And counting ...

So thankful for insurance ....

Bills submitted by healthcare providers to our health insurance for the accident Jenna was in is totaling (so far, not finished yet) .... drum roll ....

$42,428.86

This doesn't include the PIP insurance and our Medical Coverage auto policy - like PIP ($8,000 total) medical bills that were paid before our health insurance company would even touch the bills.  (I guess that makes it over 50K.

Hopefully no more surgeries.

6 more weeks of Physical Therapy and more visits to our DO of OMM (neck and back).

Oh ... and we are thankful for home owner's insurance.

The hail storm that hit our area back in June .... our rental house needs a new roof, new paint, refinish deck and fence.

Our home we are living in right now ... new windows and refinish deck.

Thank you hail.  Thank you insurance (that has a replacement value policy).  Oh, make sure your home owner's insurance is replacement value :)

Vrrrrmmmm ....

This is what John and I did this past Saturday morning.  We joined a motorcycle gang (approx 30 bikes) ... we rode on John's Honda sport bike ...

The Harley's were pretty neat!  My favorite was the pale yellow one.

I'm not brave enough to drive one - just ride on one.

After a 2 1/2 hour ride, I felt like I had been riding a horse.

I can't wait to do it again.  Colorado is a great place to ride!

Rubbing shoulders - or fins

Overheard from Jenna (referring to this meet)

Jenna diving in

"I totally swam against Missy Franklin last year... She passed me like, 5 times... But still."

I was there.  Jenna was amazing :) Jenna's 6:16.16 500 yd swim is much faster than mine.  Just sayin'

Back in the saddle/boots

Jenna did great with her surgery.  She is wearing a boot on her left foot to protect it while it heals.

This past Thursday while walking down the stairs, her other foot - the right one ... the one that had surgery on May 7 that required re-breaking a bone, taking off a tendon and stitching it to the bone and 6 more weeks in the wheelchair - had a terrible pain while walking down the stairs.  She describes it as a ripping feeling.  Her tendon and ankle area is very sore.

The doctor put her back in the boot.  Now she is sporting two boots - AGAIN.  Poor girl!

He will see her tomorrow.  He says it could be the tendon detaching from the bone ... or it could be scar tissue breaking up.  We hope it is the scar tissue.

Wildlife in our front yard

I heard wrestling/movement outside the office window on Saturday night around 10:45 p.m. It was too dark outside to see anything. Within moments, Julia pulled down the driveway and quickly came in. "Mom, do we have black bears?" "Yep - there have been sightings". I heard it. She saw it. It climbed up the side of our driveway to the neighbors. So fun living in Colorado!

This is what I imagine the bear doing during the day :)

Barf Brigade

Jaley is  hard at work with her friend, Kathleen. They are so cute! They stepped up to the plate when someone left a HUGE throw up mess in the men's bathroom at the pool while they were life guarding. It was funny to hear Jaley retell this story and how she felt like barfing while cleaning up. It made me think back on Chunk's confession in the movie Goonies. 


I Love Chunk. 


I Love Jaley and Kathleen.

Jenna surgery - July 23 - update

Jenna was super excited for the surgery yesterday.   She couldn't wait to be around the hospital staff (in fact, she filled out a form Sunday night online to volunteer at the hospital).   She also couldn't wait to get this part of the healing process over.

Dr Field told us that he was going to go in through the original incision sites and see what was going on since Jenna has a very large odd bump on the top of her foot towards the arch on the left foot.   We took pictures today before the surgery of that bump.

Dr Field said the mass could be a bone spur and if it was he would shave the bone while in there.   He also said it could be build up of scar tissue which means there might not be much we could do about the malformation.

Jenna was in surgery for just under an hour.   Dr Field said she did great and was slightly awake during a part of it and was quite entertaining.   He came out and brought me to a consulting room to tell me about the procedure.   He discovered that the screws were placed a little differently than what he envisioned in the xray.   The large mass was actually one of the screws working its way out.   That is the screw placement he wasn't aware/sure of.   He hopes that with the removal, the mass will be a lot less.   He also pointed out in the xray that is was difficult to tell a specific area on the foot (joint between big toe and the toe next to it - metatarsal 1 and 2 I believe).   Once the screw was removed he was able to see that the gap between the joints was a lot larger than he realized and than what is normal.   He wants to keep an eye on this and he says it might need to be monitored for years.   He said that the discomfort of her movement would most likely be because of this large gap and the screws.   He said that with the trauma, he is not surprised.   He was pleased with how the bones are lined up with the edge of of the joints.   He said that she will also be able to tell when storms come in :)   Who needs a meteorologist when we have Jenna's feet?

Jenna requested to keep the screws.   They are huge!   I was shocked. They look like screws I could have picked up at Home Depot for pennies rather than who knows what they charge at the hospital hardware store.  I should have picked some up from Home Depot and installed them myself and saved some money :)

She has to wear a boot for at least 10 days, maybe 2 weeks.   Dr Field said that Jenna will have throbbing in her foot for a couple of days.   He said this is because the bone has a void where the screw was and it is filling with blood (the holes) and will begin to fill with bone.

She's doing great.   I didn't see her for the rest of the day yesterday - only when I went down to give her pain medicine.  She is resting today.