The Hansen Story: May 2013

On May 16th Trav and I celebrated our four year anniversary! We definitely would have preferred a different overnight stay than at The Orthopedic Specialty Hospital in Murray, but this surgery really is a miracle and we were so blessed to finally have it taken care of! We have experienced so many tender mercies in the past few weeks and months that I definitely know that our Heavenly Father knows us and loves us and won't give us anything that we can not handle. I know that He answers prayers through the hands of others and I am so grateful for many asnwered prayers!

Trav definitely has plenty of entertainment as he heals.

It is hard to keep the kids away to give him a rest!

Trav also has a very good physical therapy partner!

(This is a super long post, more for my remembering purposes because I don't want to forget all the miracles we witnessed!)

Travis has had leg and hip pain for the past few years but in the last six months his pain was getting much worse to where it was limiting his activity and really making life miserable. We finally got in to an orthopedic doctor in town who x-rayed his hip and told Travis that he would need an MRI but before that could happen he would need six weeks of physical therapy for the MRI to be covered, so we started the physical therapy.

It did not take long for the Physical Therapist to realize that the exercises were not helping him, but making things worse. He went to all the appointments but they really wouldn't do anything besides massage and electrotherapy because they didn't want to make things worse. When they were done with the required appointments, they sent his information back to the doc and he decided that Travis needed to see a specialist because something was quite wrong with his hip.

Of course we had to wait another month (one more month for him to be in pain) to get in to see the specialist in Murray but we felt pretty good about the choice. He could tell right of that things weren't right and knew we needed to get an MRI and CT Scan so we could get things taken care of. However, since Trav is finishing up school and does not have a full time job with benefits yet we have non-traditional medicaid for him, so we pay a certain amount each month for them to cover him. They are very picky with what they cover though and the doctor's assistant told us right off that Medicaid hardly ever covers those tests, let alone an arthroscopic surgery... we left that doctor's appointment quite discouraged.

There was no way we could afford paying for tests and surgery out of pocket. Trav still has a few semesters left of his Masters degree that we were planning on getting finished and a full time job was still a little ways a way so the possibility of getting insurance was not really in the near future, but it seemed to be our only option, for him to put up with the pain until we got insurance. He was already in so much pain, we just prayed for a miracle.

About a month later, we received a miracle! Trav got a call saying that Medicaid had given approval for the testing to take place!! The Doctor's assistant was as surprised as we were that they had approved the request and we got in for testing ASAP. (Lets just say my testimony of tithing has become super strong in the last six months!) He had his MRI and CT Scan in March and they determined that his femur and pelvic bone were grinding against each other with every move he made and because the bones were grinding, they were also depositing the ground bone onto the wrong places of the bone. The doc determined that if we could go in and scrape the bone back to normal and clean up the damage, the problem would be fixed, Trav would feel much better, and we would avoid a total hip replacement. Great news... except for the insurance part. We thought their was no way we'd get a surgery approved so even though the pain was worsening, we were back to waiting for insurance.

At the end of April, after a whirl wind of crazy things with job and career decisions, we felt we had made the decision that we needed to at the time for our family. Almost as soon as we (mostly Trav, the best guy in the whole world) made the decision Trav got a surprising voicemale. The assistant who knew our story and how bad Trav needed this surgery before things got worse had the feeling to check on our case. Trav got a voicemail at work from her saying that they had great news for him and to call back! We didn't want to get our hopes up to just get knocked down, but at the back of both our minds, we were thinking, did we actually get approved for surgery?? Sure enough! Trav called back and they said the have never seen this, and don't count on seeing it again but Medicaid approved the surgery! We couldn't believe it! They scheduled him for surgery for a few weeks later which came at the perfect time because his pain was getting almost unbearable.

Surgery day finally came and the surgery went great! One hour and forty five minutes was all it took after months of waiting. Trav was in quite a bit of pain after the surgery for a few hours. They gave him the max amount of pain medication they could and he was still in horrible pain. Finally the pain went down a little and he was able to get a little bit of relief. We spent the rest of the day and next morning in the hospital, quite the romantic anniversary overnight stay! :) At about 10:30 we were given the ok to go home. It was a long ride back to Logan. We picked up Aubree in Willard and Chace stayed one more day with Grandma and Grandpa. (So grateful for them and all their help!)

The first day home was alright, but the next day Trav was having difficulty breathing and chest pain that was scaring us a little after all the talk of blood clots. We witnessed another tender mercy as Trav's family was supposed to come up earlier in the day but weren't able to make it til about five which was when we decided we needed to take him to Instacare. Babysitters were standing at our door. They were able to watch the kids and put them to bed because after chest xrays at Instacare, we ended up spending three hours in the ER so they could double check with a CT scan and blood tests. Pneumonia. That was the culprit. Thank heavens no blood clots, but it sure freaked us out and set us back a bit with recovery.

Once Trav got the Pneumonia medicine and the pain slowly lessened from his surgery, things improved and by now, one week and two days later, he's doing great! He's able to walk with one crutch all the time and without a crutch a little bit. He's really sore, but can already tell the pain he felt before is gone. We are so grateful for all the blessings we received. There were so many little things that happened like my dad just happening to be here when the water from the kitchen sink began pouring into the cabinet below. There's no way Trav could have gotten down and fixed it. (And I would have not known what the heck I was doing! :) We have just been watched over by our Father in Heaven and all our family and friends, it definitely has been an experience that I will never forget!!

Proverbs 3: 5-6
"Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him and he shall direct thy paths."

Aubree woke up early yesterday and let me just snuggle her for a while before starting the morning routine. I love that she is so cuddly, it was the perfect way to start off Mother's Day! I sat there thinking how blessed I am to be a mother of two, and that it happened so easily. I know so many people have a hard time having kids these days and that breaks my heart. I am grateful to be able to wake up each morning to there cute personalities, even though some of those days seem very long! I am grateful for a mom who taught me, among many other things, about the importance of patience, selflessness, and how to cook! She is so amazing and is so gifted and I wouldn't be where I am now without her. I am grateful for a little sister who will watch our crazy kids to give me a little break once in a while.

There are so many amazing women in my life who have made such a difference, I couldn't begin to name them all. Being a mom is so awesome, I love the time we are at in our lives right now. I am grateful for a sweet husband who supports and loves us so much and puts us first. (He surprised me with a beautiful necklace for Mother's Day.) I feel I am the luckiest girl in the world right now. Who wouldn't want to experience this:

(Yes, the mess and all!)

Aubree's favorite seat these days!

Chace insisted on wearing Trav's tie to church. So cute!

Aubree will use anything as a hat!

Travis is so awesome and loves to surprise us with fun things. He saved my coming summer by getting Chace and Aubree this fun water table that they have already played with a ton!