Merry Christmas to All!!!

I am pleased to announce that I will be an aunt to a baby girl, Eloise LaVonne, June 2013!!!

My older brother, Michael, and his wife, Danelle, are expecting their first child June 3rd, 2013. This will be the first great-grandchild, grandchild, etc., for both her sides and our sides of the family, so needless to say this will be a very spoiled baby! My older brother is an active-duty Army Chaplain at Ft. Drum (Upstate NY) with the 10th Mountain Division (1-87th). Danelle is a photgrapher. They will be amazing, loving parents! I am so excited for them and for the family to welcome a baby girl! Congratulations Michael & Danelle! Merry Christmas! 

Our family had Christmas early. We did the exchanging of gifts, dinner, treats, etc., this past weekend. Michael and Danelle drove out so they would be able to see her family and ours. They spent the weekend with us and headed back up to Chicago to spend Christmas with her family prior to heading back to NY early on the 26th. Michael will be deploying soon so his schedule is tightly packed, but they wanted to see everyone prior to him leaving. I ate way too much food, too many cookies, but had a good time with my family. I have always enjoyed being able to spend time with family, laugh, share pictures and watch a movie (typically with commentary from my brothers). 

Although this week we celebrate Christmas, I have an MRI-arthrogram for my left shoulder, PT sessions and a follow-up with my ortho surgeon. My left shoulder has been increasingly more unstable and painful despite months of PT. My shoulder is stronger than what it was, but has not improved in regards to pain/stability and has added nerve issues to the mix. I have not had an MRI on my shoulder yet and my doc thinks I have more damage than originally thought. Although I have instability, he believes that I have labral tears and possibly other issues that will need to be surgically addressed. My shoulder is at a point where it just can not compensate anymore. I will also be getting an injection of cortisone/analgesics to help with pain/inflammation in my shoulder, since we will already be doing an arthrogram. I will find out my results on Friday when I see my ortho and we will discuss more details at that time. 

I will be having my left hip scoped locally by Maiers to address numerous issues. Although neither Millis or Maiers are confident that the scope will offer enough relief, I have numerous issues that need to be addressed that not just one surgery will be able to address. I have dysplasia, femoral retroversion, anterior & posterior labral tears, residual cam lesion, bursitis and capsular damage. We are planning on the scope first, then the femoral osteotomy. Typically, the scope is outpatient, but I will be staying overnight due to known issues and additional repairs. I will also be wearing a post-op brace to help with stability because I am overly flexible. 

We are hoping the added precautions will help with the recovery and maintain the repairs till the additional underlying issues can be addressed by Millis during an open surgery later this spring. It looks like 2013 will start out with a couple surgeries! 

I hope that everyone is able to spend this Christmas with the ones they love and care about and a Merry Christmas to All and to All a Good Night!