Lately things have been pretty quiet around here, but I figured that I should update you before I get in trouble (again) for not maintaining my blog :). Dad went out to the oil rigs a few times and made it back home safely, so we are very excited about that! Hopefully he won't have to go back out too soon. I got into yet another small argument with a knife while cutting a bagel and Ryan got into a slightly larger argument with one while attempting to saw two frozen sausage patties apart. We have determined that we probably never should have registered for the really nice, really sharp butcher's block of knives. On the cooking note, we got adventurous one night and decided to attempt homemade funnel cakes! Quite an adventure it was...I was definitely standing guard with the fire extinguisher in hand among other putting-out-fire utensils. All went well and they were surprisingly good! We celebrated my Grandma Baileys' birthday with a small shin-dig at my parents' house...it was very nice and she had a great time. And this one is just for my cousin Ashley-my cousin Shannon is apparently getting married! My family failed miserably in passing along this information! We found out on MySpace, but apparently Grandma and Mom already knew.
So all in all, we're doing pretty well and enjoying the quiet. I'm still loving my job and my volunteering and the golf season is starting to wind down for Ryan, but he has some things in the works for an interim job and for next season. We (and the dogs) are loving the cooler weather because we can finally start going for our evening walks again. The rest of September and October aren't looking so quiet, so we're enjoying it while we can! Hope everyone is doing well and has a wonderful weekend!
Friday, September 4, 2009
Thursday, August 27, 2009
Aimee's First Horse Show
Our good friends Tim and Layla took Tim's 2-year-old daughter Sofi to a horse show and invited us to join them. Aimee got to ride a pony for the very first time and loved it! Frosty was the prettiest pony there (many thanks to Layla) and he was the best-behaved. Sofi did so great and even got to trot! I have to admit, Ryan and I had a blast, too! We loved the atmosphere and enjoyed the hard work it took to get ready for the event. We (Layla and I) bathed Frosty, clipped his whiskers, combed his mane and tail, etc. and they even got him a pedicure that week! Who knew it took so much to keep a pony looking so good? Anyways, here are some pictures from the event. Enjoy!
Tim, Sofi, and Frosty in competition
The team trotting through an event
Sofi in her adorable outfit!
Aimee having fun
Layla getting Sofi ready
Aimee was exhausted by the end of it!
Me with Aimee and Frosty
Tim, Sofi, and Frosty in competitionThe team trotting through an event
Sofi in her adorable outfit!
Aimee having fun
Layla getting Sofi ready
Sofi, Layla, Tim and Frosty...just waiting!
I passed out...again.
For those of you who remember that stupid mole that I had to get removed off my back (again!)...well I got my external stitches removed and as many of you may suspect, it didn't go all too well. It started off great...my incision looked perfect and all 6 stitches came out without a problem-it didn't even really hurt! They got me all bandaged up and gave me my instructions/restrictions, then told me I could leave. Wonderful, right? I told the nurse that I thought it would be a good idea to stay seated for a minute before I left-if you'll remember, last time I passed out at the check-out desk. I think she thought I was in a little pain, not going to pass out, because she said "Okay, well I'll be right outside the door if you need anything, just let me know when you're ready to leave." So she leaves, and I go out like a light. I had that same eerie feeling from when I passed out in McAlisters-I woke up, realized where I was, and knew it wasn't good. It's almost more of a disappointment! I sat there until I could kinda fall off the chair and safely make it to the floor to lie down and as soon as I got onto the floor, the nurse came back in and nearly flipped her lid! Then the usual...water, a fan, and lying on the floor with my feet propped up for about 20 minutes. I got up to leave (now with the nurse's assistance) and my doctor saw me and nearly flipped her lid and made me sit back down because apparently I was still way too pale. The pregnant receptionist that had to catch me last time I passed out saw me and sadly knew exactly what happened, so she sat down to chat with me for a while. She was kind enough to share the previous story with the new office staff... :) Apparently I'm like the only person to pass out (twice) in the dermatologist's office.
So anyways, the stitches are out now and I'm healing up quite nicely. Hopefully the danged thing won't be growing back this time!
So anyways, the stitches are out now and I'm healing up quite nicely. Hopefully the danged thing won't be growing back this time!
Thursday, August 13, 2009
Well, we got some terrible news about Grandma Hill's cancer yesterday...I know you guys (the 5 people who read this!) are great about keeping our family in your thoughts and prayers, so that's why I decided to share this with you. We will certainly be needing your support.
Grandma's doctor told her that her secondary cancer down her side is actually not a secondary cancer, it's part of the initial breast cancer that, for one reason or another, was not taken care of with the radiation treatment and it has spread. Grandma's kidneys do not function well enough to handle any chemotherapy-the docs told us that 2 treatments would probably literally kill her. So...she has been undergoing another round of radiation, which is still really tough on her. However, the docs really think that with how aggressive this particular type of cancer is, that radiation will just prolong the duration. They don't really have any hopes of actually getting rid of all the cancer for any significant period of time. Without any more radiation, they expect the cancer to invade one of her vital organs within 9 months. She has not informed us yet if she wants to continue radiation or not, but we are leaving the decision completely up to her. So I guess that's that...not really much else to say except please pray for us and for Grandma especially!
Grandma's doctor told her that her secondary cancer down her side is actually not a secondary cancer, it's part of the initial breast cancer that, for one reason or another, was not taken care of with the radiation treatment and it has spread. Grandma's kidneys do not function well enough to handle any chemotherapy-the docs told us that 2 treatments would probably literally kill her. So...she has been undergoing another round of radiation, which is still really tough on her. However, the docs really think that with how aggressive this particular type of cancer is, that radiation will just prolong the duration. They don't really have any hopes of actually getting rid of all the cancer for any significant period of time. Without any more radiation, they expect the cancer to invade one of her vital organs within 9 months. She has not informed us yet if she wants to continue radiation or not, but we are leaving the decision completely up to her. So I guess that's that...not really much else to say except please pray for us and for Grandma especially!
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
Last week went by WAY too fast!
So here's the latest...
I had a mole removed from my back in January and the dang thing grew back! So they had to kinda go under it and remove some of the deeper layers of tissue to make sure it doesn't grow back. So now, I have about 10 stitches in my back. I didn't think I'd get along with stitches, but they're not too bad. I'm about to the point that they're just itchy and annoying now though, so I'm ready to be done with them. And that was my first experience with stitches! I also rechecked my troublemaker thyroid and apparently it's not enough of a troublemaker to take any action, so we're just going to recheck every few months to make sure nothing changes. That's pretty good news! Then, Mom took me shopping on Monday and we had a wonderful time! We also got to have lunch with Grandma and Tassy on Tuesday for Tassy's birthday. Side note...Grandma is doing well with her radiation treatments so far and the endoscopy found 2 stomach ulcers, but nothing malignant...YAY!
Ryan was in Wichita, Kansas last weekend for a golf tournament and he did really well! He shot a 69 (3 under par) and tied with 3 other guys for the last qualifying spot in the tournament. He beat 2 of them immediately in a play-off, but had to play the other guy stroke-for-stroke for 10 more holes! They'd already played 18, and now 10 more, so they were both exhausted. The other guy beat Ry on the 10th hole...he made a putt for birdie and Ryan par'd the hole. He was very disappointed, but knows that he played his best. Poor kid was so tired by the time he got home. We're looking at another tournament coming up on the Nationwide tour in Midland or putting him on the Adam's tour, which would require a little less travel. Who knows!?
As soon as Ryan got home, Goosey started throwing up...12 times in 30 minutes! We ended up taking her to the vet because it looked like she might be throwing up blood. They said that she didn't have a fever and didn't feel swollen, so they gave her some meds to stop the throwing up. Then, they gave her something that (if she had an ulcer or something) would adhere to any wound and keep it from bleeding internally. They said if she didn't get any better, they would run some scans and bloodwork to see if something else was wrong. The meds worked and she's all better! Now, Maverick has some random patch on his chest that we're having to wash off and doctor every day. We have no clue where it came from...it's not like he lives outside or even plays with anyone besides Goose and Tigger. Strangeness...
Hopefully I'll get some pics posted here soon! Mom is holding some from my birthday hostage, so that might take a little while. Anyways, have a good week!
I had a mole removed from my back in January and the dang thing grew back! So they had to kinda go under it and remove some of the deeper layers of tissue to make sure it doesn't grow back. So now, I have about 10 stitches in my back. I didn't think I'd get along with stitches, but they're not too bad. I'm about to the point that they're just itchy and annoying now though, so I'm ready to be done with them. And that was my first experience with stitches! I also rechecked my troublemaker thyroid and apparently it's not enough of a troublemaker to take any action, so we're just going to recheck every few months to make sure nothing changes. That's pretty good news! Then, Mom took me shopping on Monday and we had a wonderful time! We also got to have lunch with Grandma and Tassy on Tuesday for Tassy's birthday. Side note...Grandma is doing well with her radiation treatments so far and the endoscopy found 2 stomach ulcers, but nothing malignant...YAY!
Ryan was in Wichita, Kansas last weekend for a golf tournament and he did really well! He shot a 69 (3 under par) and tied with 3 other guys for the last qualifying spot in the tournament. He beat 2 of them immediately in a play-off, but had to play the other guy stroke-for-stroke for 10 more holes! They'd already played 18, and now 10 more, so they were both exhausted. The other guy beat Ry on the 10th hole...he made a putt for birdie and Ryan par'd the hole. He was very disappointed, but knows that he played his best. Poor kid was so tired by the time he got home. We're looking at another tournament coming up on the Nationwide tour in Midland or putting him on the Adam's tour, which would require a little less travel. Who knows!?
As soon as Ryan got home, Goosey started throwing up...12 times in 30 minutes! We ended up taking her to the vet because it looked like she might be throwing up blood. They said that she didn't have a fever and didn't feel swollen, so they gave her some meds to stop the throwing up. Then, they gave her something that (if she had an ulcer or something) would adhere to any wound and keep it from bleeding internally. They said if she didn't get any better, they would run some scans and bloodwork to see if something else was wrong. The meds worked and she's all better! Now, Maverick has some random patch on his chest that we're having to wash off and doctor every day. We have no clue where it came from...it's not like he lives outside or even plays with anyone besides Goose and Tigger. Strangeness...
Hopefully I'll get some pics posted here soon! Mom is holding some from my birthday hostage, so that might take a little while. Anyways, have a good week!
Sunday, August 2, 2009
Happy Birthday to Me!
I was under the impression that this year (23) would be...well...kinda boring. I mean, how fun is it really to turn 23? My wonderful hubby had something quite different in mind! We started with dinner at Hibachi, a trip to one of my favorite stores-Petland!, then dessert on the evening of my birthday. This was all my choice and exactly what I wanted to do since I'd had some recent minor surgery on my back. The next day, Ryan had a whole party planned at my parents' house, complete with some surprise out-of-town guests, then a late night out, which I haven't had in a very long time. Not everyone could come, but we still had a blast and I am so grateful for those that could make it. Thank you everyone, it really meant a lot and I had a very happy birthday! Hopefully this is the great start to a great year.
Too bad Ryan, Andrew, and Kelly all had to get up at 6 am this morning after staying up past 2 am! Andrew and Kelly had to head back to Austin to meet Kelly's parents and Ryan had to drive to Kansas for his first Nationwide Tour qualifying event. Please keep Ryan in your thoughts and prayers-we hope for safe travel and that he does the very best that he can! Good luck baby, I love you!
Too bad Ryan, Andrew, and Kelly all had to get up at 6 am this morning after staying up past 2 am! Andrew and Kelly had to head back to Austin to meet Kelly's parents and Ryan had to drive to Kansas for his first Nationwide Tour qualifying event. Please keep Ryan in your thoughts and prayers-we hope for safe travel and that he does the very best that he can! Good luck baby, I love you!
Thursday, July 30, 2009
As Ashley Says...G-Ma!
Grandma Hill went back to her oncologist to discuss all the test results and to set up a treatment plan on Wednesday and here is the run-down...the breast cancer is gone, YAY! They're going to treat this new secondary cancer by radiation only instead of surgery plus radiation, which is also good news. The doc wants to do a scope to make sure that this secondary cancer isn't involved with the linings of her stomach or intestines in any way, but other than that, we're very optomistic! Radiation will begin Monday and the scope should be next week, too. Please keep her, Grandpa, and all our family in your prayers!!
Thursday, July 23, 2009
The Good News and The Bad News
Ok, good news first...I feel all better! I'm completely back to my "normal" self :) We're still going to recheck my thyroid and make sure it's not being a little troublemaker, but all else is well...with me.
The bad news...mom has a sinus infection yet again and the antibiotic makes her feel really goofy. The worst part is that this is about her billionth sinus infection and some of them are getting to the point of being resistant to some antibiotics, but she's really sensitive to meds like I am and doesn't have a whole ton of options with them.
And the really bad news...Grandma Hill's cancer is back. Here's the odd part, it's not the breast cancer she had last time, but some type of secondary cancer that has spread all down her side. She meets up with her oncologist again on July 29th to set up another plan of treatment and get some more details. I'm pushing her to get a second opinion just to make sure that an unbiased professional agrees with her diagnosis and plan of treatment. On the other hand, Grandma Baileys has developed a nasty habit of leaving her house on her own. She doesn't drive and has now twice wandered out of her house. The first time, she barely made it down her street. Now, she doesn't live in the best of neighborhoods so it's definitely dangerous, but thank goodness my aunt was coincidentally driving down the street to Grandma's and saw her. She picked her up and took her home. The second time she left (just a few days later that week), Grandma made it down a very busy street and to a shopping center. Now for the REALLY scary part, she got into a car with a stranger. Seriously, thank goodness that woman took her to the police station and they called my dad and aunt. My Grandma was actually really ticked and thought it was all their fault. We're trying to decide what to do because it's obviously dangerous for her to be home alone, but she doesn't want to live in any type of assisted living facility and can't live with any of her own children. What to do? Any suggestions are welcome...
Please keep us all in your prayers and have a great weekend!
The bad news...mom has a sinus infection yet again and the antibiotic makes her feel really goofy. The worst part is that this is about her billionth sinus infection and some of them are getting to the point of being resistant to some antibiotics, but she's really sensitive to meds like I am and doesn't have a whole ton of options with them.
And the really bad news...Grandma Hill's cancer is back. Here's the odd part, it's not the breast cancer she had last time, but some type of secondary cancer that has spread all down her side. She meets up with her oncologist again on July 29th to set up another plan of treatment and get some more details. I'm pushing her to get a second opinion just to make sure that an unbiased professional agrees with her diagnosis and plan of treatment. On the other hand, Grandma Baileys has developed a nasty habit of leaving her house on her own. She doesn't drive and has now twice wandered out of her house. The first time, she barely made it down her street. Now, she doesn't live in the best of neighborhoods so it's definitely dangerous, but thank goodness my aunt was coincidentally driving down the street to Grandma's and saw her. She picked her up and took her home. The second time she left (just a few days later that week), Grandma made it down a very busy street and to a shopping center. Now for the REALLY scary part, she got into a car with a stranger. Seriously, thank goodness that woman took her to the police station and they called my dad and aunt. My Grandma was actually really ticked and thought it was all their fault. We're trying to decide what to do because it's obviously dangerous for her to be home alone, but she doesn't want to live in any type of assisted living facility and can't live with any of her own children. What to do? Any suggestions are welcome...
Please keep us all in your prayers and have a great weekend!
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
And Back to the Doctor...
So yesterday was my appointment to follow-up with my family doctor after the fun ER visit. Tell me if this isn't a typical "Lauren" scenario...
The good news is that Ryan took me and we both really liked the doctor. She was really sharp and explained everything to us! I haven't had a primary care doctor since my pediatrician, so I was hesitant with the whole situation. Anyways, she asks for my story again of what happened with the ER. I tell her (I should have just printed the blog entry...) then hand her the reports from CareNow and from the ER. She looks at the reports with an odd expression...and tells me that I didn't have a high WBC count! Now, I had never looked at any of the reports-you don't really like to read small gibberish print when you have a migraine and I wasn't in the mood to double check the ER doctor's reasoning. My new doctor showed me on the report where my results were and where the normal range was and sure enough, my counts were totally normal. Stupid CareNow. Not a single thing on the CareNow report was out of the normal range. Even my "fever" was only 99.1. You know what that means? ALL I HAD WAS A STUPID MIGRAINE! And instead of giving me some imitrex or something, the CareNow doc gave me Norco which is a very strong pain reliever. It was also probably the cause of my fainting episode in McAlister's later that night.
So on to the ER reports...did you know that stress (such as passing out) can elevate your WBC counts? And that nearly everyone has traces of bacteria in their urine? So that means...NO INFECTION (bacterial or viral), NO UTI. And oh yeah, I was not dehydrated. The only possible reason for needing the IV fluids would have been to help flush the Norco out of my system, but that's not the reason they gave me for needing the fluids!
In short, I didn't need the Norco and it probably caused my passing out. I needed some Imitrex or something else for the MIGRAINE. The passing out most likely caused my lab results to be a little off in the ER, so I probably never had any virus or infection, so the week of antibiotics that made me feel like crap were probably completely unnecessary. :) Ain't life grand?
My new doc drew some more blood and is going to run some more thorough tests and recheck for the UTI, but said she doesn't really think anything is wrong anymore. There's a small possibility that my thyroid might be having some issues, but that isn't a very big concern. I'm relieved that it's nothing...but at the same time, I'm totally frustrated that I had to go through all that and take all the unnecessary meds! Arg.
The good news is that Ryan took me and we both really liked the doctor. She was really sharp and explained everything to us! I haven't had a primary care doctor since my pediatrician, so I was hesitant with the whole situation. Anyways, she asks for my story again of what happened with the ER. I tell her (I should have just printed the blog entry...) then hand her the reports from CareNow and from the ER. She looks at the reports with an odd expression...and tells me that I didn't have a high WBC count! Now, I had never looked at any of the reports-you don't really like to read small gibberish print when you have a migraine and I wasn't in the mood to double check the ER doctor's reasoning. My new doctor showed me on the report where my results were and where the normal range was and sure enough, my counts were totally normal. Stupid CareNow. Not a single thing on the CareNow report was out of the normal range. Even my "fever" was only 99.1. You know what that means? ALL I HAD WAS A STUPID MIGRAINE! And instead of giving me some imitrex or something, the CareNow doc gave me Norco which is a very strong pain reliever. It was also probably the cause of my fainting episode in McAlister's later that night.
So on to the ER reports...did you know that stress (such as passing out) can elevate your WBC counts? And that nearly everyone has traces of bacteria in their urine? So that means...NO INFECTION (bacterial or viral), NO UTI. And oh yeah, I was not dehydrated. The only possible reason for needing the IV fluids would have been to help flush the Norco out of my system, but that's not the reason they gave me for needing the fluids!
In short, I didn't need the Norco and it probably caused my passing out. I needed some Imitrex or something else for the MIGRAINE. The passing out most likely caused my lab results to be a little off in the ER, so I probably never had any virus or infection, so the week of antibiotics that made me feel like crap were probably completely unnecessary. :) Ain't life grand?
My new doc drew some more blood and is going to run some more thorough tests and recheck for the UTI, but said she doesn't really think anything is wrong anymore. There's a small possibility that my thyroid might be having some issues, but that isn't a very big concern. I'm relieved that it's nothing...but at the same time, I'm totally frustrated that I had to go through all that and take all the unnecessary meds! Arg.
Monday, July 13, 2009
Picture!
Here's a picture that Ryan took during my visit to the ER on Thursday...do ya like my new wires?? Those were for the EKG! What a mess...
Saturday, July 4, 2009
A Little Blog-Happy and A Little More Crazy!
Some of you may be wondering "wow, what's gotten into her?" here lately because I've actually been updating the blog. The real deal is that this is basically all I'm allowed to do! Here's a little more crazy for you...this one is really long, sorry!
This past Wednesday while at work, I started to get a headache. Nothing out of the normal, right? I put on my glasses and take 2 Tylenol, that should take care of it. Well 2 hours later, the pain has intensified and it's developing into a migraine...sensitivity to light and sound included. So I take 2 Excedrin migraine, head to lunch, and take a 3o minute nap. In the past, that procedure would have easily taken care of it all. Well I wake up from the nap, and still have all of my previous symptoms alongside a new one-some severe nausea. I head back to work and inform my supervisor that I don't really want to vomit all over my patients and co-workers, so I'm going to head home for the day. After all, it's already after 3 pm, so we're pretty much done for the day anyways. I get home (somehow...) and head straight to bed. I got in a 2 1/2 hour nap, wake up, and still have all of my symptoms. Now this is abnormal...I've never had a migraine this bad and have no idea what brought it on. So I call the nurse hot-line through our insurance company...they instruct me to try a few new things and if that doesn't work, to get to a doctor. So we try alternating hot and cold compresses on my forehead and the back of my neck and Ryan massaged the back of my neck and shoulders to make sure that muscle strain wasn't causing the pain. I couldn't take any more medicine because you're only supposed to take 2 Excedrin migraine in 24 hours, and I did that at 1:30 PM, but the alternative treatments did help somewhat. It all helped enough to get me to sleep for the night.
I wake up the next morning at 6 to get ready for work...but I still have this stupid migraine! I call in to work and head to an urgent care facility because now, we are totally out of the realm of normal. Doc starts asking me all of these questions...then tells me that I'm running a fever. What? Then says he wants to run some blood work to check for an infection along with some other things. Everyone knows my LOVE of needles (sarcasm)! So I desperately tried to put this off and got the doctor truly annoyed with me. They stuck me despite my best efforts. Doc comes back a while later and says my white-blood-cell counts are really high, so I must be fighting a virus or infection of some sort. Since I don't have any signs of an infection, he suspects it is just a virus and that the virus is causing some inflammation and therefore my bad headache. He also tells me that the counts were so high, that he was concerned about mono. Now...I've had mono before and once you have the mono virus, you ALWAYS have the mono virus and it can flair up at basically any time. CRAP. I don't want mono again! Turns out the test was negative, but the elevated counts are still concerning. Doc sends me home with explicit instructions-fluids and rest. And he gives me some pain meds for the severe headache so I can get some good rest.
Wow, did those pain meds work. I was OUT. I took one nap from like 11-1, and woke up with the same stupid headache. So...as instructed...I take another pain pill and nap from about 3-7 pm. When I woke up this time, no headache! OMG, I'm ecstatic! I really figured that the rest and 2 liters of fluids had made a huge impact. I was finally not nauseated and wanted something decent for dinner. Seeing that I was feeling better, Ryan agrees to go to McAlister's for dinner so I can get some soup and a simple sandwich. We get there...all is well. I obviously can't drive (being on the pain meds), but did fine on the drive. I ate my cup of soup and kept that down, but I was full, so I didn't eat the sandwich. We're just sitting there talking...enjoying being out of the house! I started to get a little light-headed and was having some trouble focusing, so I pulled my legs up in the booth and leaned back against the wall...I told Ryan what was going on and neither of us seemed too concerned at the moment...just rest a minute and I'll be fine. That's all I remember. Apparently after that, I completely lost consciousness and went limp...then my entire body started shaking. The shaking was hard enough to kick my sandals completely off and Ryan had to hold my head so that I wouldn't hit the wall or the table. Neither of us know how long this went on, but when I came back to, I could still feel myself shaking uncontrollably (kind-of like have the chills really really bad) and didn't really know where I was or what happened right away. I felt like I'd had a nightmare and Ryan was trying to wake me from it or something. When I realize that I was still in McAlister's, I knew something bad had happened. Ryan pretty much carries me out to the car and we head back to the urgent care facility...but they wouldn't take me because of the convulsions and instruct us to head straight to the closest emergency room. So we do and they take me back right away ( I tell ya, I get the treatment at the ER! Between this and the steak-knife inicident...they always get me in right away and Doc is usually right there waiting on me!). They actually put me on a bed in the hallway because there weren't any open rooms, but needed to start the work-up immediately. We still had the test results from that morning, so we show them to the ER doc and he orders more tests...EKG, lab work, urinalysis, CT scan, etc. Everything appears normal except the lab work-still have that high WBC count. We were in the ER until after midnight...come to find out, I was allergic to the codeine in the pain meds that the urgent-care doc gave me and this was basically an allergic reaction and I was very dehydrated-very odd since I'd had 2 liters of fluids that day. They hooked me up to an IV and gave me even more fluids to help get the codeine out of my system as quickly as possible since it had been 9 hours since my last pill. New instructions-still all the fluids and rest I can handle, but no more pain meds and a new prescription for an antibiotic instead. And oh ya...I'm not supposed to do anything since I'm at risk for losing consciousness again. So Ryan has had the joy of babysitting me since then...if you can't tell, I like to keep him on his toes! I'm supposed to go to my primary care doc in about 10 days and let them do another work-up to make sure everything is still ok. So that's my latest crazy...I'll keep you updated!
This past Wednesday while at work, I started to get a headache. Nothing out of the normal, right? I put on my glasses and take 2 Tylenol, that should take care of it. Well 2 hours later, the pain has intensified and it's developing into a migraine...sensitivity to light and sound included. So I take 2 Excedrin migraine, head to lunch, and take a 3o minute nap. In the past, that procedure would have easily taken care of it all. Well I wake up from the nap, and still have all of my previous symptoms alongside a new one-some severe nausea. I head back to work and inform my supervisor that I don't really want to vomit all over my patients and co-workers, so I'm going to head home for the day. After all, it's already after 3 pm, so we're pretty much done for the day anyways. I get home (somehow...) and head straight to bed. I got in a 2 1/2 hour nap, wake up, and still have all of my symptoms. Now this is abnormal...I've never had a migraine this bad and have no idea what brought it on. So I call the nurse hot-line through our insurance company...they instruct me to try a few new things and if that doesn't work, to get to a doctor. So we try alternating hot and cold compresses on my forehead and the back of my neck and Ryan massaged the back of my neck and shoulders to make sure that muscle strain wasn't causing the pain. I couldn't take any more medicine because you're only supposed to take 2 Excedrin migraine in 24 hours, and I did that at 1:30 PM, but the alternative treatments did help somewhat. It all helped enough to get me to sleep for the night.
I wake up the next morning at 6 to get ready for work...but I still have this stupid migraine! I call in to work and head to an urgent care facility because now, we are totally out of the realm of normal. Doc starts asking me all of these questions...then tells me that I'm running a fever. What? Then says he wants to run some blood work to check for an infection along with some other things. Everyone knows my LOVE of needles (sarcasm)! So I desperately tried to put this off and got the doctor truly annoyed with me. They stuck me despite my best efforts. Doc comes back a while later and says my white-blood-cell counts are really high, so I must be fighting a virus or infection of some sort. Since I don't have any signs of an infection, he suspects it is just a virus and that the virus is causing some inflammation and therefore my bad headache. He also tells me that the counts were so high, that he was concerned about mono. Now...I've had mono before and once you have the mono virus, you ALWAYS have the mono virus and it can flair up at basically any time. CRAP. I don't want mono again! Turns out the test was negative, but the elevated counts are still concerning. Doc sends me home with explicit instructions-fluids and rest. And he gives me some pain meds for the severe headache so I can get some good rest.
Wow, did those pain meds work. I was OUT. I took one nap from like 11-1, and woke up with the same stupid headache. So...as instructed...I take another pain pill and nap from about 3-7 pm. When I woke up this time, no headache! OMG, I'm ecstatic! I really figured that the rest and 2 liters of fluids had made a huge impact. I was finally not nauseated and wanted something decent for dinner. Seeing that I was feeling better, Ryan agrees to go to McAlister's for dinner so I can get some soup and a simple sandwich. We get there...all is well. I obviously can't drive (being on the pain meds), but did fine on the drive. I ate my cup of soup and kept that down, but I was full, so I didn't eat the sandwich. We're just sitting there talking...enjoying being out of the house! I started to get a little light-headed and was having some trouble focusing, so I pulled my legs up in the booth and leaned back against the wall...I told Ryan what was going on and neither of us seemed too concerned at the moment...just rest a minute and I'll be fine. That's all I remember. Apparently after that, I completely lost consciousness and went limp...then my entire body started shaking. The shaking was hard enough to kick my sandals completely off and Ryan had to hold my head so that I wouldn't hit the wall or the table. Neither of us know how long this went on, but when I came back to, I could still feel myself shaking uncontrollably (kind-of like have the chills really really bad) and didn't really know where I was or what happened right away. I felt like I'd had a nightmare and Ryan was trying to wake me from it or something. When I realize that I was still in McAlister's, I knew something bad had happened. Ryan pretty much carries me out to the car and we head back to the urgent care facility...but they wouldn't take me because of the convulsions and instruct us to head straight to the closest emergency room. So we do and they take me back right away ( I tell ya, I get the treatment at the ER! Between this and the steak-knife inicident...they always get me in right away and Doc is usually right there waiting on me!). They actually put me on a bed in the hallway because there weren't any open rooms, but needed to start the work-up immediately. We still had the test results from that morning, so we show them to the ER doc and he orders more tests...EKG, lab work, urinalysis, CT scan, etc. Everything appears normal except the lab work-still have that high WBC count. We were in the ER until after midnight...come to find out, I was allergic to the codeine in the pain meds that the urgent-care doc gave me and this was basically an allergic reaction and I was very dehydrated-very odd since I'd had 2 liters of fluids that day. They hooked me up to an IV and gave me even more fluids to help get the codeine out of my system as quickly as possible since it had been 9 hours since my last pill. New instructions-still all the fluids and rest I can handle, but no more pain meds and a new prescription for an antibiotic instead. And oh ya...I'm not supposed to do anything since I'm at risk for losing consciousness again. So Ryan has had the joy of babysitting me since then...if you can't tell, I like to keep him on his toes! I'm supposed to go to my primary care doc in about 10 days and let them do another work-up to make sure everything is still ok. So that's my latest crazy...I'll keep you updated!
The Crazy Things That Happen Around Here...the FINALE!
Ok, so Wednesday, I almost got picked up by the tornado. Thursday, I got to swim out to my car in the parking garage, then evacuate the entire clinic due to gasoline fumes...along with a fantastic asthma attack. Friday, the finale, I broke my stapler, my scissors (while attempting to fix the stapler), and my computer/scanner...all before 9 am. I was already so done with this day! Thank goodness it was already Friday!
The Crazy Things That Happen Around Here...Part 3
As if my run in with the tornado and having to swim to my car weren't quite enough...my afternoon got even more interesting. After my eventful morning at work, I took lunch as usual and was going to try to get a quick nap in or something to calm myself down. I went into the break room and started eating on my lunch and talking with some of the nurses when one of them goes "Hey, do you smell that?", and not meaning what you think! I was like ya...that kinda smells like gasoline! We discussed it for just a little while and decided that maybe some oil or something got stirred up in the parking garage as it was flooding and maybe the smell was just stronger than we were used to, but nothing to really worry about. We keep eating and chit-chatting when I hear an abnormal amount of noise in the hallway. I poke my head out the door to see what is going on and see ALL of our patients in the lobby! I mean, they have on their gowns and still have IV's in! The nurses have on gloves and are still attempting to administer the chemotherapy treatments...in the lobby! Then I smell it...the ridiculously strong smell of gasoline. We all drop everything and bolt out of the break room because this is obviously a situation we have on our hands. Everyone is grabbing masks (for the patients and employees) as we evacuate the entire clinic. Valet is pulling around cars as fast as they can, the nurses are trying to keep the patients safe and stable, and everyone else is grabbing chairs, pillows, masks, and juice and crackers for the patients because it's starting to get to some of them. One of the doctors even had to be carried out because she was so light-headed. The medical assistants (in masks and all...) are calling patients to cancel their appointments for the day and let them know what's going on. In the midst of this, I quickly realized that I did not get a mask on quickly enough and the fumes have definitely done a number on my asthma...yup, here comes the attack! I drop what I'm doing and head straigh for my desk-that's where my purse would be with my emergency inhaler in it. NOPE. Remember...I was at lunch. That means I have to run the gauntlet of patients, care-givers, and maintenace crew to the break room as I'm wheezing and crying and probably turning fun colors by now...attempting not to cause any concern to anyone who might see me. Of course, that doesn't happen and now I have a nurse following me asking questions...it's kinda like when the dentist asks questions while his hands are in your mouth...I really wanted to say "I CAN'T BREATHE=I CAN'T SPEAK!". It seemed like forever long, but I finally made it to my inhaler, rip my mask off my face (which got caught in my ear-rings, so I ripped those out of my ears along the way), and finally get some sweet relief. Once I could finally speak, I looked at the nurse and said "No, I'm not okay, I can't breathe, and yes, I have asthma." At that point, I was escorted out of the building to get some fresh air. All of the patients were cancelled for the day, sent home, then the workers were asked to leave so that maintenance could get the situation under control without the risk to the clinic staff or patients.
On my drive (swim) home, I quickly realized that our garage was not the only place that was flooded...wow, those must have been some serious storms that passed through! Dang you joint-safety-commission-regulations for taking away my windows... Anyways, the road I usually use to get to the highway was closed due to extreme flooding, so I head north to the next street which appears useful at first...then, when it's too late to turn around, I see the lake ahead of me. At least I wasn't the only one! We were all literally going to sink or swim! The water got increasingly deep as I edged toward the highway...couldn't see the painted lane dividers anymore, then couldn't see the curb. The water was over the running boards on my SUV and it got to the point that I didn't want to stop because I was afraid my car would flood and stall. I did eventually make it home and my car never stalled...so that's good. I headed straight for my nebulizer when I got home, then took a nap! Everyone I knew instructed me to just stay home because bad things seem to happen when I leave. Ah, finally the end of that day!
On my drive (swim) home, I quickly realized that our garage was not the only place that was flooded...wow, those must have been some serious storms that passed through! Dang you joint-safety-commission-regulations for taking away my windows... Anyways, the road I usually use to get to the highway was closed due to extreme flooding, so I head north to the next street which appears useful at first...then, when it's too late to turn around, I see the lake ahead of me. At least I wasn't the only one! We were all literally going to sink or swim! The water got increasingly deep as I edged toward the highway...couldn't see the painted lane dividers anymore, then couldn't see the curb. The water was over the running boards on my SUV and it got to the point that I didn't want to stop because I was afraid my car would flood and stall. I did eventually make it home and my car never stalled...so that's good. I headed straight for my nebulizer when I got home, then took a nap! Everyone I knew instructed me to just stay home because bad things seem to happen when I leave. Ah, finally the end of that day!
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
The Crazy Things That Happen Around Here...Part 2
So the morning after our little tornado incident, I'm getting ready for work and the news keeps saying something about it raining...whatever, there's not a cloud in the sky! I'm a little shaken from the previous night, but nonetheless, ready for work. I can't really see out any windows at work, but I could certainly hear when the storms did indeed start to pass through, and they must have been torrential! Our patients kept telling us about them, too. When I finally got to peek outside, it really was as bad as they were saying! I start to notice employees running through our clinic, which is quite abnormal. Then...I hear something about our parking garage flooding! What!? Seeing as my car is on the very bottom level of our under-ground parking garage, I understandably start to panic and join the masses running towards the garage staircase. As I'm on my way, I was informed by maintenance that the garage was indeed flooding and the elevators no longer worked because someone took them down the the garage and brought back up about 1 foot of water! Sure enough, there's about a foot of standing water all through the garage! I'm talking to maintenace and they thought at the time there might have been a drainage line clogged, so they didn't really expect it to get much worse-they thought it would be fixed soon and all would be fine. I go back to my desk and continue working with that thought. Well surprise...maintenance was WRONG. I get an email from our emergency notification about the flooding and keep hearing "it's now or never..." from the staff. When I go to check on my car again, I was informed to either get it out of the garage now or it would probably be lost due to damages. Lo and behold...the water is now above my knees! I roll up my pants, take off my shoes and socks, and proceed to swim out to my car...hoping it will start. DISGUSTING. The water was as dark and murky as hot chocolate. I get to my car, open the door, and the water is high enough to wake onto my floorboards! Again, ew, now my car has stinky water damage. Amazingly, my car starts and I drive my little boat out of the garage...almost running over some chick that was jacking around in the middle of the way taking pictures. I was like, look honey, my car isn't stopping because then it would probably flood and not start back up! So you're gonna either move or get knocked out the way! I seriously thought the waves were going to just take my car and me for a ride...but thank goodness we got out safely! I had to park outside my building and just run back in while it was raining...still in my lack-of-shoes and my pants rolled up above my knees. When I get back to the clinic, I head straight to the bathroom, hop up on the counter, and attempt to wash the ICK off my legs! It was quite a site...and I thought it was over...I was very sadly mistaken.
The Crazy Things That Happen Around Here...Part 1
Ok, this story is from like 3 weeks ago, so I'm sorry it took this long to get it posted!
It all started on a Wednesday night...I got off work as usual and headed home to let the pups out to potty. The skies were pretty clear and it was hot as normal for a June evening...that becomes important later! So I let them out and grab my stuff to head out to our church class where I was meeting Ryan since he played golf that afternoon. The drive is about 20 minutes, and as I drove, I noticed that it started to get cloudy. When I was about 1/2 way there, I noticed that it also started to get windy and cooler. When I was about 5 minutes away from church, Ryan calls me kinda flipping out going "where are you!?". I start telling him and he tells me to either get there quickly or turn around and go home because the tornado sirens are going off! I get there and can barely park my car because it's bouncing in the wind! We run inside and get into the stairwell with everyone else. It's crazy windy (estimated wind speeds were around 70 mph), raining, and of course...the sirens are still going. When they finally stop, we found that water is leaking up through the floor and floorboards in about 3 places in the halls of the church and school, so we're running around with the pastor, his wife, the kids from the camp that day, and the people from our class all trying to mop up the messes and keep them from spreading. Our class is supposed to start at 7 and by the time we got everything and everyone situated, it had almost stopped raining, and the storm had pretty much passed...it was 8:15, so needless to say class was cancelled for the evening. Once we got dinner and got home, there was no more storm to be seen and the weather was pretty much back to normal...crazy Texas weather. This incident in itself isn't what made these days crazy, but it certainly played a part! Keep reading!
It all started on a Wednesday night...I got off work as usual and headed home to let the pups out to potty. The skies were pretty clear and it was hot as normal for a June evening...that becomes important later! So I let them out and grab my stuff to head out to our church class where I was meeting Ryan since he played golf that afternoon. The drive is about 20 minutes, and as I drove, I noticed that it started to get cloudy. When I was about 1/2 way there, I noticed that it also started to get windy and cooler. When I was about 5 minutes away from church, Ryan calls me kinda flipping out going "where are you!?". I start telling him and he tells me to either get there quickly or turn around and go home because the tornado sirens are going off! I get there and can barely park my car because it's bouncing in the wind! We run inside and get into the stairwell with everyone else. It's crazy windy (estimated wind speeds were around 70 mph), raining, and of course...the sirens are still going. When they finally stop, we found that water is leaking up through the floor and floorboards in about 3 places in the halls of the church and school, so we're running around with the pastor, his wife, the kids from the camp that day, and the people from our class all trying to mop up the messes and keep them from spreading. Our class is supposed to start at 7 and by the time we got everything and everyone situated, it had almost stopped raining, and the storm had pretty much passed...it was 8:15, so needless to say class was cancelled for the evening. Once we got dinner and got home, there was no more storm to be seen and the weather was pretty much back to normal...crazy Texas weather. This incident in itself isn't what made these days crazy, but it certainly played a part! Keep reading!
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
God Must Have a Sense of Humor...
I'm not sure if it's true or not, but Grandma says this kind of stuff only happens to me! Here's what happened...
It was a rare occasion the other day that I came home from work and Ryan wasn't home yet. I had about 2 hours until I had to leave to meet him up at church, so I decided to do something that he doesn't really enjoy doing-I went for a walk! Yes, it was over 100 degrees outside and for some reason, I felt like being a sweltering idiot that afternoon. So I put on my sunscreen and hat, got my nalgene bottle all full of ice water, and headed out the door with my phone in hand-just in case since Ryan wasn't home. It was really hot, so I was taking it a little slower than normal but I was actually really enjoying myself! So I start out in the hot and direct sun and expected it to be that way the whole time-afterall, it's mid june and the forecast didn't have a cloud in the sky! I got about 1/4 of the way through my walk when I noticed that it wasn't as sunny...odd, right? Sure enough, there's a cloud overhead! It was kinda creepy-it was the only cloud I could see in the sky and was always right over my head as I walked...it was moving with me. Oh well, I enjoyed the shade! Then, strangely and unpredictably, it barely starts to sprinkle...hahaha God, that's cute. I chuckled to myself when I thought about the absurdity of what was happening and kept going. The forecast didn't have any clouds in it, nonetheless a chance for rain, so how bad could this really get? It was not worth cutting my walk that short...I'd only been out for about 15 minutes. When I got to about 1/2 mile away on the other side of the apartment complex, the clouds opened up and it started just pouring! I tell you, I could not find a tree quick enough! It was totally out of nowhere! Again, how bad can this get and how long would it really last? So, I park myself under the tree and continue listening to my music...enjoying my unexpected rest. I even tried to take a few pictures to show just how bad it was because it was by no means just sprinkling anymore! Anyone who knows me well would tell you that I would walk home in some light rain any day of the week, but it was POURING! I called Ryan, who was out on the golf course, and he said that he could see my cloud, haha! After 30 minutes of this crap, I decided to just suck it up and run as fast as I could the 1/2 mile home. I tried to hide my iPhone as best I could from the rain, and booked it home! My hat was dripping rain in my face the whole time and my shoes were sloshing about the whole way...there was no hope of only getting "a little" wet-I was totally drenched and dripping from head to toe. I was sure that even my phone and headphones were toast because there simply wasn't a dry spot on me and that run was just too long. When I got home, I could wring out all of my clothes and had to put my shoes and hat out on the patio to dry...even my hair was just dripping wet. I dried off, changed, and tried to save my poor phone and headphones that I seriously thought were dead. As it turns out, yes, this was like the only THUNDERSTORM that popped up that day! The thunder and lightening actually scared Maverick and the temperature dipped into the 60's for a few minutes! By the time I got myself taken care of and called Kelly to tell her about my story, it was time to head out to church. When I stepped out the door, it was back to 100 degrees and sunny...everything had passed. Again, that's really cute, God. He must have a sense of humor...oh well, I got a laugh out of it all and have a story to share, so I had fun!
It was a rare occasion the other day that I came home from work and Ryan wasn't home yet. I had about 2 hours until I had to leave to meet him up at church, so I decided to do something that he doesn't really enjoy doing-I went for a walk! Yes, it was over 100 degrees outside and for some reason, I felt like being a sweltering idiot that afternoon. So I put on my sunscreen and hat, got my nalgene bottle all full of ice water, and headed out the door with my phone in hand-just in case since Ryan wasn't home. It was really hot, so I was taking it a little slower than normal but I was actually really enjoying myself! So I start out in the hot and direct sun and expected it to be that way the whole time-afterall, it's mid june and the forecast didn't have a cloud in the sky! I got about 1/4 of the way through my walk when I noticed that it wasn't as sunny...odd, right? Sure enough, there's a cloud overhead! It was kinda creepy-it was the only cloud I could see in the sky and was always right over my head as I walked...it was moving with me. Oh well, I enjoyed the shade! Then, strangely and unpredictably, it barely starts to sprinkle...hahaha God, that's cute. I chuckled to myself when I thought about the absurdity of what was happening and kept going. The forecast didn't have any clouds in it, nonetheless a chance for rain, so how bad could this really get? It was not worth cutting my walk that short...I'd only been out for about 15 minutes. When I got to about 1/2 mile away on the other side of the apartment complex, the clouds opened up and it started just pouring! I tell you, I could not find a tree quick enough! It was totally out of nowhere! Again, how bad can this get and how long would it really last? So, I park myself under the tree and continue listening to my music...enjoying my unexpected rest. I even tried to take a few pictures to show just how bad it was because it was by no means just sprinkling anymore! Anyone who knows me well would tell you that I would walk home in some light rain any day of the week, but it was POURING! I called Ryan, who was out on the golf course, and he said that he could see my cloud, haha! After 30 minutes of this crap, I decided to just suck it up and run as fast as I could the 1/2 mile home. I tried to hide my iPhone as best I could from the rain, and booked it home! My hat was dripping rain in my face the whole time and my shoes were sloshing about the whole way...there was no hope of only getting "a little" wet-I was totally drenched and dripping from head to toe. I was sure that even my phone and headphones were toast because there simply wasn't a dry spot on me and that run was just too long. When I got home, I could wring out all of my clothes and had to put my shoes and hat out on the patio to dry...even my hair was just dripping wet. I dried off, changed, and tried to save my poor phone and headphones that I seriously thought were dead. As it turns out, yes, this was like the only THUNDERSTORM that popped up that day! The thunder and lightening actually scared Maverick and the temperature dipped into the 60's for a few minutes! By the time I got myself taken care of and called Kelly to tell her about my story, it was time to head out to church. When I stepped out the door, it was back to 100 degrees and sunny...everything had passed. Again, that's really cute, God. He must have a sense of humor...oh well, I got a laugh out of it all and have a story to share, so I had fun!
Saturday, June 20, 2009
Your Random "Lauren" Story For The Week!
Ok, so here recently I discovered that I was in desperate need of a new toothbrush...simple enough right? Simple solution-go get a new toothbrush! Well, apparently I have been living with the Flintstones in the stone age. Last time I had to purchase a toothbrush, there were very few (and simple) options...hard or soft bristles, what color, and which brand you preferred. Some of the fancy ones had little blue bristles mixed in with the white, but I've personally never found a real use for them...just fun I guess. This time, I swear I spent 30 minutes looking at the HUGE selection of stinkin' toothbrushes! I thought Ryan was going to kill me! Yes, there were many different colors (no longer just blue versus pink...that would be too easy!), but now you could choose from hard, MEDIUM, or soft bristles, there were all sorts of shapes and sizes...and once I found one that I liked, it didn't come in a color I liked! Then there were ones with "brightening stars"...what? Some had bristles pointing every which way and bristles of all sizes that apparently perform different functions. And that was just the manual toothbrushes! Then there's the world of battery-operated toothbrushes...and that's a whole other blog in itself. I've never felt so dumb-founded...all I wanted was a stick with little bristles on the end so I can clean my danged teeth, why must this be such a difficult decision? Next time I think I will treat it like "pin the tail on the donkey" and have Ryan spin me around in circles and see which toothbrush I manage to rip off the racks...THEY'LL ALL CLEAN TEETH! That was a very unnecessarily long trip to the store...
Our New Church
When we moved back to DFW, we made it a priority to find a home church where we could really put down some roots and be involved. Surprisingly enough, Google maps led us to Crown of Life in Colleyville and we've been there ever since. I say surprisingly enough because it was the first church that we visited once we moved back and it isn't close, so we're not really sure what prompted Google maps to pull it up first. One way or another, we're extremely happy that we found it! We officially joined the church on May 17, 2009. They had a wonderful orientation class where we met some very nice people and it helped us get connected. We joined a small devotional group and are going to a class on Wednesdays where we have met even more great people! On top of all that, Ryan volunteered for the basketball camp and vacation bible school. I will probably start helping in the nursery or helping with large events here soon. We couldn't be happier and feel so very blessed.
Here is a picture on the day we joined the church with Pastor Dave and his wife Ann.
And here is a pic from the basketball camp this past week. Look at Coach Ryan, isn't he so cute!!
Here is a picture on the day we joined the church with Pastor Dave and his wife Ann.
And here is a pic from the basketball camp this past week. Look at Coach Ryan, isn't he so cute!!
More Pictures!
We celebrated the anniversary of Aimee's adoption this April! Mom, Dad, Aimee, Ryan, and Cheryl took the day off and went to the zoo. Lee and I were stuck at work...boo! Here are some pics from their day of fun!
Ryan was behind the camera the whole time, so here are some pictures in his honor!
Ryan was behind the camera the whole time, so here are some pictures in his honor!Friday, June 19, 2009
Picture Time!!
Here are some pictures from Disney on Ice...
Here is Aimee meeting Flounder...
Ryan's very flattering picture of me...
I think this is 1 of 3 pictures we've ever managed to get of Cheryl!!
Here is Aimee meeting Flounder...
Ryan's very flattering picture of me...
I think this is 1 of 3 pictures we've ever managed to get of Cheryl!!
I think Lee may have had the best time out of any of us!
Thursday, June 11, 2009
Here's What You've Missed...
Ok, so here's what you have missed since I went on a little blogging hiatus! This is gonna be long, so sit back and relax!
1. I still really enjoy my job in the clinic! I've been grumbling lately because they (management) decided to take us to a hospital-based clinic which means that we have to do about twice as much work and were introduced to a few new computer systems, which anyone knows is not all that fun! It doesn't help that I don't personally see any real value to the employees or the patients and the new computer systems are WAY less efficient/easy to use than our older ones! Surprising, I know. Nonetheless, I still love where I work and what I do.
2. I took the GRE (did decently...but not fantastic) and applied to PA (physician assistant) school! Yay! It's just a waiting game now, so I'd really appreciate your prayers and support until we find out if I get in or not.
3. Ryan was working for Gold's Gym...then he got laid off, BOO! We could kind-of see it coming about 2 weeks out, so we did our very best to prepare mentally and financially. We know this is for a reason that we just can't see right now and truly think it is for the best. In the meantime, he has been working on his golf game (more to come on that...and it's GOOD news!!) and he's also been volunteering through the church. He has certainly been keeping busy between all this and looking for a job!
4. Ryan played in a second Golf Channel Tour tournament and placed 3rd again which I think it royally unfair because he's the only guy whose golf cart broke down and had to carry is 50-pound bag for the whole tournament! The first two guys tied and were only 1 stroke better, so I really think that if he hadn't had to carry that stupid bag, he could have tied or beat them! Then, he registered for a 3rd tournament on this amateur tour, but obviously this is just not for him...the course closed the tournament after he had already played 16 (of 18) holes because they didn't plan very well and had another tournament that was supposed to start at that time. All of the players were completely disqualified after spending their money and a whole day out there, which just bites. After that incident, we dropped the Golf Channel Tour...can you blame us??
5. We celebrated Tom's (Ryan's dad) 60th birthday! He didn't want to do much, so we just went out to eat with the whole family, and all had a great time.
6. GREAT news! We got a good rate to renew our lease...we don't have to move! Thanks again to all those who helped us move in a year ago...you must be just as happy as we are!
7. Mom, Dad, Lee, Cheryl, Aimee, Ryan, and I all went to Disney on Ice! We had a blast and acted so NOT our ages! It was very good...much better than I expected it to be. The best part is that we got this crazy hat in the shape of Flounder from the Little Mermaid and he is now our own traveling gnome-we're taking him everywhere and taking pictures with him! You can think it's crazy, but we're having fun.
8. Ashley and Belle came to town and were introduced to Don Pablos (one of my favorite restaurants ever!). I also found out that Belle knows how to scream...thanks Ashley. Love ya!
9. I still volunteer at Rocky Top every Saturday and absolutely LOVE it! It's awesome to have that relationship with the kids and to get to see them improve so much every week. It doesn't hurt that I get to play with the horses every weekend, too. We had our volunteer appreciation party and participated in the equestrian events of Special Olympics. I think this is a really good place for me right now and couldn't be happier...it's for such a good cause!
10. A new experience...I am letting my dermatologist (yes, the one that electricuted me, if you'll remember...) use laser treatment to help a place on my cheek. It used to be a beauty mark/mole until I picked it to death. Then it started to bleed every time I washed my face. This is crazy new for me, but it's really helping. Kinda feels like little bitty rubber bands popping (only 3 times) but doesn't quite hurt that bad. The mole gets mad right afterwards and turns a darker color, then turns back to normal color and starts to just disappear! Kinda creepy, but really cool.
11. Our family friends Dani and Tim Robinette celebrated their son's birthday with a party at Alley Cats where we all got to bowl and play games together. One of the kids won a jackpot on one of the games and won an RIDICULOUS amount of tickets! He could barely spend them all! Afterwards, the girls headed to the mall and had a great time while the boys went to an array of random places...place that sells pool tables/hot tubs, wood carving shop, etc...strange boys. It was great to have that time with everyone and we all kinda let loose!
12. Occupational Health at UT lost my entire medical record...that's says good things.
13. I celebrated my one year anniversary at UTSW! Maybe all not in one place, but that's ok!
14. Stan and Natalie had their second baby...Clayton Joe! He was about a month early, but everyone is healthy. Congrats guys!
All right...I think that's about all that you have missed out on. I'll try to get some pics up here soon and I have a few more stories on the way, but you needed to be caught up first! Thanks for reading!!
1. I still really enjoy my job in the clinic! I've been grumbling lately because they (management) decided to take us to a hospital-based clinic which means that we have to do about twice as much work and were introduced to a few new computer systems, which anyone knows is not all that fun! It doesn't help that I don't personally see any real value to the employees or the patients and the new computer systems are WAY less efficient/easy to use than our older ones! Surprising, I know. Nonetheless, I still love where I work and what I do.
2. I took the GRE (did decently...but not fantastic) and applied to PA (physician assistant) school! Yay! It's just a waiting game now, so I'd really appreciate your prayers and support until we find out if I get in or not.
3. Ryan was working for Gold's Gym...then he got laid off, BOO! We could kind-of see it coming about 2 weeks out, so we did our very best to prepare mentally and financially. We know this is for a reason that we just can't see right now and truly think it is for the best. In the meantime, he has been working on his golf game (more to come on that...and it's GOOD news!!) and he's also been volunteering through the church. He has certainly been keeping busy between all this and looking for a job!
4. Ryan played in a second Golf Channel Tour tournament and placed 3rd again which I think it royally unfair because he's the only guy whose golf cart broke down and had to carry is 50-pound bag for the whole tournament! The first two guys tied and were only 1 stroke better, so I really think that if he hadn't had to carry that stupid bag, he could have tied or beat them! Then, he registered for a 3rd tournament on this amateur tour, but obviously this is just not for him...the course closed the tournament after he had already played 16 (of 18) holes because they didn't plan very well and had another tournament that was supposed to start at that time. All of the players were completely disqualified after spending their money and a whole day out there, which just bites. After that incident, we dropped the Golf Channel Tour...can you blame us??
5. We celebrated Tom's (Ryan's dad) 60th birthday! He didn't want to do much, so we just went out to eat with the whole family, and all had a great time.
6. GREAT news! We got a good rate to renew our lease...we don't have to move! Thanks again to all those who helped us move in a year ago...you must be just as happy as we are!
7. Mom, Dad, Lee, Cheryl, Aimee, Ryan, and I all went to Disney on Ice! We had a blast and acted so NOT our ages! It was very good...much better than I expected it to be. The best part is that we got this crazy hat in the shape of Flounder from the Little Mermaid and he is now our own traveling gnome-we're taking him everywhere and taking pictures with him! You can think it's crazy, but we're having fun.
8. Ashley and Belle came to town and were introduced to Don Pablos (one of my favorite restaurants ever!). I also found out that Belle knows how to scream...thanks Ashley. Love ya!
9. I still volunteer at Rocky Top every Saturday and absolutely LOVE it! It's awesome to have that relationship with the kids and to get to see them improve so much every week. It doesn't hurt that I get to play with the horses every weekend, too. We had our volunteer appreciation party and participated in the equestrian events of Special Olympics. I think this is a really good place for me right now and couldn't be happier...it's for such a good cause!
10. A new experience...I am letting my dermatologist (yes, the one that electricuted me, if you'll remember...) use laser treatment to help a place on my cheek. It used to be a beauty mark/mole until I picked it to death. Then it started to bleed every time I washed my face. This is crazy new for me, but it's really helping. Kinda feels like little bitty rubber bands popping (only 3 times) but doesn't quite hurt that bad. The mole gets mad right afterwards and turns a darker color, then turns back to normal color and starts to just disappear! Kinda creepy, but really cool.
11. Our family friends Dani and Tim Robinette celebrated their son's birthday with a party at Alley Cats where we all got to bowl and play games together. One of the kids won a jackpot on one of the games and won an RIDICULOUS amount of tickets! He could barely spend them all! Afterwards, the girls headed to the mall and had a great time while the boys went to an array of random places...place that sells pool tables/hot tubs, wood carving shop, etc...strange boys. It was great to have that time with everyone and we all kinda let loose!
12. Occupational Health at UT lost my entire medical record...that's says good things.
13. I celebrated my one year anniversary at UTSW! Maybe all not in one place, but that's ok!
14. Stan and Natalie had their second baby...Clayton Joe! He was about a month early, but everyone is healthy. Congrats guys!
All right...I think that's about all that you have missed out on. I'll try to get some pics up here soon and I have a few more stories on the way, but you needed to be caught up first! Thanks for reading!!
Sunday, May 17, 2009
I Confess...
Ok guys, I have to confess that I stopped updating here for a while because I thought nobody was reading! I have since been notified otherwise, so I promise to get everyone up to date, then to do a better job of updating you regularly! Look for more posts coming soon...it's nap time for now!
Sunday, March 8, 2009
Your Weekly Update...
Well yet another week has just flown by! This was my first week moving over to the clinics from my research lab, and things went very well. I only spent Monday and Friday in the actual clinic because I had to spend the rest of the week in training, but nonetheless, the week went very smoothly. I think that this setting will fit me much better than the lab did and that I will be much happier! Other than that, our week was relatively calm...surprising, I know! This weekend, Ryan competed in his first golf tournament of the season on his Golf Channel Tour. He was not very happy with how he played because he shot an 81 (9 over par), but he still placed 3rd in the most competitive round. I think he did great! The bad news is that he probably sprained wrist. It is probably something he did a while ago, but we've never treated it, so it just kinda keeps getting worse. The lady he takes lessons from suggested that we treat it with ice twice a day, wrap it to immobilize it during the day, and that he take some advil to reduce any inflammation. He needs to do this for about a week and not touch a golf club at all, which he is not looking forward to! If it's not any better after that, we'll have to get a doctor to take a look and probably do some scans. Good thing his next tournament isn't for 2 weeks! After his tournament, we met mom, dad, and Grandma and Grandpa for dinner and ran into Aunt Doris (my dad's sister). It was so nice to see everyone and we had a wonderful, relaxing dinner!
On a related note, Grandma Hill started radiation therapy this week. She has to go every weekday for about 6 weeks, but the good news is that her sessions are only like 3-5 minutes, so each visit only takes about 10 minutes total! She spends more time driving to the facility than she spends actually there! She's a little tired so far, but seems to be holding up very well. We're praying for the very best! With Brittany, we haven't heard any more news. She is still just being treated for her symptoms as best they can, which still leaves her in pain most of the time and pretty uncomfortable...not a very happy situation at all.
Well, that's about it for this week! Hope everyone has a good week!
On a related note, Grandma Hill started radiation therapy this week. She has to go every weekday for about 6 weeks, but the good news is that her sessions are only like 3-5 minutes, so each visit only takes about 10 minutes total! She spends more time driving to the facility than she spends actually there! She's a little tired so far, but seems to be holding up very well. We're praying for the very best! With Brittany, we haven't heard any more news. She is still just being treated for her symptoms as best they can, which still leaves her in pain most of the time and pretty uncomfortable...not a very happy situation at all.
Well, that's about it for this week! Hope everyone has a good week!
Thursday, March 5, 2009
Celebrating One Year...
Last weekend (March 1 to be exact!), Ryan and I celebrated our one-year wedding anniversary! Can you believe it? We certainly can't believe that it has actually been a whole year since our wedding! To celebrate, we decided to spend Saturday and Sunday out in Dallas...just the two of us. We started with a stay at Hotel ZaZa, a couples massage on Saturday afternoon, then a fantastic dinner at Capital City Grille. We attempted to eat pieces of the top tier of our wedding cake (a common tradition...right?), but I'd like to emphasize "attempted". It was simply a giant sugar cube, and it completely fell apart when we tried to thaw it from it's year-long residence in our freezer. The day was absolutely perfect! On Sunday, we ordered room-service for breakfast, ate, then went back to sleep! It was awesome... Then we got cleaned up and packed up, then went to the Dallas Zoo. It was pretty chilly, so there weren't very many people out, which was really a good thing. We spent the whole afternoon at the Zoo just admiring the animals and watching them play. We even got to see one of the handler's hand-feed a rhino his lunch! After the zoo, we headed home to spend some quality time with the pups and have a nice, relaxing evening together.
In celebration, we have decided to start a scrapbook that we can add to every year on our anniversary. We're going to start it with some pictures of us leaving the wedding reception, then add some pics from our honeymoon at Disney World, then add some pictures and things from our anniversary celebration this weekend. We can add to it every year and keep it forever so that we can always look back! Cool, huh? And yes, we finally placed the order for our wedding albums, so hopefully we can get those in the next month or two. We have really had a full, fantastic first year of marriage and are looking forward to year two! Here are some pics from our weekend...we DID take a picture with both of us in it, but it wasn't on our camera! The restaurant took it and we just got a print-out. Anyways, Enjoy!
In celebration, we have decided to start a scrapbook that we can add to every year on our anniversary. We're going to start it with some pictures of us leaving the wedding reception, then add some pics from our honeymoon at Disney World, then add some pictures and things from our anniversary celebration this weekend. We can add to it every year and keep it forever so that we can always look back! Cool, huh? And yes, we finally placed the order for our wedding albums, so hopefully we can get those in the next month or two. We have really had a full, fantastic first year of marriage and are looking forward to year two! Here are some pics from our weekend...we DID take a picture with both of us in it, but it wasn't on our camera! The restaurant took it and we just got a print-out. Anyways, Enjoy!
Here is a picture of the suite we stayed in...it was the Samuel L. Jackson suite!
Here is our poor, destroyed top tier of the wedding cake...it's been through so much!
Monday, February 23, 2009
Bad Little Blogger...
Ok, so I admit it...I'm a bad little blogger! We have been so busy lately that I nearly forgot about this thing! So for the few of you that actually keep up with our blog, I'm sorry. Here's what we've been up to since last post:
Wednesday, Feb 11
We almost got hit by the tornado. Those bad storms that came through had our power out and the tornado sirens going off like crazy, so we're all (me, ry, tigger, mav, and goosey) in our bathroom covering ourselves with the dogbeds. The mattress was just too bulky to get into the bathroom :). My parents are calling going "TAKE COVER!", Ryan is intermittently going to the window and balcony to see if he can catch a glimpse of the tornado, and Ryan's parents had no clue that a tornado was near. It was all terribly fun. That was followed by a night of very little sleep since Ryan was still excited about the tornado and poor Mav was about to jump out of his own skin in fear of the storm.
Thursday, Feb 12
Long day at work due to the tornado incident, followed by the Mavs vs. Celtics game that evening. It was a great game, but they ended up losing it in the 4th quarter. We didn't get home until almost 1 am!
Friday, Feb 13
VERY long day at work! Then, we both got to witness the highway being shut down due to accidents on our way home from work. We were so tired that evening that we could barely order pizza to be delivered!
Saturday, Feb 14
Happy Valentine's Day! Ry golfed that morning while I took the cat to the vet for his annual visit. Everyone kinda makes fun of Tig for being "fluffy"...well it's official he's very "fluffy"-almost 20 pounds! Everything else looked great and he got his vaccines, which he obviously was not a fan of. I dropped him back off at home and headed to Rocky Top to help with the last class of the day. Ryan and I met back at the apartment to get cleaned up, then we came by my lab to run a quick procedure. We ended the day with dinner with my parents at MaMa's Pizza and a movie-Pink Panther 2. The movie was very funny, but pretty much the same as the first. Nonetheless, it lightened your mood and made you laugh. Ryan and I don't really do much "just the 2 of us" for Valentine's Day since our wedding anniversary is in 2 weeks.
Sunday, Feb 15
More visits to the lab to work for a little while, then lunch out in Terrell with a college friend, Stefanie. I couldn't wait to see her...I haven't seen her since we graduate in April and she's due to have her first baby this June. We ate at Boomer Jack's and had a great time catching up! We took her some furniture and gifts for the little one...a crib, swing, high chair, walker, a few toys, and a few new outfits. Afterwards, Ry went back to the golf course while I headed back to the lab. We got home just in time to eat some quick dinner and pass out.
Monday, Feb 16
Presidents' Day! That means I got the day off work, right? Right! But I still had plenty to catch up on around the apartment. Ryan still had to work and I also met my mom for lunch. I also got to go for my first long jog since my surgery! Yay! Oh I was so happy...
Wednesday, Feb18
Ryan comes down with the flu and strep very early this morning, I get the flu this evening despite my efforts to disinfect the house with lysol and bleach. We both headed to an urgent care clinic to get some meds and to CVS for any form of relief...FYI, there is no "relief" from the flu. I don't care what the boxes say, this product that provides relief does not exist. However, anything that just knocks you out so that you sleep for days on end is the best alternative. Thanks much to our parents who brought us all kinds of food and medicines to help us get better, we are so very grateful!
Thursday and Friday, Feb 19 and 20
Ryan and I both stayed home in absolute misery! Again, that you mom and dad for bringing us food and meds...
Saturday and Sunday, Feb 21 and 22
Ryan and I were finally starting to feel a little better, but not well enough to actually do anything. Really, we just felt well enough to be awake and be annoyed with each other. We managed to take the dogs to the park to potty and to run for a little while, so I'm sure they appreciated that!
There you have it...you are caught up with the terribly interesting lives we lead! Sorry for the world's longest blog! Hopefully I will be keeping up with my updates a little better now :)
Hope everyone has a great week!
Wednesday, Feb 11
We almost got hit by the tornado. Those bad storms that came through had our power out and the tornado sirens going off like crazy, so we're all (me, ry, tigger, mav, and goosey) in our bathroom covering ourselves with the dogbeds. The mattress was just too bulky to get into the bathroom :). My parents are calling going "TAKE COVER!", Ryan is intermittently going to the window and balcony to see if he can catch a glimpse of the tornado, and Ryan's parents had no clue that a tornado was near. It was all terribly fun. That was followed by a night of very little sleep since Ryan was still excited about the tornado and poor Mav was about to jump out of his own skin in fear of the storm.
Thursday, Feb 12
Long day at work due to the tornado incident, followed by the Mavs vs. Celtics game that evening. It was a great game, but they ended up losing it in the 4th quarter. We didn't get home until almost 1 am!
Friday, Feb 13
VERY long day at work! Then, we both got to witness the highway being shut down due to accidents on our way home from work. We were so tired that evening that we could barely order pizza to be delivered!
Saturday, Feb 14
Happy Valentine's Day! Ry golfed that morning while I took the cat to the vet for his annual visit. Everyone kinda makes fun of Tig for being "fluffy"...well it's official he's very "fluffy"-almost 20 pounds! Everything else looked great and he got his vaccines, which he obviously was not a fan of. I dropped him back off at home and headed to Rocky Top to help with the last class of the day. Ryan and I met back at the apartment to get cleaned up, then we came by my lab to run a quick procedure. We ended the day with dinner with my parents at MaMa's Pizza and a movie-Pink Panther 2. The movie was very funny, but pretty much the same as the first. Nonetheless, it lightened your mood and made you laugh. Ryan and I don't really do much "just the 2 of us" for Valentine's Day since our wedding anniversary is in 2 weeks.
Sunday, Feb 15
More visits to the lab to work for a little while, then lunch out in Terrell with a college friend, Stefanie. I couldn't wait to see her...I haven't seen her since we graduate in April and she's due to have her first baby this June. We ate at Boomer Jack's and had a great time catching up! We took her some furniture and gifts for the little one...a crib, swing, high chair, walker, a few toys, and a few new outfits. Afterwards, Ry went back to the golf course while I headed back to the lab. We got home just in time to eat some quick dinner and pass out.
Monday, Feb 16
Presidents' Day! That means I got the day off work, right? Right! But I still had plenty to catch up on around the apartment. Ryan still had to work and I also met my mom for lunch. I also got to go for my first long jog since my surgery! Yay! Oh I was so happy...
Wednesday, Feb18
Ryan comes down with the flu and strep very early this morning, I get the flu this evening despite my efforts to disinfect the house with lysol and bleach. We both headed to an urgent care clinic to get some meds and to CVS for any form of relief...FYI, there is no "relief" from the flu. I don't care what the boxes say, this product that provides relief does not exist. However, anything that just knocks you out so that you sleep for days on end is the best alternative. Thanks much to our parents who brought us all kinds of food and medicines to help us get better, we are so very grateful!
Thursday and Friday, Feb 19 and 20
Ryan and I both stayed home in absolute misery! Again, that you mom and dad for bringing us food and meds...
Saturday and Sunday, Feb 21 and 22
Ryan and I were finally starting to feel a little better, but not well enough to actually do anything. Really, we just felt well enough to be awake and be annoyed with each other. We managed to take the dogs to the park to potty and to run for a little while, so I'm sure they appreciated that!
There you have it...you are caught up with the terribly interesting lives we lead! Sorry for the world's longest blog! Hopefully I will be keeping up with my updates a little better now :)
Hope everyone has a great week!
Sunday, February 8, 2009
Time Flies...
Wow, I absolutely cannot believe that it's already February 8th! We have just been keeping so busy all this month, and the time has just gotten away from us. Ryan has been working very hard at his golf (and doing very well, I might add!). I have still been recovering from my surgery-sleeping has been my last obstacle. I'm finally back in my own bed, so hopefully this phase is wrapping up. It's driving me so nutty that I still cannot see my scar! It's been 2 weeks since my surgery, and the stinkin' Steri-Strips are still on. My doctor said that they should fall off sometime around now (and to leave them on until they willingly fall off), but until then...I'm left in suspense. I tried putting some vaseline around the edges to loosen them :). I'm so impatient!
We went to the Dallas Stars game on Thursday, and that was such a blast! They won, so that made it even more fun.
This weekend, Ryan shot a 61 (11 under par) at Trophy Club and tied the course record! Also this weekend, I started volunteering at this equestrian physical therapy place called Rocky Top Therapy Center. It's a ranch that boards horses and operates a few different rehabilitation programs. One program (Hippotherapy) is designed for disabled children and adults who get to have riding sessions to improve physical disabilities under the direction of a physical therapist. Another program (Trail Blazers) is for people with behavioral disorders. They also have a cowboy challenge course and host a variety of events including birthday parties. All of their proceeds keep the ranch financially afloat and enable them to keep up the therapy programs. I really had a great time (I love horses to begin with!) and think that this is something I will really enjoy doing for a long time. They said that these feelings will only intensify once I begin to build bonds with the riders and get to know their situations. Saturday night we went out bowling with mom, dad, Aimee, Anson, Sonya, and Olivia. We had so much fun! Today, we went to church then to the Fort Worth Stock Show and Rodeo...note to self for next year: don't wait until the last day to go to the Stock Show! It was kinda fun, but most of the livestock was already gone. They still had a petting zoo, Elsie the Borden Milk mascot, pony rides and pictures (too bad Ryan and I are too big for this one...), and the Midway, but we weren't really big fans of the Midway. While we were there, they had a cow auction and a horse jumping show, so we watched a little of each of those. I have now decided that Ryan, Aimee, and I all need a horse of our own!
Grandma has also been recovering from her second surgery and this week, her twin sister (my Aunt Pat) came in to visit. Aunt Pat has also had a mastectomy, so I'm sure this gave Grandma an opportunity to talk to someone who really understands her situation. She had a follow-up visit with the surgeon this week and had a CT scan of her chest, abdomen, and pelvis. Once the oncologist reviews those results with her, she and the doctors will be able to devise a treatment plan suitable for her individual situation.
We haven't heard much else on Brittany's situation, so please keep her in your prayers as she and the doctors devise the best plan to treat her condition.
Mom seems to be doing better since she got a few days to rest, so we're all very grateful for that.
So that's what we've been up to lately...hope things are going well for you! Have a good week!
We went to the Dallas Stars game on Thursday, and that was such a blast! They won, so that made it even more fun.
This weekend, Ryan shot a 61 (11 under par) at Trophy Club and tied the course record! Also this weekend, I started volunteering at this equestrian physical therapy place called Rocky Top Therapy Center. It's a ranch that boards horses and operates a few different rehabilitation programs. One program (Hippotherapy) is designed for disabled children and adults who get to have riding sessions to improve physical disabilities under the direction of a physical therapist. Another program (Trail Blazers) is for people with behavioral disorders. They also have a cowboy challenge course and host a variety of events including birthday parties. All of their proceeds keep the ranch financially afloat and enable them to keep up the therapy programs. I really had a great time (I love horses to begin with!) and think that this is something I will really enjoy doing for a long time. They said that these feelings will only intensify once I begin to build bonds with the riders and get to know their situations. Saturday night we went out bowling with mom, dad, Aimee, Anson, Sonya, and Olivia. We had so much fun! Today, we went to church then to the Fort Worth Stock Show and Rodeo...note to self for next year: don't wait until the last day to go to the Stock Show! It was kinda fun, but most of the livestock was already gone. They still had a petting zoo, Elsie the Borden Milk mascot, pony rides and pictures (too bad Ryan and I are too big for this one...), and the Midway, but we weren't really big fans of the Midway. While we were there, they had a cow auction and a horse jumping show, so we watched a little of each of those. I have now decided that Ryan, Aimee, and I all need a horse of our own!
Grandma has also been recovering from her second surgery and this week, her twin sister (my Aunt Pat) came in to visit. Aunt Pat has also had a mastectomy, so I'm sure this gave Grandma an opportunity to talk to someone who really understands her situation. She had a follow-up visit with the surgeon this week and had a CT scan of her chest, abdomen, and pelvis. Once the oncologist reviews those results with her, she and the doctors will be able to devise a treatment plan suitable for her individual situation.
We haven't heard much else on Brittany's situation, so please keep her in your prayers as she and the doctors devise the best plan to treat her condition.
Mom seems to be doing better since she got a few days to rest, so we're all very grateful for that.
So that's what we've been up to lately...hope things are going well for you! Have a good week!
Saturday, January 31, 2009
So it's been a while...
Sorry guys, I know it's been a while! So what's changed since last time? I had my preop appointment on January 22, at which I did not completely pass out! The nurse was really good when she drew my blood, and I got about half-way through my passing out routine, but she did a great job of keeping me from going over the edge. FYI, my routine is: start crying, can't speak anymore and breathing gets very difficult, start to melt over to one side, my eyes start to roll back in my head, my hearing goes, then I completely black out. I only made it to when my eyes started rolling back this time, so YAY! Everything else there went fine. Then I had my surgery bright and early on January 23, which was a good thing because it did not give me a whole day to worry about it. Although I have to admit, I was a mess at the hospital that morning (partially because they blew the vein in my hand, put the IV on the side of my wrist, then put another port on the other side of my wrist to draw blood-that one HURT!). The surgery went smoothly and as expected. They removed the entire mass and determined that it was what they thought it was-a fibroadenoma about the size of a golfball. It's been about a week since the surgery, and I haven recovered quite nicely. The surgeon said that the incision looks very good (it's about 2 1/2 inches long and all my stitches are internal) and I have been given the okay to do any activity that does not cause me pain or involve vigorous activity (jogging, jumping on a trampoline, stair-stepping, etc.). She said that the incision should be completely healed up in about 2 weeks and I will be good to go. We also got the results back from the skin biopsy that the dermatologist did on my back...it's benign! They removed the entire mole and no further treatment will be necessary. YAY! Many praises that all my stuff went so well.
Grandma had her second surgery on January 26. This time, she is experiencing more postop pain and had some more trouble coming out of the anesthesia. Her CT scan is scheduled for February 11, so we are really sitting on pins and needles waiting for the results of that scan. Hopefully this will bring good news for Grandma...it will be the first time in a long time that she's received good news about her health.
Brittany also got some pretty crummy news about her situation...the surgeon that her doctor referred her to is not willing to operate. I'm not sure what her plan is or who else she has appointments scheduled with, but I do know that this is very hard on her. I'll post any new information on her situation as it comes my way...
Here's to high hopes of February bringing good health our way! Please continue to pray for us all including my parents as all our situations and their associated stresses are starting to take their tolls...
Grandma had her second surgery on January 26. This time, she is experiencing more postop pain and had some more trouble coming out of the anesthesia. Her CT scan is scheduled for February 11, so we are really sitting on pins and needles waiting for the results of that scan. Hopefully this will bring good news for Grandma...it will be the first time in a long time that she's received good news about her health.
Brittany also got some pretty crummy news about her situation...the surgeon that her doctor referred her to is not willing to operate. I'm not sure what her plan is or who else she has appointments scheduled with, but I do know that this is very hard on her. I'll post any new information on her situation as it comes my way...
Here's to high hopes of February bringing good health our way! Please continue to pray for us all including my parents as all our situations and their associated stresses are starting to take their tolls...
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Another Health Update
Well Grandma is not doing as well as last time I posted. When she went back for her post-surgery appointment, they discovered that there were some cancerous spots in the skin at her mastectomy site. She has to go back in to surgery on Monday, January 26 to take care of this problem, which is not at all what we expected. I went with her, Grandpa, mom, Aunt Tammy, and Aunt Gloria to an oncologist visit on Monday. As it turns out, she has a very rare form of breast cancer called "Triple Negative" and this particular type has a much higher recurrence rate than other types of breast cancer. The doctor seemed optimistic about her outlook as long as they kept on top of getting her in to the office and getting scans done regularly. He wants to do a CT scan after her surgery, then based on those results, maybe proceed with some radiation therapy. Grandma is very opposed to chemo-therapy at the moment because she already doesn't feel well and doesn't want that therapy to make her feel so much worse. We just have to keep praying for God's will and for Grandma and the doctors to do what they can all agree is best for her specific situation. The good news for the rest of us is that there isn't a solid genetic link right now, so we're not all at super-high risk just yet. The oncologist just warned us to make sure to keep up with our own scans and to our own advocates when we speak with our doctors to make sure that any treatment plan is unique and right for our individual situations. He was a very good doctor and I greatly appreciate the way he is taking care of Grandma.
Brittany's situation hasn't really changed since last time. We are still in limbo until she speaks directly with her surgeon about setting up a date to remove the scar-tissue mass in her liver and her spleen, which they estimate to be about 10 pounds by now. As a comparison, the average adult human spleen is about half a pound. She is still in a lot of pain and is very anxious to visit with the surgeon, so please keep her in your thoughts and prayers.
As for myself, I had an appointment with a dermatologist on Monday. My surgeon was worried about one spot on my back, which turned out to be fine, but the dermatologist did find another one which she chose to remove and biopsy. I was so proud of myself because I did not pass out when they numbed me up with the injection! However...I certainly did pass out as soon as I got up. I made it through the needles and the razor blade and patching me all up...but when I got up to leave...I only made it to the front desk. Then, I had to be carried to a room where they gave me a bed to lay on and wouldn't let me leave for about 30 minutes which is when my color finally came back. That was probably the most action that dermatologist's office has seen in quite some time! The poor girl behind the front desk was pregnant and had just had minor surgery, so she was doing well just to be at work. I probably scared the daylights out of her! Ryan (who absolutely hates blood and guts and stuff) is having to change my dressing everyday because it's on my back...poor guy. But I'm healing up nicely and he only has a few days left. We should find out the results of the biopsy next week sometime. The other thing is that I have my lumpectomy on Friday, and I'm totally freaked out. I have a pre-op appointment on Thursday afternoon at which they will be drawing blood...at least these guys are at a hospital and it's not too out of the ordinary when I pass out. Then there's the anesthesia/surgery thing...I'm not a fan, but know that I really have to do this. At least I get to take a few days off work, right? Sorry, I crack jokes sometimes when I'm uncomfortable. Please pray for me! I do want to thank everyone who has offered to help us during this time and thank mom and dad for going to the hospital with us that day...it really means more than you know. Hopefully it will go smoothly and as planned. I'll be much better once it's over and I'm back home!
For each of our situations and for those not mentioned, we just have to keep our faith strong and be grateful for the good people in our lives to help us through these situations.
Brittany's situation hasn't really changed since last time. We are still in limbo until she speaks directly with her surgeon about setting up a date to remove the scar-tissue mass in her liver and her spleen, which they estimate to be about 10 pounds by now. As a comparison, the average adult human spleen is about half a pound. She is still in a lot of pain and is very anxious to visit with the surgeon, so please keep her in your thoughts and prayers.
As for myself, I had an appointment with a dermatologist on Monday. My surgeon was worried about one spot on my back, which turned out to be fine, but the dermatologist did find another one which she chose to remove and biopsy. I was so proud of myself because I did not pass out when they numbed me up with the injection! However...I certainly did pass out as soon as I got up. I made it through the needles and the razor blade and patching me all up...but when I got up to leave...I only made it to the front desk. Then, I had to be carried to a room where they gave me a bed to lay on and wouldn't let me leave for about 30 minutes which is when my color finally came back. That was probably the most action that dermatologist's office has seen in quite some time! The poor girl behind the front desk was pregnant and had just had minor surgery, so she was doing well just to be at work. I probably scared the daylights out of her! Ryan (who absolutely hates blood and guts and stuff) is having to change my dressing everyday because it's on my back...poor guy. But I'm healing up nicely and he only has a few days left. We should find out the results of the biopsy next week sometime. The other thing is that I have my lumpectomy on Friday, and I'm totally freaked out. I have a pre-op appointment on Thursday afternoon at which they will be drawing blood...at least these guys are at a hospital and it's not too out of the ordinary when I pass out. Then there's the anesthesia/surgery thing...I'm not a fan, but know that I really have to do this. At least I get to take a few days off work, right? Sorry, I crack jokes sometimes when I'm uncomfortable. Please pray for me! I do want to thank everyone who has offered to help us during this time and thank mom and dad for going to the hospital with us that day...it really means more than you know. Hopefully it will go smoothly and as planned. I'll be much better once it's over and I'm back home!
For each of our situations and for those not mentioned, we just have to keep our faith strong and be grateful for the good people in our lives to help us through these situations.
Happy Birthday!
Monday (January 19) was Ryan's birthday, so we spent most of the weekend celebrating! He played golf with his dad Saturday morning and played on his new Nintendo Wii that afternoonwhile I ran some errands and took the pups for a nice long walk. Then we headed to my parents' house for some good BBQ dinner and yes, more playing on the Wii. We actually got everyone in on the games and really had a blast! Then on Sunday, we went to church then met Ryan's parents, his sister, and her boyfriend Will at Buca di Beppo for lunch. After lunch, we went to see "Paul Blart, Mall Cop" with his parents then spent a quiet evening at home with the fuzzy kids. Ryan had to work on his birthday, which totally sucks, but we went to dinner at Saltgrass which he really enjoyed! I also surprised him with an ice-cream cake! I hope he had an absolutely wonderful birthday weekend!
Our Future Olympic Gymnast
Here are a few pictures of Aimee (she's only 3 years old!) at her gymnastics class!
She does so well and always seems to have a great time.
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Tuesday, January 13, 2009
A Relaxing Weekend...
We had such a nice weekend! Saturday, Ryan played golf in the morning with his dad while I ran some errands. I took Grandma and Grandpa breakfast from Whataburger, got my hair cut, went to a birthday party for a family friend's little boy, then headed back to Grandma and Grandpa's for a late lunch and to finish visiting with them, mom, Tommy and Gloria, and my Aunt Cherry. Ryan shot a 64 that morning at golf-that's 8 under par! Go, Baby, Go! Grandma and Grandpa are doing very well! They have plenty of help in town, so that makes it easier, but they are really doing much better than we anticipated. We got Troy (the birthday boy) some terribly abnoxious toys, so Ryan and I have been warned that "we're owed one." Oh well...he loved them! Then, that evening, I caved in and gave Ryan his birthday present (a Nintendo Wii!) over a week early. I have to admit...I'd had it since November, so I had kinda been taunting him with it, so I kinda felt sorry for the guy! Plus, if he knew this is what he was getting, then he could ask his parents or my parents for some games or something to go with it. So we ended up playing on that all evening and ordering in a pizza.
Sunday, we went to church and to lunch. We had planned on going to the Fort Worth Stock Show and Rodeo, but were sadly mistaken and it doesn't start until NEXT weekend! Upon that sad news, Ryan and I went home to tidy up a little, then he headed back to the golf course for some more practice and I took the pups on a 4-mile walk, then spent about an hour at the dog park with our Husky/Wolf mix friend named Kota. Goosey got scared when some dogs started getting a little too rough, so she was actually the one to tell us that it was time to go home! Normally Mav gets tired or Ryan and I are ready and we have to nearly corner Goosey in order to leave, so this was a welcome change of pace. We had dinner brough in again that evening and just watched a little TV until it was time for bed...oh how relaxing it was! We were definitely ready to get the week started off on a good, rested note. Hope everyone has a good week!
Sunday, we went to church and to lunch. We had planned on going to the Fort Worth Stock Show and Rodeo, but were sadly mistaken and it doesn't start until NEXT weekend! Upon that sad news, Ryan and I went home to tidy up a little, then he headed back to the golf course for some more practice and I took the pups on a 4-mile walk, then spent about an hour at the dog park with our Husky/Wolf mix friend named Kota. Goosey got scared when some dogs started getting a little too rough, so she was actually the one to tell us that it was time to go home! Normally Mav gets tired or Ryan and I are ready and we have to nearly corner Goosey in order to leave, so this was a welcome change of pace. We had dinner brough in again that evening and just watched a little TV until it was time for bed...oh how relaxing it was! We were definitely ready to get the week started off on a good, rested note. Hope everyone has a good week!
Saturday, January 10, 2009
A Health Update
First, Grandma Hill had her mastectomy on Monday and it went very smoothly. She had to stay in the hospital until Wednesday because she started to run a little fever due to an upper respiratory infection, but the surgery itself and recovery from that appear to be going well. The doctor seemed to think that the cancer had not spread to the lymphnodes or anywhere else, so hopefully this surgery will be the end of the cancer-talk for Grandma. Thanks again for your prayers and support!
On Tuesday, Ryan, my mom, and I had a meeting with my surgeon to set up my own lumpectomy for later this month. I'm very blessed by the fact that my tumor is not malignant, but nonetheless, the surgeon still highly recommended that it be removed as soon as possible. The surgeon did also find another much smaller mass, but it appears to be either internal scar tissue or fibro-cystic, so it will not need to be removed-thank goodness!
Brittany is doing all right, but she is in quite a bit of discomfort and the people in her household seem to be either passing around pneumonia or just coincidentally coming down with it at the same time, so please continue to pray for her health.
Please also keep my mom in your prayers-she has a lot on her plate at the moment!
On Tuesday, Ryan, my mom, and I had a meeting with my surgeon to set up my own lumpectomy for later this month. I'm very blessed by the fact that my tumor is not malignant, but nonetheless, the surgeon still highly recommended that it be removed as soon as possible. The surgeon did also find another much smaller mass, but it appears to be either internal scar tissue or fibro-cystic, so it will not need to be removed-thank goodness!
Brittany is doing all right, but she is in quite a bit of discomfort and the people in her household seem to be either passing around pneumonia or just coincidentally coming down with it at the same time, so please continue to pray for her health.
Please also keep my mom in your prayers-she has a lot on her plate at the moment!
Sunday, January 4, 2009
Brittany and Grandma Update
Thank you all very much for your prayers and support regarding my Grandma Hill and my sister Brittany.
It was nearly unbelievable when my sister called the other day and let us know that the biopsy showed that the mass in her liver was not malignant. They are not going to have to put her through chemo/radiation (her health is already in a fragile state) and they're not going to have to do a liver transplant. That was just absolutely wonderful news! They're still going to remove her spleen as it swells and causes her a lot of pain, but that is most certainly better than having a liver transplant. Please continue to pray for her as she goes through the consults with her doctors and gets her treatment plans set up.
As for Grandma, her mastectomy is tomorrow, so please keep her and my Grandpa in your prayers. I will let you all know how she is doing later this week.
It was nearly unbelievable when my sister called the other day and let us know that the biopsy showed that the mass in her liver was not malignant. They are not going to have to put her through chemo/radiation (her health is already in a fragile state) and they're not going to have to do a liver transplant. That was just absolutely wonderful news! They're still going to remove her spleen as it swells and causes her a lot of pain, but that is most certainly better than having a liver transplant. Please continue to pray for her as she goes through the consults with her doctors and gets her treatment plans set up.
As for Grandma, her mastectomy is tomorrow, so please keep her and my Grandpa in your prayers. I will let you all know how she is doing later this week.
Ringing in 2009
Well considering that I was very sick with a bad upper respiratory infection (which I am still fighting...ugh!) and that Ryan had to work New Year's Eve and New Year's Day, we had a very low-key celebration. We went out for Chinese food, perused Target for a game to play (with no luck), then tried Blockbuster for any good movies (again, no luck there either). We got home at about 9:30, got cuddled up on the couch, and watched the New Year's Eve shows as we barely kept our eyelids peeled open until midnight. Here are some pictures of our party-animal selves!
Ryan would prefer not to share his resolutions for the new year, and I don't really like to make "resolutions" for the new year, but maybe "goals" instead. Here are my "goals" for 2009:
1. RELAX! Last year, we had the wedding (and showers, rehearsal, honeymoon, etc.), a trip to the ER with a certain cooking incident and consequent days home in bed-rest, my college graduation, both of us got new jobs, we moved from Austin back to Dallas, and really tried to do anything and everything that we could once we got back. I want to sit back this year and enjoy life and all the blessings we've been given!
2. Pay closer attention to the way I treat my own body. Whether it's the foods that I put in my body, the amount and types of exercise I am getting, or the way that I am treating myself in a more spiritual/emotional way (including the way I let stress effect me), I want to pay better attention to what effects these things are having on me. I think this will encourage me to make more time for myself and to treat my body better.
3. Keep up with this blog and/or a scrapbook!
Saturday, January 3, 2009
Christmas Videos
Apparently all of the videos that Ryan made from the Christmas footage are way too big to post. Sorry! Just trust us on this one...we had so much fun getting to see everyone and giving the pups their presents!
Pics from Christmas
Finally...here are a few pics from Christmas! It's mainly Christmas Eve because Christmas Day is on the video camera...hopefully that will all be posted later today.
Here we are! Ryan, me, Kelly, and Andrew at Fleming's for dinner on Friday.
This is what Ryan did during most of the festivities (this was on Christmas Eve)
Me, Mom, and Aimee in our Christmas PJ's
Mom and Dad at Dinner on Christmas Eve
Me, Ryan, and Aimee on Christmas Eve
Aimee making cookies for Santa...yes, there was very close supervision with the knife! This was her first year to do this and she got such a kick out of getting ready for Santa!
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