I almost forgot. My poor mom has spent the last two nights on a crappy chair at the hospital staying with me. Today is her 67th birthday!! Happy birthday mom!! She is going to the Buhl Mansion this afternoon and treating herself to a massage. She deserves it!! So for her friends who read this… give her a call and wish her well!
Well… I have been having a lot of fun for the last couple of weeks. The week after Mother’s Day my back started going out. In the past when I have had back problems it has just been muscle spasms and after 3-4 days of rest and muscle relaxants I am fine. This time it wasn’t the same. I was resting and taking meds and my back wasn’t getting any better. I tried stretching it and doing back exercises. I tried everything that people told me to do. Finally, on Wednesday last week I had an MRI done on my back. Unfortunately my doctor here was on vacation and her partner didn’t have any openings until Tuesday morning to get my results.
On Monday I woke up and my left leg was spasming all day where my muscles were twitching on their own. Then in the afternoon I got what I can only describe as a charlie horse that stretched from my hip to my ankle. Nothing I did would relieve it and all I could do is scream in pain. I finally found a position that took the pain away but it took a long time before I could take my leg out of the position without it seizing up again. After it stopped I went to get up and my leg buckled underneath me. I couldn’t feel most of my leg and it wouldn’t hold any weight so I decided to go to the ER. Usually when I go to the ER with my back they give me stronger meds and let me go. This time they checked me in. They had the results of my MRI available because it is in the same Health system as the hospital and it showed a large herniated disc between L4 & L5. Apparently the herniation was cutting off the nerves to my leg and if it wasn’t corrected it could end up killing them.
So for the last 2 days I have been in the hospital. This is the first time I have ever spent the night at a hospital other than giving birth. They gave me muscle relaxants, heavy pain meds, anti-inflammatories, and steroids. Then last night I was given an epidural injection of steroids directly to the affected disc. They said it will take 48-72 hours to take full affect and it could get worse before it gets better. Last night it seemed better but since I have been home I have noticed that my left leg is very weak and it is hurting. So I will keep on the meds and hopefully be better soon. I will still have to have two more epidural injections, one in two weeks and one in four weeks. I promise to try to devote some time to catch up. I still need to take pictures of our beautiful flowerbed that Nathan built around our deck. They are guessing that it was probably either the planting or mowing our lawns that herniated the disc so at least I should show the beautiful plants that did me in! :)
It is going to take me awhile to update on the ski trip but at least I will start tonight! :) One of the first things that we did while in Vermont was to go to the Von Trapp Family Lodge to see the Sugar House. This is one of the things that we have wanted to see but it wasn’t the right time of year the last time we were in Vermont.
Here is a picture of the boiling sap…
Once it is boiled down they tap it into buckets….
On this day they were making syrup on the snow where they would further boil the syrup down until it reached soft candy temps and then they would pour it over snow. It made a taffy like candy that was delicious!
Here is a picture of the trees with their buckets hanging from them…
Here is a picture of all of the steam coming out of the roof of the sugar house…
Of course we had to go through the touristy stuff, so we went to Cold Hollow Cider Mill for cider doughnuts, Cabot Creamery, and Lake Champlain Chocolates. Here is a picture of our three kids and Blake’s two kids enjoying their candy. Blake is Nathan’s business partner and he and his family joined us on our trip.
As I mentioned before, the RV is now for sale. I have added a page at the top titled Newmar Allstar For Sale that has all of the info and pictures! Feel free to forward to anyone who is looking for a great family RV!
Just wanted everyone to know that I haven’t updated because we haven’t had a lot going on. We did go skiing in Vermont right after the CV3 User Conference. After we returned I had to give Samantha and Timmy their national test so that I could get it in and graded in time to get the results to the state of Florida… and then we had to get ready to leave to head North. Right now we are in Cumming for a few days visiting Tim and Andrea. We will leave here next Tuesday and head to Pennsylvania for the Summer. We should arrive in Pennsylvania on April 30. Once we get there the campground has WiFi so I will update with pictures and tales from the ski trip at that time.
Also…. it looks like Nathan and I will be buying a house in the Fall so the RV is now officially For Sale. It is a 2007 Newmar Allstar 3950. All work has been done at the factory and everything has been kept up. We will be selling it for $149,000. Please pass this on to anyone who may be interested. I will post pictures of the interior and exterior and do a more extensive For Sale page once we get to Pennsylvania. Until then….