My New Arm!

Well, it's been 11 days since my surgery, and so far we're good. (Minus the reaction I had to my meds that required an ER visit. Not complaining though. It could have been worse. And, I was all better pretty quickly.)

Jared and I drove to Nashville today for my post operation appointment. I love my doctor! His name is Donald Lee at Vanderbilt University. If you ever have a need for an upper extremity ortho guy, he's the best! My appointment went well, but it's easier to explain with pictures. So, here we go ...

Before surgery

Here's what you're seeing in the picture above: My actual humerus is the bone that has 4 screws in it down to my elbow. My cadaver bone is from the top of the screws up to the big white ball. And, I still have my own socket that the metal ball hooks to. The really white rod that goes from the ball of my shoulder down the center of my cadaver bone was inserted after I broke my arm in 2004. There's also a plate that runs down the side; my screws are hooked to it, and there's a weird metal band that holds the plate to my cadaver bone towards the top. Confusing? I agree. The problem with this contraption is that everything is falling apart, shifting around and breaking. I guess I should have written all of that in past tense since I don't have any of it anymore.

My blue prints

Jared calls this image my blue print. I think it's really neat looking, so I thought I'd share.

My experiment

I've shown this before, but I thought I'd include it with this post too. This is the "new metal" that allowed my rotator cuff to be sewn to the metal. Long story short: it keeps my shoulder from popping in and out of socket. We love this piece and pray it works!

Today's x-ray

This is what my arm looks like today. Originally, we thought Dr. Lee was only replacing the cadaver bone and taking the 4 screws out of my humerus to heal as a broken bone. As you can see in this x-ray, he ended up taking out almost all of my bone to just above my elbow. There's some funky screws in there which is how the metal is hooked into what's left of my humerus. This decision was made to make my arm more sturdy. Now, I have less of a chance for stress to occur at the connection site. This is a good thing!

Let me back up for a minute ... Before surgery, while I was in pre-op, the anesthesiologist came in and asked to do a nerve block in my neck. Well, that scared me to death. As if I wasn't already nervous enough, I had to decide whether or not to let them stick a large needle down my neck and essentially paralyze that side. Don't judge. I'm pretty tough. But if I had to choose between dealing with pain or taking a chance on being paralyzed or having nerve damage, I choose the pain. However, they talked me into the nerve block. I wouldn't let them do it without Jared being in there with me holding my hand. He was a champ! I focused on him and all was well.

Guess what? After surgery, I was glad they talked me into the crazy block! I couldn't believe how good I felt when I woke up in recovery. I even told Jared, "you're getting a much better deal than my sister got with my last surgery." You know the saying about when something seems too good to be true ... About 3 or 4 hours after surgery, the block stopped working. Have you ever had bone pain? Well, if you haven't, I hope you never do. If you have, you know that I wasn't a happy camper. The doctors made me keep the block in "just in case" it started working again. So, it stayed in until Jared took it out the Monday after we came home from the hospital. It was the best feeling ever! And I was proud of my hubby for being able to handle that kind of stuff without passing out. LOL

So, back to today ... It's been 11 days, and although the recovery has been harder than I anticipated ... a little more pain than I expected and a reaction to my meds ... most everything has gone really well. The doctor was pleased with my recovery with one exception: my shoulder has fallen out of socket a little bit. He thinks it can be fixed with a new sling that will push the ball of shoulder back into place. Also, the more I use my muscle, the stronger it will get and will naturally pull my shoulder back into place. Since I can't use my arm now, I'm supposed to flex my deltoid as often as I can. Eventually, it will get better.

It wasn't a perfect report, but it wasn't bad either. I'll take it! I'm about 2 weeks from being able to drive and function on my own. And, I'm about 5 weeks from getting back to life without a sling. Yippee! Every day gets better and better!

Any time you have medical issues, there's always going to be some positives and negatives. No matter what happens with this surgery and recovery, please know that I'm thankful for all of it! I know I have to go through some tough stuff to be able to get the arm I've been praying for. In the end, it's all totally worth it! I'm so lucky to have so many wonderful people praying us through this!

Here are some pictures from today:

First time without my sling on ...

The swelling on the inside of my arm and around my elbow is gross!

Waiting to get my stitches out ...

So, new sling and no stitches = happy Rian! We go back to see Dr. Lee 2 weeks from today. I'll keep you posted, but please continue to pray for us. This party ain't over yet!

We're Home!

We're home! I'm having good moments and some tough ones too ... totally expected though! Started running a fever last night, but we got it under control before it reached the "have to go to ER" degree. Praise the Lord for that! Sleeping off and on for about 2 hours at a time. Jared said it was like having a newborn baby! LOL!

As for the surgery ... They ended up taking more of MY bone out - the part above the elbow. We didn't know that was going to happen, but we're glad they did this. The last two screws right above my elbow had to come out, and that was going to leave me with two holes that would have to heal. Now I'm more stable - metal from the ball of my shoulder to right above my elbow. Ive got new x-rays that Jared is going to scan later today, and I'll share those then. It makes more sense when you can see the pictures. Anyway, I'm pretty proud of my new robotic arm!

Waiting on my escort out of the hospital! I was so ready to come home.

Ill try to post updates every day or two, but I can only type with one hand so its a slow process. Thank you for your continued prayers ... This too shall pass and I know Ill get better every day! Lots of love!

Graciously Overwhelmed

I can't begin to tell you how overwhelmed I am by all the kind words I've received over the last few days regarding my surgery. All of your thoughts and prayers are truly awesome! Matthew 18:20 says, "For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them." Well, in my case, there are hundreds coming together in His name, and I can't thank you enough for that. How awesome is it to know that God is still in the prayer answering business? I have no doubt that I am in God's hands, and I trust the plan He has for me. It doesn't mean I'm not a little nervous, because I'm human and (mostly) normal. But I'm not scared. God's got this. You are all truly amazing friends, and we are so blessed that each and every one of you are a part of our lives. Jared is going to do his best to post updates on both of our facebook pages. Surgery is at 7:30 CST on Thursday. Lots of love and blessings for everyone!
Rian

Check! One down ...

On Wednesday night, I did something that I've always wanted to do ... I took a cooking class! My friend (and former employer at the Richmond Chamber of Commerce), Ali, invited me to go as an "early birthday gift." Have I told you yet how much she rocks? Well, she does. Taking a cooking class is one of the "to-do's" on my bucket list, and I'm so excited that I got to check it off! One down. At least 15 more things (for now) to go.

The class was taught by the awesome Phil Dunn. Of course, not being from here, I wasn't familiar with him. But, when I came back to work on Thursday and told everyone about the class, they were totally impressed. Apparently, he's a rock star chef!

The Menu:
Margaritas
Shrimp Tortilla Soup
Mexican Fiesta Dip
Arroz Con Pollo
Mexican Wedding Cookies

I've been on a diet, but I definitely cheated this night. There's no way around it! We cooked a course, then ate. Cooked then ate. Cooked then ate. And, of course, well, we had to stay hydrated while we cooked in that beautiful, hot kitchen!

Here are some of the pictures from the class:

Architectural Kitchens & Bath - Where the class was held.

Our first creation - Mexican Fiesta Dip - It was my favorite!

Chef Dunn browning the chicken for our main dish, Arroz Con Pollo.

Again, browning the chicken.

Preparing the cilantro for our Shrimp Tortilla Soup.

Ali butterflying the shrimp for the soup.

Chef Dunn making sure she's doing it right :)

Yummy!

We only used half of this butter to make our cookies - thank goodness! I can feel my thighs getting bigger just looking at this big chunk-o-butter!

Jared's "to go" plate. We cooked so much that there was no way I could eat it all! There's chicken and rice that was our main dish and a little bit of dip that we had as an appetizer on here. He loved it too!

Thank you for such a fun night!!!!!

And finally, "sugaring" our Mexican Wedding Cookies. I seriously could have eaten 100 of these! Mmmmm!

I can't wait to take another class! If anyone wants to go with me, just let me know, and I'll keep you posted about the next class schedule.

Updated Bucket List:
1. Sky dive (I'll have to do this when I'm on my death bed though. I really don't want to break my arm again.)
2. Write a book (I'm still trying to decide what I want to write about ... )
3. Live at the beach
4. Learn to fly a plane
5. Run a marathon (start with 5K and work my way up)
6. Wear a pink stripe in my hair
7. Travel to at least 10 different countries
8. Own my own business
9. Go to a Broadway Show in NYC (I can't believe I've never done this.)
10. Take cooking classes. COMPLETED
11. Learn to knit.
12. Take an art class/Learn to paint
13. Take a dance class (specifically salsa, but I'd love to learn all kinds of dances)
14. Go on a mission trip
15. Adopt a child (Jared isn't as convinced about this one as I am.)
16. Take a photography class



Cheers!
Rian

My Bionic Arm ... Well, sort of ...

Most of you know the journey I've been on with my arm  for the last (almost) 12 years. For those of you who don't ...

In 1999, I was diagnosed with a form of bone cancer called osteosarcoma. Shortly after the diagnosis, on May 28, my doctor's performed a somewhat experimental surgery on my left humerus (they had only done 5 before mine) where they took my bone out and replaced it with a cadaver bone. From the ball of my shoulder to about my mid humerus is not my bone; it's a dead guy from New Jersey's bone. (As you can imagine, I'm a big proponent of organ donation, but we'll get to that later.)

One week after my surgery, I walked out of the hospital in a huge brace (named Kenny after my doctor) ... it wrapped around my torso and held my arm straight up in the air like the statue of liberty. That was fun. I wore it for about 10 weeks if I remember correctly. It seemed like longer. I can't complain though. Other doctor's told me the only option was to amputate my arm. I knew that wasn't what God had in store for me, so we prayed for a miracle ... and I got one!

Then came nine months of chemo, but that's a story I'll get to later too.

For several years, my arm was great. I had limited range of motion, but nothing I couldn't deal with. I still lived a pretty normal life. Then in 2004, I broke it. Yes, I broke the miracle cadaver bone. The worst part is that I did it playing golf ... we think. I started having a pain that continued to get worse over the span of about four days. Finally, I went to the ER, and they confirmed what I was afraid of.

So, I had another surgery. This time the doctor put a steel rod down the center of my broken cadaver bone and sealed it with bone cement. He had to take out four of my eight screws to do this, but he left the metal plate that acts as a shield to my bone. It's amazing that I don't set off metal detectors at the airports. I have a pin in my shoulder, a steel rod, a metal plate, 4 screws and a weird rubber band holding it all together.

Since that surgery, my cadaver bone has continued to deteriorate. The cement didn't work, and I have more breaks. For the last six years, my family and I have been praying for another miracle. Specifically, we prayed for the medical engineers to create a new type of metal that will allow my soft tissue to attach to it. This will allow the doctors to go in and remove my cadaver bone completely and replace it with all metal. Without the new metal though, my rotator cuff can't attach to anything and will cause my shoulder to pop in and out of socket.

Fortunately, God didn't stop performing miracles back when He healed the blind man and the lepers a long time ago (these are some of my favorite stories in the Bible). In 10 days, I'll be going under the knife to have another experimental surgery. My doctor and the medical engineers believe they have gotten the metal created that we've been praying for. Praise the Lord! I'll be the first person to have this particular surgery ... EVER! It's a little scary, but I've always said that if my experiences can touch one person's life, it's totally worth the ride. And, who knows, maybe this surgery will pave the way for future advancements for amputees. That would be pretty awesome!

Here's what my arm looks like right now:

There are also 4 screws in my orginal bone. You can only see 1 and part of another one in this xray before the picture ends. Those will be coming out. Yay! But, they're going to have to heal like a broken bone would. The only part I'm keeping is the saucer looking thing in my shoulder.

Here's a diagram of what my arm will look like after my surgery:

The really skinny part at the bottom will be inserted into my original bone. The part right above that where it gets bigger will eventually heal to my bone, so it will seem like one solid structure.

This is a picture of the new metal that we've been praying for:

This will be at the top of my arm, right before my shoulder starts. The part that looks like thread is the suture that will hold my rotator cuff on.

My surgery is at Vanderbilt Hospital on March 3. The plan is to spend 48 hours there which means I'll get to come home on Saturday. I'll be in a sling for about six weeks, and I should only miss about 9 or 10 days of work. Not too shabby for such a crazy surgery!

My only request is this: Please say a prayer for my sweet husband, Jared. He is one strong Christian man, and I know that he will take excellent care of me. And, I'm trusting that the Lord will take care of him, ease his mind, comfort his heart and take away all concerns. This will be our first big "thing" to go through as husband and wife, and I know it will bring us closer to each other and strengthen our faith. And, of course, please remember my family in your prayers too. My sister and my brothers have been through this with me for the last 12 years, and they know all too well what is to be expected. I know it's hard for them to see me go through this. My sister has been my rock, she still is and she always will be. I've seen her nearly take a nurse out for not giving me my pain meds on time. LOL! But, in all seriousness, they need prayers of comfort as well. I truly have the most amazing support system a girl could ask for!

I'll keep you all posted on my progress. Thanks so much for all the prayers!

Love,
Rian