Kolob Construction

Tyson's parents own property up on an association on Kolob Mountain. In that association is a beautiful little lake called Blue Springs. Tuesday, Tyson's dad, Brad, decided to go fishing up there with a few buddies. So Tyson and I decided to head up after I got off work to join them. We love fishing and go whenever we get the chance. 

So once I got off work we headed up, only to be stopped. Again and again. Construction is going on all over the road up to Kolob. Normally they get done at 4, but we think they must have been going later that day, due to being off for Memorial day, the day before. So unfortunately we go stopped 3 times, for about a 1/2 hr each time. It ended up taking us 2 hours just to get to the lake.

At first I kept getting upset that we had to just sit in our truck for 20-30 minutes each time and just WAIT. Then it hit me....there's no better place to get stuck, than exactly where we were. I snapped this picture of the construction worker thinking how sorry I felt for him that this was his job. To stand and just hold a sign. Then as I looked at this picture I noticed the beautiful mountains in the background and realized...wow, how lucky is he to have such an amazing work atmosphere. I even got a little jealous.

It made me realize how lucky we are to have such a BEAUTIFUL area to live/work/play in. It also helped me to be a little less in a hurry all the time, and to really just enjoy the moment. As if the ride couldn't get any better,Tyson started belting out with the Pitch Perfect sound track that was playing in the truck. It was such a fun drive looking at all of that beauty, all the while singing Pitch Perfect songs with my favorite person. 

Crazy Cat Lady

I vowed that I would NEVER be a cat lady. I never liked them growing up. I felt like all that cats did was scratch and bite you, and worse of all they would bring you dead rodents and expect praise. I never in a million years thought I would get a cat, let alone allow it live inside the house.

All of that changed the day this little guy came along.

DUNFORD LEE 

He loves car rides

Sleeps in the most awkward places

Is very religious and watches General Conference intently

If Tyson is home, Kitty won't leave his side

He likes to hid in very weird places, then either surprise attacks you or trips you

and most of all he LOVES to be outside...that is until the smallest thing spooks him and he takes off running for the house. 

He can be crazy, stubborn, and even obnoxious at times, but we love him like crazy and consider him part of the family. I'm not sure what we would do without him. 

And there you have it...blogging about my cat officially makes me a crazy cat lady. Deal with it. 

The Dark Side of the Knee

Tyson has always had problems with his knees. A few years ago he hurt his right one pretty bad playing on our DSU Intramural futsal team. The doctor said there might be a possible tear in one of his ligaments, but ruled that out as just being extra stretched. 

Then in February he was playing in the annual HHS boys alumni soccer game and went to cross the ball when his knee twisted funny and he went down. When I saw him on the ground I immediately knew it was bad. He was a champ and stayed for this picture (below) and you can tell he was in so much pain just by looking at his smile. 

After an MRI and meeting with his surgeon, Dr. Larsen, we found out that he had a "bucket handle" tear in his meniscus, a complete rupture to his ACL, a high grade tear to his LCL, and a torn popliteus tendon. The LCL and popliteus tendon make up the posterolateral corner (PCL) or otherwise known as "The dark side of the knee" because of the relatively small amount that is known about that region (https://thesportsphysio.wordpress.com/2013/07/19/the-postero-lateral-corner-the-dark-side-of-the-knee-a-guest-article-by-richard-norris/) His surgery was then scheduled for a month later so the swelling could go down and so that he could regain his range of motion,

His surgery was scheduled in the wee hours of the morning, naturally, so we got to wake up nice and early to get there on time. 

He was trying to act brave before the surgery, but I could tell he was a little nervous, so I of course distracted him by making him pose for a bunch of pictures. What are wife's for, right?

To repair all of this damage they took a bone-patellar tendon-bone graft from around his knee cap to replace the ACL and a allograft (cadaver tendon) for the LCL and popliteus tendon. Luckily, the meniscus was still in tact enough to be reattached.

After the surgery he was super groggy, but luckily he was drugged up pretty good so he wasn't in too much pain yet. The nurse then went through the discharge instructions and informed us that he needed to be off his leg COMPLETELY for 6 weeks! That meant crutches were off limits for the first few weeks, so we rented a wheelchair, which ended up being a total life saver! 

For the first week or so he was in so much pain. It was so hard to watch him suffer. Luckily he was able to sleep quite a bit when he took his pain pills. He will kill me for posting this picture, but how cute is that? ;)

**** WARNING***** 

Below are some before and after pictures. So if you can't handle seeing a little blood, bruising and stitches stop scrolling. If you think it's cool, like me, (you know who you are) scroll away :)

BEFORE

AFTER

                        

               

    

We are now about 7 1/2 weeks out and Tyson is a CHAMP! He's doing physical therapy twice a week and rocking it. In fact a couple of days ago he came to me and said , "watch this babe", then he continued to lift his crutches off the ground and walked a few steps without them. :) He is working so hard to get back on his feet as soon as possible. It's killing him to not be able to just go out and work on projects around the house, but he'll be back at it before we know it. 

I also just have to brag a little about how great he did in school this semester, all while going through such a big surgery. He missed probably 3+ weeks of school total, but still managed to get straight A's. He had such wonderful teachers who were very understanding of his circumstances, but he was strong and pushed through for the grades he deserved. I am one proud wife, yet again :)