Wednesday, April 28, 2010

GREEN LIGHT FOR SURGERY

Alright...So yesterday was Whitney's doctor appointment with Dr. Glousman, Orthopedic Surgeon of the Kerlan-Jobe Center. He said that since her last appointment he's been able to examine her MRI and can see that there is some cartilage problems due to her patella's (kneecaps) being tilted, and so in the surgery he will re-position her patella's and clean out any bone and cartilage fragments floating around causing grinding when she walks, and repair anything else that he finds in there that needs fixing.
Now that Arthritis has been ruled out he has given the green light on scheduling the surgery. Pre-Op is scheduled for Mon, May 17th, and surgery is scheduled for Tue, May 18th at a surgicenter in Beverly Hills. Dr. Glousman said that even with the surgery there is no guarantee that Whitney will be totally pain free and that there is a small chance that knee pain will plaque her for the rest of her life. We are hoping and praying for the best. He also said that it will take...after healing and physical therapy in all...about three months for a complete recovery.
Then Whitney can get a job and begin her third year of college in the Fall.

Wednesday, April 21, 2010

RESULTS ARE IN

Blood work done a week ago testing me for Rheumatoid Arthritis in my knees finally came in today as negative...No Arthritis! So now I'm scheduled to see the surgeon on Tues the 27th; hopefully now something will be done to get me out of this pain.

Monday, April 12, 2010

LAB WORK

Whitney went to a medical lab last week and had blood work done for a Rheumatoid Arthritis check; as the knee doctor requested. We are now waiting for test results of which we all expect to be negative, but it has to be ruled out before the doctor will scope her knees.

A GOOD DAY

Whitney and Cory have known each other for 20 years and had the special opportunity yesterday of giving their Mission Homecoming Talks on the same day (Sunday, April 11th). Who would have guessed that 20 years ago. Both of them did a fantastic job sharing their mission experiences and their testimony of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Cory served in the Illinois Chicago South mission and Whitney served in Guatemala City North and Fort Worth Texas missions. Both served the Lord honorably.

Thursday, April 8, 2010

My Homecoming talk is this Sunday

My homecoming talk is scheduled for this coming Sunday, April 11th, 9:00 am in the Leona Valley Church building. I'll be speaking along with my friend, Cory Richmond, who just returned home from the Illinois Chicago Mission last Friday, and also with, Chris Roach, who is a newly baptized member of our ward who will be speaking in Sacrament for his first time. I hope that you can all attend.
My parents and I have been asked to attend a Stake High Council Meeting tonight so I can bear my testimony to the Stake Presidency and Stake High Council Leaders. Apparently all Return Missionaries, in our Stake anyways, are asked to do this.

Tuesday, April 6, 2010

FIRST DOCTOR APPOINTMENT TODAY

Whitney called a recommended Orthopedic specialist yesterday and to all of our surprise they had an opening today. Yaaaeeey!

Dr. Glousman was very nice and gave us good sound advice. He had Whit get X-rays on her knees so that he could see inside her knees for himself. He said that he could not see anything that shouts "THAT'S THE PROBLEM!" So he suggested that Whitney do one more thing before going under the knife....See a Arthritic specialist to rule out arthritis in her knees. Dr. Glousman said that he would be totally surprised if arthritis was the problem, but wants every possibility ruled out before scoping her knees. So we will now see an Arthritic specialist as he suggested.

A NEW CHAPTER IN MY LIFE

Message from Tracie:

Adam, Bryce, and I drove up to Utah on March 19th (Bryce’s Spring Break) to visit Brooke for the week and to be present while she received her Patriarchal Blessing the afternoon of Sunday the 21st. While we were staying with friends in South Jordon we received a phone call late Sunday evening from President Thurston, Whitney's Mission President.

Obviously my immediate thought was that this could not be good. He asked to speak with both Adam and I at the same time, so I put my cell phone on speaker and waited for him to begin in anticipation of what he was going to say. Well, it was just as I expected. Whitney’s knees had been giving her problems again, for about a week now, and she had already seen a surgeon in TX a few days earlier (the same surgeon who had performed knee surgery on Pres Thurston in January).

This surgeon said that Whit needed both knees scoped to see what’s causing the pain. He was wanting to do the surgery himself, both knees at the same time, the following Wednesday. President agreed and asked me if I were willing to fly to TX to stay with Whit while she has the surgery, I said yes, but we had to get authorization from Salt Lake first. Pres called SL and spoke with a General Authority the next day, but the GA said that Whit was to go home for the surgery where post operative care was more feasible, and then could return to TX when recovered. Problem is, here the doctors will only work on one knee at a time making recovery process twice as long. Being that Whit has already extended her mission by 5 mo's the first time she was sent home from Guatemala, I know she won't be willing to go back out again. It would extend her 18 mo mission to 2 1/2 to 3 years.

Whitney prayed about it before we were contacted on Sunday and she got the same confirmation that Pres Thurston received; that she is meant to be at home. And when Whitney and her two companions baptized Claudia on Saturday the evening before, she received a confirmation from the Holy Ghost that she was sent to TX to baptize Claudia, and now that she‘s baptized, her mission is complete. Whitney was able to be instrumental in bringing the gospel teachings and baptism into the Lords church to many people in both Guatemala and in Texas, and many more seeds planted for future full-time and member missionaries to reap. We know that the Lord is pleased with her accomplishments.

Whitney is at total peace with the circumstances and is ready to move on with her life. I think that if anyone is having a hard time with it, I am. And “hard” really isn’t the right word to describe how I’m feeling, because I too knew almost immediately that it’s what the Lord wants; as I felt peace in my heart and mind during our conversation with President Thurston. I guess it’s just that I loved all the wonderful experiences that Whit was having, and as a return missionary myself, I too wanted her to have a full year and a half of those great experiences as well. I have to accept that six months is what the Lord wants for her...She has!

Each of us here in the Robbins home have felt so much love and support from all our family, ward members, and friends this past year. All your letters and packages to Whitney while she was on her mission was always a source of encouragement for her; a vital element that every missionary needs while providing so great a sacrifice for the Lord. And for all of you who would inquire with us of how Whitney was doing; we felt the love and support from you each and every time making it easier for us to be apart from her…. For all of this we are truly grateful to each of you.

We'll do our best to keep an update on her mission blog of her knee progress so you can check it out on occasion to see what's going on from time to time. For now, Whit is looking forward to getting all the medical stuff out of the way so that she can move on with life; work, school, and love.
Tracie