Surgery Summary (almost 2 months post-op)

I feel AWESOME, seriously. So here is the run down of what has happened for anyone who is curious enough to read this

• Oct. 26th: Ultrasound & Dr appointment @ APW, diagnosis: Endometrial polyp, cysts on uterine wall. Dr. Tandon was sweet, direct and to the point, qualities I value in a doctor. (gimme the facts, but with tact) I really think she must have thought I was a little crazy, because of how calm I was about everything.  Dr T: "we found polyps and cysts in your uterus and endometrium, you need to have surgery to remove them, a hysteroscopy, D&C and polypectomy." Me:"okay" Dr. T: "Do you want to schedule that today?" Me: "yes."
• Nov. 16th: pre-op/ pre-admission appointments: boring, long, necessary. 
• Nov. 25th: The BIG day
• We stayed up late to eat and drink, so I wouldn't be hangry the next day. We woke up early, unintentionally.
• Mom, Joseph & I arrive at hospital, and get checked in just before 12:30
• I was hooked with, or up to everything: a gown, a hair net, anti-nausea patch behind my ear, compression socks, pressure cuffs on my legs, another pair of socks, blood pressure cuff, finger pulse ox monitor, some other monitor on my ear, 3 bracelets, and probably about 5 warm blankets on top of me.
• The I.V. hook up didn't go so smoothly...I squirted blood everywhere, blood EVERYWHERE, crime scene quality I'm sure. The nurse thought it would be more difficult and that I would be more dehydrated (fair skin = difficult poke, she said) 
• I was given valium in my I.V. right before they wheeled me to the O.R., then in the O.R. an oxygen mask was brought up to my face, I was told "time to go to sleep", had surgery (so I'm told, happily under general anesthesia I don't remember anything) then I woke up back in my "room" 
• 2, I.V. pain med pushes, a snack, and 1 bathroom trip later I was dressing to go home. We left the hospital, around 3pm
• We all went to walmart for my prescriptions. Joseph rode behind me (in an electric wheelchair) around the store while we waited for the meds. Got home around 4pm
• Mom says she was a little freaked out by how coherent I was right after surgery.  She stayed, warmed up our dinner and ate with us, started my medication notebook (schedule) and left after I was finally settled in and relaxing. (around 6 pm)
• Apparently I am tough one to get to lay down and relax... but Joseph knew the trick, he put a dryer warmed blanket on me and I stayed put. 
• Dec 17th: Post-Op appointment, kind of a waste of an appointment, if you ask me. Dr. T told me it was a successful surgery, everything looks good, made sure I was feeling well and had no complications, then she gave me the all clear to try to get pregnant. 
• Other Facts
• The polyp was benign (yay!) and measured 2.1 cm x 1.4 cm x 0.4 cm, so it was quite large. (Validating for me, I was in real pain and for a real reason)
• This was not my first surgery, but it was my third D&C.
• However,  this was my first D&C that had nothing to do with a pregnancy loss, which made it much easier, emotionally.
• It was so much harder (painful) BEFORE surgery than after. Something I found that people had a hard time understanding.
• Polyp Info: Not much is known about polyps, I know, I asked and I googled... 
• What causes them? Not sure...hormone imbalance seems probable.
• How long was that growing inside me? Who knows...It was kinda flat so it could have been pushed aside during previous ultrasounds.
• Do polyps prevent pregnancy? Unknown, but likely. Symptoms include unexplained infertility and multiple miscarriages. What I do know is that it was there, it was large and it was causing serious problems (PAIN, irregular periods & excessive and irregular bleeding, difficulty getting/staying pregnant)

Now that it's gone & I've healed I feel so great, I have so much more energy, it's kind of ridiculous! I'm a whole new person, or at least it feels that way, especially after months of PAIN. I like to say a HUGE thank you to everyone who checked up on me, left notes and messages on FB, sent sweet texts and thoughtful gifts to me as I endured pain, and underwent surgery. It sure meant a lot, thanks. Goodbye endometrial polyp and uterine cysts and may you NEVER EVER return. 

A little pick me up

We received this wonderful email after our 1st center day in our T/TH preschool class. I want it here to re-read when I need a pick me up.
To clarify:
Center day is a very structured day for our students with 5 centers, or stations where they make crafts to do with the holiday or season, it's also an opportunity for the parents to come into the classroom and volunteer. Being our very 1st one of the year the kids didn't know to stay in their groups, or how to cycle from each center to the next one. (And we have lots of "littles" in this class, so they tend to be squirmy even on good days.) I'm also working through lots of pain still, and with so many parents in the room watching I made sure to do my best "perky preschool teacher" performance.  Now you know the background... so you'll understand why I REALLY LOVE this email.

Hi!

I just wanted to give some positive feedback for your preschool program. I think we often only receive negative feedback and I want to make sure that you all know what a great program you have going. I was very involved with my daughters previous preschool because my work schedule allowed that at the time. Unfortunately now because of my new schedule and the distance from my office to this particular preschool, I am not able to be as involved as I would like. I often worry about how the teachers interact with my daughter and if she feels at home. Well, today I was able to take some time off to volunteer for the Center Day and I would like management and the owners to know that you have a great team of teachers and a great program. They had control at all times and if a child got a little wild, they could gain control quickly. They work so well with the children and I can tell they genuinely care about them. Being able to see that myself in person, has given me so much relief. Props to your team and I appreciate all of the HEART work they put in to doing this.

Thank you!

So, Shaylee needs surgery...(slightly graphic!)

Its been 32 days since the pain first started. I feel like a Star Trek character saying that (you know, "star date..."). 

So,yesterday I had an ultrasound.

It's hard to see, and I can't even tell you what for sure we're looking at. (I grabbed a quick pic of the screen while I was changing) But the ultrasound showed that I have endometrial polyps in my uterus.

 They are causing my pain & other symptoms! It's usually my polycystic ovaries causing problems, but not this time. 

Anyway, it means surgery, a hysteroscopy / D&C to remove them. The following images depict what I'm in for. 

My surgery is scheduled for Nov. 25th. I've had these procedures done before, but not at the same time. Would it be horrible to make a paper chain to count down to surgery?? (It is the day before Thanksgiving) 

I can't wait to have it all done, recover and to FINALLY feel better. The pain is intense and unrelenting, and no medication was adequately helping with pain relief. So it's easy to understand, I haven't really been myself lately. I have a new pain killer that helps tremendously, so that's a blessing. 

Scheduling the surgery was miraculous: somehow the pre-op, pre-registration/admission, surgery & post-op all ended up being scheduled in a way so that I won't have to miss any piano lessons! No make up lessons! Hallelujah!  

Now I just need to be tough for the next 29 days. :)

Well I tried...

I tried to donate platelets to the red cross, a while ago, like summertime last year .... it wasn't a good experience, and that's putting it mildly. I've been a blood donor since my early high school years and have done it pretty often, I had no fear of needles. The Red Cross started to call me (over and over)  and even sent me a letter, inviting me to come in and donate platelets, apparently I'm an "ideal candidate" for it.... so I set up an appointment and went.

This was in the bathroom in place of a mirror.

So first came the right arm, it was an okay stick, but it was stinging.. stinging a bit more than I expected. I expressed this to the lady, and she said she'll check it in a bit, then stuck my left arm, perfect stick, no pain. I complained about the pain in my right arm, I asked her to check it, it hurt quite a lot at this point. She said she was sure it was fine but made her way to look at it. After lifting up the gauze pad you could see that everything wasn't okay, there was a large bulge in my arm and immediately she paused the machine and called someone else over... that person removed the needle and tried another spot in my right arm, near my wrist. Which hurt even more that the first stick, and bulged up too, at this point I told them I was done and would like to go. So they unhooked me and bandaged me up, one on the left arm and two on the right, I was trying to be brave, but it hurt and I was the only girl, the men probably thought that I wimped out. I couldn't get out of there fast enough, but they had to write up what happened and why it was an unsuccessful donation attempt. Two blown veins, my first experience with platelets which resulted in my first blown veins. Then they gave me some "gifts" a bag & a t-shirt, I'm pretty sure they were feeling bad by now. 

After getting home mom helped me out by making me an "ice cast" for my arm. I snuggled into the couch with a blanket and watched a movie. 

This is what my arm looked like on day 1: very swollen and starting to bruise.

Day 2

Day 3

 Day 4

Day 5

I didn't take a picture on the worst day, Mom said I was already freaking people out with the whole series of pictures. Eventually the bruise was solid and stretched across my entire arm and up into my bicep.

 I should also mention that the Red Cross continued to call me and urge me to come back and give it a second try, they couldn't talk me into it. A couple of weeks after my arm healed, I went and donated blood, I felt like I had to, or I may chicken out in the future.  It went great, but I was definitely more afraid of the needle than I had been before, the man who poked me was very understanding as I explained why I was scared this time. Sorry if you're grossed out, I was fascinated by the bruising and how ugly it was.

Gluten- Free for me

Well if the title didn't give it away I will now, I (Shaylee) am gluten intolerant. After coming up with this diagnosis, I've done lots and lots of research that I will share here, mingled in will be my story... thus far.

Definitions:
"Gluten sensitivity (also gluten intolerance) is a spectrum of disorders including celiac disease and allergy, in which gluten has an adverse effect on the body"
"Gluten is a protein composite found in food processed from wheat and related species, including barley and rye"  (Source)

Signs and Symptoms of Gluten intolerance
1. If you have eczema (or other skin rash) and no one seems to know the actual cause behind it, you may have some sort of food allergy.
2. If any of your blood related family members are gluten intolerant then you should get tested. (My Aunt, on my father's side is extremely gluten intolerant)
3. Symptoms associated with gluten intolerance:
-Weight loss/ or gain
- nutritional deficiencies due to malabsorption (ie. low iron)
- gastrointestinal problems (bloating, gas, pain, constipation & diarrhea)
- fat in stool
- aching joints
- depression
- eczema
- headaches
- exhaustion
- irritability, behavioral changes
- infertility, irregular menstrual cycles & miscarriage
- cramps, tingling and numbness
- slow infant and child growth
- decline in dental health.
(Source)

My symptoms include: skin rash on my arms, that looked a lot like Keratosis Pilaris, but didn't go away and got worse when I ate bread. Gastrointestinal discomforts, that mimic the side effects of metformin & headache that lasted all week.

After determining that these were symptoms, not side effects & that I am not sick, I consulted google and my doctor. We agreed that there is a link between gluten intolerance & PCOS, infertility and miscarriage. We also decided not to do a blood test, which can be expensive and inconclusive, instead just eliminating gluten from my diet.

Back to google, I wanted evidence that gluten intolerance may be connected to my infertility. Here are my findings:
The body has an innate intelligence that prevents pregnancy when the health of the mother and/or father are poor. To force pregnancy through unnatural means is a dangerous practice. miscarriage, spontaneous abortion, birth defects, infant developmental problems are common among those having children through treatments.
The 2 most common causes of infertility are pelvic inflammatory disorders and polycystic ovarian syndrome, PCOS. A study in the medical journal of human reproduction identified gluten sensitivity in as many and 8% of women with unexplained infertility problems. The following fertility issues have been linked to gluten sensitivity: (only listed are those that I have had) PCOS, diabetes (or insulin resistance), amenorrhea (absence of menstrual cycle), spontaneous abortion & multiple miscarriages. Gluten intolerance has become a modern plague on human fertility. (Sources here, here and here)

So I then I went on to research what does and doesn't have gluten in it. and because my symptoms included my skin, I need to cut gluten out of my life entirely. Do you know how many thing have gluten in them? Everything, basically.

Cutting gluten out of my diet hasn't been the hard part, it's ridding myself of products that have gluten in them. So far I have replaced my soap (to Dove), deodorant (to Dove), toothpaste (Colgate), face wash (Neutragena, tons of gluten- free options)  & some makeup (Physicians Formula & E.L.F are entirely gluten free make up lines). Luckily a lot of my beauty products are gluten free, way to go Paul Mitchell (I use Super Skinny Serum, Round Trip & Worked up), my shampoo and conditioner (Garnier Fructis), my lotions (Melaleuca's Renew & Hempz), my laundry detergent (Melaleuca). I find myself double checking labels on EVERYTHING. Especially after having a little set back a few days into going gluten free, I used products with gluten- totally on accident, and got a dry itchy rash.

Isn't this absolutely insane? I am 1 week into being gluten- free internally and topically, and I already feel better; no headache, stomach is great, skin is clearing up, I have more energy & sleep better.
I'll keep you posted as I go.

Not THAT kind of announcement...

Almost exactly a week ago, I woke up at midnight in complete agony. My abdomen both right and left and front to back was in extreme pain, so much pain and it was shooting down my legs. I was also nauseated. What ever was going on, was bad, really bad. Joseph woke up and I sent him up to get my Mom, once she knew what was going on we decided we needed to go to the hospital. But not before getting a priesthood blessing. As a result of the blessing, I was able to  remain very calm the whole time, even while my pain level was a 9 (scale of 1-10). 

After giving urine and blood samples (ruling out infection & pregnancy), they hooked me up with an IV with nausea & pain meds., (pain down to a 2) then the ultrasound tech came in to torture me, kidding, he was very good (pain up to a 4 after). They were able to determine that I had had an ovarian cyst rupture. And it was bad....

This is my left Ovary, which measured normal and looks great (size and cyst-wise)

This is my right ovary, which measured just over twice the size of the left, and had an enormous cyst that had recently ruptured. This is the biggest cyst I have ever had. 

This is my uterus, from the side. The dark shadow is free fluid (expelled from the cyst) and blood, trapped behind my uterus. The fluid is NOT normal and can cause extreme pain. 

Conclusion:  

Enlarged Right ovary = Pain

Huge Cyst Rupture = Lots of Pain

Free Fluid/ Blood = Lots and Lots of Pain.

 I was sent home with awesome pain and nausea medication.

Lots of rest & Water. 

Yes, I have been working still, but not moving much.

And my pain has been manageable during the week. 

Swelling will go down, and fluid will be re-obsorbed by my body. 

Healing slowly.

random

valentines day present from my sweetie! 

for Briana, 90% of the time my hair is like this. 

Always, always curly. 

I don't know why I have so many straight hair pictures,  they're misnomers really.

I got behind on my blogging, again

This is why...

What is that you ask, a massive, intensively itchy allergic reaction. It covered my entire body. These are pictures of days 1 & 2 of my arm and back, Mom wouldn't take day 3 pictures, which were worse than these, she said we were already scaring people (she posted this on Facebook).  This rash came from a serious allergic reaction to anti-biotics that I was prescribed for a sinus infection. We first thought that I had chicken pox, for the 3rd time. Luckily we were wrong.

I am allergic to Sulfas,  which is a class of drugs derived from sulfonamides. These drugs are used in the treatment of both bacterial and non-bacterial infections. The most common sulfa allergic reaction is the appearance of rashes on the skin. These itchy rashes can appear all over the body and can cause irritation and discomfort. Another allergic reaction is Anaphylaxis, which is quite a serious condition where the affected person experiences difficulty in breathing, increase in heart beat, vomiting, nausea, dizziness and sometimes fainting.


This was just my first exposure, I now have to wear a medical ID bracelet stating this allergy, because next time could be much much worse. Lets just say I love oatmeal baths, and Melaleuca Renew lotion, they are life savers. I am doing much better, my "spots"  or "dots" are now light pink and not welt-like. It's been a crazy couple of weeks, sinus infection to allergic reaction. 

I am not...

just the second counselor in the primary presidency.

I am Shaylee:
The following are real quotes that I have said, some more than once!

Sunbeam Wrangler extraordinaire:
"Let's see,  do you want to sit in the blue chair or the green chair?"
(They're all yellow)

"Look you have front row seats!"

"Okay, you're a robot (or dinosaur), can you be a reverent robot (or dinosaur)."

"Get your: arm, leg, bum, tongue, face, elbow, nose or face off your class mate please."

Tantrum Tamer:
"Jesus doesn't want you to yell in His house."

"Do you want me to hit you because I am unhappy with you? No? Then don't hit!"

"You don't want to sit with your class? Well lets go out the in the hall and learn how to be reverent."

Accomplished Confiscator of Contraband:
"We do not bring: toys, garbage, lipstick, candy, legos, coin collections, rocks or treadmill keys etc. to primary." (Yes, I have confiscated all of these!)

Champion of Chairs:
"If you tip your chair back again & you will stand until the end of primary."

"Four on the floor!"

Defender of Good Posture: 
"Your head doesn't belong there, put your bum on the seat."

"Feet on the floor, not the seat."

Master of Manners: 
"That's not how we talk to one another, let's try that again."

"(Child's name) Do we talk while I am talking? Please be quiet and listen."

"What do you say? (please, thank you, sorry, excuse me etc."

"That's not nice, we don't want to hurt her feelings do we?"

Whispered "If you can hear me, touch your nose, touch your ears, turn them on for listening, touch your mouth, turn it off .  It's time for sharing time/ closing exercises."


And most recently, baby handler. Our primary music leader was put into the relief society presidency, 4 weeks before our program! But luckily we just got a new family in the ward, and the wife was just called to replace her. She is awesome, and she has a 5 month old, so cute, red hair and bright blue eyes.  I got her to sleep in like 2 minutes, asleep and snoring. Then I got to sit and cuddle,well that and handle a kid that got sent into see me, unofficially I am "the enforcer", I am totally a mean mommy in the making.

Being in the Primary presidency is a hard calling, not because of the kids, more to do with adults.  But it is so much fun, so much work and Sunday is definitely not a restful day for me while at church. I love it, I love being in there with Joseph & my Mom who are both teachers in Primary.

Random Recent Events

• I sang second soprano in a trio for our wards Relief Society Birthday Dinner. It was awesome, if I do say so myself, I wish we had recorded it (audio only). Our voices blend really well, there may be an encore someday.. such plans are yet to be made.
• I got a new calling.......wait for it........ ward choir accompanist. yup. Which caused the secretary in our presidency (Primary) to have a little panic attack, until she realized I can do both of my callings.
• Joseph has his new glasses. He looks dashing as ever. And is seeing better with the new very strong prescription.
• Joseph has been working with an  employment agency in conjunction with DSB. We hope he finds work soon, he's sooo ready! He has filled out 1 application since starting with them. It is just a hard time of year to try to get hired on in the automotive field. (you know, getting the 2010's off the lot and thinning out the staff that was hired through the holidays.) We would like for him to use his degree, which is automotive technology management. Joseph is starting to get a little stir crazy as the weather is getting warmer.
• Joseph has been subbing for seminary, he is "on-call", and he does get paid when he teaches. In fact he is gone teaching right now, and will be every morning the rest of the week and one day again after spring break. I am so glad that he gets the opportunity to do that, and he really is a great teacher (nope not biased at all! ;) ).
• Pack meeting this month was on compassion, Joseph and I were asked to come and speak. He spoke about his MS: what it is, how long he has had it, how it affects him, and how it caused his blindness. He then talked about all the many skills he (and we) have learned this past year. We had each of the scout's names written in braille for the boy's to have and take home. We opened the discussion to questions , I helped but mostly let  Joseph do the talking. It was an interesting discussion that took place, very positive and also educating for us and for our audience; we got to see from a different perspective, which was kind of the theme for the night. I'm sure if asked  we would gladly do it, but a little better prepared now having gotten the first "guest speaker(s)" experience out of the way.
• I now have  37 38 students, so 6-8 students a night! Yeah I still can't believe it, but it is so wonderful. Enrollment closes for the "semester" at spring break. 

Shaylee (10 facts)

(me @ work, taken on my ipod)

1. I'm a dog person, but I love my cat.

2. I LOVE movies. Joseph and I own over 200 movies.

3. Teaching piano is the best job ever, I love my students.

4. I am a photographer, but I hate getting my picture taken. I know, it's a bit ridiculous.

5. I think thunderstorms are amazing, I wish we had more here.

6. Solicitors hang up on me because I have a small voice. It's pretty awesome.

7. Joseph calls me a mermaid, because I love water and swimming.

8. I have to have laughing gas when I have dental work down, or I hyperventilate. (I blame it on the traumatic experience of getting my wisdom teeth out, and having to impacted that they had to break..)

9. I want twins soo bad! Double our family in one shot, oh ya!

10. I love music and art, all kinds of both. (not country or rap)

I had a doctors appointment on Jan 24th, I met my new OB/GYN, a meeting that was way over due. I had put myself on the back burner and I was a year late for my "yearly" appointment, if you know what I mean. This doctor came highly recommended by my aunt, he is an infertility specialist, specializing in recurrent miscarriages  (my problem) and bi-cornet uterus' (my aunt's problem, she literally has two)

So the morning of the appointment I went alone, (unusual for me, I like to have Joseph with me- but I figured I'd be there for a long time) I was,  and my i pod was a life saver, I was watching a movie while waiting. Finally my name was called, did all the normal doctor stuff: height, weight, blood pressure- mine was normal by the way! I have what I like to call "white coat syndrome" I DO NOT LIKE DOCTORS, any doctor and when I go into an examining room my blood pressure usually sky rockets, then I'm fine again when I leave.  My guess is that comes from getting bad news a little too often. 

Anyway back to the appointment, after I was in my open back hospital gown and paper blanket I met the man.  He looked over my chart, got down to pregnancy history: 4 pregnancies, no deliveries; surgical history: Laparascopy a couple D&C's etc. To say he was shocked was an understatement. So we talked about what my previous Dr. had done & my current birth control. He wanted to know why I picked an IUD and why we've kept it in so long. So then came the brief (but still long) story of our married life, miscarriages, surgeries, school, moving, adoption, Joseph's blindness and job loss. He asked if I was depressed, I said "not right now", he said that's amazing because he is depressed just listening to our story. Then he returned the favor and shocked me by saying "why don't we remove your IUD today? It will only take like 30 seconds. As your new doctor I am advising you that it's not going to help to wait anymore. I want you to be pregnant, don't you want to be pregnant? Let's take that thing out."  And that's basically verbatim, as it now permanently in my mind. I about fell off the examining table (which would have been a little awkward in a hospital gown). The good Doctor went on to lay out our game plan: " You'll call me the moment you get a positive pregnancy test. You'll come in and we'll do blood work and an ultrasound. Because of your history you'll probably need hormone injections, I will want to see you weekly." He had gone above and beyond my expectations, I had set for myself. And he surpassed my list of demands, so to say of what I wanted in my doctor, (I had a mental list because of some really crappy doctors I had seen previously).  

With adoption out of the picture (temporarily, we hope) pregnancy has crept back into the picture of possibilities. I couldn't make a decision like that without Joseph and definitely not over the phone with him either. So we proceeded with the normal yearly exam & on my way out he had me sign the release forms to get all my old records from Idaho (another reason I hesitated- he needs to see those first) He told me that I am young and healthy and strong- wow. I haven't heard those, at least not in a long while. What a strange day it was, I left the office in a daze, that wasn't what I was expecting at all.. and on my way out he met me in the hall put his hand on my shoulder  and said "Talk to Joe and call me when you decide to pull that thing out."

FSA Conference/ road trip

As you know I had a road trip through Portland for the Families Supporting Adoption Conference, it was amazing I learned way too much to have included in this post. But I loved it and it was totally worth a road trip alone. The drive was lovely, the colors of fall are so vibrant in Oregon (Wa. Too) it's been so long since I have experienced a real fall. I was driving in and out of rain storms, I saw more rainbows than I can count.

So, I got to stay with these people:
you can check out her post on it HERE, I love how she describes how she knows me, and yes it's true we stayed up 'til 2 am chatting, it was fun! :)

Sierra Seth & Porter

And meet this cutie for the first time:



Then after the conference I stayed with these people:

My Aunt Kim, Uncle Shane and Carly Brooke Macey Isaac and Paige

Funny story, I showed up minutes (literally) after they left for a roadshow, I was tired and hungry so after phone calls between my mom my grandma and another aunt I had the code to the garage to get in and I took myself out to eat. So I changed into PJ's and talked to Joe and then slept for an hour before Kim called and let me know they were on their way back. Then I had a slumber party with 4 out of 5 of those cute kids. Our sleeping arrangement was hilarious. They have a sectional couch downstairs that's where we slept, I slept in the bend, Isaac on the floor, Brooke cuddling a leg, Macey by my head, a hand in my hair for a long while, and Paige on top of or next to me. (she is 4, and was very serious when she said she wanted to sleep with me) at one point in the night she had kicked Brooke in the head so we moved her to the floor, a while later I woke up to that cutie hitting me in the face with a pillow and hearing her cute voice "Shaylee, I want to sleep WITH you!" Believe it or not I slept really well.

Although I wasn't planning on it I went to sacrament meeting with them (Brooke and Macey had there Primary program- they broke it up into jr and sr there are a ton of kids in their ward!) So I packed my stuff and went (in pants- I told them later they can say I was an investigator, or the truth I was traveling and I had no skirt) I managed to find my way back to their house so I could follow the google map instructions to get home (beleive me it was a little complicated) but the drive went smoothly and I made it home it time to take a small nap then get dressed for church and go to choir and meet with our Bishop... and I have a new calling!

The End.
J/K

I am the second counselor in the Primary Presidency.

Until next time

-S

Wait, what day is it?

Have you had one of those weeks?
We have.
When it feels like it should be Friday and it's only Monday?

or It feels like a Monday but it's Wednesday?

What through us so off is lack of sleep and anxiety over Joe's Appointments on Tuesday. They went so well! 1st was his Physical Therapy Appointment, we did it there in Spokane because they have a Multiple Sclerosis specializing Therapist there. And if she was to decide he needs weekly visits or something we would follow up locally. But she diagnosed Joe as a Spaz (his words not mine). Joe has Spasticity in his legs, it is what is making it hard for him to walk lately, especially after this last flare up. Basically it means that the muscles in his legs are tight and cause spasms and it can make the muscles feel stiff. Joe is in the middle in the scale they rate him, so not so good but not so bad either. (for more info go here) He has been given a list (with pictures) of stretches he needs to do at least twice a day, and he should try riding a bike too to loosen up those muscles (and Dad has already set him up a bike on the trainer and he is ready to go, after he did that they talked about really getting Joe ready for a cycling event or something?! boys!?)

Next was lunch of course, got to feed my boy... then the MRI. I love how close everything is, the MS Clinic it technically an extension of Holy Family Hospital in Spokane, and Inland Imaging is in the hospital itself. I really enjoyed the guy that helped Joe get ready for the MRI, he was young and has a great attitude for the kind of work he does (he had just met Dr Cooke that day!) After he was set we left him with a phone and walked around (otherwise I'd be going nuts waiting, it takes a while you know). Joe said the MRI went well (as well as you can expect being put into a tube of magnets that buzzes and bangs- you should hear his impression of it..lol)

Joe will be in to see Dr. Cooke again on Nov 30th (not soon enough, but soon enough, he's hard to get into) At that appointment we should be making the decisions on medications and getting then started ASAP!! And we will be so on top of that. He has waited long enough, but we do understand that the MRI had to come first and that because the previous Neurologist didn't give Dr Cooke the requested info (Grr..) Joe was re-diagnosed with MS, which sounds weird but it's good, they agree and Dr Cooke didn't need to see what another Dr had to say he did his own tests and came to *almost* the same conclusion.

What astounds me is how often we have heard Dr Cooke and staff ask why, why hasn't this been brought up before? Why didn't you know he had Spasticity? Why haven't you seen a physical therapist before for MS? Why didn't they MRI your spine? We would like to know that as well, but we are still grateful for the care and treatment that he received with his last Doctor, he saved my husbands life. Before he was my husband, and now Dr. Cooke is saving his quality of life and giving us the resources to do everything that Joe needs.

I love my husband Joseph, he is more than worth all the hassle it is to take care of MS. He is my miracle and my example he is so strong and brave and I will stand next to him through whatever else life has to through at us.

-S

P.S.
more to come it has been a seriously weird week. :)

Oh you poor neglected blog,

I'm so sorry. It must have slipped my mind, you wanted my attention, you needed me to update you. I failed so miserably, please let me explain.

• I started work. Two jobs in fact. I am a paid accompanist at my Alma Mater. By definition "performer paid to play", I'm a professional. Woah. Ya, that is cool. I love it & I love working with Mr. H or Coach (lol) I starting teaching Piano Lessons at the Tri- City Acamedy of Ballet and Music. I only have 4 students, my boss tells me to be patient he'll fill my schedule, but I am happy to start out small.
• I broke my tooth. My #3 molar (I learned that at the dentist, it's one of the main chewing molars) I was walking in Costco, and a huge chunk came out. Luckily my family's dentist excepted me as an emergency patient. I almost lost it in the office when he told me I needed a crown and that my tooth is basically falling apart (due to a failing filling- not rotten though, phew) I have a temporary now, permanent coming in a couple weeks.
• The same day my tooth broke I got my 1st ticket. Yup, true story. I figured that I was pulled over for a missing mirror (another story another time, but it's gone and he can't ticket me for it) so he decided to ticket me for running a red light. It was green!! The ticket was for $124. NOT cool. I had a passenger though, and she is willing to be a witness when I go to court and contest it. Because $124 is a lot of money to pay for something I honestly didn't do!

So dear sweet neglected blog, I hope you understand, I didn't mean to let you go so long. Do forgive me, won't you? I know your readers will, won't you?

-S

A little Q & A, mostly A

Due to the plethora of Questions we've had to answer over and over... here's some Q's with the A's...

About Joseph & MS

Q: How is Joe doing?
A: Really great, considering his MS. He is a walking miracle! He works hard to make sure his MS doesn't effect him and his goals.

Q: Is Joseph currently on medication?
A: No. He was on cellcept,basically a mild form of chemo, it was pretty rough on his body. His neurologist in Idaho had us wean him off cellcept because it could cause a scary disease with no symptoms and often fatal. It took over 4 months to make the decision to wean him off & 6 months to wean him off.

Q: Does the lack of Medication cause flare ups?
A: No, not necessarily. Flare ups are the normal course of MS. Medication can help lower the severity and can sometimes reduce the number of flare ups but we do not feel like his most recent flare up was caused by lack of medication. He has been stable with no flare ups for over 4 years until this year.

Q: What are your plans for Joseph regarding medication and treatment?
A: He has an appointment on Monday with Dr. Roger Cooke an MS Specialist, in Spokane. We will see what he recommends. We have looked into LDN, Chiropractic care and others. But we will be seeing what his new neurologist has to saw regarding a course of action for Joseph's care.

About Adoption:
Q: How is the adoption going?
A: It's on pause, we've done all we need to do except pay the $500, we had it but it's gone because of down payment on our new car and paying for Joseph's treatment for his flare up. We are pausing the process because Joseph's health is more important than babies. We have every hope of getting it going again and having the $$ quickly but our money is going towards Joseph.


Any more Qs, leave a comment we are happy to answer!

Our life continues on in craziness

* My Great Grandmother W passed away as we were traveling back from Gma B's funeral.

* I got a job yesterday at The Tri- Cities Academy of Ballet and Music. Teaching Piano.

*Joseph and I were called to teach in Primary again, this time the Valiant 9's, this should be an experience we've never been in senior primary.

* This is my last week of teaching swimming lessons. Summer is almost over and School is creeping back in.

yup.

more later.

-S

Quickly, some funnies

I did two pretty funny things this week...

Numero Uno: I have come up with a solution to tail gaiters. While riding in the back of my Father's Army Jeep. (it's orange, and all open) Keep in mind it was over 100 degrees outside and we were moving in an open jeep. I thought it would be funny to have an ice cream cone. Yes, it was funny, and really messy. Aparently, tale gaiters don't like it when thick white cream hits their windsheild! It was melting faster than I could eat it and we were moving so fast it splattered in all directions, my dad even ended up wearing some too. I was laughing so hard, I bet you would too if you saw us.

Numero Dos: I sprained my wrist. Well this fact isn't funny on it's own. It's how I did it. I sprained my wrist during family pictures... we were taking a picture with us girls holding my brother Dustin up. I took the heavy end and somehow turned my wrist wrong and almost dropped him. Thus injuring my poor wrist. Funny still.

-S

Being VERY Thankful!

Seeing as it's our 3 year 1 month anniversary today I wanted to have a post of good things and being thankful for lots of stuff in our lives right now.

* I am thankful for my amazing husband! Who wakes me up in the morning on his way out to tell me I am beautiful, Say I love you and give me kisses before he goes... like this morning ;)
*I am SO incredibly thankful for Joseph's employment. He is starting his career and he LOVES it!
* I am thankful for the two men, Baldy and Coach who are fighting to hire me.
* I am thankful for the weather and that Joseph is adjusting to it very quickly...it gets really hot (I love it, but I was worried about how he was doing when it was 104 last week)
* I am thankful for a sweet couple who have agreed to let me use their swimming pool to teach lessons this summer. Oh, and clean it too!
*I am thankful for Zyrtec.. it allows me to be helpful with outdoor chores & projects that I couldn't do before.
* I am thankful for a wonderful meeting with our caseworker. We were nervous and things went so great!
*Thankful for wonderful family in both Idaho and Washington, and lots of other places too.


Well I know there are a lot more I could list but I have already put up a few posts today... so that's good for today... now off to do some creative budgeting to see how we can come up with our adoption transfer fee and the cash to fix our car too (albeit slowly, but as soon as we know what we need it should go much faster!!)
-S

All done...

I am all done updating today, I know if some of you have been checking our blog often I have made like a million changes.. all done. I fixed my label cloud! yay! I changed the background,and font and put up too many posts for one day... haha well finished ...for today! :)

P.S.
If school budget allows I will have two, count 'um two jobs at Kennewick High. What you ask? A marching band tech and an accompanist. Yea my plan worked,they can't live without me. They (band director we'll call him "Baldy"- don't worry he likes it, and Choir director let's call him "Coach" - he does coach football) are working to make sure I will come back next semester and get paid!! yay!

Joe is doing good at work too. He enjoys his job. He is acclimating to the Kennewick heat very well. He does get wobbly but that's it! That is the only MS symptom he deals with right now. And I am working on getting him in to see the Chiropractor/Natural Path/ Nutritionalist I saw here. We feel so good about it, I hope for results just as good.

So cross your fingers for both of us! :)

-S