Return From Leave!

     So I know I haven't posted anything in a really long time (3 weeks!) but life has been crazy!  Trips to the ER at 2 AM, meeting Robin Williams, keeping up with classes.... BUT I will cover all of that.

     First on the list is a knitting update.  I've been clacking away like crazy at this scarf, and have done about a foot and a half since last week. At first I was confident I'd have enough yarn to last me the entirety of this scarf, but now I'm not so sure... I'm only about halfway done and I only have one more color pattern change left in the yarn (1 = purple to red to orange to yellow).  And, in advance, I apologize for the light yellows being so blown out in the picture from the sunlight.. I'd go back outside to reshoot, but it's just too dang hot!  It's 87º right now (6:30 PM), which is crazy, considering how cool it's been the entire summer.  Summer was really just our spring, since it rained here through June... Anyway, the increases in the scarf stopped just before the second orange stripe, and the decreases will begin in a few feet.  It should make for a really nice shawl/scarf, and I'm super excited about finishing it!

     Okay, now that's out of the way, I'm going to start where I left off.  The day after my last post, I had my hair done at work.  Well, more like ordered to have my hair done, haha.  I kinda just let my boss do whatever she thought would look good to it, and the result?

     Three hours later, I had completed a Brazilian Silk Keratin Treatment, copper highlights, and reddish-brown all-over color.  My hair is now permanently amazing.  It would never have looked like this without five hours of daily work.  To those of you (with curly, thick, non-tameable hair) considering the silk treatment: do it!  Even though I got it for free, if I had known that my hair would look like this afterward, I would've paid all $350 for it in a heartbeat.  My hair is so much more soft, and it doesn't frizz at all anymore!  When I say that, I mean straight out of a shower, without styling it or layering products on it. 

     Alright, enough of that.  I believe it was a day or two later that I was at work, and I was talking to my manager, Stephanie.  I don't remember what the conversation was about, but she went on to tell me that Robin Williams was a regular with one of our stylists, and had been for the last few years.  At first I thought I'd heard her wrong, but then after she said something else about him, I realized I hadn't.  I kinda freaked out, in all my eye-boggled glory.  So, not only did she tell me about him, but the man walked in our doors less than an hour or two later!  RIGHT IN FRONT OF ME!  Okay, I didn't actually get to speak to him, but I did walk past him (i.e., within four feet) more than four or five times as his hair was being washed/cut.  I loved Jumangi and Mrs. Doubtfire as a kid, and I got to meet the same guy at my own work? I'm still a little bit in disbelief!

     While on the topic of work, I must say that I was fired last week.  On account of me not being "an ideal fit."  Really sketchy.  I'm still a little angry about it, because I was giving 100% at learning this new job, and to be honest, I was picking everything up really fast.  Considering I'd never worked in a hair salon or as a receptionist.  So, my life is kind of on hold right now.  I only have a few hundred dollars left to last me until I find a new job, and I hope that's soon.  I have a few bookmarked, and I'll probably spend the next few days applying to them.  Keep your fingers crossed for me!  I definitely need it.

     Okay, LAST on my list is to talk about Will.  On the 9th, he had foot surgery: a modified lapidus procedure.  Here's a picture of the before:

     For those of you familiar with bunions or a bunionectomy, I know it appears that's what Will has from the outside, but after his podiatrist looked at his X-Rays, we were told that they weren't.  For this surgery, an incision is made probably about an inch or so above where Will's pants end, so the first metatarsel can be worked on.  It was cut in half so they could realign it, and then they sawed a few milimeters off of the bone so that his first toe would be proportionate to the rest of his toes - since the diagonal side in a triangle is longer than a straight side.  Then, the first metatarsel was put back in place, and two or three titanium screws (we're not sure which yet) were installed so that his bones can fuse back together.  Finally, his first toe was broken and then realigned to be straight as well.  I know it sounds quick, but the surgery alone took 2 hours and 40 minutes, on top of his pre- and post-op exams.

     Here's a picture about an hour out of surgery, and hopped up on all kinds of pain meds!

     So, here was our day:

Friday, September 9th

5:30 AM: Wake up

6:15 AM: Leave Tomales

7:30 AM: Arrive at Kaiser in San Rafael

8:20 AM: Will goes into pre-op

9:45 AM: Will goes into surgery

12:15 PM: Will comes out of surgery and goes into post-op recovery

1:30 PM: I'm able to go in to see him and take the above picture

2:30 PM: Leave Kaiser

3:50 PM: Arrive back in Tomales, and straight to bed rest for Will

8:30 PM: The block administered to his foot for pain management wears off

Saturday, September 10th 

thru 12:40 AM: Will is excruciating pain (fluctuating between a 12 and 14 on the pain scale), and the Hydrocodone he was prescribed was not making a single dent in it

12:45 AM: Tomales Fire Department arrives after calling 911

12:50 AM: 10 mg of morphine are administered to Will

1:05 AM: An ambulance arrives, and the fire department administers another 10 mg of morphine

1:40 AM: Will is taken to the emergency room at Kaiser in San Rafael

2:30 AM: I'm the first to arrive at the hospital

3:00 AM: After administering a few mg of Dilaudid (a narcotic that's 8x stronger than morphine), and a few other drugs, the podiatrist on call comes in to examine Will's foot, and slowly cuts away most of the bandages around his foot to look for an infection, which was non-existent

3:30 AM: Will is given a final dose or two of pain killers, and, now that his pain was under a 4 on the pain scale - about 30 mg of pain killers later - allowed to close his eyes for a little while

3:45 AM: Doctors come in to re-wrap his foot in gauze and bandages (this time looser)

4:05 AM: Will's pain is finally under control and he's allowed to go home

4:25 AM: I finally am home, and immediately crash, before getting up 3.5 hours later for work

     A ridiculously crazy 24 hours.  The upside is that when his left foot is done sometime in the next year, we'll know to make sure he's on a much better pain management schedule.

     Lastly, here are a final three images for you.  The first, as you can see, is of the fire truck and ambulance  in the driveway.  You can't see him, but Will is off to the left on his way to being loaded up.  Looking back, it was a little pathetic, but I stood in the driveway where the ambulance was for a few minutes, crying as I watched it pull away, as his sister rubbed my back.  I've been the one in an ambulance being taken away from my mom (a long story) and that was one of the hardest things in my life that I've had to go through.  But I had no idea it would be so hard to be in the reversed role - to watch him go, wishing with all my might that I was still there with him holding his hand.

     The second picture is of his super intense cast!  This will come off on the 26th, and a fiberglass cast will replace it - the plan is to get hot pink!

     The last picture is of his feet while we were in the ER, after the doctors had cut his bandages away.  I made Will hold up his left foot next to his right so we'd be able to have a picture of what his feet looked like "before and after."  It is a little unnerving to see, so that's why I'm telling you now, but really fascinating at the same time.

     It's finally straight!  I couldn't believe it, and neither could Will.  Swollen, yes, but finally straight.  A big difference from before: the angle between his first metatarsel and his first toe was a whopping 36º.  As a side note: the red on the yellow strips are only blood, and not pieces of skin, because I know it kind of looks like that.  And, a lot of what you may think look like stitches are only pen marks.

     Finally, that's it!  You are finally up to date on my whole entire life. :)

     

     Have a good rest of your week guys!

     xo