L5 Chronicle

Trent had surgery October 21, 2009 on his L5 Disc.

He's had three previous back surgeries and we are keeping our fingers crossed this will be the last one. For the sake of my Alzheimer's that has started to kick in, I have chronicled this experience.

May 2009
Trent starts to experience numbness & tingling in his left leg and right hand. The feeling is similar to previous degenerative discs he's had surgery on in the past , so he goes in to see his doctor.

May 19, 2009
Mr. Stern goes into Methodist tomorrow for a Nerve Root Block Spinal Injection. There's a 50/50 chance that this just may do the job. If not, they will schedule surgery in the very near future for a Spinal Fusion on the disk. I will send another update after tomorrow's procedure and once I talk further with the neurosurgeon..

May 20, 2009
Good morning! Trent's procedure went well. He spent most the afternoon yesterday napping and staying off his feet. He will take it easy today as well, and if the nerve block worked, he will begin to feel some pain relief in the next 24 hours or so. I'll send another update this weekend. Thanks for all of your positive thoughts and prayers.

May 27, 2009
Hello everyone! Well, Trent had the Nerve Block Injection last Wednesday and he still hasn't felt any changes. He has another appointment with the neurosurgeon June 5th and they will discuss a 2nd injection or alternative treatments before resorting to the spinal fusion surgery on the L4 & L5 disks. In the mean time, I've been keeping an eye on a Little Rascal Mobility Scooter on E-bay for on $600 bucks!! I think the kids would love to tool around the neighborhood on the back of dad's pimped-out Rascal!!! Love all of you - I'll send out another update in a few days or so.

June 08, 2009
It's been two weeks since the spinal injection and there haven't been any changes. The neurosurgeon would like to scrub up and get her hands dirty, however it is Trent's busiest time of year at work and can't take 6-8 weeks off...and back surgery is scary. My brother Colin suffered from severe sciatica a few years ago and had great results after treatment at Lordex Spine Institute in Minneapolis. After having three previous back surgeries(1991, 1998, 2002), Trent was willing to look into alternative non-surgical treatment as a possibility. Dr. Strauman is a holistic chiropractor at the Spine Institute, and after a consultation and review of Trent's MRI's, he feels confident that Mr. Stern will be ship shape without having surgery!!!!!!!!! Fingers crossed...
I'll write again in a couple weeks and let you know how Trent is progressing. Thank you everyone for all your positive thoughts and loving prayers! Angie

Summer 2009
Between the nerve block taking effect and visits to Dr. Strauman, Trent was able to continue working, go swimming with the girls at the pool, take a relaxing trip to Crosslake, and work on the yard and garage.

September 2009
Once the busy season at work slowed down, Trent scheduled surgery for a disk fusion and prepared for three months of hibernation and recovery.

October 21, 2009
Hello again! I have a quick update. As some of you already know, Trent's surgery went better than expected! The surgeon scheduled him for a 4-5 hour disk fusion, but said there was a 10% chance that he may be able to do a Discectomy depending on hoe much scar tissue was there from previous surgeries. The surgeon is a Rock Star and was able to preform the Discectomy in about three hours! This is great news because Trent's recovery time will be half the time it would have been with the fusion, and it allows him to play golf next Spring! The surgeon did say that a fusion may still be in his future, but if he takes care of his back and exercises regularly, he could delay the fusion and any other back surgeries for several years. He told me that before going into surgery his pain on a scale of 1-10 was a 13 - he is now at a 4! Trent is home now and getting lots of rest and Piper & Lucille are taking great care of him!
Peace and love,
Angie

Oink Oink...

Nope, not National Lampoons European Vacation's Pig In A Poke game show, and it's not Charlotte's Web, or Babe.

It's the Swine Flu!

After a week of high fevers, coughs, sore throats and body aches, Piper and Lucille have fully recovered from the H1N1 Flu - better known as and more fun to say The Swine Flu!

The high fevers gave the girls those weird "Fever Dreams". One night Piper said in her sleep "Why am I having such a bad hair day!" as she moved her sweaty hair away from her face.

Other nights, the girls and I would sit in the dark living room eating popsicles at 3am trying to comfort sore throats and high temps.

It's never fun when they are sick, but they sure are cute and snugly when they don't feel well!

Trent and I were swine free and we paid homage Saturday morning with a big platter of bacon, sausage and ham!

Gin Nap Sticks

The little ladies have started Gymnastics classes (or as Lucille calls it "Ginnapsticks").
They absolutely LOVE it and they are actually REALLY good at it.
The other night some of the moms were commenting on the girls and one of them asked "who's their mom?".
I smiled at them.
They said "they are really good at this - really good".
I said "they have lots of practice jumping on the furniture, balancing in the arms of chairs, and doing cartwheels in the living room trying not to crash into the stereo".
Practice makes perfect - right?

Kindergarten ABC's...

Piper's 1st Day of Kindergarten!

K is for Kindergarten---hip, hip, hooray.

I is for imagination we use everyday.

N is for numbers—we know one, two, three.

D is for drawing, the best you can see!

E is for exercise to keep our bodies strong.

R is for reading books all day long.

G is for good friends. We made more each day.

A is for the alphabet we know how to say.

R is for remembering everything we learned.

T is for treats every Friday we earned.

E is for excitement. This year we’ve had some.

N is for next year. First grade here we come!

Piper and her BFF Lauren.

Piper getting off the bus at school.

Ms. Tobias - the best Kindergarten teacher EVER!!!

PGA Chanhassen MN

Lucille and daddy can spend endless hours lounging on the couch watching golf.

Lucy can tell you who's who and if daddy is out of the room she will run around the house shouting out play by plays and stats "Dadda - Tiger made it in the hole!" or "Ah rats - Mickelson missed the putt".

So when the PGA came to Minnesota, Lucy and Trent went on a field trip to Chanhassen.

They parked at the Canterbury Race Track and took the shuttle to Hazeltine Golf Course.

To minimize the noise on the course, cell phones were not allowed. Well Mr. Stern was so giddy that when he left his cell in the truck, he also left his wallet. As Lucy and Trent were walking the loooong walk to Grand stand, Trent was asking Lucy if wanted ice-cream and a bottle of water when he realized that he forgot his wallet! A golf course marshall over heard what happened and saw the sad look on Lucy's face. He walked over and gave her five bucks and said "go get yourself an ice-cream!". So sweet!

She had a fabulous time and told stories of watching Tiger Woods at hole Seven AND Eleven!!!

She proudly displays a PGA Tour 2009 Hazeltine Authentic Grounds Flag on her wall and will tell anyone and everyone about the time daddy took her on field trip to see the golfers!

Summer Vacation

For the last few summers, our dear friends Steve and Aleen, have invited us to their cabin in Crosslake, MN for a family vacation. This year we stayed at the cabin over the Fourth of July holiday for ten days. Ah...complete and total relaxation.

We spent our mornings sipping coffee, listening to the loons, and reading Michael Jackson tabloids on the porch while the girls played on the beach, and spent our endless afternoons on the dock soaking in the sunshine wondering if it was time for another snack or another cocktail or both.

We watched the fireworks from the pontoon on the lake, fished, took several boat rides to sand island, water skied, played Rock Band, shopped, walked, biked and ate and ate and ate.

It was a perfect vacation.

That Kindercare Expense is Paying Off...

Last weekend while sitting in Dairy Queen in Cross Lake, Piper says "I know what that sign says", as she points toward the bathrooms.
I said "oh really, what?".
Piper tells me it that it says 'Rest Room'.
I looked up and sure enough it said Rest Room!
I asked her how she knew that, and she said "I just sounded out the letters".
She then told me that the sign over the door said 'Exit' and the sign over there said 'Food', oh and the one over there says 'Hand'!!!!!!!!!!!
I jumped over table and kissed and hugged her with tears streaming down my cheeks!!!
Piper asked "why are you crying", and I just hugged her and told her that reading is very very exciting and it is just as exciting as when she took her first steps!!!
After DQ, we went grocery shopping. When we got to the store, she said "Stop! I want to read these words". So we stood in the entrance as she sounded out 'Reed's Market'. She slowly sounded it out and and said "what's a market?"!!!!!!!!!!
We had a blast in the store reading labels and signs - I am so proud of her! - I LOVE YOU PIPER SUSANNE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!