A one-handed post

Typing with only one hand is difficult and obnoxious, so this will be brief. It has been a little over two weeks since my battle with the roach, and a lot has happened. After a visit with the orthopedic surgeon in town, we were referred to an orthopedic oncologist at UAMS. The local surgeon said he didn't have as much experience removing cysts this large, and the oncologist does this for a living, so we should go with him. When we visited with the oncologist at UAMS, he informed us that my "cyst" was actually a giant cell tumor. Awesome. He still thinks it is benign, but we won't know for sure until he does a biopsy. Since that meeting, I have had a chest x-ray that was clear, a full-body bone scan that showed NO other tumors, and an MRI of my shoulder so the oncologist has a better picture of what he's dealing with. The plan now is to biopsy and remove the tumor in my arm on October 31 at UAMS. They will probably fill the huge hole in my bone with a cadaver bone graft, and then stabilize the fracture with metal plates and screws. Doesn't that sound like a fun Halloween?? I'm so glad we have Halloween activities earlier that we can take the kids to so I don't miss them wearing costumes and having fun.

I'm basically useless right now. I can do a little more than I could the first week, but it will be a long time before I can pick up Logan, feed him bottles, change diapers... I hate this. The kids can sit in my lap one at a time, but Logan still gets squirmy. The pain isn't as bad as it used to be, but this arm sling is wreaking havoc on my neck--the headaches are brutal! We have been so blessed, though. Mom has taken way too much time off of work to help with kids, clean the house, and take me to appointments in Little Rock. When she couldn't be here, our church family has surrounded us. I have 2 people at my house everyday (one morning, one afternoon) while Casey is at work. They have also been bringing meals every other night. West Side church of Christ is a force to be reckoned with! I'm just ready to get this week over with so we can do this surgery! If all goes well, I should be in decent shape by Thanksgiving and good as new by Christmas. Please pray for that!

Thanks to everyone who has been praying for us through this mess. Don't stop now! We still have a week of waiting with an arm that's still broken, surgery, and recovery. It's going to be a rough couple of months, but I have already decided--2012 is going to awesome. Just you wait! :)

Rachel vs The Roach

I don't even know where to start... this is the most ridiculous thing ever.... As I sit here and attempt to type this with my left hand, I think I am still in shock about everything. Here is Casey's version of what happened on Friday: "Rachel tried to kill a cockroach, and we ended up in the ER." So al least you know this will be interesting.

Abby was in her bed refusing to nap on Friday afternoon, and she started yelling that there was something in her room. I went in to tell her that she was fine and just needed to go to sleep, but a huge bug crawled across the floor. It took a minute to get her calmed down and into the hall, and then I went to grab one of Casey's size 13 shoes. I didn't want to miss. :) I'm not really sure what possessed me to use the arm that has been hurting and getting weaker over the past few weeks, but I did. Holding the shoe in my right hand, I brought it up over my head and down towards the floor in an effort to annihilate the bug. As soon as the shoe hit the floor, I screamed in pain. Poor Abby thought the bug had gotten me. :) I wasn't sure what had happened, but I knew I was in a LOT of pain, and it was bad. I managed to get to my phone to call Casey. He came home to get me, and my wonderful cousins, Bonnie and Becca, came over to stay with the kids. I thought I must've done something awful to a muscle or dislocated my shoulder. After several hours of waiting in the ER, we finally got an x-ray of my shoulder and neck. I was in shock when the doctor brought us back to see the x-ray and told us that I have a pretty big cyst in my humerus (upper arm bone), and it had weakened the bone so much that I fractured my humerus when I tried to kill the bug... sooo.... I broke my arm by killing a bug. Seriously?! He said he already showed my x-ray to the orthopedic surgeon, and he said the cyst doesn't "look" like it's cancerous... but he does think we need to go in, remove the cyst, and possibly do a bone graft so my bone will grow back. So in a few hours, I went from a possible muscle strain to a hopefully non-cancerous bone cyst that needs surgery, a bone graft, and a broken arm that can't be casted. I'm supposed to call the surgeon on Monday to schedule an appointment so we can discuss options.

Y'ALL. There just aren't even any words. Several people have wanted the full story, so there it is. I've gotta go take some more pain meds and lay down. Please wake me up when my life makes any sort of sense. Thank you.