A bit of this and that, but a lot about my surgery

*Oh, man. I love it when Matt posts.

*So, the U.S. Census Bureau. They're crazy. A little over a year ago I was selected to do a year long survey. So every month or so I'd get a phone call, or a lady would stop by and I would answer a bunch of questions. It was always the same lady calling or stopping by. She was nice and I didn't mind doing it. At the end of the year she thanked me and said I wouldn't be hearing from her again. A month later I get something in the mail from the U.S. Census Bureau telling me that I have been selected to do a survey regarding how Americans are spending their time. I was to get a call on a Friday and would then tell them everything I'd done the 24 hours before. I decided I didn't want to do it. I had just done a very involved year-long survey, so they can find someone else. So when they called I avoided their call. I did that for about 4 Fridays in a row until I realized they weren't going to stop calling. So I answered. I told them No Thanks. She verified my name and address so she could indicate that I wasn't interested. A few days later I get a letter begging me to do it. It said they already have the basic info from my previous survey so it wouldn't take too long. Friday comes, I get a phone call. I tell them "I said No thanks!" He tried to beg, but I said goodbye. Then, everyday I would get a message from the U.S. Census Bureau begging me to call them back. At this point I was so annoyed that they won't take no for an answer that even though it would just be easier to do the stinking survey I refused to give in. So I changed my voicemail message to say, "If this is the United States Census Bureau please stop calling. I am not going to answer and I am not going to call you back." They called twice and never left a message. Then no more calls for a week! THEN I get a phone call from the lady who did my first survey. She left a message saying, "Hi, Marcella. I know you didn't think you'd hear from me again, but I wanted to talk to you about this new survey. I'm sorry you've been selected but please call me back." Unbelievable.

*Did anyone else go out excitedly to pick up a bag of yummy conversation hearts this Valentine's Day? Was anyone else appalled that the only hearts available were some really, really nasty ones? Necco changed their product this year. Their website says, "All new flavors for 2010 Sweethearts® include Strawberry, Green Apple, Lemon, Grape, Orange and Blue Raspberry. The new Sweethearts® have been re-formulated to be softer and more fun to eat." If by more fun to eat they mean, take a bite, then spit it out. Repeat for all flavors. Then yeah, I had a blast. I wrote to them. A lady wrote me back and said that although the new flavors were a big hit (I doubt it) they will be selling the original candies as well as the new ones next year. Thank goodness!!

*Vampire Diaries is my favorite show on television. You laugh, but it is seriously awesome.

*I had a lumbar discectomy for my herniated disc on the 12th. In the past 20 months I have had 3 surgeries, and a baby. I hope I'm done with hospitals for awhile. The neurosurgeon I saw about my herniated disc told me that he's seen over 5,000 herniated discs and he's never seen one my size get fixed with anything short of surgery. He proceeded to tell me that if I did choose to go the non-surgery route and my herniation healed itself to please come tell him because he would quit doing surgeries and hit the lecture circuit with my miracle story. So, I guess it was kind of a no brainer. I hope it was the right choice. For the first 5-6 days after the surgery I didn't feel any sciatica pain down my left leg. But days 6-10 have each been progressively worse. Nothing bad. Not as bad as pre-surgery, and no where near as bad as the horrible flare up around Christmas time. Of course, I've been told that nerves take awhile to heal and that this is normal. But with the surgery only having a 70% success rate in the first place I can't help but worry.

*My discharge instructions were pretty intense. "No lifting anything heavier than the equivalent of a milk jug for a month." "No bending." "No sitting on couches." "No sitting for longer than 20 minutes per hour for 2 weeks and no sitting for longer than 40 minutes per hour for the next 2 weeks." Well, did you know that it is virtually impossible to recover from surgery when you have two little kids to take care of? Spills, messes, crying babies that need to be held, fed, nursed, laid down in their cribs, etc. Oh, and then Jack falls down no less than 20 times a day right now.

*I haven't exercised for 85 days. If you know me, you know I'm pretty sad about that. I used to exercise at least 5 times a week. And I loved it. On days I didn't exercise my whole day felt off. When I first had to stop exercising I didn't see the point in showering. Usually I was showering because I was sweaty, so I thought, what's the point? A couple days of thinking that and I realized you still need to shower even if you don't work up a sweat. Now it's been so long since I've exercised that I'm afraid I won't know how to fit it into my day anymore. I'm excited to start physical therapy in a few weeks. At least I'll have something to do. On the plus side, I lost my last 15 pounds of pregnancy weight in two months. The only thing I changed was that I stopped exercising. Who knew exercise was holding me back? Oh, but what I wouldn't give for a good run.

*After feeling the sciatica creep back up on me I spent a few nights bawling and reading forums where other people have posted about their experience with lumbar discectomies. I mean, does it get more pathetic than that? But then I did some thinking and praying and I've decided the surgery is going to work. I know my nerve pain will heal and that I'll be "active" again. I think it's going to be a long road of recovery, but I really think I'll get there. And I am so, so, so grateful that it's only pain.

*Poor Matt. He works ALL. THE. TIME. Days, nights, Saturdays, holidays. Every second he gets he spends it editing their movie. In addition he also plays Mr. Mom. Most of these things he's been having to do since Thanksgiving when I herniated my disc. Some of his extra jobs include:
-bathing the kids every night
-laundry
-cleaning the tub and shower
-grocery shopping
-errands
-taking the kids to their appointments
-putting on my socks and shoes
-painting my toenails
-carrying Jack anytime we go anywhere
Oh, Matt, I love you.