Hand Surgeries

I came home from Kentucky, from visiting with Alex and Brydie and sending Warren off for his deployment. Once I got home I was getting ready to unpack my things and felt an awful pop in my hand. I knew then what the feeling was, becauseI had the same feeling in my foot (which required surgery a few months before). So I tried to work through the pain but about a week later I went to the Dr. and they took some Xrays and foundthe I had sesamoid bone. I was refered to a hand specialist. The first step was to try and fix the issue with steroid injections. I had no relief do we started the process to take out the bone.

I wanted to have it done before Warren came home for leave. So on Jan 6th 2011 My mom took me to Pocatello to have the bone taken out. I went back to the Dr few week weeks later, and he noticed a line in my hand. At first he just thought it was a result of the surgery and would go away in time. The next time I went for a check up. The Dr. was explaining what at that time he thought I had. He called it Dupuytrens Disease or Contracture. Big scary words.As he began to describe the disease my first thought went to my grandpa Dee and his hands.

About the Dupuytrens it typically forms over several years, and occasionally (which was my case) over several months or WEEKS.What happens is a fibrous cord of tissue forms under the skin on your palm and my extend to the fingers.The most common fingers affect (like my grandpas and uncle) are the pinky and ring finger.Rarely, like in my case, it can affect the Index finger or the thumb. It is most common in men after 50, and women usually don't see signs until they are later in life 70s-80s. People are more like to get this disease if there is a family history of it. It can come on naturally or if you have a trauma (surgery) it can occur quicker.

After the the surgery in Jan. I had a lot of problems openin

g my hand all the way or laying my hand flat on a table. Warren and I talked about my options and decided the again another surgery would be the best.

So on June 28th 2011 I went to have the cord removed. It is not a very pretty picture but it made the biggest difference. I can now straighten my hand. I am still working on making a fist. Again I chose the date I did so I would not be recovering when Warren was home and the we could places and not worry about my hand.

Getting to Know Cooper and Allie

During the deployment i had th
e opportunity to have Cooper and Allie during the times that Warren would have taken the

m. It was a wonderful growing experience for all of us. I was able to see them change in so many ways. They always have so man

y questions. They loved to got to grandma and grandpa Smith's. There was always something to do there. And if it involved bilding a fire and having marshmallows you could always count them in.

They loved to go camping and that was one of the first activities that we were able to do with Stan and Deirda. They loved to play with Bert and carry him around the

campground. I don't know how much Bert enjoyed it but he was a good sport for a little while anyway.

About this time Allie's personality started to shine. She went for the little girl to a big girl over night it seem

ed. Allie went from never wanting to have anything to do with wearing a dress or having her hair done, to now you will never see her in anything but a dress. As for her hair she hates to sit thourgh having it done b

ut loves it when it is done (even t

o the point that sh

e will keep it that way for days, and you better find a way to fix to make it look nice). During this time I was able to spend a little more time with Allie Mae! She made my mondays fun. She wanted to Dance. And she talked about it all the time. Allie danced around everywhere. So Melissa and I decided that we wou

ld put her in dance in malad. So Allie was put the the Extreme Stars dance group and became a Starlet! She was able to Dance wit

h my cousins 2 girls Brooklynn and Kallie. The dance the girls learned was to purple people eater. At all the competitions that the little girls went to they took 1st and even at one the judges choice. The funnest part about watching them is tha Allie stood at least a head taller than the other 4 year old girls, and she took lots of pride in being tall like her daddy. I love her so much and can't wait

to see how she continues to grow.

Cooper has been a blast to get to know. He is such a little helper. I can ask him to do anything and he jumps all over it. It hates to disappoint anyone and wa

nts everyone to be friends. He is so strong. And will finish anything that he starts with the dedication that his dad has. I had a chance to watch him wrestle

one night in malad. The kids he wrestled was the same age and weight as he was but from what was said his opponent came out wrestling. So needless to say Coop did not win his match but learned not to give up even if someone is taunting you from the beginning. Cooper makes me laugh, when he would talk to Warren on the phone (and even now) he would say that he wanted to sit around drinking coffee and eating donuts with his dad while the girls (Allie and I) did the

girly things like face stuff and hair. He has an older step brother that he really looks up to. I think I have learned more about hunt rodents or coyotes than i thought i would have ever kn

own. He cant wait to be old enough to go bird hunting with his dad. Cooper is such a awesome big brother. He reminds me a lot of mine! When his little sister needs help making something work, you can bet that he is there showing her how

It was so much fun to get to see their faces lig

ht up when they were able to talk to DAD! They loved being able to see his face on the computer.

They both always had the same thing to say when the did talk to dad. Coop always asked if he shot any bad guys. And he never wanted to hang up the phone but never had anything to say, even if you asked him questions. And Allie always seemed annoyed that her dad was sitting in the same white office but could not come home. She did not understand the point. I am very grateful for time that i had to spend with these two kids. Life would not be the same without them. The made the year a little brighter. I look forward to getting to know them more. And i can say that the three of us don't want Dad to leave anytime soon.

The Deployment

September 21 2010 was a very long and sad day. That is the day that Warren left for his year long deployment in Iraq. We were able to spend most of the day together with Cooper and Allie and Stan and Deidra. We were able to get a picture of the the guys that were from Malad. This is a great group of guys!

Before Warren left the country we were able to spend a few days with Alex and Brydie in their new home in Kentucky. And then another few days in Nashville. I have never had the chance to travel much but absolutely loved it out there. All the old farm steads and the and the big trees and rolling hills. That is such a great place to be. Warren came home for his leave in March so That he would be there around our first anniversary !! It was the best two weeks and seemed to be the shortest ever. That was half way through his deployment and so the next few months was torture . But the kids and I are so glad that it is over.

Busy summer

So we have had a very busy summer. We had tried to do spend as much time together as we could before Warren left for his deployment. So we spent the 4th of July in malad with my family and then went to Oakley to watch Misty barrell-race in the rodeo. Warren was able torun in the fun run with my sister and Marshal ( I wish I could have done it to). So that week Warren decided to take me for a drive through the Unitas. I had never been through that mountian range. I twas beautiful.

The first stop we made was out side Oakely.bert loved it He ran all over the place. While driving through was were able to stop and see the provo river and the 3 water falls. It was so amazing.It was really hard for me to walk first off because i was was wearing sandals and because of my foot, but Warren was a really good sport by helping walk up and down the trials.

This is the second waterfall

Ragnar

A little over a week after my surgery Warren ran the Ragnar Relay with his older brother Alex and the National Guard unit for Utah. They started really early an friday morning. I had to drive them to the vans that morning (and if anyone knows me,I dont like mornings).

Alex ran the first leg of the race. And warren ran the 6th. There were 12 legs and each runner had to run 3 times. Ever time Warren runs a marathon or a long distance his toes bruse and he loses them. He lost both of them before he went to AT in boise.

With the relay series, if you want to run it you have to sign up for the race the day that race ends. So I next year We will get signed up for the race in 2012.

By the End of the day my foot and leg hurt pretty bad. but was just happy to be with Warren.

Going under the Knife

I had surgery on June 10 this year. How it all began, I fractured a sesamoid bone in my right foot about a year before the surgery. I called my sister all but in tears (who is a nurse practitioner) and the doctor at first just thought it was bursed but about a month later she had an x-ray done and it showed the fractured. After the MRI's and the many shots it was decdied to take the bone out.

So after 4 months and much swelling and some physical therapy I have started to walk pretty good. The next step is running. I have to get ready to run the Ragnar with my husband when he gets beack from Iraq.

So my dear husband is not a big fan of pets or having them in the house. Well he knew that i loved them, after going to my dads and seeing the 5 dogs who knows how many cats and the horses. Also at my moms house she has a inside dog. He told me a few months ago that i could have a dog (bad idea for him), because i made him start looking for puppys with me. We were not having any luck foind anything so his friend Dennis told me him to look on KSL. I started looking again the end of January the beginning of february. I saw the cutest puppy on there. Warren joked around and said that i need to find out more about the type of dog, so I did. The more I thought about it i decided with the wedding that was coming up that i should wait so i didnt worry about the dog with everything. When we got home on sunday after a few days away. Warren said something about KSL. So once again I started to look at puppies, but all I really wanted was the little one from Brigham. Suprisingly 3 weeks later the lady still had one. And luck for me it was the dark red and white one that I fell in Love with the first time that i saw him. That night even thought it was kind of late Warren and I drove to go meet Bert. We choose his name because he was born on december 11th 2009, that is Warrens dad Stans's birthday.

This is my little guy the day after Allie Mae and Cooper came to our house for the weekend. He slept most of the day that monday. It was the same the day after we picked him up from Brydie's house. Her three kids loved playing with him. Taking Bert up and down their stairs.