Freezer meals: Slow Cooker BBQ Spareribs

The two weeks before my surgery I started to stock pile freezer meals. I wasn't sure how much I could do. Turns out I can probably do more than I thought but any use of my left arm is limited and I'm left handed. I am really glad I did this, it made me feel prepared, even if I wasn't totally prepared emotionally. It was a great distraction. I think in all I had 15 meals prepared plus frozen blueberry scones, banana bread, apple pie, and muffins. So I was trying to distract myself a bit...

Reese's mom just left this morning so tonight was the first night that I needed to cook dinner. I made BBQ spareribs. They were really good. I served them with baked beans and broccoli.

Slow Cooker BBQ Spareribs

1-2 lbs country style pork ribs
1 1/2 cups ketchup
1 1/2 Tbsp seasoned salt
1/2 tsp liquid smoke
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup white vinegar

Place ribs in gallon freezer bag. Mix together remaining ingredients and pour over ribs. Freeze
When ready to eat, remove from freezer and thaw in fridge for 24 hours. Put in slow cooker on high for 3-4 hours or on low for 6-7 hours.

Sorry didn't get a picture of the finished product but it was really tasty! This would've been easy for me to put together one handed, but it was still nice to know I had it in the freezer ready to go.

The rest of the pictures are from our hike yesterday. Yep, I went on a hike. Probably not the best idea, since I was really tired and sore today. I will blame Reese, he told me it'd be a 10 minute walk each way. Wrong! Either way it was good to get some fresh air and as always, there were BEAUTIFUL views! We hiked down to a beach that had a cabin made out of driftwood. Laura got to see some of Kodiak too, which was great.

What is an ICD?

So here are some pictures to help you picture what this thing is that I just had implanted in me. The first picture is me before the surgery, second was taken yesterday. I'm not sure how big the scar will actually be once the steri strips come off. The next ones are to show you how big this thing actually is. So it's not a pacemaker although it has that capability. It has one lead that goes into my right ventricle. It is looking for my heart to go into an arrhythmia (ventricular tachycardia) which it will then pace it out of. It is also looking for my heart to go into ventricular fibrillation, which it will then deliver a shock to get it into a normal rhythm. The fibrillation is what can kill you. So most the time I won't feel it doing anything! The goal is that I forget that it's even there. It was placed under my pectoral muscle so it shouldn't stick out of my chest, it's more of a recovery period but I think it will be better in the long run. I have the scar which sucks, but it's something I can deal with.

When we flew home from the Anchorage, I had to be patted down. I cannot go through the metal detectors because I'll just set them off and I couldn't lift my left arm up yet to go through the body scanner, so I was patted down. Something I'll just learn to expect when I fly. Apparently I need to stay 24 inches away from slot machines, weird. I have to talk on my cell phone on my right side, which is hard to do since I'm left handed. Otherwise I can do everything I once did. The ICD will be monitored every three months by a machine that is plugged into a phone line and it will communicate with a database. They monitor any activity it's had, battery life, etc. I only need to go into the cardiologist once a year. So living on a remote Alaskan island will be okay :) so that's pretty much it. I am glad it's over with and I don't have to look up against a surgery anymore. I am doing good, just need to take it a little easy which isn't always easy for me to do!

Home

We are home! I feel so much better! I have found that I do best just taking Tylenol! Anything more than that and my stomach hurts and I feel cruddy! I also have found that if I stay seated I feel much better. Walking around the airport and getting on the flight etc was tiring.

Lane is outside playing, Reese and Estelle are in the garage working out and Laura's making dinner. I am sitting on the chair, kind of a change of pace for me, I will enjoy it :)

Tonight

I felt pretty good most the day, now the pain is setting in a little more. My head is pounding from the general anesthesia and I feel like I have strep throat from the breathing tube. My muscle doesn't hurt too bad, every once in awhile it spasms and that hurts. So it might be a rough night, hope not. And the plan is to come home tomorrow afternoon. Hope I feel better by then! Keep praying, I'm not out of the woods yet!

After...

I woke up around 11:30, out of surgery and feeling pretty good. I am in my room now just relaxing, enjoying some pain free time. Pretty sure the pain is still to come. They gave me a bunch if local anesthetic before I woke up so the site doesn't hurt too bad now. The ICD is implanted under my muscle so they had to cut my pectoral muscle. That's the worst of the recovery. I came out if surgery a little emotional about the fact that I actually have this in my body and the fact that I wish my mom could have had one. I am blessed that I know what I know, that this technology is available and that I have wonderful medical coverage and care in this great country of ours :). Pray that I have as little pain as possible and there are no complications. Thanks for all your support and prayers!

Day of

Just getting ready to be checked into the hospital etc. Praying for peace for me and Reese, wisdom of the doctors, and the quality of the devices they are putting in me! I will update when I can, I have no idea what to expect as far as pain afterward...

Easter 2013

Better late than never, here are our Easter pictures.  We had a party with all the guys from Reese's work and their families.  We had a BIG egg hunt.  The kids had a blast!

 The kids did an egg race and a bunny hop as well as other fun games.  Estelle just ran around like the little social butterfly she is.  Lane has done such a great job of fitting in with all the new people he has met.  I am glad there are lots of kids his age.

And little miss... no nap all day so she zonked out on the couch and wouldn't wake up!

Enjoying Alaska and a surgery date

All the lights were off downstairs the other night and I was about to go up to bed when I saw a mama and baby deer in our backyard.  We have been seeing lots of deer roaming around but I loved that I could quietly open the sliding door and take pictures from my kitchen!

 We were out for dinner the other night and this big guy was perched outside the window of the restaurant.  Eagles are all over the place up here!

 On Sunday a bunch of people were going to hike up Pyramid mountain.  Reese does this on a weekly basis.  He and his coworkers hike up and ski down.  Reese also takes Lane up there, about half way up for him to snowboard down.  So I am not much of an outdoorsy person or in that great of shape for that matter, but for whatever reason I decided to go up with them.  Three of our friends skied and me and two of the girls snow-shoed up.  I began doubting myself a few times, but I needed to get out of my head and just put one foot in front of the other.  I made it to the top and it was beautiful!

 Here is Reese and I at the top with Anton Larson Bay in the distance behind us.  Reese stayed with me the whole time.  I was the last one to the top but for having a "bad ticker" I still thought that was pretty good.

I had my consultation with my new cardiologist/electrophysiologist in Anchorage last week.  I flew up there for just the day on a Coast Guard C130 plane.  It was quite the experience.  They have a medical flight that goes there once a week which is awesome!  I was anxious to get a second opinion about the defibrillator and just have someone else's take on my situation all together.  Turns out this doctor is on the same page as my San Diego doctors.  He was a really great doctor, I could tell that from the beginning.  He was extremely easy to communicate with and explained things very well.  So I have an appointment to get my defibrillator placed on April 22nd.  I feel good about it.  I prayed that God would speak clearly to me one way or the other whether I should get it or not.  I felt like after my appointment with him, I knew that this was the right thing to do.  I have had doubts because I feel like I am healthy, I have never had any arrhythmia's.  The thing is that no one knows when they could start, I may never have one... or the first one I have could kill me.  After my mom died we always said, "If she would have had a defibrillator she would probably still be alive."  I don't want to have anyone say that about me.  I want to do all that I can.  Don't get me wrong, it's not easy for me to be getting this.  The thought of needing to have my "battery changed" every 10 years bothers me just a bit!  The fact that I will have a device implanted in my chest is weird.  But God's timing is perfect.  I found out that I needed this defibrillator on January 16th, and now almost 3 months later, I am ready.  I WAS NOT ready on January 16th or even a couple weeks ago.  I am now.  Its kind of like climbing that mountain on Sunday, I put one foot in front of the other and eventually I got to the top.  I tripped, I fell, my legs burned and I thought about quitting a couple of times.  But I didn't and I put one foot in front of the other and I got to the top.  It was fulfilling and a beautiful sight.  To some people that mountain wouldn't be that big of an accomplishment (like Reese who has been doing it once or twice a week) but to me it meant something bigger that just hiking up the mountain. It was a symbol of something more, I can do this.