Back to work

I really never thought that I would say this, but I was happy to go back to work yesterday! I know, weirdo! Seriously, I felt like the walls were coming in at me at home and the boys (my husband and son) were driving me nuts! I know know why I work full-time, just to have time away from them. Don't get me wrong, I love them with all my heart, but sometimes Mommy just needs to get away!

Surgery

So, I will finish my stomach ache from hell story! I went in for my surgery on Tuesday (14th) morning. I tried really hard not to think about it. I am the type of person that will wind myself up into a tizzy if I think too long about these things. My greatest fear was not coming out of the surgery. I think that a lot of people have this fear. So, I was wheeled down for surgery at around 9:45am. Brian and I were told that the surgery should only last about 30 minutes. As I was wheeled into surgery, they took my glasses away. Now I am completely blind and God only knows how long I have to sit and wait to be rolled in! The doctor, nurses and anesthesiologist all came to talk to me. Then, off I went into surgery. As I was getting "settled" in the operating room, my doctor and anesthesiologist began singing. Now that I look back on it, it's kind of funny! But the two of them had wonderful voices. Maybe it is part of their plan to relax you! So, my surgery took a bit longer than expected. Apparently my gallbladder was very infected and enlarged. Instead of only having 4 laproscopic "poke" holes, I have that and a 2 inch incision above my belly button. Let me tell you, that one bothered me the most. But then again, you don't realize how much stems from your belly button! I finally came to around 12:15 and was back in my room by 1:00. There I slept the rest of the afternoon. As it came time for dinner to come, the nurses helped me get up so that I could sit in a chair for dinner. This was the absolute worse pain that I have ever endured! It was awful trying to get up out of that bed. All I wanted to do was give up and cry. But I powered through it and got up. I don't ever want to go through that kind of pain again. After dinner, my parents came to visit and brought up Brad and my brother's girlfriend Jeanne. It was nice to see them all, even though I looked like I had been to war and back! Before my parents left, we went for a walk around the hospital floor. This took everything out of me and by the end, I was hurting! By 7:30 the next morning, my doctor came to check up on me and he discharged me. I was home by 10:30 that morning. What a crazy 4 days that was but I am glad it's over and my stomach pain from the gallbladder is gone. I am also glad that everything happened so fast, so that I didn't have too much time to think about everything. The next step is staple removal and that isn't scheduled until the 27th!

Kindergarten Graduation

I have to admit...I was very sad when I realized that Brad's school does not have an actual Kindergarten graduation "ceremony". It is like a rite of passage and I feel bad that it was denied him. Although, he could really care less! Today was the last day of school and he came home with a Kindergarten Diploma. This made my entire day! I was excited that he received this. I was even more excited about the fantastic report card that he received. He received all 4's, which is the best grade, for everything but identify words that rhyme. He got a 3 for that. He had a near perfect report card and his father and I could not be more proud! Can you tell by the picture below that he was less than thrilled with me taking his picture with his diploma?!?!

Stomach pain from Hell...

It all started about a month or so ago. I began waking during the night with this terrible stomach pain. It was in my upper stomach, more under my breasts. I thought that it was heartburn. So, I would get up and pop some Tums and try to go back to bed. Most times, this didn't work. The pain was unbearable. It took some time to get comfy and fall back to sleep. Then, two weeks ago the pain came back again. This time, I was up all night long vomiting with it. I just thought that I either had the stomach bug or possibly might have ate something that didn't agree with me. This knocked me out for pretty much the entire weekend. I was sore all over for days. But again, the pain left and I thought nothing more of. That is until last weekend. It was around 11:00pm on Saturday night that the pain came back again. I took some more Tums and some Advil and went to bed. When Sunday morning rolled around, there was no way I was getting out of bed! Brad was very good about staying quiet and keeping himself busy as Brian was at work. Around 1:00, my parents showed up to help us with a problem we were having with our refrigerator. This is when my mom became very concerned. She was on me to go to urgent care. I finally gave in and Brian took me to urgent care at around 2:00pm. Let me just say, I HATE urgent care!! I sat in the waiting room until 5:30 before I was even seen. Then, the PA didn't want to hear about my stomach pains. She kept going on about my heart. She then ordered an EKG. This took another 30 minutes before it was done and I was left in the room for another 45 minutes after that. The PA comes back in and stated that she didn't like the way my EKG looked and was going to have me transferred to St. Joe's for a look. At this point, I lost it. I began crying and was trying my best to keep it all in control. Of course my heartbeat is going to look off, I am in pain and they were doing NOTHING to help with it. Finally the ambulance arrived at urgent care to take me to the hospital at 8:00pm. The EMT was a bit upset that I was there that long, they gave me nothing for the pain and they didn't even get an IV in. The nurse at urgent care poked me 4 times and got nothing! The EMT tried as well, and my vein popped! I am sure the fact that I was dehydrated played a huge part in this! I finally arrived at St. Joe's around 8:45pm, where I am taken in immediately and have nurses and another PA assessing my situation. It was then that I was told that my heart was fine and that this was not the issue. I was sent for a sonogram of my gallbladder and sure enough...it was seriously infected! I was told that I was going to be admitted to the hospital and was going to have my gallbladder removed the next day. I finally made it to a room at 2:15am, given some great pain meds and slept for the rest of the night. My surgeon came to see me at 5:30am and told me that he had been up all night with another emergency and was going to do my surgery the next day when he was well rested. I thanked him and told him that I appreciated it. So nothing to eat for the next day until surgery. Oh joy!

Heart of the Matter...Part 2

After Memorial Day, Brad had a follow-up appointment with his cardiologist. I had many mixed emotions about this visit. I am still reeling and scared from our initial diagnosis. Thankfully, Brad has not had any more "episodes" with the rapid heart beat since January. The first thing that Brad had done when we got to the office was another EKG. He is such a pro at this now. The nurse barely had to tell him to take off his shirt and he was pretty much telling her where to put the electrodes! Then came the nerve racking part...the doctor! He listened to Brad's heart and said that everything sounded good. His irregular heartbeat still showed up on the EKG, but the doctor could not hear it when he was listening. He stated that this was normal. Sometimes the heart beats rapid, and other times, it is perfectly normal. Doctor stated that he wanted Brad to come back in a year and have a stress test done. Part of me wanted to laugh when he said that. This doctor has obviously never seen Brad run...let alone do it on a treadmill! That appointment will be interesting! On the plus side, this will not take place until next year. That is when our next appointment is. Doctor stated that all was good and to call if the "episode" happens again or take him right to the Children's Hospital. So, we continue to let Brad be a kid and act like he doesn't even have a heart condition (let alone two of them)!!

It's That Time of Year Again!

It's that time of year again...camp time! Brad was very excited for Memorial Day weekend so that he could spend it at camp. He loves being up there and doing his favorite things. Fishing, riding his 4 wheeler, driving the tractor, hanging by the lake and taking the boat out. Unfortunately, we were unable to do the latter. The water is so high, Pop was unable to get the boat in. If the dock was in, it would have been under water by at least two feet! So Brad was content to throw sticks into the lake for my brother's chocolate lab to fetch. Poor Cheyenne swam for sticks until she just couldn't do it anymore! Of course, no weekend at camp would not be complete without a Brad meltdown of epic per portions. We almost left on Monday morning by 8:00 am. Boy, this child puts me over the brink! All in all, it was a good weekend at camp for the beginning of the summer camp season!