Left Leg, Right Clavicle

I had my March appointment with my surgeon. There were two items on the agenda, 1) weight bearing status of my left leg, and 2) surgery to remove the rod from my right clavicle.

The Leg
The x-ray showed there wasn't as much callous as he would like to see, but apparently fair skinned people don't build obvious callouses on their bones. My leg feels great, and it still has great range of motion (I do my exercises every day :-) so he said go for it. I got the green light to start putting weight on my leg today. I have to call and make an appointment with a physical therapist and he sent me home with a single point cane. While I am very excited to start walking again, I am very nervous about it, and afraid I am going to hurt myself (the Fear is creeping back...there really hasn't been much pain in my recovery, but the Fear of pain has been hard to manage). This evening I thought I would give my cane a try. I made Spencer stand on my right side so I could hold onto him, and braced myself with my left hand on the cane (normally for a left leg injury one would use their cane on the right side, but that darn broken collar bone makes that a bad idea). I put my weight on my left leg, and it felt weird. I realized very soon that not only was I not going to be walking, I wasn't even going to take a step (I did make a baby step). My foot felt like a pillow and there was no way I was trusting that cane to hold me and my baby weight up. It was like learning how to drive, and then being asked to ride a unicycle. With some physical therapy I should regain some confidence in myself and my new bionic leg.

The Clavicle
The x-ray of the clavicle showed that there was not as much healing as we would want to see at this point. Last month it was looking really good....so this was a disappointment. I had actually been able to schedule the removal of the rod for March 23rd, but we decided to cancel that and push it a month out to give the bone a chance to heal better. My other option was have the rod removed and risk breaking it again because it didn't heal completely, or having a permanent rod inserted. This totally sucks because it drags my recovery out another month (grand total of 4 months!!!!).

I hadn't thought much of my recovery beyond the 3 month mark...but realize now that I had assumed by Gwen's 6 month birthday I would be more mobile and could be the Mommy I want to be. I just have to accept that I am the best Mom I can be right now, and continue to live in the moment (no mourning what could be, just enjoying what is).

Food and Family

My brother Arin is staying with us for these first 2 weeks of February and he has been a great help. He is good with Gwen (trying to help her stand and walk)- he is shocked by how much she sleeps, eats, poops/pees, and cries. He keeps asking if this is normal....I think so. He has been doing the night feedings, and sleeping in her room since he is such a heavy sleeper- and Gwen thanked him by sleeping all night (almost 11 hours!) Friday night. I think she was fighting off a cold as she had a little sniffle and was a bit fussy. Arin has been cooking for us Macrobiotic meals which has been really awesome. I eat fairly healthy as it is, but eating Macrobiotic is more a lifestyle, and I think we will incorporate a lot of it in our meal planning once I am cooking again (don't worry Spencer we won't have steamed kale every night!). I am still pretty limited on what I can do, the site where my titanium rod was put into my collar bone is a little inflamed and doctors orders are to take it easy (so using my right arm as little as possible until the swelling goings down). I'm not sure he ever cared for a 4 month old!

Heavy Metal

Today I had my first follow up with my orthopedic surgeon. I had an x-ray of my knee and clavicle to see how they are healing and they are doing well. I will get the rod out of the clavicle in 2 months- it is a simple outpatient surgery (like dental surgery), with another small scar on my chest. I am really glad the rod will come out because it probably causes me the most discomfort right now and it is so disturbing how it pokes out a little at the center of my chest, which is the extra little bit that the surgeon needs to pull it out (yuck!). In the x-ray the thing that looks like two paperclips is part of my bra strap :-).
The metal in my leg is there for good (unless there is some sort of problem in the future). The x-rays are really intense- even the x-ray tech remarked that I have quite a bit of metal in there. I imagined the metal to be a bit different, like a square plate screwed to the bone with 4 little screws, not s 6-8 inch piece of metal that looks like it came from The Home Depot.


It looks a bit haphazard, but my surgeon assures me that there is a method to this madness. I will have to keep the brace on my left leg (no weight bearing, i.e. no walking) for another 2 months! You can see a slight fracture in the knee cap, and my right knee cap has the same fracture. In a month that should be healed and I can take the brace off my right leg (though I don't know that this will help my mobility much). I meet with the surgeon again in 1 month. We have to drive to Oakland for these appointments, and it is quite a trek (left Gwen with my Dad who is staying with us this week). After the appointment Spencer and I went out for Chinese food just the two of us which was a treat on a few different fronts. It was nice to be out and spend time with Spencer, just the two of us.


P.S. Happy Inauguration Day! I didn't get to watch the inauguration but Gwen and I listened to most of it on the radio. What an amazing time this is for our country.

It's Me!

It's me! Literally and metaphorically I am starting too be me a little more each day (new and improved with my bionic knee and clavicle). I seem to be making progress at quite a steady pace and with minimal assistance can get out of bed and use my walker to walk on over to the toilet- the first time I got to use the toilet I cried, and then I got to wash my hands with running water, and cried again....the little things we take for granted. For long distance travel (i.e. down the hall to the 'gym' or activities room where the computer is) I use a wheel chair, and while my right shoulder is a little tight, this is basically pain free (though I won't be winning any races). I am able to hold Gwen and nurse her more comfortably as my ribs heal. I should be coming home some time next week. The criteria is for me to be able to get out of bed myself and transfer to a wheel chair. I am very close to being able to do this, it is very difficult though. Imagine trying to stand up without bending your legs...very tricky. Spencer is coming early tomorrow so he can sit in on my Occupational Therapy and Physical Therapy and we hope to start getting a better idea of what I might need when I do go home; what supplies and what kind of help and for how long. They are special ordering me a wheel chair because my legs are so long the foot rest is too short so my feet dangle off the edge. Instead of crutches I will likely be using the wheel chair or walker until my left leg is weight bearing (another 4-6 weeks or so).

Thank you everyone for all your love and support. Special thanks to Sandee (Spencer's Mom) for taking care of Gwen. This allowed Spencer to be with me (he stayed with me in the hospital every night and the whole time I was in Oakland, even though he was still recovering himself from the soreness of the accident). We were able to be together and focus on me being better and not have to worry about Gwen since we knew she was in good hands. I missed her, but I never worried about her. Thanks Grandma Sandee!

I am looking forward to 2009 and wish everyone a Happy New Year!

Happy Reunion!

Today Ambrosia was released from Oakland Kaiser and admitted to the Kaiser rehab center in San Leandro (510-481-8575). It is finally safe for visits from Gwen, here's the happy mommy + baby we all love:



Ambrosia is making a lot of progress in PT. It is safe for her to stand on her right leg and while her rib injury makes it a little difficult she hopes to be able to hold a crutch under her left arm soon. Here she is practicing standing with the left arm/right leg:

Surgery was a success! (and Merry Christmas!)

Ambrosia's knee and collarbone surgery was a complete success, and the surgeon is very optimistic about her recovery.







If you would like to help by providing a meal, please check out the online sign up sheet Alex made:

http://www.sstudley.com/wiki/index.php?title=Meals



User name: meals

Password: meals


If you'd like to call Ambrosia and wish her a Merry Christmas you can reach her on her cell or through the receptionist at Oakland Kaiser Hospital: (510) 251-0121

The Studleys Are ALIVE!

So this happened:

Spencer is fine. Gwen is fine. Ambrosia will be fine...soon*:

Ambrosia had surgery on her leg and clavicle today at Kaiser Hospital in Oakland (feel free to visit!). She was transferred there from Santa Clara yesterday so she could be seen by Kaiser's best Bay Area bone surgeon. Within a week or so she will be back home, but due to the extent of her injuries she will need A LOT of support caring for herself and Gwen.



Spencer is doing the best he can to take care of Gwen while mommy gets better with the help of family and friends (Grandma Sandee is there this week and next; Auntie Angelique arrives on the 4th). The next 4 - 6 weeks will be a very difficult time. Please check this blog frequently for updates on Ambrosia's schedule if you are interested in helping out--while Gwen and Ambrosia's caretaking will be covered we could use a lot of help with meals, shopping, errands, and babysitting as well as moral support. Ambrosia and Spencer are both available on their cell phones if you'd like to arrange a visit.

*UPDATE 12/26: Ambrosia and Spencer were concerned that my diagram of Ambrosia's broken bones would cause a panic because it might be interpreted as if she shattered entire leg bones, when in fact the injury to her femur and tibia were just where they meet the knee. The diagram is supposed to highlight each broken bone, not where it's broken, but whatever: I replaced the original image with a more conservative one. :)