Evacuation

This week is my first official week working full-time at the office. What is the worst nightmare of someone on crutches? FIRE. Sure enough, the alarms sound at 9:00 in the morning. My first reaction is fire DRILL. Nope, it's the real thing. Rumors immediately fly that it's either on the 19th or 7th floor. I'm on the 9th floor - apparently right in the middle. No problem - I'll simply ride the elevator to safety. No such luck. Elevators are locked down. That leaves the stairs as my only way out. Nine stories to go.

My co-workers grabbed my purse and shuffled me into the stairwell. A very nice gentleman let me budge into the stream of people coming from the eleven floors above the ninth. My journey was a slow one, but I made it all the way down. Two of my (male) co-workers offered to carry me down, but I wasn't sure that was such a good idea for the back either. They advised me if we encountered any smoke along the way that I would have no choice - they were picking me up!

Amazingly, most everyone who was above me in the stairwell stayed behind me - patiently trailing behind me without pushing, complaining or going around me. Some of the people, from the lower floors, who made it out first, were watching from across the street. They commented that there was a total mass of people (literally, about 100) who came out of the building behind me (whereas just a trickle before me). Impressive. People are kind - even during a potentially dangerous situation.

Once outside, we had to get away from the building and used kleenex (lots of it) to wipe down a bench for me to sit (it had rained earlier, but luckily had stopped). The fire was on the 7th floor (not the 19th as had been rumored), but was easily extinguished. I guess it was caused by an air conditioning unit motor that had burned out. We were cleared to re-enter the building after about 50 minutes. Back up to 9th floor...on the elevator!!

The local newspaper was out taking pictures of the event and there was a brief story on their website (http://www.journalstar.com/news/local/doc4a65d9b92deb7545428495.txt).

Three wonderful years

Happy 3rd Anniversary to US! Our wedding day was so wonderful! Luckily, some of our most favorite moments from that day were caught on video, so we "re-lived" them tonight by watching the footage...so, so awesome! Some of my favorites are the post-reception speeches...so, so great!
I am so blessed to have such a fabulous husband and best friend. He has been through a lot with me, some especially rough times over the course of the past few weeks. I couldn't have made it through all this without Mike's love and support! He is a gem and I'm so glad I found him. Here's to a many more happy years together!!!

Another Little Step

A shower. Doesn't sound like much, does it? But I haven't taken a shower since May 24th. Tonight was the night. My incision has healed over (or so Mike tells me - I still haven't looked at it - and it's not exactly in an easy spot to view), so we figured it was okay to get it wet (the doctor said no water on it until the scab fell off). Finally. It wasn't all rainbows and lollipops as the nerve is extremely sensitive to heat. Even though the water was only running at a lukewarm temperature, the pressure across my foot got pretty intense in less than five minutes. So, it was a very brief shower, but a shower nonetheless.

Update...
I saw the doctor on July 2nd. The stitches were removed and he evaluated my progress. He reassured me that it was not at all unusual to hear that I am still having such pain in my left foot. It is a residual effect of the injured nerve and will simply take time to heal. He read through the surgery notes and said the good news was that the hole in which the herniated disc was primarily protruding was small, so that minimizes my risk of recurrence. The bad news is that the nerve was not only pressed by the herniated disc - it was pressed so hard that it was also displaced in my back. Because of the pressure on the nerve - pressure which was significant for nearly three weeks, the nerve was very red, swollen, inflammed and irritated. No magic wand to speed up the healing process. Even physical therapy will not help because it is geared toward rebuilding muscle strength; however, not nerve-related muscle weakness. Doctor's orders were rest, rest and more rest. I go back in for another check-up on August 4th.

Last week, I was able to go into the office for a half day each day. Thankfully, one of my co-workers is letting me park in her spot in the bank building. (I normally park in a city parking garage that is three blocks from my office.) I have been using crutches to get around the office as it seems to help conserve my energy and gives the left foot a break.

Our July 4th weekend was a fun one! My parents came to visit, and again, they were so helpful in getting the house cleaned and laundry done. We enjoyed a grill-out on the 4th as Mike's parents and the Foster's joined us also. On the evening of the 4th, Dad, Mike, Marcia and Casey went to Larry the Cable Guy's comedy act at Memorial Stadium (along with nearly 60,000 other fans). Mom and I enjoyed viewing wonderful displays of fireworks out both our front and back windows. (A definite benefit of legalizing fireworks in Nebraska. You Minnesotans are missing out.)

Since I've been out of the house a bit more, I've actually managed to consistently put on make-up. We figured this was something to catch on film, so Mom took a few pictures of Mike and me after church last week. Thought I would share...