Surgery Achilies Done!

Long day at the hospital...we got there at 10:30 for check in. Surgery at 12:00 noon. I had Andrew and a friend with us. They spent 1.5 hours in the waiting room playing DSI. I think they had a good time. I then rewarded them with a trip to McDonalds. They were very happy with that. Then dropped them off at Mathias house. Back to the hospital...wait.....wait...text....wait....read...sleep...text. Yeah at 2:30 doctor comes out and tells me how the surgery went. She said it went really well and that the tear was a little farther up than she first thought. So she had a lot of sewing to do. He should have a nice big scar up the back of his leg she said. Very macho. I forgot to ask her how many stitches she used. The nurse said it is usually 15-20. I will have to find out when they take them out next week.

Before Shot!

They write on your leg to make sure they operate on the correct leg-good thinking!

After-Thumbs up!

Lots of ice to keep the swelling down. Poor Gary in a lot of pain.

This will be a long recovery with lots of physical therapy in the future. :-)

Home! Finally around 5:45pm.

What better way to recover than by watching Soccer. Too bad MLS All Stars could not win against Manchester United. Great game to watch...lots of scoring. 5-2

Now the trick to keep Gary off his leg and elevated!

Oh yeah....he passed a small kidney stone when he got home...he thinks he has another working its way down. :-) Only Gary....good thing he is on his pain meds :-)

Weekend Ups and Downs

Up!!!

Lunch with child hood friends! Kim was in town- Cary had a birthday- Great reasons to get together. We had a lot of catching up to do. I love these women. I think we drove the waiters crazy. We talked and talked. The food was pretty good also. I am glad we can see Kim once in a while since she has moved away from us. Love you girls.

You can't see Kim's arms here. She is really buff! She is working out for a fitness competition.

Go Kim!

Down!!

Well Krisse called it at lunch...She was worried about Gary playing soccer. So Gary is blaming Krisse for jinxing him.

Gary was playing in a soccer game for an over 40's league. The guys seem to get a little over zealous at these games. One Jerk on the opposing team kicked Gary from behind in the leg then stomped on his when he was down. As you can see this hurt Gary alot. He admits that this is one of the few times he really yelled at some one who took him down.

His team mates had to carry him off the field. Then they carried him to his car....? Why would you do that? Men....so he drove himself home. He called me on the way home. Telling me he might need to go to the hospital when he gets home. Great news! Again.

We spent the next 4 hours in the Emergency Room getting Gary diagnosed and medicated for the pain. I have not seen him in this much pain before. And that is saying alot. Yes he has torn his left legs Achilles tendon off the bone. He will need surgery. They have him booked even before we see the specialist. They all know what has happened. This is not new for Gary. He did a partial tear on his right leg two years ago. But this is a total tear.

Gary taking photos for facebook! He loves his new phone! I am glad he can entertain him self with his toys.

The made a splint for him and then wrapped it in bandages. Cool Yellow! It is not hard all the way around. This way the swelling can go down and the specialist can look at the leg better.

Back Up!

Friday afternoon we head up to Mount Vernon for Vincent's soccer tournament. His Lake Hills team the Hurricanes were having their first game for the summer. They won the first game- lost the second and then won the third. But not good enough to get to the finals. It was a great time with the boys. And the games were awesome for them to figure out what they need to work on. We really like this bunch of boys. The coach is also great. She really knows how to get those boys working hard. And does not put up with any crap. I like her alot. :-)

The whole team stayed at the same hotel close to the fields. Andrew did not have the best time. There were no other kids to play with. And with Gary being injured it was hard to get around alot. He was a trooper and he enjoyed swimming in the pool. The weather was nice and hot. Good thing I had my big umbrella to shade Gary with.

Down...the boys got third place.

Up....No one got hurt during the games!

Go Hurricanes!

Life is full of ups and downs. But how many times do I need to visit the ER?

Happy Birthday Andrew! 10 Years Old!

What a great party! The Roving Reptile Man came and gave a great show for the kids! It was a big hit. The highlight was Andrew getting to hold the huge Albino Python. It was pretty cool!

He also brought some other cool reptiles. The Alligator was a hit also. No holding that.

The birthday boy got special treatment. He got to hold a few of the reptiles. The other boys were pretty jealous of that. :-)

Sydney was a trooper. She was the only girl that showed up to the party. It was going pretty well for her till he put the snake on her lap. Yikes!

The reactions on the kids faces were great. Some laugh-some jump-some are not sure what to do.

The party was a success. I think all the kids had a great time. We had the hot tub going and then had a fire going and roasted marsh mellows for smores. The kids then played keep away with Vincent and Christian.

I love you Andrew! You are awesome! I am very happy to be your Mother!

Soccer- Airsoft Guns-Hand update :-)

Gary is back to playing soccer!

Yeah- he had to take some time off when he tore his Achilles and his soleus muscle. That was two years ago. He was young back then. Now he says he is a leaner and meaner. He is playing for an over 40's team. They have lot of fun. But the guys forget they can't stop as fast as they used to. They push and shove each other alot. Some like to argue with the refs. Funny how they all know so much more than the refs.

The guys come off the field looking like they are going to have a heart attack and all sweaty! But they all love the game and I am glad they are having fun!

Go Gary!

Vincent had money that was burning a hole in his pocket. He is also very bored. I mean we have been home a week and there is nothing to do.

So Vincent decided to buy some new Air Soft Guns! He even let Andrew play with him. They set up target all over the yard and have been having a blast. I do have little pellets all over the yard. They say they are biodegradable- We will see.

Brotherly love!

Mom wanted an update on my hand.

It looks like I have leprosy. All my skin is pealing off. It looks terrible! I have a bunch of burn sore spots where there were creases from pruning my hand with vinegar. Every time I use my hand to pick up something heavy I feel like my skin is sliding off. When I do dishes I use rubber gloves. That helps. But the doctor says to let it be out in the open and use some silver cream stuff. I have some left over from my face acid burn last month. ( The deck stripping accident)

My middle finger is a little infected and still a little swollen. My skin is so dry and lose and wrinkly.

I am not sure why I have blood blisters by my fingertips. The do hurt a little when I press on them. But it does not hurt too much.

2010 Cabo Trip and Jelly Fish- Ouch!

OK- I have sorted the photos (about 700) and loaded some here. It is midnight and I am tired and have a busy day tomorrow. So I will leave the photos as is and fill in the captions later.

Good night! :-)

I am back!

Cabo was great this year. We got lucky this year and had Spencer join us for a week. He met us on our connection in AZ.

Finally on the beach! We had dinner at the Office! What a great spot to eat - swim- and shop all at the same time.

Vincent is showing Spencer how you shop at the office. He got the hang of it pretty quick. But he is not as ruthless as Gary and Vincent. He barters more like me. I want them to make some money.

I loved all these blown glass hearts and lights on this tree. It was super cool. I would like this on my deck at home.

We hiked to Lovers Beach from our condo. The waves that day were really big and the current was really strong. The boys tried to snorkel but the waves almost took Vincent out.

Jenn will be happy to know that they have people hanging out on the rocks that you have to cross to get to the beach. They are pretty nice and help you get over the hard parts and make sure you don't slip.

Family photo opp!

View on the way back down the boulder to home. I love this view!

We had a awesome time on the ATV's! The boys talked me into going. I was planning on sitting by the pool and relaxing. I am glad I went. Andrew was a real trooper and he took turns going with Gary and I double. I am sure he will be driving his own very soon. There was a local little boy about 5 years old driving one around.

Vincent and Spencer had a blast. The kept trying to get in front of each other during the whole trip.

We drove from the dessert to the beach. We did have a few slow people in our group.

Andrew and I like being in front of the line. Less dirt in your face that way. :-)

Santa Maria beach. I love this beach. It had tons of fish! The sand is a little rough. Not too crowded either.

Vincent got a little too close to this fish and cut his finger on it's spikes on the end of his tail.

Go Spencer!

Spencer and Andrew were happy to just sit in the waves and go back in forth with them. They were starting to get a rug burn from rubbing on the rocks so much. It was fun to watch them float around.

Back at our beach in front of the condo. We have lots of Pelicans that hang out. I enjoyed sitting and watching them. They have a huge wing span.

I could sit here and watch the waves roll in and out all day. It always makes me want my Mom and Dad with me for this. They also love to sit and watch the waves. One day I will get them here.

Playa Grande from the beach.

The new Grand Sol la Mar is being built right now. We did upgrade to new room there. It looks like it will be way cool. We have or room booked already for next year. Same time same place- almost.

Off to go Para sailing! I love this! It is so cool. The view and the feeling of floating is just awesome! I went double with Andrew- he is not heavy enough to go by himself. We saw lots of sting rays in the water. Andrew and I counted about 10 on our ride.

Chileno Beach.

There were lots of people here snorkeling. The tour boats were hear and the beach and the water were crowded. So we hiked to another beach that we had all to our self's close by. So we did not see the white flags us. Warning Jelly Fish in the area.

These cool puffer fish were what we were looking at when I had my mishap with the Blue Jelly Fish. We saw a cool yellow one.

I am so happy here - Thinking all is well and that nothing could ruin our day.

Ok- Wrong!

Sorry it is late again- Off to bed- I will write more soon. :-) Sorry

I am back- man this posting is taking some time to write. Catching up on life after vacation is hard work. Here we go with the rest of the story!

Gary and Vincent and I are out snorkling at the end of this reef. We are about 100yards out. We are looking at this cool yellow puffer fish. I wave Gary over to look at it and take a photo of it. So I back up out of the way for him. Then all of a sudden I feel this great big stinging on my back! I whip around to the left and use my arm to hit what ever it is out of the way. Wrong move! I then see blue strings all over my wrist and hand! It hurts so bad! I start screaming "Jelly Fish" and try and pull it off myself. I start waving my hands becuase i cant get it off. It is stuck on my watch band! It hit my face with the jelly fish while i am waving my hands around to get it off! Now i have it on my back- hand- face. Vincent comes to help me and he starts pulling it off my face and then Gary comes and helps out as i am swimming as fast as I can to shore.

Poor Gary has his hands full with his camera and then my fin comes off then i take off my watch and he grabs that. Vincent is helping to pull me to shore- What a good boy scout! He should get a merit badge for helping me and trying to keep me calm.

We get to shore and I still have stuff on me. The get a beach towel and wipe it off me. Then I see my bottle of water on the beach and I pour some water on my hand. (Now I know you are not suppose to do that. It makes the toxins go faster in your system) I am thinking - should I have Gary pee on me? Then I think- no becuase that could realy damage my kids minds for life.

So I get on my flip flops and put a sarong around my waist! You know I did not want my butt hanging out all over the beach. I then ran to the other beach to get myself some help. I have Gary and Vincent collecting all our crap from the beach. Andrew and Spencer were playing in the water at another beach. So Vincent goes and collects them also.

I find security people and they look at my back and go - Ohhh.. then they radio for help for the life guard. I get a guy to come help then he gets the lifeguard to come help. He brings the Windex! Windex are you serious? Yup- I guess it helps neuteralize the toxins. I am crying like a baby! I can not stop. And when I do stop it hurts worse, so I just keep crying. He then tells me I should take off my swim suit to make sure no more stuff in on me. So I quickly striped down- No modesty involved. Well a little- the kids weren't there yet and I had Gary and the guy hold up my sarong and then I striped fast! Good thing I had that with me. Now I am just wearing my wrap.

They also gave me a benedril for the swelling and I get my ring off just in time- I am begging to get some pain meds. They call the Ambulance. They come to the beach pick me up. No medicine yet. We all pack in to the ambulance. Cheaper than a taxi. And we head off to the hospital. They ask " you want an american hospital or mexican?" Let me think....American please! Find out they call it american because about 3 people speak english there. Doctor- one nurse- and of course the billing guy.

At the hospital they start putting white vinagar on me. They soak gauze with it and drape it all over me. It does not make me feel better, but it helps with the toxins. I am asking - please get my IV going to give me pain meds. I am holding out my good arm at them- saying please hurry! I finally get some meds but they don't feel like they did a thing. It takes about 4 hours for the severe pain to subside.

Gary took good care of me and the kids. He sent them home in a taxi then hung out with me. Kind of a new experiance for him. Usaully he is the one in the bed hooked up. I sang songs and watched Gary's ipod music videos to try and get my mind off the pain. Pop Corn Popping is a great song to sing :-) .

I then went home to our condo. With a $891.00 bill and a bag full of vinagar bandages and some pain meds and anti nausea pills. I only had my smelly sandy wrap to wear home. I should have gotten a gown or some thing. The poor taxi man was feeling very bad for me. I am sure I smelled aweful!

I am so proud of Gary for taking these photos. Most people would think he was crazy. But I have trained him well. He thought to him self "What would Julie Do?" and he pulled out the camera! Yeah!

My nuse looks goofy here, but she was very nice. She spoke English very well.

This is a drive by photo of the hospital, It was next to McDonalds.

At the condo I got sick alot from all the medication. And that night I thought I had this great idea. I would wrap my hand in the vinegar bandage and then put my hand in a ziplock bag and go to sleep. That way I would not get the bed all smelly and wet. Well in the middle of the night I could feel my hand getting really stiff. And I thought "oh no! I think I am pickling my hand". Sure enough I got up and took off the bandage and my hand was all pruned up and white and rock hard. Yikes! What did I do! I am have ruined my hand!

Now I really smell bad. I take it easy all day and hang out in the shade by the pool. I say good bye to the ocean. We go out to dinner. I am feeling OK. I just cant use my hand at all and it is all swollen and ugly looking. The boys all help me alot. That was nice. It was hard to do my hair with one hand. I did get one contact in also.

This little canary picked out or fortunes from the box. This was a new one for us. The birds were very cute.

Last family photo at Playa Grande- we will be staying the new building next year.

Breakfast at the hotel resturant. My hand is still swelling. Now you can see all the marks from the jelly fish on my wrist. A dotted line wraps around my wrist and up my hand on my fingers.

We really enjoyed having Spencer with us. What a nice boy. I would love to adopt him and have him on all our trips. But I am sure Cindy would miss him.

You can't see too well my chin is starting to turn purple and get a big scab on it.

At the airport- last minute shopping and waiting to go home. I am hoping the airplane will not make my hand worse with all the airpressure stuff.

All is well. I am safe a home. I am looking really ugly. The photos do not show too well on my face. My chin got huge scab and is flaking off. I had to do a presentation at work and meet clients. I got some good sympathy out of it. :-)

Still can't make a good fist.

My back is healing well.

This is my wrist you can see where it got stuck on my watch band.

Today is the 15th. I have made a doctors appointment today. Because last night I started getting bubbles all over my skin and my hand is peeling something aweful. I feel like if I grab something my skin starts to slide off. So some of my friends have advised me to go to a doctor.

Ok Ok I will. 3:30 today. I will let you know how it goes. :-)

Sorry such a long post. But this way I have it all written down for myself. I am sure I will forget things by next year.