Anne, particularly, has pushed me to figure out a solution. Although most of the surgeons have recommended to do nothing since I am functioning somewhat normal (a term I struggle with since I cannot do many of the things that any normal 35 year old - or for that matter 65 year old - could do), I can’t imagine another six weeks, six months or even a year in this state of discomfort and pain.

I believe in a God that listens to our worries and anxieties and I believe he has heard my call for healing. I’ll go into Thursday's surgery with a heart filled with hope and a spirit committed to getting healthy and active. I pray for safety and resolution of this issue in my life. Of course, I pray for a speedy recovery. Thank you for all your prayers. I do believe they will help bring about a positive resolution. Lee Anne will handle the post-op blogging, unless I get a hold of the computer. Don’t hold me accountable for any pain-killer induced posts.

Renzi


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Last weekend...

In all of my worry about Walker's surgery last week I forgot to post about my fun girls weekend...

My friend, Ashley, from high school is getting married in March so we all headed to Dallas for her bachelorette party.

We started Saturday off at The Dry Bar for blow outs (with champagne!) and then some serious shopping at Northpark.


We are dinner at a fab place called Villa O. Well, I thought it was fab...but if you ask some of my friends they would give you a different word for it....ahem.

Courtney, Candace and moi.


After dinner (which by the way was at 8:15! So late!) we headed to The Dram (it was 11:00 by this time! So proud of myself for being awake so late! Go me!) for a little drinks and dancing.

Shelly, Ashley, me and Addie.


We stayed up way too late, laughed way too much and missed our babies and hubby's a ton!

One of my favorite things about a night out with friends is looking at the silly pics you took the next day.


There are no words....


Because I have no idea what's happening here.


While I was gone my boys were in good hands with their dad and their Pops!! Pops came in from Annapolis to watch one of Jackson's basketball games. So sweet.


He even brought Baltimore Ravens shirts and Mardi Gras beads for the boys. He also braved Dave and Busters and took Jackson there Friday night where I m fairly certain Jackson worked him over for more and more tokens.



All in all, they boys had a great weekend and the girls had a great weekend....but it sure was nice to be back home with my boys!

Surgery

My sweet youngest baby had surgery yesterday. Double hernia in his scrotum. Yup. In his balls.

Here he is at 6 am in his hospital gown. Sweet baby boy.


After they took him back to the OR at 8, Renzi and I anxiously waited in the waiting room with other parents. It felt like and eternity and all I did was stare at this board. Walker was number S2882.


The surgery only took about 45 minutes but man was I happy to get to hold this guy in my arms again.


He slept about 5 hours yesterday when we got home and when he woke up he ate enough for a small army of babies.

Today? Well...

He back to rebounding for his big brother.


Hoping this is the last surgery for the Stone boys! My heart just can't take it!! So thankful for knowledgable doctors for fixing my sweet boys *balls.*