Emily's Back Surgery

So it turns out that I don't have piriformis syndrome.  I was not getting better at all, actually getting worse, so I was finally able to get approved for an MRI.  The MRI found that I have a herniated disc between the L5-S1 vertebrae.  So I got to have surgery to remove the goo from my disc that is pinching my sciatic nerve and causing me all the pain in my right leg and butt on my right side.  My surgery was a same day surgery at Deaconess Hospital.  My surgeon was Dr Heller.  My friend Eva Marie was the CRNA.  (She works at Valley doing epidurals).  It was a quick surgery and I only barfed once after surgery.  My recovery went pretty well.  My back was sore but I never needed narcotics.  I just took Motrin and Tylenol and muscle relaxers.  I still had some nerve pain after the surgery.  I was afraid that the surgery didn't work.  It just took a while for my nerve to heal.  

This is my herniated nerve

This is what a normal disc looks like

This is my disc.  You can see how on the left (the image is inverted because it is on the right) is pinching my sciatic nerve.

Waiting for surgery.  My gown was a bear hugger gown and could be plugged in to a hose that blew warm air.  It kept me nice and warm.

Tanner and Emilie sent me flowers

My lovely incision

After 2 weeks of healing

 

Old Dominion Concert

Katie and Lilly went to Boise for an Old Dominion Concert.  Ryan and Angela were nice enough to let them stay at their house. 

Katie went on a hike with Ryan and Angela on Saturday morning. 

They went mini golfing on Saturday afternoon.

 

Katie's 19th Birthday

Katie and Lilly went to dinner the night before Katie's birthday at Texas Roadhouse.  Grammy and Pompa had given Katie a gift certificate fro her birthday. 

Katie was mad that Lilly had told them that it was her birthday.

Katie went to the temple in the morning on her birthday

Then she went down to Marsha's house with Mady and Lilly for her birthday weekend. 

 

Nixon's Basketball Game

Garret and I went and watched Nixon play basketball.  We had to get a picture of Garret and Nixon after the game.  Such cute cousins. 

 

Jessy's Vist

Jessy and her family came to Utah to visit Josh's family and to go skiing.  Jessy wanted to see Katie and to take her family around BYU campus so they came down to Provo on Wednesday February 15.  They went on a tour and went bowling.  Katie also went up to Sandy on Friday the 17th to Josh's parents house to hang out with the Madsen family.  

 

Tanner's 23rd Birthday

Tanner is 23! I did a care package night with some of the mom's from U-High (Kari Carbajal, Carrie Zehm, Brynn Roberts, and Katie Hebden), so I actually sent Tanner a Valentines Day package too as well as some money for his birthday.  He knew that I hadn't done if myself because my kids all know that I am a terrible gift giver. 

 

Gonzaga VS BYU

Grammy got tickets from Brian Santiago (BYU"s athletic director) for the BYU vs Gonzaga game at the Kennel.  Grammy was in Albany visiting Jessy, Jon and his family were in Hawaii, so Kirt and Garret got the tickets.  The tickets were right behind the BYU bench, in the BYU section, so Grammy told Garret that he had to wear a BYU shirt and to cheer for BYU (or at least quietly cheer for Gonzaga). Kirt and Garret borrowed BYU shirts from the Murrays because we don't have any.  Luckily Gonzaga won 88-81.  Garret had a Drew Timme shirt on under his BYU shirt so he could take pictures with both the BYU players and the Gonzaga players. 

I saw Kirt and Garret on TV

Nolan Hickman

Jared McGregor-he is a BYU player that served his mission in the Spokane mission

Garret saw Drew Timme in the parking lot and ran over to get a picture with him since he was wearing his Timme shirt.

 

Sadie Hawkins Dance

Garret and his buddies decided very last minute to go stag to the Sadie Hawkins Dance.  They said it wasn't as fun as the Homecoming Dance, but they liked the after party at ?? house. 

Garret and Andrew Hebden

Trip to Seattle to Watch Tanner Play Basketball

Kirt and Garret made a quick trip over to Seattle to watch Tanner play basketball at Seattle University.  Kirt has been in love with the Nissan 370z (well actually the 300zx) since he was a teenager since his grandma had one when he was in high school.  He has been looking at this one in Seattle for a while.  While they were over there for Tanner's game, the car dealership happened to be across the street from the hotel that Kirt and Garret were staying at, so they went and test drove it. 

 

Trip to St George February 2023

We went to St George to see Tanner and Emilie and to watch Tanner play two basketball games.  Kirt and I flew in on Wednesday night and got there just after midnight on Thursday morning.  Tanner and Emilie were going to leave a car for us to drive to their house since it was so late, but when they were on the way to the airport, Emilie's jeep died and they had to have it towed.  Tanner took Emilie home, and then came back to pick us up at the airport.  

Tanner had school on Thursday, so Kirt and I entertained ourselves.  I took Tanner to school so we could have his car.  Emilie dropped her dad off at work so she could have his car.  She had to work at the hospital all day.  Kirt and I went to lunch at Kneaders and drove around St George exploring the town.  We picked Tanner up from school in the afternoon and he showed us the Red Cliffs temple.  We went back to his house.  Grammy and Pompa came (they flew to Las Vegas and rented a car and drove to St. George), and Katie and Marsha came (they drove down from Provo).  We went to dinner at Raising Cane's.  Emilie came and joined us.  Then we went to the basketball game.  Utah Tech played Utah Valley.  It was a good game, but they lost.  It was so fun to see Tanner play in person. 

Friday we went to the St George Temple visitors center (the temple is closed for remodeling.)  Tanner had to go to practice.  The rest of us went up to campus and went to the bookstore.  Grammy wanted a new Utah Tech shirt.  We went back to Tanner and Emilie's and had lunch.  Emilie, Katie and I went shopping at the mall.  Katie was looking for birthday presents and mission clothes.  We went to dinner at the Pizza Factory.

Saturday, we went to the farmers market in the park.  They were little booths with people selling different things.  Grammy really wanted a corn dog.  It was huge and everyone had a bite.  Then we went and got some custard at Nileson's.  We went up to the bluff that overlooked all of St George and took pictures.  Then we went to the Leavitt's and they fed us yummy Cafe Rio for an early dinner before the game.  Then we went to the game.  Utah Tech played SUU and they won.  Tanner had a great game!!

Grammy and Pompa had a really early flight and they got up at like 3am and drove back to Vegas.  They flew to Albany to see Jessy and her family.  Kirt and I and Katie and Marsha went to church with Tanner and Emilie.  Katie and Marsha left right after sacrament meeting to drive back to Provo.  Kirt and I hung out the rest of the day with Tanner and Emilie.  We went to the Leavitt's to play games and they fed us dinner again.  We flew home that night at 7pm.  It was so fun to see Tanner and Emilie and to watch Tanner play basketball!

We had to go out on the runway in the Salt Lake Airport to get on our plane. 

Utah Tech basketball sign in the airport in St George.

St George Temple visitors center.