Surgery is Done!

Because of a huge blessing, I got to have my surgery yesterday. The morning started with a very important article of clothing turned inside out, but thankfully I figured it out before I left for the surgical center and could've been really embarrassed. Then my mom got confused in the parking structure so we got a little stuck in an awkward position but were able to finagle our way out. For those of you who know of my parking ramp tragedies, I now know where I get it from.
Everything went smooth with the paper work and all that....which that part isn't really hard, you just have to sign your name like 83 times. Then they pretty much called me back as soon as I was done with that. I was really parched and starving by this point since I couldn't eat or drink anything for forever before the surgery.
I change into the hospital gown and lay back on the table and then comes time for the IV. I don't mind needles, but I just can't stand IVs. Getting blood drawn is worse, but Ivs are right up there. Apparantly, I have really small veins. They told me like 30 times that my veins were really small, just like me. I was like, ok, ok, just get it in there and stop poking me! First they tried my left had, no go. So the lady got another lady cause they couldn't even see my little veins and so then they put some numbing stuff in my right hand and then tried the iv there and it didn't work. Then they went for my right elbow pit and that one worked. I was done being poked!!!!
They rolled me on back to the surgery room and had me change beds and then put this mask over me and told me to take three deep breaths. I did and whatever I breathed burned my throat, but they said think of a good dream and I was gone. It was like the best nap ever! I felt so rested afterwards. I'm pretty sure I even dreamed, but I can't remember. It was something about ballet though because they were talking to me about ballet before I breathed in the burning stuff.
My mom said the surgery was only about 25 minutes long. It's pretty exciting because he said it wasn't as bad as it looked on the MRI so that's great news!!! I guess there was some stuff floating around in there that they cleaned out and then they trimmed up the not so great part of the labrum.
Kinda like IVs, anesthesia is not my favorite thing. I don't know how long I was still out after surgery, but it was about 2.5 after the surgery that I was able to leave. He had told my mom I would be ready in about 45 min...haha. I was pretty sleepy when I woke up, so they let me sleep a little while longer. Then I started shaking uncontrollably which is pretty embarrassing and I asked them if it was normal and would just stop at some point. They said that it was normal. Then they helped me get dressed and try to eat somethng, but then I almost threw up. They gave me some anti-nausea stuff and then I perked right up. This time I really remember everything. When I had my wisdom teeth out, I barely remember any of that day, but I remember everything from when I woke up til I went to bed at night.
I'm doing really well now. Using crutches for two weeks. They gave me some pretty powerful pain medicine that I took yesterday. But today I took just some normal pain medicine stuff because my leg hurts, but it's not near as bad as it was during Snow Queen so it really feels pretty great. It more feels like a sore muscle and I can't really lift my leg without my hands. Hopefully I'll be healed soon and back to normal activity!! Thanks for everyone who prayed. It's amazing to see God in control of all of this and the surgery couldn't have gone any better. I am so thankful.
Meow is probably the most helpful in my recovery process. She likes to come sit with me. This is the day of surgery. She missed me all morning :)

In Michigan, what??? A miracle

Many of you have probably figured out that I made a random trip up to Michigan. Not really so random, but unexpected. I've been having hip trouble so I haven't been able to dance since Christmas, so we decided I should come back home to get it all figured out. Pt, massage and rest were not making it any better so there was a more significant problem.
I've been very thankful that the doctors, surgeons and nurses have all been really working with me to get all of this done quickly so I can get back to Mississippi. It's been really nice. It turns out I have a labral tear and so they will need to do arthroscopic surgery on it. I was supposed to have that tomorrow (Wednesday). They scheduled it even though I hadn't seen the surgeon (until today, Tuesday) because they knew I wanted to get in quickly and the surgeon leaves out of town on Thursday. So, it was the only day.
I meet with the surgeon today, and that's a whole story in and of itself, and I leave thinking I'm all set to have the surgery tomorrow. But then I get a call from the surgical center and they say that I can have the surgery but they don't accept my insurance because they are out of network, so I would have to pay A TON of extra money. Or the other option would be to wait until the surgeon gets back and have it on March 9 at a different location, which would set me back almost 3 more weeks.
I mentioned on the phone to the lady that I actually lived out of state and that's why they had tried to squeeze me in so quickly...which is why she didn't get my insurance info earlier to be able to look into sooner than the day before. I talked with my parents and then called the lady back to see exactly how much extra it would cost to have it tomorrow.
Here's the miracle. When I called back, she said that she had talked to her manager and they decided they were going to treat me as if I was an in network place.  So, they are going to accept what my insurance would pay, write off the part they didn't pay and I am just responsible for my part. So instead of having to wait three more weeks, I get to have the surgery tomorrow with the same surgeon and for the same price I would have paid if I had waited. Basically, instead of having to pay 50% for having it tomorrow, they are only going to have me pay 20% which is what I would have paid if I had it in three weeks.
I am sooooo blessed and so thankful!!!!!!!!!
In the meantime, I'm hanging out with my sister and my niece, who now looks like a chia pet because her hair grows straight up...hence her new nickname, Chia!

Christmas Thoughts

First of all, Merry Christmas everyone!!!
It's been a super great break so far that consists mostly of holding my new, baby niece. It's crazy how you can love someone so much and all she does is lay there. Well, she's opened her eyes a few times, but she mostly sleeps. But the other morning when I was holding her I was just looking at her and it started me thinking about things.
Here's this little person, little girl, and she doesn't give a care at all what she looks like, what she's wearing or anything like that. She's part asian and part white, but it doesn't matter to her. She's 7lbs, 18.5 inches long but her size doesn't matter. She's 7 days old, She's a person. All she wants is to be held, to be loved and cared for. What would it look like if we loved and cared for people just because of who they are. We love this new child in our family just because she is, because she exists and she's a precious gift. Because God ordained her to be a part of our family. She hasn't done anything to deserve our love and, in fact, she's pretty much incapable of doing anything, yet we love her. What if we treated all people like that? Loving them for who they are. What if we lived like that, knowing we are loved by God and not so concerned with appearance and what people think and loving other people because God loves us completely.

Having her here has also helped me realize the magnitude of what Jesus came and did for us. We're trying to protect this little baby, washing out hands before holding her, keeping her in a warm room, monitoring the amount of people who come, having nice clean diapers and good cleaning stuff, keeping the dogs and cats away. Jesus didn't have any of that. He was born in a stable, with animals and hay for a bed. This baby can't do anything for herself, she's completely vulnerable and innocent, so was Jesus. It just amazes and overwhelms me the position he put himself in...the extent he went to for us. That Mary was given the responsibility to care for and raise her savior, the Savior of the world! The One who spoke this world into being came to us in obedience to the Father as a tiny, helpless baby. He went through life as we know it and lived perfectly so he could save us because he loves us. He loves us for us, just because we are, because he created us. We are his children and he loves us fully and completely even when we have done nothing to deserve his love, just because we are.

MS Snowfall

I didn't think I'd have the opportunity to get back on here before the couple of weeks were up. And yes, it is 8:30 and I'm about to go to bed because Ms Tracey so kindly blessed us with a day off of ballet after having a performance and such yesterday. So, I have taken full advantage of the rest we were supposed to take since we didn't have ballet tonight.  I thought I'd take this opportunity to tell you of some little excitement in our house the other morning.
A strange thing happened for us this time of the year. All of my roommates and I got ready and were leaving the house at approximately the same time, I think yesterday...Tuesday??? No wait, yesterday was Wednesday. But, I really can't remember, I think it was yesterday. Yeah, cause we had a performance.
It's about 7:30 in the morning, you know, when most people go to work?
Anyways, I'm about about to leave when all of the sudden Rebecca yells, "IT'S SNOWING!!!!!!!!" and if only you were hearing me tell the story rather than read it, I could do her voice for you. Next thing I hear is some screaming and everyone rushing to the door trying to unlock it as fast as possible...we have three locks, so it's not the most simple thing to undo. But sure enough, they get the door open and go running outside and I of course follow. It was fun. Oh so many things happened in that moment, there was some crying, some dancing, some trying to catch the snow. But, I have to say that the best part was the neighbors....
Remember, I said it was like prime time for leaving for work. Yep, they were all lined up in their cars trying to turn off of our street. I look over and they are just staring at us like, "what is wrong with these people" and I just start laughing. Unfortunately, I was one of those people who had to leave for work so I couldn't stay to enjoy the overwhelming delight from the snow fall. My roommates (from Florida and North Carolina) say it was a blizzard, but my roommate (from Indiana) and I say it was a few flurries...we know better :) It was neat though because we don't really get snow here, so it really is quite a special moment even if it didn't stick or never does.

"Andrew Ludwig" I'm Pretty Sure He's My Cousin

Monday, I go to the doctor because I have this weird hip thing going on where my muscle on the inside of my hip pops over my hip bone to the other side when I do certain movements. It feels quite strange, not normal and painful and I have to do this weird twisty thing with my leg to get it off my hip bone and back into place.
So I'm sitting there in this large waiting room of like 100 people...no joke...and I'm just sitting there with a book out and my phone. This lady (nurse I guess) starts walking around this huge waiting room and calls out my name. Before I have a chance to gather all of my things, she starts bookin' it to another room that's behind this glass door and you have to push a special button to get in and all that. So, I try to hurry as fast as I can cause she's like on a mission to get me to this other room except I can't catch up cause she was already on the move before I even stood up. Plus, my hip is injured so it's quite hurting to walk.
Thankfully, I made it into the room before the door shut and this waiting room only had like ten people in it. One by one they start calling people in until it's only me and one other LADY left.
The nurse comes out and calls "Andrew Ludwig"
I look around, yep, it's only the other lady and I, so I stand up.
The nurse says "Is that you?"
I said, "Uh, yeah, I guess so"
She was like "oh, ok, well come on back"
"Alrighty"
Then she was like "Is that really your first name? What is your first name?"
"Well, it's Andrea, but that's ok"
"Oh, I'm sorry, I read your paper wrong"
I just wonder what the other lady in the room thought when I stood up to "Andrew"
See, the problem is that I just really have very bad handwriting and so I'm sure it looked like Andrew. But no worries, it's all straightened out now, they know I'm a girl and have a girl name. And the good news is that my hip will be ok.
On a side note, I made a taco salad for dinner and I'm so stuffed. It always happens when I make taco salads and I don't understand why they always get so huge. It doesn't happen when I make any other salad, only taco salads. I even had to garbage disposal some of it and I still feel like Thanksgiving full.
Well, we're in full blown Snow Queen mode now...sorta, just lots of stuff going on. So, you may not hear from me til Christmas break.

Yep, I was the Turkey

Have I ever mentioned before that it's always interesting here? Pretty much, never a dull moment. Well, I just wanted to send a quick note because I am getting up at 4am to drive home for Thanksgiving!!!! I'm so excited that I get to go home tomorrow, I think everyone knows it. It's just gonna be a great time and this is, in fact, the longest I have ever not been at home, and I made it.
So, at Beagle Bagel, I work with people...go figure. And one person thought she would get me a gift, some massive feather earrings. Of course I had to wear them and so I wore them the day she got them for me and I was trying to make use of them another time. So, I had this brilliant idea for today. Most people have already jumped ahead to Christmas, like the bagel shop is already all decorated and all that, so I thought we should do something for Thanksgiving. I'm really looking forward to it since I get to go home, btw. She had gotten some earrings for other co-workers too, so we decided to dress up for Thanksgiving at work today.
A couple of people came as Indian Princesses, one of the regular customers came as a pilgrim and I was the turkey. Yep, I did my hair all turkey-like and wore my feather earrings and greeted every customer with a gobble...well, ok the last part isn't true. I think the idea kinda kerplunked because we had an unusually low tip day, but that coulda been coincidence. I mean, it was a brilliant idea, maybe just not received quite the way I anticipated. I had asked my boss if I could have a beak, but she said no. That must've been the problem.
Anyways, it was a great day and now I gotta go finish packing at get to bed so I can get up to drive in a couple of hours. We have a full car and it's gonna be a great time! I can't wait to see my family and my cute, little, cuddly kitty named Meow and have some good food and shopping and on and on and on.
Happy Thanksgiving!!!!!! There are so many things to be Thankful for, more than we could ever even know probably :)

One of Those People

I thought it was appropriate to write a brief update before heading home for the holidays (as in Thanksgiving for a very brief period of time then I'll be back here). Anyways, I'm having a super nice, quiet, relaxing day today and enjoying every second of it. So, I'm gonna write here and then be productive...or just off the computer. Pandora's asked me twice now if I'm still listening or if it's playing to an empty room, I'm definitely still here. But, I haven't been sitting on the computer, it's been playing while I've been doing things.
On with the story... or normal happenings of my life. The past couple of months I've been feeling sick to my stomach, most days. So, recently, I started experimenting with food things to see if I could figure out what was going on. Every time I heard of someone having to go gluten free, I always prayed that it wouldn't happen to me. I didn't want to be one of those people because it didn't sound like any fun. Of course, I didn't want to experiment, so I started with lactose. I didn't have milk for like a week and nothing really changed. Then one night I ate a boat load of dairy stuff (probably not the best idea) and I told my roommate I might get really sick at night, but no worries, I knew what I was doing. Thankfully and unthankfully I didn't get really sick. That meant it was time to try the next thing....dun dun dun....GLUTEN.
No!!! I didn't want this to be it, but I dove in. I haven't been having gluten for over two weeks and I've only felt sick one day out of this. I think I might have discovered my problem. Which is good and not good at the same time, but it will be all right. It appears, I just may be one of those people. I've been wanting to try having gluten and see if I feel sick. I'm trying to find a good day to try it out, but so far I haven't found a "good day" to purposefully make myself feel sick (If I'm really allergic to that). Who would ever CHOOSE to be sick?
Anyways, I'm thankful cause I'm learning it's not so bad. Other than the bread tasting like you're eating handfuls of sand, you actually get some nice, special treatment. I was visiting my sister in Texas and we were starving, but they just had normal tortilla chips, but they made me special blue corn chips, it was so nice. Then last night, I went to Biaggis for a birthday party and you know how they give bread for the whole table?? Well, I got to have a plate all to myself. Then I also got my own menu and my meal came with these green noodles. Anyways, I don't really know if that's what I have or not, but the great thing is that I am not feeling sick anymore!!! I'm so thankful.