I Have A Date!!!!!!

I'm approaching the finish line! I got a call from Dr. M.'s secretary yesterday. My insurance company authorized my request for Gastric Bypass surgery. YAY!! My scheduled date is Thursday, May 26th. I'm so very excited and thankful for this opportunity. It's going to be a lot of hard work. I know I can do this. The starting line is in site.... My NEW LIFE is about to begin.

If You Were a Horse... Part 2

We have had some very interesting stuff going on with Emile again. This time it's some sores on her body. Man, oh, man... does this kid of mine have issues. It really is a good thing that she's not a horse!Starting a few weeks ago Em noticed an itchy spot on her abdomen. At first it looked like a bug bite of some sort. After the first week things started changing and we began to keep a closer eye on it. I'm so glad we did. The caption "Day 1" was actually day 11 but the first day I took a picture. That's about how it had looked the entire time. Day 2 was Thur. April 14th and Day 3 was Fri. the 15th. When this thing "took off" it really took off. As of Friday evening at 10pm it looked really bad and Em had already been to the doctor the day before about it... AND she'd been on an antibiotic for over 24 hours. By midnight the spot had a secondary welt starting to form with a wide streak heading back toward her hip. Right then and there I decided it was time take her to the ER.The doctor made a 3/4" to 1" incision to drain the sore. It was positively disgusting. I was stunned by how much "gunk" was there, as well as how deep the wound was. It was at least as deep inside as it was swollen outside. It took 12" of medicated gauze to pack it. After going to an all night pharmacy we arrived home close to 3:30am. We were both pretty tired.As part of the ER treatment the site was cultured to determine what the infection was. Yesterday I received a notice in the mail. Em was positive for MRSA. Ironically she had another sore starting on her low back. It looked just like the other one looked in the picture on day 2, only without the pustule. I called the doctor first thing this morning and explained what was going on. Emile had taken her last antibiotic a week ago so I was really concerned. Dr. K. immediately called in another prescription for an antibiotic which she will take twice a day for a month. Here's hoping this one knocks the MRSA completely out. I really need for her to be well again. My poor kiddo.

Monday's Magnet

 

I've picked today's magnet for a very specific reason. I need Lady Luck on my side. It's been two weeks since I saw Dr. Monk the last time... and I'm still waiting to hear from the insurance company about my surgery authorization. I'm going crazy. I'm trying very hard to be patient. Since Cheri sent me this magnet and Las Vegas is known for.... gee, what is it known for again??? ☺..., I thought it would bring me luck. I need it today!!

Easter Fun

It seems that time is passing so quickly lately. Every time I turn around one of the girls is telling me they want to hang out with one of their friends. It's way more fun for them to be with others instead of home with their frumpy old mom. That is until the other day. I finally suggested something fun for Brie and her friend, Chelsey, to do. Yay for me!Who can't resist painting Easter Eggs? We had a fun time experimenting with colors and glitter. Who knows, maybe next year I'll try some of Martha Stewart's ideas. I'll have to be brave to do so.After all was said and done, I don't think our eggs looked too bad at all.

If You Were a Horse...

We'd have to put you down. That's exactly what I told Emile the other day. It's been a rough month for my baby girl. Ok, obviously she's not a baby anymore, but she'll always be my *baby* especially when she's in distress. And distress is exactly what she's been in recently.

Back in February Emile asked if I'd take her to the doctor about some issues she was dealing with. The appointment went very well and she was put on a medication... she was instructed to start at a minimal dose for one week after which she was supposed to begin taking the full prescribed dose. The first week went just fine, however, the very day she moved to the full dose, she began getting severe headaches. I figured it was her body adjusting to the medication. The headaches seemed to be getting worse and after another week I called the doctor and explained the situation. Em was given the option of dropping back down to a half dosage to see what happened. We talked it over and considering how much better she was feeling (except for her headaches) she decided to try and ride it out a little longer.Needless to say, things didn't work out as Emile was hoping. By the end of March, the headaches had escalated to the point where she was unable to function. Several times she called me to come pick her up because she couldn't stand the light or was in so much pain she was afraid to drive. She stopped taking the medication all together, thinking that would solve the problem. No change. The only thing that seemed to bring relief was when she was sleeping. From the minute she woke until she went back to sleep, she was in pain. After 10 more days of taking over the counter headache formula pain relievers with no noticeable improvement, I realized we had a problem that wasn't going to resolve on its own.

On Friday, April 8th, I took Em back to the doctor. Dr. K asked Em to describe the type of pain she was feeling, where the pain was originating, how frequently she was getting headaches, and for how long. Then he asked me questions about whether or not I had trouble with headaches. I used to, but when I began using a CPAP, I stopped getting headaches at all. When all was said and done, Dr. K told Em that she was suffering from migraine headaches, which often begin around her age. It just happened that this was the same time she was beginning a new medication. Because of how long she'd had them ongoing, he had her stop taking over the counter headache meds, and begin taking Treximet. In addition, he told to to restart the medication she was prescribed in February at half strength for four days, then move up to full dosage. By using the medications together for a few days, the headaches should go away. So far so good. She hasn't had to take the Treximet for a week now. Yay!!

One interesting side note. Often migraines are associated with visual disturbances or "aura's." When Dr. K asked Em about this, she responded that she had not experienced. When I was doing some research about migraines I came across this picture....This is an example of a migraine aura. Here's what's amazing. I discovered that you can have migraine aura's without having any head pain at all. They start as a pin-point dot in your field of vision and over a period of 10-20 minutes the dot grows until your vision is distorted with prisms or kaleidoscope shaped "things." There is no pain, just the visual change. After a *peak* of the size and type of disturbance, the entire aura slowly shrinks and finally disappears.How do I know this? Because I've had them for years now. I just always thought it was because of my blood pressure or stress. I've actually had to pull off the road a few times until the aura disappeared. The girls have witnessed when it's happening to me. So, luckily for me I have no pain... unfortunately for Emile, she does have the pain but not the aura. I wish I could take the pain away from her. At least we know what's going on now.

Monday's Magnet

 

We've had so many days of rain and severe storms lately. We even had an EF-0 tornado touch down 2 miles from our house Saturday (the 16th) evening around 8:30ish. There was some damage in the area, but fortunately nothing terribly bad. Thus the reason for today's magnet selection. They say we all need a light in the darkness... so here it is. I'm sorry to say I cannot remember who gave this to me. If you see this and recognize it, let me know.

P.S. Interesting that I highlighted the Kansas (with tornado info) magnet last week. I never dreamed I'd end up retreating to the basement within a few days of posting it because of a tornado warning in our own area. Weird.

Stormy Night

Last evening we had some nasty storms roll through. They were the tail end of severe storms which spawned several tornadoes in the southern states. These tornadoes resulted in several deaths... and although we were in the risk zone for severe storms, our local weather forecasters thought we'd miss out on much of the action. Boy or boy, were they wrong!

Around 7:30pm we started hearing reports of a thunderstorm approaching our area. Within about half an hour a tornado warning was issued. Emile was with her boyfriend, Matt. His dad is an EMT and had gotten off work a short time earlier. He was being called back in because of the report of a tornado on the ground about a half hour from here. At about that time I looked at the local news station and they confirmed a *doppler indicated* possible tornado on the ground. I decided it was time to go to the basement with Brie. We weren't down there 2 minutes before the rain started pounding. We could hear some wind blowing around, but nothing out of the ordinary. After about 10 minutes we came back upstairs. Nothing looked out of place outside... even the plastic eggs were still hanging on the tree out front. Brie got back on her computer and started telling me about reports of the West Manchester Mall collapsing because of a tornado. I thought it had to be untrue. The mall is only 5 minutes from here. We hadn't heard a thing, not the typical "freight train" or sirens; nothing at all. I was proven wrong.

 

These aren't the best pictures, however, you get the idea. I had to pick Em up because she had gotten one of her headaches so we were detoured and ended up driving past the mall. The entire building was dark. You couldn't really see if there was damage or not. You could see lots of emergency workers though. By the next morning there was no doubt what had happened.It turns out a tornado had touched down. It was an EF0. Nothing compared to the EF4 that hit other areas. No one was injured in our area. Just some property damage.Last night we couldn't get home on this road. Now I understand why. The power poles were completely knocked over. There were wires on the roadway at Derry Park.Bleachers were rolled over like nothing at all. This is the home field (Derry Park) for Brie's softball team.

Again, thankfully no one was hurt. You never can tell what Mother Nature has in store, can you?

Six Down... And Now We Wait

Well, here we are. I can't believe it's been six months already... but it has, and here is everything I've done to get to this point....

1. Attended 6 weight management classes.
2. Attended 4 support group meetings.
3. Had 12 vials of blood taken to be tested.
4. Consulted with a physical therapist.
5. Consulted with a psychiatrist.
6. Consulted with a pulmonologist.
7. Consulted with a cardiologist.
8. Consulted with a dietitian.
9. Attended 3 appointments with the bariatric surgeon.
10. Had a follow-up stress echo cardiogram.
11. Had a follow-up pulmonary function test.

I met with Dr. Monk on Monday (yesterday) to go over all the information for the last time and to confirm which type of procedure I'm requesting. The formal request has now been submitted to the insurance company for the Roux-en-Y gastric bypass. It could take up to 6 weeks to get the authorization. Once the authorization is received, I have the following left to do....

1. Meet with the bariatric nurse to get the 11 day prep instructions and supplies.
2. Consult with a vascular surgeon to get the blood clot filter information.
3. See Dr. Monk one last time before the actual surgery.
4. AND, last but not least, set the actual surgery date. I was hoping for mid May (the 17th to be exact), but it may be closer to the end of May. If I can't get it by then, I'll be forced to wait until the last week of June. I really don't want to have to do that, so I'm praying for a quick and positive answer from the insurance company.
My last formal class discussion was about exactly what will happen from the moment you enter the hospital until you discharge. We saw pictures of the operating room and patient rooms. We were also told about exactly what the nurses will be doing post-op... like getting us up to walk about an hour after we're in recovery, giving us a bed bath once we're in our room, measuring fluid intake and urine output, keeping an eye on the incisions, coaching us on our breathing and coughing exercises, helping us get up and continue to walk, etc). We found out about the test we have the day after surgery to make sure there's no leaking from the pouch or intestinal sutures, and what will happen if there is. It was a very informative class. To be honest, it's a little scary. A lot can go wrong. The rewards far outweigh the risk in the long run though. I keep telling myself that everything is going to go well and that I'm going to be just fine.

Monday's Magnet

I've decided that since we're right smack in the middle of tornado season, I'd pick this magnet to highlight today. Obviously Kansas is in Tornado Alley... but there's no tornado on this very cool carved wood magnet. It's another one from my "supplier" .... aka John.

Tornado Trivia:

-Some 800 tornadoes strike the United States every year.

-They create Earth's fastest winds, sometimes exceeding 300 mph.

-Usually travel to the northeast occur most frequently in the U.S. between 4 and 6 p.m.

-Average 5 to 10 minutes on the ground.

-Can stand still or move forward at 70 mph.

-Can be up to a mile wide at ground level.

-In southern states like Arkansas and Missouri, the peak of tornado season is March through May, while in the northern states, like Iowa and Illinois, more tornadoes occur in the late spring and summer.

-F-scale ~ In the early 1970s, T. Theodore Fujita developed a damage scale for high-wind events including tornadoes. More recently a new and updated scale, known as the EF (Enhanced Fujita) scale has been used as the standard for tornado damage measurements.
The EF-scale, which goes from EF0 to EF5, is the only widely used tornado rating method. Although wind speeds are given for different EF-scale ratings, these are only estimates, as it is very hard to get reliable measurements near a twister. Violent tornadoes – EF4 and above – are less than one percent of all tornadoes, but account for 70 percent of tornado-related deaths. Some of these twisters can last more than an hour and travel hundreds of miles. Almost 90 percent of tornadoes are weak – EF0 or EF1 – lasting usually less than 10 minutes and causing less than five percent of tornado-related deaths.

One Step Up And....

TWO STEPS BACK.....
It's been just over 13 years since I became a single parent. Yes, it was my choice to do this... things in my marriage were not as they should have been. I could not stand to stay with a man who didn't truly care about me or his children. And of course I too made my share of mistakes which impacted the marriage as well. For the most part I still believe I made the correct decision to leave and start over with the girls. Having said that, I must admit that it's been extremely challenging doing it on my own. Some periods have been *easier* than others. Right now seems to be a bit tougher. Here's why.....A couple weeks ago I discovered that my former husband retired from Kennecott Utah Copper after nearly 42 years of service as a Journeyman Millwright. After all those years of working I can see why he retired and I completely agree with his decision to do so. The only downside to his retirement is the medical benefits we (Em and Brie) now have. Up until now we've been very fortunate to have an excellent plan with had minimal co-payments and great coverage. This has come to an abrupt halt!
This is my new reality:

• $400.00 DEDUCTIBLE PER CHILD ~ PER YEAR
• 70/30 SPLIT AFTER DEDUCTIBLE HAS BEEN MET
• $150.00 FOR URGENT OR EMERGENCY CARE
• $10.00 FOR GENERIC PRESCRIPTIONS; $25.00 FOR PREFERRED NAME BRAND PRESCRIPTIONS; $45.00 FOR NON PREFERRED NAME BRAND/NON-FORMULARY PRESCRIPTIONS
  

PLUS ~ Because we are *Out of Network* I must take the girls to BEECH STREET participating providers or I may be billed for charges above and beyond the usual and customary allowable reimbursements for billed services. In other words... say the provider bills $350.00 for a procedure and the insurance allows only $125.00 for it, I would have to pay the remaining $225.00 regardless of whether I had met the deductible and was technically in the 70/30 range. GUESS WHAT????? The only hospital participating with Beech Street is Memorial. AND..... I haven't found a single doctor who participates in this area at all. NOT ONE.

I honestly don't know how I'm going to do it other than to suck it up and deal with it. Even though I'm only working part time (due to my heart and lung issues), I still make $300.00 too much for the girls to qualify for medical assistance. And because there is private insurance they don't qualify for CHIP either. So for now all I can do is continue paying my tithing and pray for blessings to be poured out on my daughters.

Grrrrr.

I'm having a problem with my Monday's Magnet postings lately. In case you haven't noticed, the last 2 posts may not have shown a picture of the magnet I'm highlighting. I'm not sure why. I've re-loaded them (from Picasa to Blogger) several times and for a while they show up on the post, then for some unexplainable reason, they don't. If anyone has any ideas, please feel free to share. I don't know what's going on. Until then, I'll just keep trying to figure it out.

My Latest Rant

Yesterday I heard a story on the news... it went something like this. A woman in Oregon has filled a lawsuit because she is in jeopardy of losing her weapons permit (and weapon). Why? Because she has been legally authorized to use Marijuana for medicinal reasons. Someone in Oregon has decided that since she will be smoking pot she should no longer be permitted to have a weapon. WHAT!!!??? Are you kidding me?I know there are people who are in 100% agreement with this line of thinking, however, I am not one of those people. Let me explain why. Once upon a time, there was this group of men. They were men who were trying to establish a place where all people could live in peace without fear of the government being too intrusive or controlling. They became known as the Founding Fathers. So one afternoon these men drafted a statement which we now know as the United States Constitution. The Constitution was adopted on September 17, 1787, by the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and ratified by conventions in each U.S. state in the name of "The People". The Constitution has been amended twenty-seven times; the first ten amendments are known as the Bill of Rights and were ratified December 15, 1791.

Amendment II

**A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.**

Obviously, this is my first argument. We are protected by the Constitution. This woman is a law abiding citizen and her Constitutional rights should not be jeopardized.

The argument being made was that if the woman was smoking pot her judgement would become an issue and something tragic could occur. Here is my question. If you are on Oxycontin, Demerol, Zoloft, Lexapro, or any other mind altering prescription drug, should you also be required to relinquish your firearm? Something tragic could happen while taking these medications as well, couldn't it?And hey, while we're at it, if you ever drink alcohol you shouldn't have a weapon either, regardless of how much or how often you may have been drinking.Of course we've never heard of any tragic events that were the result of someone using illegal drugs while in possession of a gun.

Are you following what I'm getting at? If you are going to say that a person who is using a LEGAL substance (in this case Marijuana, which is legal for medicinal purposes in the state where this woman lives) should lose her weapon, then everyone everywhere should have to turn in their weapons as well. To argue that is totally ludicrous, not to mention illegal in and of itself (remember that little document called the Constitution).

To make such a blanket judgement about someone keeping a permit/and or weapon based on a legal substance is irresponsible and too easy for those trying to bypass the Constitutional rights of American citizens. I really believe this woman has a justified reason to file a lawsuit. I also believe she should and will prevail.

Monday's Magnet

Today was a spectacular day. The temps were in the high 70's and the sun was shining brightly. It was just the kind of day that's perfect for a picnic. I wish I could say I went on one... I did not. But just the thought of it made my day. I'm looking forward to many more lovely days this spring.