Wednesday, December 7, 2011

Hooray!  The cast came off today and stayed off!  I am now wearing the boot.  I can have limited weight bearing… up to 25% until my next office visit.  I haven’t tried much of that yet.  I’m still getting used to the freedom of no cast! 

Dr. Beskin pulled the pin out.  It was sticking out of my foot the whole time and I was dreading having it pulled out.  But just as he said, it didn’t hurt too much.  He sprayed this icy liquid all over it and I was still feeling the pain from that when he pulled it out so I almost didn’t even notice when he did it!  But it came out quickly much to my relief. 

I still have the strange pains here and there in my foot, but now I can look and see that it’s not something pinching from the outside.  My foot is very stiff and I need to start moving it a lot, but it’s not easy.  Dr. Beskin thinks I’ll do better to do my own personal therapy often at home as opposed to an hour of out-patient therapy three times a week.  So none of that for now.  Please pray that I will be diligent to exercise and move it as much as possible, even though it will cause pain. 

I just realized that I never sent a picture of my ‘rolling knee walker’ so here’s a picture of it.  It’s great!  100% better than that walker was.  I can carry things in one hand as I go unless I’m trying to turn around.  Do you have any idea how many times you turn around in a day?!!  I never realized till now!

It looks like it will be sometime in March before I am allowed to return to Mali.  The doctor wants to be sure that I am walking well before I go back.  Please pray that the healing process will go well and that I will make the best progress possible as quickly as possible.  And please continue to pray for BCA and those who are carrying on there, especially the substitute teacher who will begin teaching Kindergarten when school begins again. 

May you all have a blessed and happy New Year! 

Love,

Kim

Wednesday, December 7, 2011

Finally, some news!  It was pretty quiet around here for a couple of weeks after the surgery.  The first week went quickly enough as I celebrated Thanksgiving with my family.  The second week went by a bit slower!  I needed to keep my foot elevated as much as possible, but I was able to move about from place to place with a walker.  There were a few nice days when I was able to sit on the deck, but other than and meals at the table, my time was divided between bed and the living room couch.  I occupied myself with reading and email and computer stuff and a little bit of school administration that I could do by email. 

I had my doctor’s appointment yesterday and it seems that all is going well.  It was rather a shock to see my foot looking like something from Frankenstein.  J  He showed me the mark he had made where he didn’t have to cut after all!  He had thought he might need to make two incisions during the surgery, but only needed to do one in the end.  Praising God for that!  There were 10 stitches on the incision and a little pole (well, I guess he called it a pin) sticking out of my foot on the side under my big toe!  He thought it all looked good…  They took the stitches out, but the pin will remain until my next visit in 3 weeks. 

My first cast was a ‘soft cast’ (could have fooled me!).  It felt very hard when my foot would swell up.  But actually it was not solid all the way around.  There was a hole where my heel is, and from the ankle up, it only went halfway around my leg.  All along I have had strange sensations in various places in my foot.  The pain has not been too bad, but the discomfort is frequent.  It often feels like there is a pole going through my foot, but not always in the same place.  There is pressure from time to time, like my foot is going to explode out of the cast.  This is because of swelling.  Sometimes there is itching which drives me nuts. 

I had a choice of color for my new cast… red, yellow, royal blue, purple, green…  Of course I chose red since it’s Christmas!  J  This one is a hard cast, solid and all the way round my foot and leg.  More difficult to scratch when it itches…  L

The pain and discomfort are supposed to start getting better now.  Please pray that they will cease quickly!  It doesn’t bother me as much when I’m distracted with other things, but when I’m being still and resting (which I’m supposed to do most of the time) it starts bugging me more. 

The doctor has prescribed the “rolling knee walker” and I hope to get it soon!  Can’t wait to see how it works.  It’s supposed to make it easier for me to get around and free up my hands so I can carry things as I go, or stand in the kitchen and help out a little bit.  I’m just praying I won’t fall off of it as soon as I get it!  J 

The doctor has also given me more freedom to do things.  I’ll still need to keep the foot elevated a good bit, but I can get out and go to Christmas parties and Hobby Lobby!  I’ve already done both.  J  I’m still dependent on others to take me places, though, and that’s hard when I’m so used to being independent and doing things when I want to do them. 

Your prayers are carrying me through!

Love and Blessings,

Kim

Wednesday, Nov 23, 2011 pictures

Surgery is done!  We arrived at the hospital early Monday afternoon, but the surgery was a couple of hours late because Piedmont is a very busy hospital!  The doctor was there ready to go, but there wasn’t an operating room available.  Surgery finally began at 8 pm and I woke up around 10 pm in my room.  It wasn’t quite as bad as the doctor had feared.  He only put 2 screws and 1 pin in.  He isn’t sure if he will leave those in or if he will go back and take them out later.  I guess we’ll have to just wait and see.  Since it was late, they kept me overnight. My poor, dear parents would not leave and I’m afraid they had a rough night, but I was so grateful that they were there!  I was pretty groggy and slept as much as they would let me in between nurses and others coming in and out.  The doctor came by early in the morning and said I could leave when I was ready.  Unfortunately, the anesthesia made me sick and very woozy, so I wasn’t ready to go for a while.  Someone came to see if I was ok with the crutches and we decided a walker was a much better way to go!  They have also suggested a new thing for later on.  I’m not sure what it’s called, but it’s something like a stool with wheels, which I would put my knee on.  This way I could put weight on the knee and hold the cast up behind me when I’m walking and it would relieve the other foot from having to bear so much weight.  I’m very curious and hope I get a chance to try one out.  But insurance isn’t likely to pay for that, so I’ll have to rent it.  It was around noon when I was finally ready to go home. 

My foot is in a large cast which covers all of my foot but only the back part of my leg.  I have an appointment with the doctor in 2 weeks.  When they take the cast off, they’ll put me in one of those boots.  I’m still a bit light-headed from the medicine, but the sickness is gone.  My foot hurts from time to time, but it’s not unbearable.  The medicine works for the most part.  It does feel, fairly often, like my foot has gone to sleep and that’s a bit uncomfortable. 

Dr. Beskin also straightened out my broken toe while he was at it.  Now it hurts more than before, but at least it is straight!  I’m very glad that I can still get up and around when I need to, even though I’m supposed to (and do) keep the foot elevated as much as possible. 

Thanks again for your prayers on my behalf to our wonderful Heavenly Father and Great Physician! 

Blessings and love,

Kim

Monday, November 21, 2011 Surgery is today

Today is the day…  Surgery at 6 p.m. if all goes as planned, at Piedmont Hospital in Atlanta.  (That’s 11 p.m. Mali time.) 

I’ve started a blog for those who have missed some of the updates.  I will only send out one more update after the surgery, but I may add more to the blog for those who are interested.  The blog site is Kim-nelson.blogspot.com.

Thank you so much for all your prayers and notes of encouragement!  I am overwhelmed when I think of all those who are praying and who have passed my needs on to others to pray as well.  We serve an awesome God!  The body of Christ works in beautiful ways! 

Visitors and phone calls are always welcome.  I’d love to see those of you close enough to come see me.  I’m afraid I won’t be getting out much myself!  I don’t have a cell phone yet, but my parent’s home phone number is 770-775-4796.  Mom’s cell phone number is 706-476-4014.  She only uses it when she’s away from home.  

Blessings,

Kim

Saturday, November 19, 2011

Well.  I honestly don’t know how to start this update.  Several things have gone through my mind…  “Unbelievable.”  “Just call me the Drama Queen.”  “Really, God?”  “WHAT am I supposed to be learning?  Do I have to be flat on my back to learn it?”  “I guess I was still just a bit too mobile for some reason…”  :-)

My sister and her husband came down to help me and my parents out, but this morning they went on to south Alabama to have an early Thanksgiving with my other sister.  Thanks to me, my parents couldn’t go as planned. (sigh)  Just after Gwen and Bennie left, I headed to the bathroom to get cleaned up.  On the way, as I passed through a doorway, I must have gotten off balance and my crutch hit the side of the door, with my foot following… right into the crutch.  It hurt SO bad!  My Mom came running and I stood there for a minute and then we both burst out laughing.  That’s what we do in situations like this.  Then I thought I should take off the sock and look at it before going on.  My toe was so crooked, I knew something was wrong!  AAAAARRRGHHHH!  We debated about what to do.  I was sure it was broken or dislocated and I wanted to see a doctor.  But I was afraid to put weight on it.  So they pulled up a chair and I sat down right there, while my parents started calling around looking for a wheelchair to borrow.  One was located and a friend picked it up and brought it to me.  My parents’ house does not have wide hallways.  The hallways and the carpet made it quite a challenge for my Dad to push it all the way from one end of the house to the other and out the door.  But we made it.  Gwen and Bennie were already en route to south Alabama, but they turned around and met us in Griffin at the Family Medical Center.  Xrays showed that it is indeed broken.  They taped it to another toe and we pray that it will heal properly like that.  Problem is, I can’t put ANY weight on my other foot, so I really need this foot to keep me going… so they gave a ‘post-op’ shoe to wear to keep the broken toe in place and to keep it from getting knocked about.  It makes crutches much more difficult, but I guess, with practice, I’ll learn to get around a little bit. 

So.  Please pray that the Lord will help me to keep my arms intact…  :-)

Pray that the toe will heal back properly. 

And pray that I will QUICKLY learn whatever the Lord is trying to teach me! 

Pray for my parents, too, because this will be exhausting for them, although they will never ever complain.  I am SO thankful for them! 

Thanks again for your prayers and notes of encouragement.  I can never say enough and I’m not very eloquent in coming up with new ways to say it.  But I appreciate you all so much! 

Friday, November 18, 2011

Once again, I thank you for your many prayers.  God is so in control of everything, it never ceases to amaze me.  The trip home was not bad at all.  I was in business class all the way and people met me with wheelchairs each step of the way to take me to the next point.  During my layover in Paris, they left me in the Business class lounge where I read my book and dozed a bit.  My parents and a good friend met me at the airport in Atlanta and we arrived home around 6:30 last night. 

This morning I already had an appointment with a specialist my Mom had been to.  He saw the x-rays and immediately confirmed the earlier report I had received...  It’s really bad…  Feet are not his specialty, so he made a phone call, and another amazing thing… got me right in to see one of the top doctors of Atlanta, “the best”.  This is the orthopedic surgeon for the Atlanta Braves and the Hawks, so he must be good!  Once again, he confirmed that it’s… really bad.  Surgery is set for Monday evening, 6 p.m., at Piedmont Hospital.  I don't know yet, but I suspect that I will be in overnight.  Recovery time will probably be at least a couple of months. 

Yet another blessing along the way…  Instead of regular insurance with a deductible of $750, I will use Workman’s Comp – since it was a job-related injury.  I will have no deductible to meet! 

A few prayer requests at this point…

Please pray that the surgery will go as scheduled for 6 p.m. on Monday evening.  I will have to fast most of the day to that point, but Piedmont is such a busy hospital right now, that there is no guarantee that an emergency won’t delay my surgery.  The doctor was so busy today, that I’m truly amazed that he made time to see me. 

Please pray that the med-evac insurance will pay for my return trip to Mali, whenever that may be.

Pray for the best possible scenario during the surgery, that there will be minimal damage and repair needed, and of course, wisdom and guidance of the doctor’s hands.

I know that it’s your prayers that have been holding me up!  It’s unbelievable how little pain I have had to this point.  I am assured that the pain will be incredible after the surgery.  So please continue to pray about that.  Hopefully the pain medicine will keep that in check. 

Thank you again for your prayers.  May God bless you richly for your part in all of this!

Wednesday, November 16, 2011

Thanks again for so many prayers that are going up for me!  I can sure feel them!  I have really had very little pain and I’m sure it’s due to so many lifting me up!  I’ve already checked my bags in and I’ll be at the airport tonight around 10 p.m., arriving in Atlanta mid-afternoon tomorrow (Thursday).  My appointment with the specialist is Friday morning at 10 a.m.

I will be flying business class which should be nice and comfortable!  I will be traveling alone, but there will be people helping me from place to place with wheelchairs.   Good friends will be meeting me at the airport in Atlanta to take me to my parents’ home.  God is good! 

Thanks again and many blessings to you all!

Tuesday, November 15, 2011

Thanks so much for all of your prayers in these last few days, especially that I wouldn’t need surgery.  God has answered… with a big fat NO!  So I guess He has some other purpose in mind.  That’s Ok… as long as He is in control!  Which He always is! 

Yesterday, while I was still waiting for the swelling to go down, a couple of western doctors came by to have a look at the xrays.  They recommended that I have the xrays sent to the son of another doctor who is an orthopedic specialist in the States.  That was done last night and he got back to me very quickly!  Apparently I have what is called Lisfranc injury.  It’s pretty bad.  Surgery will be required and he recommends that I do it in the States because of the long recovery period it will require – 8 – 12 weeks. 

This will require a lot of work on the part of my SIL director and my roomie, Janet, getting med-evacuation insurance rolling.  The insurance company has to approve EVERYTHING and that’s not always easy to negotiate.  They almost always want to fly people to France, rather than the States, so they’ll need to be convinced that it’s necessary. 

So here’s what I need prayers for today and tomorrow…

that the insurance process would go easily and smoothly for Tim and Janet. 

That I will think of everything I need to square away before leaving. 

That we can find a substitute teacher for 12 weeks for Kindergarten! 

Thanks again!  I don’t know what I would do without all of your prayers!  We serve a great and faithful God! 

Saturday, November 12, 2011

The saga continues…  Thank you so much for your prayers.  I know they are holding me up! 

We went in for the cast this morning.  This doctor (an orthopedic specialist) was actually there on time!  But he wasn’t happy with the x-rays and wanted some more done.  Long story short, there may not be a fracture at all, but there is a dislocation.  Life becomes more complicated now. 

He put a temporary cast on to wait for the swelling to go down.  I’m to go back on Tuesday and they will put me under to put the bone back in place.  If this doesn’t work, perhaps they could just put pins in.  If that’s not enough, I may need surgery. 

Oh dear.  The bones in the foot are very intricate and this is a bit scary to deal with in Mali.  I haven’t checked with insurance yet, but if surgery is required, I may need to be med-evacuated.  I would not be evacuated to the States, though.  It would be probably be France. 

So please pray that none of that would be necessary!  Pray that they could just pop it back into place and be done with it! 

It is also complicated to have a substitute teacher for my class.  I have to write the lesson plans in much more detail and I can’t show anyone where to find things.  I have to describe where things are.  There are a couple of new moms this year who have been very happy to fill in for us, but to do it for a full week is a little more difficult. 

I’m so VERY grateful for my wonderful roommate who has been carting me around to the doctor and getting prescriptions filled.  I’m trying not to run her to death in the house, but there’s a lot that I can’t do for myself right now. 

Thanks again for your prayers!

November 11, 2011

Thanks so much for your prayers!  I went this morning for x-rays and they came back quickly.  I do have a fracture in my foot and will need a cast.  That is no surprise.  Unfortunately, the doctor could not get hold of the man who does casts.  She put me in a room where we (Janet & I) waited all day long…  That was a bit frustrating!  She finally came back and told us that we will have to return tomorrow.  She will call us when she gets hold of him and will make an appointment. 

In the meantime, I tried on one of these boot casts that a friend gave me to use.  The doctor doesn’t think it will work well for me, but since I didn’t get the cast we tried it anyway for tonight.  It was SO painful.  I had to take it off again after I got home.  The swelling is still really bad and probably won’t go down for a few more days.  The pain is because it re-positioned my foot.  I’m sure the cast will cause the same pain, but hopefully, with some pain killers, it won’t last for too long. 

Thanks again for your prayers and your notes of encouragement.  They mean so much to me!

November 10, 2011

I took a nasty little fall this afternoon at school.   I was putting something up on the wall, standing on one of the chairs, which I felt was sturdy enough.  When I started to get down… well, I’m not really sure exactly what happened.  I must have stepped too close to the edge and the chair tipped over.  My foot was twisted and there was nothing for me to catch to block my fall.  I was close enough to my filing cabinet, though, that it caught my head on the way down and I hit my thumb on something, perhaps also the filing cabinet.  

My head is fine, just a little bump.  My thumb has a really nasty gash.  I’m very thankful that it didn’t seem to cut anything important inside my thumb, like nerves or ligaments.  It did, however, need immediate attention and 2 stitches (without any numbing agent… OUCH!) 

My foot… well, I’ve never seen anything quite like it.  It immediately swelled up with a large egg shape on one side and a smaller one on the other side.  I am SO THANKFUL that the other teachers were still there.  Normally they would not have been there at that hour after school.  One was within earshot and I received good care right away.  It was a bit tricky going down the stairs and getting to the car.  I hopped all the way, with support on each side.  Going down the stairs, I held on to the rail with both hands and hopped all the way down!  Getting into the car was tricky, too.  Our guard finally picked me up and put me in.  One of my teacher friends took me to check with another friend, who is a nurse, about what should be done.  She told me the foot could wait till the next day when the swelling went down, but the thumb needed attention right away.  I went to a doctor who has studied in the U.S. and her English is very good… another praise!  After one of the nurses stitched up my thumb, the doctor wrapped my foot and found me a pair of crutches.  I’ve never used crutches before and they aren’t as easy as I hoped they would be!  I hope it will be easier soon.  I will go back in the morning for an x-ray to see what really happened inside my foot.

Prayer requests:

Please pray that my foot is not broken and that the ligament is not broken or pulled.  Pray that it will all heal properly and quickly!  I’m not sure how I’m going to manage going up and down stairs to my classroom every day…

Please pray that the stitches in my thumb will do their job and that my thumb will heal well.  Using the crutches is putting a lot of stress on my thumb even though my thumb isn’t directly involved or even touching the crutch.  I really don’t want the stitches to pull loose! 

Pray that I will do well with the crutches.  I’ve already come close to falling a couple of times! 

Thank you so much for your prayers!  I LOVE that I can always count on you all to lift me up!  God is so good and faithful to answer your prayers.