Sunday, July 31, 2011

Pictures from Saturday

 Ashlea's gift for Baby Eleanor (swaddling blankets, outfit, "Owlphabet" and Vulli the giraffe)- her shower was on Saturday afternoon. Stephanie and Hilary threw it at her Aunt's house and it was so pretty and sweet... dainty decorations, fun games and yummy food. We had a good time.

Close up of the "Owlphabet"- I love it and I hope Baby E does, too.

Right before we left for the shower, Allison pulled this little jewel that she found in an old box- my journal ("The Big Purple Journal") from '01- '02. Allison, Ashlea, Hilary and I had some good laughs about it. (I removed several pages from it last night because they were pretty cringe-worthy, oh to be 18 again.)

 Saturday night we had Bill's birthday party at Allison and Justin's. We ate, drank (me- water... I'm too scared to drink alcohol after this surgery... my stomach isn't handling things the same way and I don't want to make myself sick) and played games. It was a pretty fun night. Bill and I left fairly early because I was worn out and hurting... but hopefully he had a good night. Happy 34, darling. (Tomorrow, on his actual birthday I'm taking him to dinner at Saviano's- one of our favorite places.)

 Allison

 My sweet birthday boy

Playing the most ridiculous game of Circle of Death (omg, the rules they made up...)

Hilary and Trey

I've hurt myself a few times this weekend by over doing it (forgetting I'm not supposed to lift things and trying to pick up Charlotte, bending down to help out a cicada who was turned over on his back... silly things, I should have known better). I'm still feeling better than last week, of course- on the road to recovery. I return to work on Thursday (boo and yay at the same time- I mean, who wants to go to work... but mama needs that paycheck to buy furniture for our new apartment... and you know, bills and other boring things). Hopefully I'll be in less pain by then.

Thursday, July 28, 2011

It's the thought that counts.

I'm a crappy girlfriend this year. Bill's birthday is on the 1st and since I had surgery- I'm out of money AND energy. I'm buying him a few records and a turntable (from Craigslist- I'm so classy) tomorrow... but today I had a grand idea- paint something.

I've recently become addicted to Pinterest and found this beautiful gold painting:


I knew I wouldn't be able to create something like that, b/c- I have no idea how. But I knew I wanted something gold for the mantel in our new apartment (2 months and counting... woot).

I also wanted to include this quote on the canvas (since we're moving in to OUR first apartment --just living in my crappy one bedroom until my lease is up--):


Love it. Everything sounds great, right? Well... it did to me. I rushed to Michael's, got a canvas, gold spray paint, gold paint and black paint. And this is what I ended up with:


WOMP WOMP. It's not as horrible as I make it sound... but it's completely different from what I had in my head. But Bill likes it (or is pretending for my sake)... so, that's all that matters. It even looks kind of cute on our side table, but mantel art it is not.


ANYWAY... that's why I'm a crap girlfriend this year. I blame the pain medication.

Here are some more random pics from this week... have a good weekend!

 Tomato/Mozzarella Salad w/ Basil from our patio garden

 From my "Get Well" bouquet from Bill

 From my "Get Well" bouquet from Amanda

Beautiful ring that Bill got me for my birthday because
 HE is an awesome significant other...
I hope he has a wonderful birthday in spite of my lame attempts at gifts.
He deserves it. XOXO

**when I finally got paid I got him some wireless headphones, a grill (that we still haven't used as of 8/19- there's pretty much no space to use it here, we'll break it in at the new place) and a cover for his futon that will go in our office/pet room (oh the luxury of not having a litterbox in the bedroom- heaven)/workout room/whatever else. Pretty practical stuff- next year, the big 3-5, will be more exciting, I think.


Thursday, July 21, 2011

Gallbladder Removal

*Attempting to be as open as possible about my experience, so if bodily function talk grosses you out, this may not be the entry for you.*

Pre- Op, July 20
Pre-surgery Google searches left me very scared to eat... just about anything after surgery. It was a no brainer to keep it low fat, but the message boards I read left me pretty scared (most promised diarrhea- YAY). From now on I hope this teaches me to listen to my doctors first... but reading about other people who've had their gallbladders removed seemed necessary. Not nervous about the actual surgery. Feeling better than normal today.

Surgery/Day One, July 21
I had the surgery today at Las Colinas Medical Center. It wasn't so bad. (Really nice nurses who made me feel comfortable and the IV as pain-free as possible and also a great, very straight forward surgeon- Dr. Swanson.) Apparently my gallbladder was FULL of stones (over 100), so that's probably why I was so symptomatic (vomiting, extreme abdominal pain, etc). I'm very glad they were able to get that surgery done with quickly. Still wasn't nervous today before the surgery today- my blood pressure was perfect, as were the rest of my vitals.

I handle pain medication pretty well and they gave me plenty of Zofran, so no nausea waking up. Just very sharp pains where the incisions are- extremely sensitive and difficult to do anything but sit up straight or lay down. I think bending over will be a no no for a while.

My Mom took care of me at the hospital (along with my little sister and Grandparents). I was able to take a few short naps before Bill got home. I'm pretty needy right now. (Can YOU pick up the puppy pads, can YOU move my 7-Up to the top shelf of the fridge, can YOU change the movie that I just put in and two seconds later decided not to watch?... and so on and so on. -Nothing he wouldn't do for me on a regular basis, but we usually share duties around here.- I have a good man, who also brought me beautiful roses when he got home. Flowers are good for the soul.) My BFF Allison and Justin brought me some movies (since Charter sucks and our service has been down for days- perfect timing, guys).

Today I have been warned by friends (and the interwebs) who have had their gallbladders taken out (or similar procedures) that the gas pain will come and that it is the worst part of having your gallbladder taken out. Majority says it'll be here in a few days to a week. (They use gas to inflate the abdomen during surgery and your body is supposed to absorb it, but I hear it's a painful process.)

I've been up and about since I got home (not sure if that's the wisest idea, but standing and walking around feels ok, and apparently helps to move the gas around). I was told to drink carbonated beverages to help me burp and get some of the gas out. I've been able to eat (Graham Crackers, mashed potatoes and a little naan w/ very little hummus today)... no problems with eating or drinking so far (I've stuck to 7-Up and water). Darn the luck, I thought this surgery would force me into a crash diet and eventually keep me away from fat forevs... not so much. Yet. It's only day 1, who knows what will happen. I'm just really hoping for some magical motivation to get completely healthy and in tip-top shape for baby making (yup, I said it) in the next year. Bill and I want to try before I'm 30, and I certainly don't want to be an overweight new Mommy. I also aim to get rid of my PCOS, so all of my lady parts are functioning properly and we won't have to stress out about the baby makin' and just let it happen naturally. (Fingers and toes crossed.)

Bill is sleeping on the couch tonight (and probably the next few nights) b/c a) he's afraid he's going to bump into my sore parts in his sleep and b) the only way I feel comfortable right now is laying on my back- and I snore when I sleep that way and c) I'm setting my alarm to keep a regular schedule for my pain meds. Poor guy. He's a trooper and I love him.

Day 2, July 21
Wasn't able to sleep well last night, but I didn't expect to. Not because of the pain, but because I was told to stay ahead of the game with my pain meds (Hydrocodone and Motrin for pain) and take them every three hours- so that's what I did with help from my alarm clock. Hydrocodone doesn't make me sleepy... quite the opposite, but I was able to cat nap and get enough sleep last night to not fall over today.

Getting out of bed has been the worst part, thus far- probably just because my body got situated when I was in bed asleep and was all, "WTF?" when I got up this morning.

I definitely feel better today. Still very sore, still can't bend. I'm allowed to take a shower today- no baths for 3 weeks. When I called to make my follow-up appointment this morning, they told me to go ahead and leave the bandages on unless they get soiled (not a fan of that word, but, whatevs). When I took a shower, the bandages got a little soggy, so I changed them. For some (dumb) reason, I thought they were glued together with medical glue, but, nope- stapled. I've never had staples and am a little afraid of the part where they pull them out.

Haven't felt like eating much today. Had a Slimfast for breakfast and 1/2 a can of low fat chicken noodle soup (hopefully it stays this way, so I can at least get the reward of dropping some lbs while dealing with this). Still haven't used the restroom since I got home... well, I have had to pee quite frequently (it was a requirement before I left the hospital) b/c I'm drinking so much water... but not... you know... the other thing.

I have probably been up walking around a lot more than I should today, and have decided to go ahead and lay back down (it's 1:28pm) and try to nap (even though I'm a little worried that will affect my sleep tonight- sleep when you feel like you can, I guess). I'm pretty worn out and a lot more sore than I was this morning. Probably over doing it. I think I'm beginning to feel some of that gas, as well- which is really uncomfortable, but still not as bad as the soreness around the incisions.

I was able to nap from around 3:30pm to 5:30pm- woke up in a lot of pain. It was almost as hard to get up out of bed than it was right after surgery. The gas pain has definitely started, I'm feeling cramping in my abdomen- a different pain than the soreness the incisions. One of my BFFs, Ashlea, came over to lend me Modern Family and Arrested Development. Bill went to the grocery store and got me Bandaids, popsicles, low fat blackberry yogurt, more Graham crackers and more Slimfast. We watched The Fighter (and liked it a lot)... I definitely need to force myself to rest more tomorrow. Had most of a banana for dinner (really liking the "not wanting to eat" part, haha) Took my Trazadone and hopefully I'll be able to sleep better tonight. (I'm also a little loopy from the pain meds, so hopefully this will all make sense when I read it tomorrow!)

Tomorrow I'm going to do a little research on vitamins or call the doctor's office to ask if there are any I can take to speed up recovery. It sucks to not be able to eat raw vegetables (because I'm afraid of gas) or drink milk (because of the fat... we drink 2%, maybe if I switch to skim it'll be ok). I take Vitamin B-12 and Vitamin D on a regular basis and haven't the past two days because I have to take them several hours before or after my antibiotic and end up forgetting.

Day 3, July 22
I slept until after 11am this morning- good and bad. Good, because I obviously needed the sleep. Bad, because I woke up feeling SO HORRIBLE and sore. I called the doctor's office to see if the soreness was normal and they said I should be walking around every once in a while to move the gas around. I moved around on days 1 and 2 and thought I'd keep it easy today... but after hearing that, I am up and at 'em, again. I've walked around the patio, watered the plants and I think I'm about to make the bed and vacuum. Still not hungry- drank a Slimfast when I woke up. The doctor's office also said to drink a lot of water and that it's ok for me to take a laxative, so I did. My face is really flushed, not sure why- my temp is normal and my incisions look fine (it probably has something to do with the medication).

I was able to use the restroom (huzzah- metabolism is coming back). I ate a small turkey sandwich for dinner and it sat well. Today has hurt. A lot. Hopefully this will be the worst of it.

Best part of today... flowers from our friend Amanda- such a nice surprise! (Yellow roses with pink tips are my favorite.) And watching movies that Al brought over and Modern Family that Ash brought over.


Day 4, July 23
I feel sooooooo much better today. I think the key is to keep moving and keep your mind off of the pain as much as possible. Showed Bill all of my stapled wounds (the romance may be officially gone). Still in pain, but it's tolerable. Took a shower. Went to go sign the lease for our new apartment (!!!) and looked at another apartment like ours that just got cleaned out- we love it! Absolutely love it. And our apartment is directly across the street from the dark park and walking trails- looking forward to Fall!

Also went to CVS and the pharmacist said it'd be cool to put antibacterial/pain relief Neosporin on my incisions... so I got some and I'll probably do that after I shower tomorrow. Got Norco (didn't get it until today b/c I already had hydrocodone for pain from my regular Dr -from before surgery was scheduled and they were trying to find out wtf was wrong with me) and some more Zofran (the kind you swallow with water- which I really appreciate b/c the kind that dissolve in your mouth are pretty gross). I had to take Zofran 3 times yesterday, because, well... yesterday was terrible. Today I'm spacing my meds out- every 4-5 hours for Motrin and Norco instead of every 3 hours.

I had about 1/2 of a Slimfast for breakfast and I ate a plain bean burrito from Taco Bueno (no chili sauce, I don't like it much, anyway) for lunch because I was actually feeling hungry- probably not the best idea, but it didn't upset my stomach too much. I did have to use the restroom right after I ate, though.

Still haven't had any terrible gas pain. Unless I mistook gas pain yesterday for something else. (I definitely had some cramping, but most of the pain felt like it was situated around where my gallbladder used to be.. if that makes sense? It was just extremely painful to get up and sit down. I don't know how to explain it, because I've never had surgery before. I guess the only way would be "having your stomach cut open multiple times and stapled back together". ?)

I hope the rest of today goes smoothly. Might take a nap. Will probably only update if something out of the ordinary happens... but today so far, so good.

 Another pic of my roses from Bill.

New apartment- fireplace! I love it.

New kitchen- very neutral so we can decorate however we want.

Day 5, July 24
Today has been pretty uneventful, except for waking up in s-tons of pain (due to sleeping through the night without setting an alarm for pain meds and/or the position I slept in, I think). I really do feel so much better when I'm up walking around. Went to Old Navy, DSW, Michael's and Aldi today. Felt like I over did it a bit, but probably just because I was extremely hot and also cranky from taking hydrocodone (sometimes it makes me grumpy). And speed bumps suck. (Bill drove, of course... I'm not allowed to operate heavy machinery.)

Oh. I do have a weird problem with bandaids going on. I guess maybe my skin is really sensitive.. but when I pull off a bandaid my skin gets super puffy, itchy and bleeds in places. Hmm. Not so comfortable. It's not like I'm ripping them off really hard or anything... but I guess I should probably let them soak a little in the shower before I remove them. Eeew. Bandaids.

Day 7, July 26
Feeling frustrated today. I know I shouldn't expect to feel 100% better... but I can't help but think I should feel better than I do. When I wake up in the morning, the pain is still really bad. I still have to take pain pills. I go to the doctor on Thursday, so I can discuss all of this with him. I'm sure it's normal. Bleh. Can't wait to feel better... I'm over this.



*will attempt to keep this updated through my recovery*
Some recent (and a couple of extras) pics of my family, taken from my Mom's blog:

 Grandmama at her birthday dinner at Babe's

Picture of my Grandaddy looking really happy... love

Pretty Mama in her cool shades

Josh and Mom... at our birthday celebration

Josh, what a handsome guy- and smart! He just passed the exam for nursing assistant school!

Ryan (and Charlie!) in his new apartment! Very nice.

Ryan and Kelly's Kitchen/Dining Room

My beautiful little sister, Katie

She'll be in a freshman in high school this year- good grief!

 Picture of Charlotte and Bill that makes me happy

Random picture of me, performing (in the middle) off of KWC's website...
I spent many happy years with them.

Monday, July 18, 2011

Duh-duh-DUHHH!!

(Blog title is my typed version of scary/mysterious music... lame.)

 


Well, I went to the surgeon today. And we scheduled to have my gallbladder removed THIS WEDNESDAY. Yikes. So I will be going under the knife for the first time ever and having that pesky thing removed.

It has to be taken out so soon because the doctor is worried about one of the gallstones floating where it shouldn't float and damaging my pancreas- which would be horrible.

So long, loser organ. It wasn't nice knowing you.

Hopefully I'll be back to feeling good and having fun in a week or two. Cheers to that.

Thursday, July 14, 2011

Update: Patio Garden & Health Issues

So, it's a hot Texas summer... and I was worried about our little patio garden. For the most part it's doing well... but we do have some dead stuff. Boo.

 Our last ripe tomato- I assume a bird got to it (it was perfect looking, but not quite ripe less than 24hrs before this pic). I hope we have some more, but our plant is looking a little (a lot) dry.

 We re-planted our herbs because they were growing too big for their current home.

 Three were thriving (Basil, Lemon Basil (so tall!) and Oregano...

 Thyme and Mint... not doing so well. So I tossed the Thyme and planted some more seeds.


 Rosemary- same ol', same ol'. Hasn't grown any taller, though.

 I planted some Vincas (I thought they were periwinkles, guess not)... and they looked great at first... but... (wilted pic at the bottom)

 New Thyme started growing in about 2 days- yay!

 I was able to save one tiny Mint plant... and planted more seeds around it... haven't seen anything new popping up yet.

So, I totally wasted Bill's money and didn't read the instructions on how to care for Vincas until AFTER I crammed them all together in the herbs' former home. They were so pretty for a couple of days and have gotten tons of sun and water since we've had them... but you're supposed to plant them 10" apart. OOPS. Sooo... they're getting pretty wilty. I don't expect them to last long.


Enough about the patio garden, let's talk about ME (heh). I went to the doctor with complaints of cramping, vomiting, severe abdominal pain (all over, but mainly in my ribs), headaches and severe upper back pain. They did a urine test and blood work and referred me to a imaging tech to have abdominal and pelvic sonograms.

A few days before my sonograms and my follow up visit with my Dr- they called me and told me that my blood work came back with severe inflammation and that my white blood cell count was high. She put me on Zofran for nausea, antibiotics for my white blood cell count (they thought I could be fighting off an infection), Symax Duotabs for cramping and Fiorinal for headaches (I'm not supposed to take any Tylenol or other OTC headache meds because my liver is taking a major beating with all of the meds I'm on.)

Longish story short: sonogram came back and I have to have my gallbladder removed. Booo. Apparently tons of people have gallstones- but in my case, since I'm so symptomatic (especially vomiting a lot- not a good sign) I gotta' get mine yanked out.

I made an appointment with a surgeon and I go this coming Monday to discuss my options (I guess). But this past Wednesday and Thursday were really really bad (all my days have been bad and majorly uncomfortable lately, but Wednesday and Thursday were horrible) and I thought I maybe needed to go to the ER. But, I didn't. I took the maximum dosage of Symax and passed out and woke up feeling a bit better.

Yesterday the Dr's office called to check on me and told me they were going to write me yet another prescription- a low dose of Hydrocodone for the pain... and that if my pain gets any worse or I start running a fever or continue to vomit while on Zofran- I need to go to the ER.

MAJOR BUMMER.

I'm really hoping that I can make it through this without having emergency surgery- because I'm sure a trip to the ER, staying multiple days in the hospital and emergency surgery would cost me an arm and a leg (you're already taking an organ- let me keep my limbs!). So... send me good thoughts that I can make it to scheduled surgery without any emergencies.

I've been taking it really easy, taking lots and lots of medication and have been off work (which is REALLY bad, because how in the world am I going to afford said surgery while not being paid what I normally make??)

I'm really glad to know what's wrong (and that I'm not crazy or that I don't have some scary mystery illness)... but now I'm just really wanting it to all be over with. I want my gallbladder to go away, I want to be healed and back at work and back to having fun!

Fingers crossed.
I'm a lucky girl to have such a wonderful, caring boyfriend and helpful, supportive family. They've really made this whole "being a sicko" thing less stressful.

Friday, July 1, 2011

As of late...

I returned to work on June 1st (I had been out because of a car wreck and some other health issues)... which is really exciting. It's good to be back... except that I've been super sick lately and doing anything at all has been kind of a drag... and just downright impossible at times.

Instead of going to the doctor for this or that- I finally just made a list of ALL of the stuff that's been going on with my body- and that led to blood work and a need to schedule a pelvic/abdominal sonogram.

So, cheers for working/ jeers for being sick. I hope everything is ok... I'm sure it will be. I just want to be well so I can be a good worker and fully enjoy my nights and weekends... I don't think that's too much to ask for. ;)
I'll be laying low this 4th of July weekend... but rest is what I need right now. THRILLING!

Puerto Rico, Day Seven

Day Seven was our last day in Puerto Rico. Waa waaaa. (We got up early the next morning to go to the airport and spent that day up in the air and in airports -and although the duty-free shops were cool, we were mainly just bummed about leaving all day- so it doesn't really count.)

We got (my most favorite) breakfast at España and headed back to Isla Verde Beach for a while. We went to a kiosko and got bacalaitos (codfish fritters) and Pina Coladas. We stopped at Piñones Beach to take some pictures. We begrudgingly packed our bags and went to España once more for dinner with Bill's parents. I got seafood paella (which was a little scary at first, I was worried that it had been sitting out for a while, but it ended up being good and no food sickness, so- yay).

Drive by pic of España

Flower peeking out of the cemetary

Inside España, pastries and liquor... what's not to like?

Isla Verde Beach





Wannabe artsy pic of the ocean in my sunglasses



Bill's old stomping grounds

Carolina!

Seafood Paella from España




Hehe... we've been there (the watchtower)!

And here's sweet Bill humoring me each day by numbering them on camera... :) Hopefully you enjoyed reading about our trip- when we read these posts, we get super homesick for PR.

Day 2- (my hand) Drinking a coconut by the beach in Piñones

Day Three- on the Atlantic Ocean  

Day Four- at the Bacardi Distillery

Day Five- at La Mina waterfall in El Yunque

Day Six- at Plaza Del Mercado

Day Seven- eating lunch in Piñones

Thanks for the memories, PR. Can't wait 'til next year!