December ....

Well, this past month has been an interesting one. Not one that we had expected AT ALL. Started out fine until the morning of Dec. 6 when I awoke to a phone call from John saying he was in a car accident. A car came into his side and the drivers sides hit head on. Scariest phone call I have ever gotten. He said he was okay but I needed to come get him. Well I rushed downstairs, threw on some shoes and a coat and ran out the door. As I was driving he calls me to say he is being rushed to the ER! I was now officially FREAKING OUT. It took me what seemed like forever to get there and when I finally did everyone was very nice and showed me where to go. I walked in to see my husband laying on a hospital bed with scratches on his head and a neck brace! The neck brace was just protocol I guess... but still, not a fun sight to see. I called my parents and told them what had happened and my mom offered to keep trying his parents for me. She finally got ahold of them and they came about 2 hrs later. We got there around 7:30am and were there until about 12pm. Lots of tests were run on John, and LUCKILY everything was okay. He just had an abrasion on his head and that was it. We knew, without a doubt, that God was watching out for him. I am so thankful for that and that my husband is still with me today! Luckily my boss was really good about it and came home early from work so I could be with him. Johns mom was an ANGEL throughout all of this, she stayed with him when I could not. I could not have been more appreciative of that. Our home teachers were able to come over that night and give John a blessing, and everyone from the ward was reaching out and offering help. It was so nice to know that we have such good friends and people that care about us around. The rest of that week consisted of phone calls and more phone calls figuring out what to do next. We found out the car was totaled and started looking around for cars. That is the ONLY good thing to come out of that! It is kind of exciting to be getting a new car, but I really wish it was under other circumstances. John is doing much better now which is good because THIS week was his turn to take care of me! Which brings me to my next topic . . .

After all of that we still had my surgery to deal with 2 weeks later. I had my inner ear surgery this past monday. We went in and of course I was very nervous, but I knew everything would be okay. I was honestly more nervous for the getting sick afterwards. Anyway, John came with me of course and my mom was on call. She was going to come but then we realized I would not be able to see her at all because they only let one person back. So I went in, they got me prepped, and I went in for the surgery. They said that it would be a 3 hour surgery, so I should be done by 12pm. Well I woke up for the anesthesia and they said that I had been out of surgery for about an hour, and it as almost 230pm. Even though I was out of it I knew that did not seem right. Well I was in recovery for about and hour and a half because I did not feel good and just kept falling back to sleep! Finally I got to see John and SURPRISE! my mom came! I guess she just could not stay at home =) She came and they allowed her to come back as well. I was so happy. Anyway, my mom asked if they had told me yet what happened and I said no, and she winced and said she would tell me at home. I stayed at the hospital for about another hour and then finally was able to go home. I got home and my family filled me in on what had happened. I guess when the doctor opened me up he had to sit there for 20 minutes to figure out what to do because it was worse then he had thought. One of the bones in my ear had completely rotted out and he needed to remove it. So he removed a that bone and took the other 2 and connected them and drilled into the bone and put a permanent tube in my ear (different then ones I had as a kid) so that my ear would drain. Yeah .... when I heard that I freaked out a little bit. The doc also said that I may have to have more surgeries in the future, but he hopes this fixed all my infections. Now I get to go to the ENT every 6 months to see the doctor to make sure everything is okay still. It was not fun to hear that my inner left ear was that bad! The pain has not been to bad, I just could not talk very much the first few days. I NEVER got sick which I was so happy about, and I have only been on 2 advil every 4 hours. Pretty impressive right? The worst part has been the annoying dizzyness that has come along with this. The doc said I could have this for the next few weeks! It comes and goes but when it comes, its bad. It is like a dizzy headache and it makes me want to puke. Now almost a week later I am doing much better except for the pain and dizzies. I am back to my normal self, which is good. I have been staying with my parents so I get to go home on Monday!

Well, sorry for the LONG post, but December was an interesting month. Lots of things happened, along with a lot of learning. Neat-less to say, John and I are ready for a new year!

We wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!