An Update On Liss...

Hey guys, sorry for leaving yas hanging, been a hectic few days. I started to do a reply in the comments and when that started to be way too long (even by my comment standards) I thought it would be best to put it in here.

Nope, no pictures of Liss' knee. Until Liss gets some color back to her and stops looking like the color of snow, I won't feel so bad taking a picture. Let's put it this way, it was four times the size as the other one on sunday, now down to twice the size, with some slight bruising, can't see the knee cap (which is not where it should be anyways) and the leg angles out about 10 degrees from the knee down. How's that for a visual? It ain't pretty! Good news is that she's getting in for some surgery today at 4pm. I think this is the first time I've ever been happy about a surgery. Something has got to be done as she can't go on like this.

They're going to be doing it laproscopically (3 very small incisions) and she'll be knocked out for it which is a good thing. She can't move it even to straighten it so the doctor examining it (and surgeon, Dr. Vandalay or whatever the heck his name is, he'll forever be Vandalay to me) will have to put her under to spare her the pain. It's just now sinking in how bad this really is. We're praying for the best but preparing for the worst. Hopefully it'll be a quick fix that he'll be able to get at today and it won't require a more invasive surgery down the road. Man, "Everything's so scientifical these days," -Mitch

Thank goodness Mitchell took his day off of school (cancelled) to clear out the path and driveway as we got a fair amount of snow last night even though he's hating every minute of it. Stairs have been a curse for Liss, let alone throwing a foot of snow on it. Made even worse by the fact that she's already exhausted from trying to find some semblance of routine, hobbling around on her good leg.

Ya know, being the dark humoured sadists that we are, one thing that's brought us some entertainment is watching Liss perform this interesting little hop-step she's performing on the crutches. We talked about it this morning and it's the fear of free fall and momentum on to an already weakened good leg that prevents her from doing the full swing one would normally do. It turns out it's hereditary. Darcy and I got immense hilarity after watching Mitchell take a go at the crutches and it's the exact same step. Then when they went to the hospital yesterday for Liss' pre-examination, Marybeth commented on how she could never use crutches, then picked up Liss' and proceeded to do the exact same little hop-step. Hahahaha, it's almost too much! Sorry Liss, I couldn't help myself. Honestly, nothing's sacred around us.

Through it all, Liss is staying amazingly positive and I'm so proud of her. It's gotta suck. I'm just glad we're finally getting some answers and most importantly, some action being taken and not just falling through the nightmare cracks of what is our healthcare system. Go Marybeth!

Oh, it's also going to be awhile 'til we get to see the camp blog update as Liss had another little knee-popping (glad I didn't have to hear it this time, ack!) incident yesterday and is under specific orders once again, to keep her ass put. I wonder how long it's going to take before she gets sick of us breathing (I'm sure the snickering's not helping) down her neck. She's not up to it yet anyways, even being upright for too long's a chore for her.

Scott has also arrived home safe and sound. He arrived tuesday evening and stopped in to check on Liss for a few minutes before heading on his merry way home. Glad you got to try it out Scott, otherwise you'd always have a case of, "What if...?" Glad ya made it back though, we missed you.

Also, I'd like to thank Dean for the little creature identification (mousey thing in campfire) from my last entry. See Dean, wandering through the woods does pay off! :D Without seeing the full body of it, Dean says it's a, "meadow vole." For size comparison, that red thing's one of those plastic cups laying on it's side. Heehee, I thought I was doing good to see a mouse. He also had this to say and I'll quote it here as I found it to be very interesting...

"I think it's a meadow vole. Voles are very common in New Brunswick.
You see them in the woods more often than mice. More mice in the camps though. voles have stubby or mid-sized tails and fat little bodies. mice tend to have longer tails and slimmer bodies. Shrews are pretty small and have sharp teeth, they are not rodents. New Brunswick has voles,moles,mice,rats and bog lemmings. It also has shrews. There are a few species in each order in New Brunswick."

Speaking of Dean and without going in to details as they want to keep it private, I know not all of you are prayer sayers but Dean and his family are in need of some right now so please be with them in this time and keep them in your thoughts as well.

And just to keep this entry from being totally photoless, just a pretty picture I took a few years ago in TN and some colour that I've been desperately missing in my pictures as of late...



'Til next time...