Show us your singles! Jane! :)

So I am resurrecting the blog to get the word out via Kelly's Korner blog about how awesome my friend Jane is! I normally am only on twitter which is where Jane and I got to know each other well. She is a med student in Oklahoma. As she puts on her blog in response to "Who am I?" She's "med student, friend, wanna-be runner, reader, daughter, writer, traveler, sister, Christian, baker, connoisseur of adult beverages, comedian, I'm Jane."

Super smart, super sweet, and owner of a precious dog Ollie :)

This past year Jane came up to DC and got to tour the Pentagon! (Super jealous DC resident here!)

Jane is a giving friend, close to her family, and all around awesome :) Any person who has her in their life will be very lucky. We have an amazing time when she's out on the east coast.


So if this amazing friend of mine catches your eye with her blonde hair and gorgeous grin, leave a comment or send me a note! :)

Recovering and cooking up a storm!

Hi all! Surgery went REALLY well. They were thankfully able to remove just the lumbar portion of the hardware which made it a 1.5 hour surgery vs possibly 3-4! Thankfully the portion remaining is completely enclosed and secure. After an overnight in the hospital (which coincided with crazy snow/travel making getting a room an adventure), I came home to have my mama and sister take care for me for a week. The recovery in the last week is incredible! I'm decreasing pain medicine, energy level is up, and I'm starting to think about when I can go to work.
In the mean time, I've been cooking a lot. Since I first knew I was having surgery, I've been trying to eat lots of extra protein and veggies. In college I waitressed at a family owned thai restaurant and have a weakness for thai food. So I searched the internet and came across an awesome video of how to cook chicken thai fried rice, khao pad gai.

I have transcribed the recipe and added some hints. First off, prep EVERYTHING first.

The actual cooking takes less than 15 minutes. Also the drier the rice is the better. I've been using uncle ben's as it's what I have in the house. I cook the rice several hours before, but you could do the night before too. Jasmine might work way better.
Also the recipe calls for half chicken half shrimp, but I'm just using chicken as I have it on hand. I also am adding a second egg to up my protein levels.

Thai Fried Rice (Khao Pad Gai)

3 tbsp oil, 2 cloves garlic (chopped), 5 oz chicken cut in 1/4 inch slices (cut breast in half first to slice more easily), 5 oz shrimp
(peeled, cleaned), 1 med onion diced, 1 med carrot diced, 1 egg (whisked), 3 c rice, 2 tbsp soy sauce, 1 tbsp fish sauce, 1 tomato chopped, 2 stalks green onion sliced, 5 stems cilantro sliced, 1/2 lime, hot sauce to taste, cucumber slice for garnish

In wok or large fry pan, heat 2 tbsp oil on med-high to medium heat. Saute garlic for just a bit. Then add chicken breast and cook until white. Once that is cooked, add carrot and onion. Then add shrimp if used. Stir fry until shrimp is almost all the way done. Push all to sides. Add bit more of oil. Then cook egg. (scramble). Then stir all ingredients together. Add rice and mix in well to avoid clumps. Add fish sauce, then soy sauce, then sugar if desired.
These first steps should take ~10 minute. Then stir in green onion, tomato, and 1/2 cilantro. Top with lime and hot sauce if desired when serving.




If you do just one egg, and the recipe 1/2 chicken 1/2 shrimp with 6 servings this is the nutrition info.

Hope y'all like it!

EDITED TO ADD:
I can often get away with using 1/2 the oil which cuts 4 g of fat.

Fun meme!

We interrupt your normally scheduled surgery related posts for a bit of fun! :) I was given a Stylish Blogger Award by the lovely lovely Worthy Style!

Here are the rules:

1. Thank and link back to the person who awarded you this award

2. Share 7 things about yourself

3. Award 15 recently discovered bloggers

4. Contact these bloggers and tell them about the award

Now, I don't think I *KNOW* 15 new bloggers, so I will share 5 blogs/websites that I think are really fun. Hopefully that works!

Seven things about myself:
1. I am the youngest of four girls. You might think this makes me a bit spoiled, and you'd be right! ;) But now that I have a precious Niecey girl, I have passed the spoiling torch to her.

2. I got my first pair of glasses at 18 months.


My cheeks were so chubby that when I cried, my tears would well up behind the lenses. May be part of why I was a smidge spoiled ;)

3. I grew up in a military family and am very proud of that heritage. Both my grandfathers served, as did both of my parents. Two of my sisters married guys who have served in the military.

My daddy's father

My mama's parents

Mama being sworn into the Air Force by her dad!

My daddy

4. I have an addiction to fuzzy socks! I own about 10 or more pairs. As soon as I get home, I always take my shoes off (Blame growing up in the south). But in winter my feet get so cold, so I have tons of comfy socks.


5. While I *am* big about manners and things (particularly when I meet new people), I have a complete potty mouth when it comes to hockey! This made some friends I'd met at church a little surprised when we went to our first hockey game, but we all had plenty of fun yelling at the refs and booing the other team :) The only really tricky thing was checking the 4 row radius for children before the game started!

6. I love to sing. Adore it. Sang in church choirs growing up. Went to a lion's club exchange camp called "The Sound of Music" in Austria. Sang in church choir at my Nashville church which I loved. I haven't found a place to sing here in DC and I really miss that. I am known to sing along with Alison Kraus or Sarah McLachlan in the car :)

7. I have a life goal of seeing every US state and a dream of seeing all the major National Parks. I was a girl scout growing up and really miss camping. Haven't camped in years, but used to be able to make some pretty awesome pancakes over an open fire!

8. Remembered one more! I LOVE playing cribbage and canasta. While these may seem like old fashioned card games, my grandma taught all us girls how to play and it has such happy family memories. Anyone in DC like to play?


Five Fun Blogs/Websites/Things! (I'm running low on ideas!)

Some of these y'all already know but some may be new. These are all things that make me smile.

1. Mad Hattery Blog
I shared this with the Preppy Princess via twitter yesterday. I still have a little princess obsession and a LOVE of sparkly things so this website feeds both!

2. Acting Like Animals
This is part of the "Squee" section of the icanhascheezburger site. Just too cute and happy.

3. Polyvore
I'm pretty new to this but I'm using it to try to play with what's in my closet and get more out of what I already own. Almost like Cher in Clueless.

4. The Chillout Song
Someone else tweeted this the other day, and I think it's the most awesome idea. It made me happy about the state of the world. (Something rather hard to do these days)

5. STFU Parents
Now a warning, this website has foul language at times, but if you've ever wanted to Gibbs Slap someone for posting about their child's bowels on facebook, this is the site for you!

Thank you so much Whitney for tagging me! This was a really fun way to relax until Mama gets here!

Surgery date set!

Well this time next week it'll be less than 24 hours until surgery. I am so glad it is set. I can plan my life again. I've had 3 weeks just disappear pretty much as a result of this. The surgeon, Dr. Y, is someone I have GREAT confidence in. I've only seen him twice but he comes well recommended and I really like him. A good thing since he's going to be going into my back and removing hardware. The plan is for a 2 hour surgery and 1-2 days in the hospital.

The MRI showed my discs are good underneath the fusion which is WONDERFUL! Also the fusion seems solid. If there's anywhere the surgeons are concerned about, they are going to add bone graft. But shouldn't need any new hardware. Dr. Y said it'll be about a week that I need people here to help take care of myself. But no brace or anything.

My mama and one of my sisters are going to come and help take care of me. Mama for the surgery itself because when I get out of surgery I'm going to want my mama! :) The doctor said 4-6 weeks to be totally healed (and no lifting more than 20 pounds during that time) but that I could be back to work in less than 2 weeks if everything goes well.

But this is still a really big thing. It's going to be a strange week. Going through all the pre-op stuff. Going into the office tomorrow to meet with my PI about a meeting this coming Monday that I had SO been looking forward to. It's hard. I don't feel like I've accomplished anything workwise since I came home from my one day in the office last week. But my boss is being really supportive so I am very very grateful for that.

The idea of getting my life back is incredible. It's been so long since there hasn't been some sort of pain. And while I doubt this surgery will get rid of all of it, I am very hopeful it will help make a BIG difference.

Waiting waiting waiting....

WARNING: Major Whine Today!!!

I can't believe it's Sunday again. This has been such a long week, but it feels like times been melting. I know that's a big phrase, but I can't think of a better one. Although pain medicine is the only way I'm getting through this waiting, I hate it. Hate, HATE, HATE! My head's all loopy. I can barely even remember to eat right and get enough water. I can't drive. When I try to not take the pain meds, it feels like I'm being stabbed from the inside. And it sucks.

BUT! And I have to make myself focus on the "buts." On the things that ARE going right. Because otherwise the fears and the anger could just suck me down into anxiety and depression.

I've been there before and I *don't* want to go back. Anxiety is something I've learned to live with on an everyday basis. It's not near as bad as it was in the past. I don't spaz out. Fewer nightmares than I used to have. The worst it's been was during my last semester of grad school and during college. But I saw someone. Took meds for a while. Learned coping methods.

But this situation is making me more anxious. My health coping style is facts. What is going to happen? What are the details? Why did it happen? Facts, figures, plans.

So the past 2 weeks of knowing what is wrong (detached rod), theoretical plan (surgery), but NOT knowing when. NOT knowing details. NOT knowing what my recovery will entail has been extremely hard for me.

So I'm trying to focus on the good. My biggest way to cope is to purposefully be a Pollyanna. As annoying as that is (even to me) I know it helps.

Things I am grateful for definitely include all y'all. My friends on here and twitter. To know I have people who care for me and are pulling for me makes a big difference. Also, I tend to be ridiculously hard on myself. I feel guilty and lazy for not working. To not even be writing papers right now. And having people to give me perspective is HUGE. I can't even explain, but in particular with my family not being here, this community makes me not feel alone.

This post is a thank you for helping me get through this wait. I will let y'all know once I know something Tuesday.

MRI done!

Thank y’all so much for the support! I can’t say enough how much all the support on here and on twitter has meant. In the past week, a grad school BFF sent cookies and a Twitter friend brought red beans. The little things mean a lot right now!

I was able to get insurance approval for the MRI Monday afternoon and managed to get in for a 6 pm one that night! Thankfully my dr had given me a happy pill for those not fond of small places.

Yesterday I went and picked up the disc and my pain meds. Sadly the next appointment to see the surgeon, to go over the MRI and actually plan/schedule my surgery isn’t until Tuesday morning at 8.

The waiting in this is the hardest for me. The pain med does the job of helping me cope, but I am not fond of strong medicines for long periods. On the other hand it’s only been 2 weeks from the day the rod shifted and I’m already this far along.

Today a coworker gave me a ride and I was able to go in and work from 7:30 until 5. Completed one of two experiments I have going and now I can work from home tomorrow/rest. Coming home and lying on the futon under a fuzzy blanket felt like heaven!

So I found the MRI really cool seeing how the spine curves and rotates still. (Not that it is a good thing, but seeing inside my body is cool to me.) I am still hoping the surgery will just be rod removal as that will be a much easier recovery. I know the Dr. said that would be 1-2 days in hospital. But I have no idea of what would be the plan after that/how long until work/able to take care of myself.

Hopefully Tuesday will bring more answers again. This is what the hardware in my back looks like.

I really hope they don’t need to put anything back in. I wonder how much of my pain these hooks have caused. :( It’ll be good when it’s done.

I want this done. I hate waiting. I’m scared. I also hate that I’m whining. And that I’m wondering how long all this will last.

But I am so grateful for family and friends. For a job that is working with me. For health insurance. That I am seeing the head of spinal surgery at a major teaching hospital. That I have pain medicine. That I have a cuddly kitty for the hard days.

I don’t really know how often I’ll update. Because I worry the updates until I know anything could just be whining. But I know I feel better mentally even after this short update.

PS If anyone knows of someone who could design a cute header, that would be awesome. I have a friend who can but she is SUPER busy.