Life Update

Wow, it has been a long time since we have updated our blog. There are simply so many things going on that I will address the big ones that many people have asked about or wanted to know! So here we go, an update on the biggest things going on in the Quinby household! 

Anna’s leg surgery update

As of right now the 2nd surgery for my chronic exheritional compartment syndrome seems to have been sucessful. It was incredibly invasive as the doctor released all 4 compartments on each of my legs cutting through my calf muscle to get there. Apparently the fascia had been growing and spreading like a weed down my legs and even spread onto my tiba bones! My surgeon had to literally scrape it off with his scalpel. That pretty much feels exactly how you think it would. I have some seemingly permanent nerve damage. While this is not ideal, it could be far, far worse. It only affects about 4 or 5 inches of my right leg (from the top of my foot to the middle of my shin bone) I can not feel anything in that portion of my leg. I can feel pressure in the area, but nothing on the surface. 

I am so incredibly thankful to have such and amazing surgeon. I shared with him my concerns that my nerves in the compartments he had worked on last year were trapped. He agreed to reopen those compartments and sure enough, when he did he found that my nerves were completely covered and trapped in scar tissue. Had he not been willing to listen to me I would still be having some serious issues. He also went to extremes to make sure he found everything that was wrong and take care of it. I am also thankful to have worked with such wonderful physical therapists who worked really hard to help me recover and then taught me some things I could work on once I lost the insurance that covered PT. 

I am still not at a point where I can run, but I have been able to start exercising regularly and living a pretty normal life. I do have some pretty massive scars down both legs, but it is what it is…and they are pretty hard-core though! I am continuing to hope and pray that this will be the end of my journey with compartment syndrome. But, this is a chronic condition, so there are really no guarantees. Many people who I have followed in the support group have had 3-5 surgeries, others have done experimental procedures. So if unfortunately the condition returns, I will likely consider the newer procedures that are only done by 1 physician in the world(in Wyoming!)! He has pretty good results. Hopefully though, that will not be the case! As always, if you have questions about my condition or my surgeries I am not shy at all! Feel free to message me all of your questions!

Kevin’s Medical School Journey

Kevin is set to graduate from medical school on May 20th! I am so incredibly proud of him and how far he has come and how much he has learned! He is going to be such an incredible psychiatrist. He is so thoughtful and caring and so patient. He is going to make such a huge impact on all of his patients. We are heading down Texas for the next 4+ years for his residency and potential fellowship in child and adolescent psych.  Residency is not going to be easy, but we are still pretty excited about the whole situation! We will be moving the day after his graduation. We decided with his report date in very early June, the sooner we got to San Antonio the better it would be. We wanted ample time to set up our home, explore the area, get the puppies acclimated, and have some down time before he is busy with work all the time.  

Infertility

As many of you know we have recently made our journey with infertility public. We felt like we were missing out on a major opportunity by keeping it private. I have learned these past 3 years that our greatest struggles in life have the potential to be our greatest ministries. I am a pretty private and reserved person, but i simply couldn’t go without sharing this part of my life any longer. It has been incredibly freeing to no longer be hiding and desperately avoiding people asking me when we will be having a child. I do plan to start writing more about infertility, what it is like, things to never say to couples with this struggle, and things to say instead! I feel like this is a subject that has been taboo for many years and deserves to be talked about. Many people you know likely struggle in the same way we do and I want to try to help bring light to that issue! 

For us specifically there are still no answers. Thankfully once we get on tri-care this summer we will be able to seek real answers for the first time. In case you didn’t know, all things infertility are INSANELY expensive…as in 1 visit to a specialist can cost upwards of 2 thousand dollars….for a single visit and a few tests. So as you can imagine it adds up VERY quickly. We have simply been unable to afford that these past 3 years. 

We are so incredibly thankful that not only does tri-care cover some costs, but because we will be in Texas we will be in one of the hubs for military infertility care. Therefore, we are able to get into a program that is training new and soon to be reproductive endocrinologists, so the costs of all of these procedures, tests, office visits, blood draws, medications, shots, ultra sounds and oodles of other things are nearly free. This is a HUGE blessing. It will take some time to get the ball rolling on all of this…because no surprise here…it can take quite some time to get an appointment at this military clinic. 

****if you are reading this and find yourself in a similar situation…PLEASE know you can reach out to me. I would love to support you in your journey. Do not suffer alone! Having a friend to walk this road with you is such a game changer! Reach out…whatever you say will be kept between us and I will not share it! I know that this is something that many people keep private, but don’t suffer alone!

Future Plans

We are pretty excited about getting to Texas. If I am honest it took a few months for us to get on board with moving so far south. We really love the midwest and Kansas City. So it may take awhile to adjust back to the southern weather and culture. We are hoping to get really connected there and build a solid community. We are also hoping to find a church and get involved in the youth ministry. We feel that there is such a huge need for loving adults in the lives of teenagers! We both had some amazing young adults pour into our lives as teenagers and that is something we have always wanted to do as well. When someone makes such a huge difference in your life simply by spending a few hours a week with you it isn’t hard to want to do the same for another person! 

I (Anna) am also considering going back to school. I have wanted to get my masters degree for quite some time now. I put those plans on hold to start my family with Kevin. That clearly didn’t pan out the way we expected. So, I have started looking into masters of social work programs in the surrounding areas in Texas. My dream job has always been working in adoptions. I would love to work counseling birth mothers or adoptive couples. It would also be amazing to be able to work with Kevin when he is in his own practice some day. So our plans are still changing and nothing is quite set in stone yet, our main focus will be residency, building a community, and starting our family. 

How to Pray for us

-that we will have a smooth move and get settled into our new place in Texas.

-that we will connect with other couples and people and really make Texas home.  

-that we will find an incredible church to get connected in

-for chronic exhertional compartment syndrome to stay FAR FAR away and never come back. 

-strength while we continue to battle infertility and the plethora of emotional, physical, mental, and spiritual struggles that go along with it. 

-endurance for Kevin during the very long hours his residency will require

Thank you for reading our blog! We will try to be better about keeping it updated! 

Anna