Blacklight Drama set to Casting Crowns

This is an inspiring video set to "Who Am I" by Casting Crowns. It's a drama made with white gloves and a blacklight. It sounds simple, but obviously lots of time was put into this.

Time Management

This daily thing called "work" has got me slacking on my blog. I leave the house at 7:15 in the morning and get back home at 6:00. My mind still thinks I have all of this free time, yet my body and the clock tells me otherwise. My evenings seem to fly by. It's real easy to get out of the "work groove".....getting back into it isn't. On to more important stuff.

My leg is still doing well. One of the two areas we've been keeping an eye on is healing very well. It's been amazing to see the tissue fill in over the past couple of weeks. The hole on the graft site still exists and is still draining. I continue to believe it is going to come around in time too.

One of Janay's co-workers gave her some magnets from Nikken to try. I've heard of the various ailments cured using these magnets before and I'll admit to being a skeptic. After using the magnets for a few days I could see a difference in the amount of new, healthy granulation tissue. I'm still waiting to see the same dramatic improvement around the hole on the graft site. Is it just a coincidence that it improved once we started using the magnets? I don't know. I do know I'm not quite as skeptical as I was before.

If this doesn't make you smile......

......then your smile must be broken.

Back to Work

My first week back has been good. My co-workers had a pitch-in breakfast for me, even though I specifically asked for a quiet return. I don't like being the center of attention. I guess I've harassed them all enough that they have learned to ignore most of what I say. It's nice to be welcomed back.

Janay says.......

......if I'm well enough to go back to work tomorrow, I'm well enough to resume my laundry duties. Once she made sure I was doing it properly, she went back to her usual Sunday afternoon activity.

The Joys of Being a Man

Sometimes you just have to take a break. This little guy took one during a recent shoot.

All Good Things Must Come To An End

"Vacation time" is almost over. I return to work next Monday. No more Little House on the Prairie reruns. I saw all of them last summer during my "vacation time", but for some reason I'm drawn back to the struggles in Walnut Grover once again. My plan this week was to get up at 6 am in an attempt to get my body prepaired. My plan failed today.....slept in until 9, but as always, I prefer to focus on the positive and celebrate my successes on Monday and Tuesday. Maybe it would help if I could go to bed before midnight....but what's the fun in that?

Back to work....I'm anxious. By the end of the week I'll be wishing for Little House reruns.

What's that I see.......

.......is that the light at the end of the tunnel? I think it is!!

What a week it has been. I posted last week about reaching milestones while recovering and how I was anxious to see what this week would bring. Several have indeed been reached, but more importantly I can see the end of what I've been calling my burn journey. Today I got in my car and went for a drive. A week and a half ago I was still sleeping in a rented hospital bed in our living room wondering what my leg was going to feel like when I could use it again. Did you hear me? I said I drove today!!!

This recovery period has cut into my fall photography season. Everyone wants photos in the fall. I have a list of about 15 people wanting pictures and my phone is still ringing. I was able to schedule my first appointment last Sunday....a newborn session with 11 day-old Paige. Photographing a new life was quite fitting for my first photo session in this new chapter of my own life.

Janay had the day off from work on Wednesday. We went out to lunch and then scouted out some new shooting locations for some upcoming high school senior photo sessions. Janay makes a wonderful model and I can only hope the seniors are half as pretty as her. I posted a couple of the photos on an internet photography forum I participate at and someone commented on how lucky I am that I have a wife who will pose for me. He's right, but it's not luck, it's love. I told him how much I love her, how beautiful I think she is and that I tell her both of those things often. Janay supports me in everything I do, including my fledgling photography business, and will do whatever it takes to help me succeed. I also told him the real reason she poses might be because she hopes my photography business will someday let her quit her job :) All I know is her beauty sure makes it hard to take a bad picture. During our outing I actually had a few hours that I forgot about my leg. Another milestone reached, but this one came unintentionally.

God continues to pour His favor out on us everyday. He has provided for our every need throughout this and will continue to do so no matter where life takes us. I can't stress enough how much the support we have received from family and friends has helped us through. God has big plans for Janay and I. We are excited to see what's around the corner.

10/09 Update

I went to the doctor on Monday and the report was very good. The doc is pleased with the healing and still isn't concerned about the drainage. He wants me to progressively put weight on it this week. I haven't stood on it yet because when we got home from the doctor my foot was very swollen. Obviously my feeling in that leg and foot isn't the greatest to begin with, but when it swells it's even worse. The best way I can describe it is, if you have ever been snow skiing, my foot feels like it does when you put those big ski boots on. Not a good time to try to stand. The good news is I managed to get my compression stocking (my man pantyhose) on before I went to bed and the swelling was 100% better when I got up this morning. I'll stand up today and put some weight it. Another step in the healing process!

The hydrotherapy has been discontinued because it wasn't effective in cleaning up the wound. We are now using a cream (thanks Dave Hubbard for the suggestion!) that is a little more aggressive in getting the dead skin to loosen up and let the new skin fill in. After two treatments we already see progress. The area on the graft site is getting better as well. It's the area where it is draining from and it had formed a little pocket. Before it got any deeper, nurse Janay put her skills to use and started packing the area with a moist dressing. It's still draining, but the pocket is not as deep, filling in with new, healthy tissue.

Overall, things are looking great! Please pray that the drainage dries up and that my leg handles taking weight. Pray that the strength to my legs, and entire body returns quickly. We are continuing to stand on God's promises and believing for a complete healing. Thank you for your continued prayers and support!

Another Milestone

Recovery is often tracked by reaching little milestones. Several milestones have been reached in the past few days.

Saturday I got to take a shower. Aaahhhhhhhhh! And that was just Janay's reaction to finally having me clean.

Sunday I went to church. It's been four weeks since I've been able to go. Seeing all of my supportive friends was so uplifting. Seeing my sister-in-law make her singing debut was priceless!

Today, Wednesday, the home health care company picked up their hospital bed. The only one crying as it left was Sprockett. He liked the bed because he was able to lay on it and look out the back doors to the yard. I told him either he cough up $150 to pay for another month or give up treats for the next several years to cover the cost, or the bed was going back. He had no cash stashed in his long fur and laughed at giving up treats, so the bed was loaded on the van.

Three milestones in five days. I can't wait to see what happens next week!

Another Inspiring Guitar Player

The five year old was impressive.....this guy is inspiring.