Thank Heaven For Little Girls!

As all of you who follow my blog know, today my daughter had surgery to repair her ACL.  We had to wake up at 4:30am to be to surgery by 6am.  And unfortunately we were up until 1:30am the night before hanging out with my husband’s parents who had been staying with us.  Side note, for grandparents those two stay up late every night!  It’s like there are two teenagers!  Cutest couple ever.  We loved having them stay with us this last few days.  They really helped lighten the mood in our house in the midst of our surgery anxiety.  In addition, Rollin’s dad shared some great stories and I was even able to use one in my Forbes article yesterday.  Thanks Boyd and Loa! Have a safe trip home.  We love you! 

So while the doctor was doing Ashley’s ACL repair he discovered that she had also torn her meniscus, which was a bummer to find out.  He repaired that along with the ACL.  We had a bit of a scare during the recovery stage of surgery as Ashley was so out of it from the anesthesia that she had a hard time breathing on her own and had to be placed on oxygen.  The color was gone from her cheeks she lay their looking so fragile and lifeless.  It was very scary for a mom to see.  But I have to say that the doctor and the nurses were fantastic and so caring with her.  It meant a lot to us.  We ended up having to stay a lot longer due to her issue with breathing but eventually she was able to wake up enough and we were able to bring her safely home.  We took our cardboard cutout of her older brother’s photo (since he is serving a mission and couldn’t be there today with her) and she had him with her in recovery to help her feel better.  He had also written several notes in advance and sent them to us for Rollin to give to Ashley at different times throughout the day and throughout her recovery.  What a great brother and what great friends these two kids are.  They are so supportive and kind to one another.  It is seriously an inspiration of how siblings should treat one another.  I sure love these two kids.  I had to share this photo of her in her bed when we got her home. She wanted her cardboard cutout of her big brother next to her to watch over her while she slept: 

Ashley safely home from surgery with her big brother watching over her.

Once we got her home we put her in the electric hospital bed I rented for her for the week.  It’s the kind that you can use the remote to raise yourself up and down, and when she first saw it delivered the day before her surgery she totally made fun of me for renting it.  But I kept telling her she would be glad I did and today she was definitely glad to have it.  We set it up in our family room so she is right in the heart of the home and can see the Christmas tree and the TV.  She is in a lot of pain today but luckily the medications help a little to make the pain tolerable.  The harder part is that she was told by the doctor that she has to stay in the bed for 7 days!  Not only in the bed, but they put her leg in a CPM machine which is a contraption that goes on her leg and makes it move up and down continuously while she lies in the bed.  It is like a strait jacket for her leg and it forces her to stay lying still in the bed.  She also has an ice machine strapped on her leg that continuously pumps ice around her leg to keep it cold.  Both devices are awesome to help with healing, but anyone who knows my daughter knows that she is going to go totally crazy being strapped down like that or seven days!  She gets stir crazy after an hour of behaving herself so I am going to have quite the chore trying to keep her entertained this next week while she is confined to her awesome bed I rented for her :).  Trust me, she will appreciate that bed more and more as the week goes on. 

I want to thank all of you for the prayers on her behalf, and it was very kind for some to send those kind notes and thoughts to us.  Ashley is an amazing girl.  One of a kind.  She is always positive and optimistic and she is always kind to everyone around her.  And she always makes us laugh.  Even today when she was finally awake from surgery she was making us laugh, even though she was feeling miserable.  I thank heaven every day that I get to be her mom.

Thank heaven for all the kids in our lives.  Love them.  Appreciate them. Protect them. Hug them.  And most of all, thank heaven for them.

~Amy

8 Comments

  • Patricia Cooper says:

    Hi Amy glady that Ashley came thur her surgery ok.sounds like she have state of the arts machinery lol my prayers will be with you and your family that she will have a speedy recovery love ya Ash cooper said are you ready to go out side an play ball lol
    Trisha

  • Tim says:

    I hope she recovers quickly. I totally forgot she had the torn ACL. I love your kids and I am always inspired with how they treat each other. And, they are so dang funny! Glad to hear she is making everyone laugh.

  • Leta says:

    So happy to hear she made it through surgery in good spirits. That mechanical bed is a god send for the recovery time.

  • Anonymous says:

    Man what a trooper… Glad the doctor found another issue instead of waiting for another surger thank Heaven. I believe you have love for one another it makes the healing process better and knowing people are there for also helps. Keep up the great love for one another and keep inspiring one another.

  • Bradley says:

    So glad to hear that it went well…..wish her the very best and Thank Heaven is so true. Here is praying for an extra-ordinary recovery!!

  • David Parkinson says:

    Amy, I’m so glad to hear that Ashley is recovering well. I hope you and your family have a great Christmas together!

  • Vibha says:

    I wish Ashley a very speedy recovery. God bless her.

  • Delcia says:

    Ashley, you are so awesome to be keeping up the good spirit while you’re in so much pain. Wishing you a speedy recovery. Merry Christmas!

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