Three weeks Later

Seriously where does the time go? I haven't even thought about blogging lately. Life has been so busy. Today as I'm at work I realized I hadn't updated this blog in quite some time. Here's a brief update. Last Friday I had several tests done on my back. There's several spine specialist that are working together to see what they can come up with. I have gotten to the point where the pain is unbearable. I had a MRI a couple weeks back and there were a couple areas the doctor was concerned about. I went in for a CT scan which went way better than the MRI. The technician had to run a I.V. for the contrast. He was the same tech that did my MRI. He remembered me and was very nice. Before he started the contrast he told me three symptoms I may experience. First the contrast may make you warm and nauseous. Kind of like sitting in a hot car. Then a metallic taste in your mouth. Finally he said for lack of a medical term you may feel like you wet yourself. He said he had this done before and they didn't tell him and he was really embarrassed. He thought for sure he'd soaked the table. I made it through the scan and experienced all three symptoms. I was glad when it was over.


I had a appointment Monday with Dr. James Taylor. I was a little nervous. I thought I would be able to go back to work after the procedure. When I checked in at the hospital the nurse told me I wouldn't be able to go back to work. Ryan dropped me off and would pick me up when I called him. I had twelve different injections. The test was diagnostic as well as for pain relief. I laid on a table under a x-ray machine for close to two hours. The doctor looks at each segment of my spine on the x-ray and then on the right side where most of the pain is coming he would do the injections. He explained to me the reason for using the x-ray machine was to stay away from the spinal cord. He can see precisely where he wants to put the needle on the xray. I take x-rays at my office so I knew exactly what he was talking about when he would use medical terminology. Half way through the doctor told me he couldn't believe how strong I was and that he didn't think he would ever let anyone do this to him. That didn't make me feel real good. The numbing shots hurt so bad. The purpose was to find the facet joints and fill them with steroids as well as pain medicine. If it helped then the doctors could say it was joint pain in my back and go from there.The joints are so small that they could only do a little at a time. It hurt so bad! My neck was killing me from all the injections. When it was over the nurse helped me up. She said I was pasty and to not stand up for a bit. I had a reaction to something and my chest and arm broke out. After a hour I was OK. The nurse kept telling me she was so impressed at how well I did. She said repeatedly " You are one strong lady". I was proud of myself that I didn't swear. Ryan was waiting in the waiting room for me. The injections helped slightly. My pain level went from a 9 to a 6 on a scale from 1-10...ten being the worst.



Jacob and Marli had their Outback field trip yesterday. I was able to take them as well as three of their classmates. I had five cutie pies in my car. We had so much fun. My friend Michelle Vandyke-Hernandez's little boy Bryson came with us. He's in Jacob's "Dude's club". His grandparents were our neighbors when we lived on Circle S. John and Carol Vandyke. Bryson's cousin Austin is 9 and he was Jaxon's friend. My brother Kyle worked with Michelle at Wall to Wall carpet. We're going to get the boys together over the summer.



Marli has here big dance recital tonight at the Civic Auditorium. Last night was the rehearsal. Ryan and Jacob mowed the lawn and played video games while I took Marli and Conor to the Civic. I was glad I brought the stroller. We were there for a hour and a half.When we were leaving I was talking to my friend Stacy. Marli told us "I danced my little heart out". Thankfully Marli performs twice in the first act. At intermission tonight we can leave. Last year we went to watch our friends girls perform and we were there until 10:00 p.m. I have to work tomm. so I'm hoping to get home before 9;00. I was happy to hear that Dance Tech is having a professional video it so I can just sit back and enjoy the performances.



The kids have been doing pretty good. We had the stomach flu come through our house with a vengeance. Conor was the only one who didn't get it. I had my carpets cleaned after everyone was feeling better.



Mothers day was nice. I was able to have breakfast with my mom and spend part of the day with her. Ryan and the kids got me the new book Host that I wanted by Stephanie Meyers. I stayed up Saturday night until 2:00 a.m. making cards. I went upstairs to get a drink of water thinking it was midnight. I couldn't believe what time it was when I looked at the clock. I made myself go to bed even though I wasn't tired. We had a great time with Ryan's family Sunday afternoon. The 10x20 picture of all eleven grand kids turned out beautiful. Ryan's Mom really loved it. We missed Mark, Erin and Luke. They were sick.

We needed to stop by my mom's on the way home. Ryan was going the wrong way. I asked him where he was going. He told me not to worry about it. I was confused for a minute and then I realized where he was taking me. He told me my other son wanted to see me. He took me up to the cemetery to see Jaxon. I hadn't been up there for awhile. I always have a really hard time on Mothers Day. I was able to spend some time alone there. I could feel Jax with me. I miss him so much and wish so badly we could have him here with our family. Ryan told me he felt prompted to take me to see Jax and said it's the least he could do for his son. Which meant the world to me.


We got a new BBQ because ours died. Ryan told me it was for Mothers day. He BBQ Rib eye steaks Monday night so I guess it was a gift for me. I do love steak. We had homemade hash browns and corn on the cob .



The kids have their pre-school graduation next Friday the 23rd which is my birthday. It will be a special day. It'll be the third time Jacob graduates from pre-school. He is actually graduating for real this time and will start kindergarten at Ethel Boyes Elementary this Fall. Mrs. Di is doing a summer program for a few kids. Jacob and Marli are going to be in the program. It will be a fun program that she is going to play learning games with the kids and get them reading. It's just two days a week. Hopefully it won't be the same day as T-ball. Marli told me she wants to take swim lessons again. I told her maybe this fall when Jakey is in school. She will go to pre-school two days a week instead of three . She'll have dance Friday morning instead of Tuesday afternoon which should take some stress off of me.

Conor has been rolling all over the place and sits up for short periods. He loves to sit in the highchair at meal time and eat. He tells us off if we don't share with him. He thinks he's such a big boy.He knows the difference between baby food and what we eat. Lately he's started telling us off. I'll give him small bites of bread, potato,pasta or other soft foods. He smacks his lips and tells us it's good. He is so much fun. He's starting to say dadda. Whenever he see's his dad he lights up. He laughs and jumps and wants his dad.

My best friend Macy just stopped by the office and she brought her baby girl Maya. I can't believe she is three weeks old already. She finally has a baby that looks like her. She looks exactly like Macy. Linda Macy's mom said she feels a special connection to Maya. She said it brings back a lot of memories of Macy as a baby. I love her whole family. They have been such wonderful Friends to me over the years.

Alright I better get my work done so I can leave to go get Miss Marli ready for her recital.