When COVID-19 started we were all in are little rut. Moving through the motions existing everyday. Work, School, extra curricular activities and so on. Then COVID-19 appeared and would find our routines flipped upside down. Well this post is not about The corona virus 🦠 and how crazy life got after that. It’s about some outdoor patio furniture that my husband Mike and I tackled together.
One day while shopping on Lowe’s website I found some patio furniture I loved and so I sent the link to Mike and he said, “No Way!  We can make that!” So off I went to Pinterest to find plans and did I ever find some plans. We finally agreed on Ana Whites plans for our patio furniture. We love the way they turned out and yes the house needs pressure washed. Another day!
The stains used courtesy of another pinner.
I forgot to take my rings off…Sigh!!
Another pinner had posted a video with step by step instruction on this process. Their furniture looked so good that I decided to screenshot this pic on her video and us the exact same stain and staining process. Classic gray first with provincial on top.The outcome! Mike surprised me with the little table the next day, he stained it and i think he did a reverse process with the classic gray on top. Oh Well!! I still like it.
Laken was happy to get out of the house today even if it was for a surgery follow up. We arrive in Katy a few minutes early and decided to take advantage of it by stopping for a smoothie.
After signing we have a short wait before we are called to the back and Dr. Pederson’s nurse begins to cut the splint in two. This is our first time to see the scars and exactly what was done. Here it is folks.
Sorry for all you squeamish ones.
The nurse get the splint off and leaves it dressed, telling us Dr. Pederson will be the one to undress evaluate and then send us to the cast room.
Lyndsey (PA) soon comes in and begins undressing the wounds and examining the scars. Again sorry if you get light headed from these images. Trust me it hurts more in this end.
The zigzag at the knee is to keep pressure off the incision to prevent the dehiscence that was present after the last surgery. The incision is much larger than we expected as the Dr. had to come further down toward the knee to cut the nerve out. The incision at the ankle isn’t healing quite as fast as the knee and it too is much larger than we thought. All in all we went into surgery expecting ankle to knee so this is better than the original expectation however large it may be.
After Lyndsey and Dr. Pederson examine and look at everything we are told she will be on bed rest and have a cast for the next two weeks.
Mark “The Dude” comes in and starts prepping for the cast. He goes and grabs all his needed tools and comes back to begin. “This is the cool part!”
Mark joked with her and said that if she needs a new cast in 2 weeks she was going to have to go a more festive route.
So now we head home to wait the two weeks with Laken in bed. She is still pretty weak and tires easily is somewhat mobile but has to have help to and fro and a waitress.
On the morning of July 18 when I got that call from the ER I never imagined that we would be where we are four months later. But first off a little background of how we got to Houston.
On September 29 we had an EMG (nerve conduction study) done in New Orleans that showed no results to the majority of Laken’s leg, and no nerve conduction to many of the muscles in her leg. However the study did show a fiber (strand) of nerve had made its way down to the front of the leg under the knee. The Neurologist performing the study was amazed and concerned. She kept repeating the phrase “extensive damage”. Chalk it up to my OCD or me being a Mom but I asked, if this were your daughter what would your next step be? The Doctor and fellow Mom then said, go to Texas Children’s and get a second opinion we no longer have the specialist that she needs here. For the sake of continuity I followed up with our then surgeon and he suggested we wait a couple of more months and then repeat the EMG. We went home and I prayed incessantly.
We called on our trusty pediatrician to get us an appointment at Texas Children’s for a second opinion. The referral was sent to Orthopedic’s and we had an appointment.
On October 27th we drive to Texas Children’s CyFair Clinic. When we get to the back and the Physicians Assistant (PA) hears the story and sees the wound. She tells us that she believes we are at the wrong Doctor. Feelings of despair and grief come flooding. She must see this all over Laken, Shane and my faces. She says, ” hold on a second and let me speak to the Dr. When she returns she lets us know that she was right and that she went ahead and called the Doctor that can help us, gives us a run down of his credentials (not skipping the part where she believes he is the best in the field) and tells us he’s agreed to see us if we drive to Katy at that moment. Sure thing!!!
We get to Katy, (Texas Children’s West Campus) and there we meet Dr. William Pederson and his PA Lyndsey. He examines the leg, looks over the paperwork from NOLA and tells us that he’s pretty confident that Laken needs to have a nerve transfer. He will try to stimulate the nerve once she is opened up but if it isn’t responsive he will do the transfer. He then explains what a sural nerve transfer involves. He looks at Laken and says, “you will be cut from ankle to knee on the outer leg. Your foot will be numb and have no feeling on the outer edge from now on.” Laken looks at her leg and looks up at the Doctor and anxiously says, “I’m fine with scars Doc as long as I can walk and get my leg back.” Okay we are told that with the muscles atrophying he wants to get her on the schedule within the month. Right now he’s scheduling surgery for March so it’s going to take some work to get her in.
After multiple phone calls to the scheduler we have a surgery date of Wednesday, November 23, 2016.
We wake up on Wednesday at 5:15 to get out the door of our hotel room. We were able to get rooms at the Courtyard adjacent to the hospital.
Shane, Charlotte, Aunt Connie, Laken, Richy, and me move into the waiting room to wait from 6:30-8:00 for Laken to be called to the back. A nurse walks out and calls for Laken. We go to the back and speak to nurses, nurse anesthetists, anesthesiologists, and finally Dr. Pederson, Lyndsey, and another Physicians Assistant. At 9:30 they come into the Pre-Op room to get Laken and she walks with them back to the Operating Room.
Before 2nd surgeryDad lightening the mood.
The five of us wait in the surgery waiting room which is stocked with vending machines and COFFEE!! After sometime a nice nurse comes out and lets us know that she is doing good and he has another hour and a half to go. At 1:30 I am starting to freak out a little and a few minutes later Aunt Connie says it’s a doctor he’s coming. In walks Dr. Pederson and he begins with, “she’s doing good”. He tried to stimulate the nerve while exposed and turned the machine all the way up to 200 with no response. He found that the peroneal nerve was wound in a tight knot and then made the decision to go ahead and start the transfer. He told us that sometimes when he cuts into nerve it will jump and that’s when he will second guess his decision. In Laken’s case when he cut the nerve there was nothing, no response. He then says that she will have 6-12 months of recovery and the only thing that may not come back is the big toe. There is a minor procedure that he can do to fix the big toe muscle if it is a problem.
A little while later a nurse comes in and brings Shane and I to the back. Laken is freezing and heavily sedated. She’s wrapped in the warm blankets one even around her head like a big scarf. She asks if it’s done and she’s fixed. Laken wants to know if she has to wear the AFO. We explain what the Doctor told us and she begins to cry, she is heartbroken. I cry, the nurse cries, her Dad and try to console her. The nurse gives her a Curious George stuffed animal. Charlotte comes in and she manages to cheer her up some while she dozes in and out. We are moved to a room and everyone says their good-byes.
Saying Goodbyes Laken and I are in for the night. An uneventful night it was.
She thought she wanted to color.
We wake and it’s Thursday, we get released just before 10am and Laken wants to head to MeMaw’s to see all of her brothers, sisters, and the rest of the family on the way home. We visit, and eat a sampling of all our favorites. Including BOUDIN DIP. (Yes her favorite food group is BOUDIN)
We get home around 4:30. Dinner consists of a turkey sandwich.
Friday, Laken is sore all over and very weak. Not in a lot of pain (which is great, since they failed to give us her Rx, and refuse to call it in)just sleepy and weak.
So here we are 2 days post surgery (praying the last one) and Laken is on her way to a full healing. We are forever grateful for all of your well wishes and prayers. THANK YOU ALL!
Getting a splint for drop foot at Lake Charles MemorialEntry point on the back of leg. Monday am.Monday, July 18, 2016 the phone rang at 4:36 am. It was Laken’s number. “Mrs. Midge it’s Sam, I’m here at the ER with Laken.” I quickly respond, “What, no Laken is in her bed asleep.” Sam says, “no ma’am I am here with her and she has hurt her leg.” The admissions clerk then gets on the phone and asks for permission to treat my 14 year old daughter. I give an immediate YES, followed by “wait does she need medical attention?” The clerk lets me know that indeed my daughter did need immediate medical attention. The next ten minutes were sheer angst, with tears flowing, stomach boiling, mind blowing white hot anger, and WORRY! After waking my husband, and daughter we get to the hospital and I speak to the clerk and give copy of the insurance card. She lets me know in which room I’ll find my daughter. Upon entering I see that Laken seems okay, she’s upright, she’s talking, she looks at me and our eyes meet. She looks down, my eyes follow and that’s when I see it; her leg is cut open and meat is hanging out, the nurses that are cleaning the wound then turn her leg and I see the backside is cut as well. My questions start flying, animal instinct had taken over. I wanted to know what, why, how, who did this to my baby? Come to find out it was my daughter’s own judgement that led to this injury, she made the decision to leave the safety of her room in our home and jump the fence. Little did she know that her adventure would come to a screeching halt when upon leaving she slips and falls on the fence becoming impaled in her lower left leg. I was told that she had to be lifted off that fence, and then carried to the car, I’m very thankful that the group of irresponsible teenagers then sought immediate medical attention for my daughter and drove her to the hospital. The Dr. comes into the room and says that nothing is broke and that he is going to staple her up, she will need to follow up with pediatrician and then have the staples removed in 2 weeks. Okay, not so bad- 2 cuts 28 staples, 2 stitches, and a few scrapes and bruises. Leaving with a script for pain, no antibiotics because the risk of infection is so high and they do not want any resistance to arise. We get Laken home and she’s complaining of numbness and tingling, I think it’s trauma. She spends the better half of the day sleeping from the codeine and being up all night no doubt. Monday afternoon/evening brings pain and lots of it! Pain in the foot, ankle, and leg. She is unable to lift her foot, this is causing ankle pain. Monday night brings little sleep. Tuesday morning we wake up so that she can get to guard practice to observe and be present for her team. She is in so much pain, and her leg and foot are spotted white. We head to the pediatrician instead of practice. Our all wise and knowing ped is on vacation to London “UGH” so we see the one that is available. Not always a good thing! The pediatrician examines the leg and listens to our questions she really doesn’t know the extent of damage or she doesn’t want to tell. She says she is referring us to a wound care specialist and that they will in turn refer to a neurologist and then other specialists. The nurse comes in cleans the wounds and dresses them. We leave with a new prescription for ibuprofen. Tuesday evening/ night brings more pain and weekness. Her foot is just kind of dropped over and she is unable to move it, hubs wraps the ankle with an ace bandage to see if it will help support the ankle. In the middle of the night we remove the wrap as the pain is unbearable. Codeine and ibuprofen 600 every three hours and my baby is still crying in pain. Uncontrollable pain, immobility, and feelings of stupidity, lead to depression. We wait for the wound care specialist to call overnight. Wednesday morning brings anxiety and upset as wound care tells me that they cannot see her because the wound is closed. Wound care advises me to call the pediatrician for a referral to a neurologist. After repeated calls to the pediatrician and messages we hear nothing. Finally this afternoon the pediatrician office calls and says head to New Orleans and go through the ER to see a neurologist. I reach out to my sister the family RN. She makes a few phone calls and suggests the ortho team at Memorial before leaving town. We swing by Memorial and they do X-rays and a few Drs. perform simple neuro exams. They tell me they are pretty sure that she has nerve damage along with tendon, muscle, and ligaments, and needs to go to a neuro but they are going to call the orthopedic surgeon for a consult. The orthopedic surgeon says that he cannot touch her until a neuro surgeon sees her. They put a splint from the bottom of the wound to the tip of her toes and send us to New Orleans. Here we are with the recently applied splint now off after yet another simple neuro exam waiting full lower extremity X-rays and more.
transfer involves. He looks at Laken and says, “you will be cut from ankle to knee on the outer leg. Your foot will be numb and have no feeling on the outer edge from now on.” Laken looks at her leg and looks up at the Doctor and anxiously says, “I’m fine with scars Doc as long as I can walk and get my leg back.” Okay we are told that with the muscles atrophying he wants to get her on the schedule within the month. Right now he’s scheduling surgery for March so it’s going to take some work to get her in. 
immrspowers 
