That is good news!!




I now have a boot I am required to wear for the next month but at least the cast is off! I can put weight on my foot, again! The Dr said I have to ease into walking with help from the crutches (boo!) and not pushing too hard but just enough. Huh? So, I thought I would be walking in days but my foot had other plans. I am walking, with help from the crutches, more and more everyday. I am putting more weight on it each time and can walk about 2-4 minutes without the crutches.






I am trying to get approved to go back to work (even if just a couple of days a week) next week. So, I will be limited but it will be great to get back to work! I hope to be back in full by Thanksgiving. I know I'll be limited but we'll see how much I'll be able to do.
Looking forward to my normal life and little things like walking and carrying things in both hands. lol
Until next update, hopefully, I will be walking without help.
XOXO- RW

Teen drama shows... I am hooked! I was so young when the original 90210 came out, I watched but once they got older I just couldn't relate. The first teen drama show I will forever remember, the one I couldn't miss, the one I watched with my friends every week was Dawson's Creek. I am not ashamed, I own the entire 6 seasons on DVD and  once in a while, I bring them out. 

Why am I so hooked, why do I still watch now? As I watch One Tree Hill and wonder why I am still watching... it all seemed so obvious. First love and those great feelings I felt when I accomplished or tried something for the first time. Not just first love of a person but of life. First love for hobbies, for work, driving, so many experiences. Those mid-late teen years when all of it was new and everything was drama. Drama filled with passion and a feeling that nothing can go wrong because I was fearless. 

As I look back on those days, those were good days. They are a wonderful memory to look back upon and put a smile on my face. Life now is great, honestly, I can't complain... I love that I have been able to experience so much and found someone who shares my passion and love for life and to try new things. Although there are some new things we try, everything isn't new and that is the difference between those days and these. I still love my teen drama shows, they remind me of those great days when it was all new.

xoxo - RW

I'll start with the most important news... no surgery for me!
As the Dr had told me I needed surgery, I had prepared myself for the worse case scenario: I would have an external fixator sticking out of my foot for a month with a splint and then a cast for another 6 weeks with no weight on the foot at all. Justin and I set off for the hospital and I was in my gown and hooked up with an IV (1st time ever) when the surgeon came in to talk to me <= This changed everything!

The surgeon (who I had never met before) was great! Went over the surgery in detail, including the possible complications, possible outcomes, etc. I had a lot of questions but a few key answers he gave me changed my mind:



1. Because of where the surgery is and the fixator, I would have a 25% chance of infection. If the infection can not be controlled with antibiotics, then he would have to remove the fixator before needed and then the surgery might as well have not happened. Here is the fixator, except mine would have been about 80% the length of my foot.


2. The surgeon, in my place, would not have the surgery.
He said the surgery would only lessen the chance of future problems with my foot and the risk and complications of the "fix it" surgery are much less than this one. So, although I may need a surgery in the future, it will have a shorter recovery time and have a significant smaller chance of complications and risks.

I opted for no surgery. They put the bright pink cast on me that same day and I was back home with my crutches. Still no weight on it at all until the cast comes off but that could be as soon as 4 weeks! I am just really thankful the surgeon came in to talk to me and went over all those details to help me make the right decision, although I wish the specialist (also a surgeon) would have gone over those details at my last consultation and saved me the IV and emotional breakdown.

Now I sit at home and just wait to get this cast off. I have been really good about elevating it and not putting weight on it. I hardly bump it (maybe once every other day) and think I am taking really good care. I am hardly in any pain but it is uncomfortable and annoying. Plus, I am extremely bored and am making a list of things I can get done while I sit and wait.



I have managed to make a photo book online (should get it in the next couple of days) and finishing up some scrapbooks is next on the list. I need to find more productive things to do, I'll see what I can find.

Again, thanks for all the support.

xoxo- RW

More posts to come. Not about my foot, just life in general... I have 8-10 weeks of recovery time.

My injury sucks. Last Friday night (17th), I was walking out of a bowling alley and twisted my foot and then fell on it. I was wearing heels and I just took a bad step. I tried to walk on it, no go. Friday night I elevated it and put some ice on it and tried to sleep. Saturday I missed everything... We had some friends in town for Beerfest and I had to stay home, not happy. My foot was in some pain but not unbearable. We were hoping for a sprain and I was really trying to avoid the Dr but as the swelling was barely reduced, I could not put any weight on it, and the pain wasn't going away... to the Dr's we went. They took x-rays, a CT scan, and they gave me a boot and crutches until I saw the specialist. The results? I have 2 fractured Metatarsals (2nd and 3rd) and a shattered Cuboid. I had no idea what that meant but knew it wasn't good. Below is a pic, in case someone is not familiar with the foot bones.  

The worst news? I need to have surgery on my foot. The Dr wasn't confident that the Cuboid would heal properly and I may have problems in the future as well as a longer recovery time. With surgery, I would have 8-10 weeks of no weight on my foot. My thoughts? I was hoping for no surgery and no cast. I was told I would have both. I was so upset to hear the news. I am worried about the surgery, I don't like to be put under and I am just not comfortable with it. But my hubby is right, I need to just get it done and do everything possible to make sure I have a fully functional foot with the slimmer chance of problems in the future. So, surgery and cast it is.

Worst timing ever. We had some awful news this week about some close friends and needed to be in FL. I am not getting into details about it here but we really needed to be in FL for our friends and I just feel double awful that we are unable to go because of my foot. I can't travel, I can't work, I can't do anything but rest my foot.





People on TV seem to work their crutches easily. I know I don't have a lot of upper body strength but it is very difficult to move around with them.  Any tips? Let me know.






I'll have more details once I have the surgery. I do know I have to have a plate that will need to removed later. Great, more surgery. Not happy about this situation and nothing I can do. Enough of my whining, I'll just hope for the best.

Thanks for all the support.
xoxo- RW

This is going to be much more summarized than I first expected, but it has been a while...

Leaving Tampa, we had put all our stuff in storage and had 2 suitcases each to survive the next 3.5 months. We knew it would be a great adventure plus some real quality time with my fam!

And our story begins...

We arrived in Lima in the first hours of Feb 5th and were headed out to the beach that same afternoon for a fun weekend at the beaches south of Lima. We shared a bungalow w grandma and grandpa... It was super fab!! The coast strip we were in was called Asia, it's like the beaches at St Pete... Tons of different areas w their own private bungalows, etc. The beach had some great waves and everything was just relaxing... great way to start of our vacay!

Justin loving the waves!






The rest of the month we were in Lima, we spent visiting with fam and taking small tours throughout Lima. We visited some real cool museums and sites.

It was also great to see the fam several times.

My aunt Chabuca visited while we were in Lima.I miss her a lot and was really glad to catch up and spend time with her.

The higlight of my time in Lima was my Bday! I hadn't spent a Bday in Peru since I left back in 1989... that's right, 20 years ago! It was really special to be able to celebrate with everyone. My grandma threw a party for me on Saturday and I was sooo glad everyone made it. It really was one of the happiest times I had there. I was overwhelmed with happiness. :-)

I'll leave on that happy note as my eyes are filling with tears remebering those days. Part II: Abancay will come real soon.

Lots of love and be good.

XOXO- RW

Wow... talk about slacker! But, here I am getting back to the blog. Since Aug 2009 soo much has happened,. here we go...

Randomness: We live in the center of downtown Denver and love it! It truly is a completely different life here and it is great to experience this exciting new city and beautiful surrounding areas. I walk a block to work... LOVE that! We have already made some great friends here, people here are ridiculously nice!






We have a had a list of great guests come stay w us since. Our friend Caris had some work in Denver and we were able to catch up. He was our 1st ever CO visitor!

















Jen and Doug visit before their big move to HI!

Bobby stopped by Denver to come to Beerfest... so much fun! We also showed him some other great places downtown.

My mom stayed w us for a wk for Tksgiving! Showed her around downtown and she was able to see plenty of snow that wk! Justin and her even went to the Mint. They have their own brand new pennies!!






Daniel and Ben came by for a couple of days fr MN. Ben is now living out here so we see him a lot! He lives pretty close, always nice to have friends w/in walking distance.




And Ryan, our last visitor of 2009... always a super fun time. We were so blessed to have some many of our great friends and fam over to see us. And now our turn in 2010 to see them, going to the 813 in March!!

Plenty of sunny days in between but still, a lot of snow. I like that the snow doesn't stick and almost always melts w/in a couple of days. Of course, I haven't seen a big storm where it snows for more than 2 days yet but so far so good.

Still, we do get snow... So, I tried snowboarding and I am still in the learning process - leaving it at that, lol. I am enjoying the snow and love seeing it everywhere. I am learning so much about types of snow and what to avoid (such as slick looking snow - slippery ice)!

In Sept we celebrated our 1st anniversary and in Dec we celebrated 8 yrs of being together... wow! It truly has been beyond an amazing 1st year... we feel so blessed!!

2009 was a great year and hard to beat but as 2010 has already started off pretty well, very much looking fwd to the rest of it!!
Hope everyone's 2009 ended on a great memory and that 2010 started off kicking 2009 in the butt!

Miss u all... xoxo!!
RW