Post Op-Day 1

I guess this is my first day post-op! I am doing remarkably well today and still waiting for that horrific pain to set in that everyone assures me will come. I am still taking Lortab every four hours. Today I added in my antibiotic, Keflex, which I had an allergic reaction to. So they called in Amoxicillan, and guess what? My face got hot, red, and puffy. Tomorrow is New Year's Day and they will call in a Z-Pack to Walgreens as my Publix pharmacy is not open. I am now taking 50 mg of Benedryl every six hours and 20 mg of Prednisone per day for four days to fight the allergic reaction to the antibiotic. Fun! Other than that little set back, all is good. I have eaten lots of that rice casserole, Italian Ice, Popsicles, Gellato, and pudding. I am drinking ice water still. Anything cold is still preferable to anything warm at this point. I also ate a scrambled egg this morning, but I didn't really enjoy it. It wasn't hard to eat though. So things that I did today:

• eat, eat, and drink.
• wore my neck ice pack about three times today
• took Lortab every four hours like clockwork
• watched Netflix and stayed in bed

Hopefully, tomorrow night's update will be as good as this one. Those online forums are telling me the ball WILL drop (hey, tonight's New Years Eve and the ball really will drop!) and I AM going to have a lot of pain. I'm just waiting for it.

Adult Tonsillectomy-Day of surgery

I had my surgery this morning about 10 am. I think I left the outpatient surgery center around noon. Dr. Heindel did find a constriction in my esophagus, right behind my voice box, due to acid reflux. He "stretched it" (however you do that) and told me I must take Zantac twice a day regularly in order to keep it open. So, now I have my very first "needed" medicine. I have never taken an Rx before because I "had" to. That is weird for me. Anyway, I felt pretty good today. As the day wears on, my pain is increasing. I know that day three and beyond will be a lot worse than I am right now. So my stats today look like this:

• I am eating and drinking a lot. I have eaten 6 snack pack puddings, 4 Italian Ice, 2 bowls of a rice casserole a friend brought over for dinner, one slice of homemade pound cake, half a milkshake from Chick-Fil-A, and lots of water. Cold drinks feel much better than warm things. I am also chewing ice which feels really good when I swallow.
• I have been sitting in bed and letting everyone wait on me hand and foot. I think rest is probably essential to healing.
• I have used an ice pack on my neck a few times. It feels good and I think it might be helping with swelling.
• I am taking my Lortab every 4 hours without fail. I watch the clock the last hour, because I really want to take it. The pain is not unbearable, but it sits at a 7 or so. It goes down to a 3 or 4 with Lortab for a few hours.
• There is a cool mist humidifier running non-stop in my bedroom where I am holed up. I love it.
• My tonsils are already beginning to scab. I can feel it. I know the pain will get a lot worse before it gets better.

This is me right now! Pretty.

Adult Tonsillectomy

Yeah, I titled that on purpose so that if someone should use that term in a Google search, my blog might show up. The fact is, I am getting a tonsillectomy tomorrow. I am a 44 year old female and have been all over the web reading horror story after horror story about the recovery from this elective surgery. I am scared, but ready. I am more frightened at the thought of vomiting than the pain at this point, but that might change once I feel how awful the pain is. :0) So, keep coming back for updates on the healing process (and photos...be warned.) I doubt I will post tomorrow in my anesthesia fog, but hopefully on New Years Day there will be a post. Here's to weight loss, liquid lortab, and streaming Netflix.

Random thoughts...

• My dog is ten years old now and has psychological problems. He will only poop on cement since having an impacted anal gland. This does not make me happy as this means he poops on the sidewalk leading to our house, or the front porch. I hate him.
• Simon really needs to sleep in his own bed so I can have sex with my husband.
• I cannot wait for the weight loss after my tonsillectomy. I hope to be 150 pounds by July.
• Right now I am drinking a Sam Adams Lager. No weight loss drinking like that.
• Cami is going to Valencia, Spain this summer on an exchange program. I want to be her.
• Josiah has a very small head and huge feet. He is almost 9 years old.
• Sometimes raising children feels like being pecked to death by a duck.
• Mark Zuckerberg could be the antichrist. Think about it.

Why don't I blog more often?

Mostly because I am on Facebook. I guess I think everyone is and therefore there is no need to blog here.

So...

Olaf's health is declining rapidly. We are actually talking about disability. It is horrible and I hate it for him. He is trying to get disability from the VA, but we haven't gotten approved or denied yet. He lives on painkillers and his tolerance is going up. It takes more medicine to take away the pain now. Never a good sign.

I am having a tonsillectomy on the 30th of this month. I am scared shitless. I have been to this site and I am even more scared. Basically it is to look down my throat to see why I am having trouble swallowing and since Dr. Heindel thinks my tonsils are part of the problem, he wants to yank them out. The great thing about the surgery is weight loss! I have lost over 30 pounds so far and am counting on another 10 after surgery.

I need to do a vlog, but I don't have any room on my computer for the video. I guess I need a new computer. Or figure out how to move this stuff somewhere else.

That's about it in a nutshell.

So much for those updates...

I suck. I juiced through Sunday and then ate something on Day 8. I am eating vegan right now for a lot of reasons. 1. It is easier to adjust to eating from fasting when you aren't putting crap into your body. 2. I watched the documentary called Forks Over Knives and was amazed at what this lifestyle can accomplish for your health. I really, really want to eat this way forever. I don't want to be all Gung Ho, then slip back into my standard american diet. I want to lose weight permanently and regain my health in the process. I'm not going to do that by eating pizza and fast food. I am committed and I will regain my health. Let's face it, someone needs to live long enough to raise these children. I am hoping Olaf joins me on this lifestyle, but I cannot force him. He truly is a junk food junkie and would eat pizza and ice cream every day of his life if he could. He says he will try, but only time will tell. Especially since we are going to Disney soon. That will be the ultimate test.

Day 3 of my juice fast

I am feeling fine. I want to eat, but I am not really hungry. Olaf started yesterday and had an awful day. He was so tired and felt like poo. He is feeling a little better today. My mornings consist of a concoction of fruit juice and then I drink mostly vegetable juice mixed with some fruit for the rest of the day. My favorite "green" recipe thus far is:

A couple of handfuls of spinach

2 romaine leaves

1 or 2 celery stalks

1 large carrot (or 2 regular size)

thumb nail size of ginger

half of a zucchini

one small green apple

one pear

I tried beets in my juice and about barfed. I am NOT a beet person. Olaf made a spicy juice that I couldn't tolerate either. Mostly because it had a beet in it. The jalepeno didn't bother me too much. Tonight we are going to try a tomato juice and heat it up. It has tomatoes, cilantro, garlic, red bell peppers, and 1/4 of a red onion. We will juice it and then heat it up to see if it tastes like soup. :0)

Maybe next time I'll vlog!

I started this thing

I started my juice fast today. A day earlier than I was going to. But I had some great produce here that was starting to go bad and I thought, "why not?" It is 3:35 pm and I am hungry, but I know in a few days that hunger will subside and I will feel great. I need to prepare myself for the next three days though. Low energy, headaches from caffeine withdraw, etc. Olaf is starting tomorrow, so we are making juice for the entire day tonight. There are a lot of recipes and great information at Join the Reboot! Let's DO this thang!!

Edited to add: My green juice today was spinach, celery, cucumber, carrots, green apple, and pear. My (breakfast) fruit juice was apple and pear. I bought a bunch of produce today at Sam's and I am looking forward to orange juice tomorrow morning. I also made a smoothie tonight with one ripe banana, a few frozen raspberries and about 1/2 cup of almond milk in the blender. I am not sure if the almond milk is "cheating" but it was good.

Let the juice fast begin

Olaf and I are starting a juice fast on Monday and I am so excited about it. I watched the movie Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead a couple of weeks ago. I hauled out my juicer (yes, I actually have one!) and started concocting juices and drinking them in addition to my Weight Watchers diet that I have been doing. But I really, really wanted to do a 10 day juice fast. To clean my system out and detoxify my body. If I lose weight in the process then that is fine by me. I will post here daily with my thoughts on the process. I'm sure the first few days will be rough, but I am super excited anyway. I'll post Monday night.

TIA is more than just aunt in Spanish

Yesterday, it seems I had a mini stroke. More specifically, a Transient Ischemic Attack. I woke up feeling weird and had some tachycardia. It was very hard for me to think and it seemed like it took forever to find the right word I wanted to say. When I tried to say something to Cami and it came out as babble, I knew something was wrong. I called 911, then hung up! They called me back and convinced me that a paramedic should respond. They ended up transporting me to Newnan Hospital and did a CT of my head to make sure I didn't have major bleeding in my brain. The doctor wants me to follow up with an MRI which is already scheduled for this Thursday. If all is well in my head, then I get to have a tonsillectomy on September 26th. I might chicken out since it isn't a life or death operation, but Dr. Heindel wants to look down there regardless. I'll still have to go under anesthesia and those big ass tonsils may as well come out since they are causing me trouble. I am just afraid of the recovery. Poor Olaf, who is still in constant pain, now gets to handle me and my health issues. Poor guy can't catch a break.

Cami is coming home

Cami should be landing at JFK in 40 minutes! She has spent the last two weeks in Berlin, Germany. Can you believe my daughter has been to New Zealand, Australia, and Germany in a matter of 6 weeks? She is one lucky teenager to have such cool parents.

I am not sure if I posted this (because my posting is so sporadic and I don't read my blog before I write a post) but the Mayo Clinic did not find anything definitive with Olaf. His pemphigus doctor is trying to take him off of prednisone, but in order to do that he needs to increase his Imuran which makes Olaf incredibly sick to his stomach. Not to mention it causes a fatal cancer when taken long term.

Simon is sick with another cold and slight fever. He either got it at the eye doctor last Thursday or when he got his hair cut on Monday. He screams "BOOGER" when he needs to blow his nose. Of course, I have to hold the Kleenex while he blows and yells "DO IT! DO IT!" which means to pinch his nose off after blowing. I am trying to do school with him because this child does not know his alphabet or his numbers. Easier said than done with this one. He will always be "the baby" though.

Looking forward to Disney World in a few months. We leave on Halloween, so we'll be there for the Christmas decorations this year. We are doing the Very Merry Christmas Party, character dining with Winnie the Pooh, and a Backyard BBQ character dining at Fort Wilderness. We will be staying at Animal Kingdom-Kidani Village, The Treehouse Villas, and a weekend at Disney's Vero Beach Resort.

Best Friend

I've never really had a best friend in my adult life. I grew up having best friends though. My very first bestie was Valerie Mason. We went to 4 year old, half day, pre-k together at a Lutheran Church. Her Grandpa owned a Dairy Mart right down the road from the church and we would walk down there and he would give us a popsicle. Think about that. FOUR YEARS OLD walking a few blocks by ourselves. I would never trust Simon to make it six houses down, much less a few blocks away. Anyway, we were best friends through about second or third grade until she moved I think. She was also my first kiss and my first shared cigarette. See what kind of a life I lived? I am Facebook friends with Valerie and I asked her if she remembered our kissing and smoking adventures. She did. I guess I'm a good kisser. Then, bestie number two was Deanne Davidson. She lived down the street from me in grade school. She loved horses and had three older sisters and one older brother. We skipped school once in the fourth grade and skateboarded all around town. Deanne died of anorexia in her adult life. Then I moved and changed schools in the 6th grade. My sixth grade bestie was Julie Edwards. Always more mature than I was, but we hung out a lot that year. Julie took my little brother's virginity when he was 12 and she was 14. Julie ended up getting pregnant at 16 and now lives a life with no phone married to a guy named Stoner. Or maybe Stoney. When we moved into 7th grade, Tammy Fletcher became my best friend and stayed my bestie until about 10th grade when I got my first real boyfriend. Tammy and I walked everywhere together. To the mall, the Dairy Queen, Bob's Burgers, you name it, we walked there. I was the better student, she was the better communicator. I remember her birthday, meeting half way between our houses, laying on the ground and watching the clouds. She currently lives in Bend, OR selling real estate. Before the market went under, she was doing quite well and still makes more money than we do even in this market. She was born to sell. Greg Suiter was my first real boyfriend. He was a runner and his dad was an asshole. He was an only child and he could never meet his father's expectations. We dated about two years until I moved away to Washington right before my senior year. Greg eventually got married, then divorced, then got his girlfriend pregnant, then killed himself in the garage of his house. I sent flowers to the funeral and have sent a Christmas card to his mama ever since. His mama did divorce his dad prior to Greg's death but after he graduated from high school. Greg's son never got a chance to meet him, but at least Greg's mom has something to remind her of her only child. My senior year I was the new girl in a very small high school. I found another boyfriend and clung to him and his family like crazy. I still keep in touch with his parents although I haven't talked to him since he broke up with me in the summer of 1985.

I got married in 1988 and haven't had a best (girl)friend since. Sometimes I miss that. I realize having a best friend requires work and I am just not the kind of person that likes to nurture a relationship. I despise talking on the phone, I don't have a lot of time to do things with a friend, and I don't really like other people's children. I would, however, like to go out once in awhile and have a margarita and talk about things besides kids and husbands. Does anyone want a best girlfriend? I'm available.

Update on that German girl :)

So, Andrea's family will be here on Sunday to pick her up. It has been a good two weeks with her. She was very quiet in the beginning, but she acclimated quite well to our family. All the flights look full for Cami to get over there, but we are still checking all the avenues to get her there. Hopefully something will work out.

Olaf leaves Sunday for the Mayo Clinic. He found out today (when he went to look at his direct deposit) that his disability ended June 30th. That means there was not a deposit today in our bank account. Needless to say, he is on the phone with doctor's offices and the disability company to try to rectify this situation. Not getting paid for two weeks is kind of a bummer to say the least. Just grateful we have a little in the savings or we would be screwed!

She's home, Andrea's here

Cami came home last Sunday and Andrea arrived last night. We now have a German exchange student in our midst. We didn't spend a lot of time with her before she went to bed last night. Maybe three hours. The girls played Wii and air hockey. Olaf will take the family to the 4th of July parade tomorrow and I will stay home with Caleb. We bought some fireworks from Florida on our way home from Disney last year, so we have some fun fireworks to shoot. We have never done "big" fireworks before, so this will be interesting to say the least.

Camille enjoyed her time in Australia, but she didn't love it like she did New Zealand. She is already planning and saving for her People to People trip next year. It is called European Heritage and is a 20 days trip to England, France, Germany, Belgium, The Netherlands, and Switzerland. She needs to raise all the money this time. It's actually less expensive than her New Zealand trip, but we just cannot afford to help her this time. She has 11 months...

Olaf and I plan on going to Rome (Italy, not Georgia, you rednecks) sometime next year as well. After Camille gets her driver's license. I am not sure exactly when, where, or how...but that is our plan. I have never been out of the country and I think Rome would be such a fun trip filled with history. Olaf still has 2 positive space tickets that Delta gave them for something. I think they expire next year and that is what we plan on using for our little jaunt across the Atlantic.

And, that's it for now. Does anyone still read this thing?

Camille's Trip Update

Well, Cami cried when she left New Zealand. Can you believe she didn't want to go to Australia? That makes me laugh and mad at the same time. She has been in Australia for four days now. She spent a couple of days in Sydney then went to Shoal Bay. See the Sydney Opera House behind her? Now she is flying to Cairns. Tomorrow she gets to snorkel the Great Barrier Reef. Then her last day she gets to see kangaroos and crocodiles and hold a koala. She will be home Sunday evening. She will barely have time to adjust back to our time zone before Andrea gets here from Germany for two weeks. Then our family will have two weeks without Andrea before Cami gets back on a plane and leaves for Berlin for another two weeks!

Olaf has an appointment next week with a pain doctor. He needs to get his pain under control so he can go back to work. He's been home so long it is going to be weird to have him back at work. I am not sure when he will go back, but I am assuming it will be the beginning of July. His Mayo Clinic appointment is July 18th. He is flying down the 17th and probably won't be home until the 20th. Hopefully they can figure out what is going on with this poor guy. ::crosses fingers::

I am so excited

If you know me at all, you know I despise the stomach virus. Personally, I have not vomited since Thanksgiving Day 1994 because I am SO fearful of it. One reason I hate the stomach virus so virulently is because of the way it is spread. You can ONLY get the stomach virus from poop or vomit. That means you have to ingest poop or vomit in order for you to get this awful virus. GROSS! Whenever my children get the stomach virus I do everything in my power to contain it. I wear disposable gloves and surgical masks when I am with a vomiting child or cleaning up vomit. I clean and Lysol everything after every single time a person in my house pukes. I spray the toilet, the flusher, the light switch, the sink, the floor. I go through a huge bottle of Lysol with every episode of the stomach virus. Needless to say, since I hate it so much, I do everything in my power for my children not to get the virus. I will not let my children play in those nasty play areas at McDonalds, if we go into a store of any sort I use hand sanitizer during the store visit as well as after the store visit. I make my children wash their hands immediately upon arrival at home. I am sure my children wash their hands more than most children. All that said I found the best website about the stomach virus. Listed there was another website with hand sanitizer that actually kills the norovirus as well as the rotovirus. To say I was giddy with excitement doesn't even capture the feeling I had. Of course I immediately ordered some and cannot wait to get it.

On another note, Camille is going to school today with her host family. She is excited and I am excited for her. All I know about the host family so far is they live on a farm, have 2 girls aged 17 and 15, the girls are really into sports, and she ate fish and chips for supper last night by a fire. She also said the toilet, shower, and bath are all in separate rooms. I hope to hear more when she gets home from school. I do know this is the high school she is at right now.

Update on Camille's trip

Yesterday, Camille had a blast! It was the first full day of her trip and what a day it was! They started off the day in Rotorua and went to the Agrodome Farm Show! I think they got to watch live sheep dog herding (like in the movie Babe) but I don't know for sure. Then they went to Mount Ngongotaha and took a gondola up the mountain, then rode this fun go cart/luge thing down the mountain.



She had a blast doing that and rode it three times! It seems their tour guide over there is named Tony and Camille has taken quite a liking to him. I insisted she text me his photo. So, meet Tony the tour guide!

After that they went to Wai-O-Tapu Thermal Wonderland. She didn't text me anything about that because I was already sleeping at that point. Then they left to spend in the night in a Marae which is the local meeting house of the Maori people. She had dinner in the style of a Hangi, prepared using steam or hot rocks in a pit oven. They are spending the night in that Marae as I type this. She texted me and said she was so cold she was shivering. Her exact words were, "OK, in the marae, it's awesome, gonna shower, I'm so beautifully cold I'm shivering and today was awesome!!! I love u!" It doesn't get better than that.

Then, the delegation leader called me about 6 am this morning to tell me there had been an earthquake at Christchurch. The delegation is supposed to go there in five days, but may be rerouted by the People to People office. So, because of that and the ash cloud from the volcano in Chile, their itinerary may be affected. I am sure they will do whatever it takes to keep the students safe and still have fun.

Camille will meet her home stay family today and for the next two nights will be staying with them in Palmerston North, New Zealand. She will actually be attending high school with her host family's child so that will be really weird for her. She has absolutely nothing to compare it to. I am hoping the host family has a computer and she can email me, or even skype. ::fingers crossed::

She's gone...

My baby girl left this morning for New Zealand and Australia. I cannot believe my child is going to be gone for 16 days half way around the world. As I type she is on a plane over New Mexico flying to LAX. Then at 2:40 am Eatern she will board a plane bound for Aukland, New Zealand. She will lose a day and miraculously be in winter when she arrives at 8:30 am Sunday morning local time. (4:30 pm Eastern on Saturday here) To say I am proud of her doesn't even begin to describe how I feel. I cannot wait to see the photos and watch the videos and hear the stories. Only 16 more days...

Boob is fine...

After being smashed until my boob was as flat as a pancake, and an ultrasound to boot, it has been determined I don't need to go back until next year. All clear.

Camille is all packed and ready to go. So exciting!! I cannot wait to see the photos when she gets back. She is going to have such a fabulous time and I am so excited for her. Olaf is going to try to drive her to the airport Friday morning. I hope that goes OK, but if it doesn't someone from work can come pick him up. He plans on going to the gate with her and waiting until she leaves. I know he is going to cry.

I have been watching the Casey Anthony trial when I can. The prosecution is doing a great job, but I am looking forward to seeing the defense's case as well. I'd love to be on the jury.

Oh...I bought P90X on Ebay and am waiting for it to arrive. I wonder how much of it I will be able to do. I am going to give it a try though. I just hope no one sets up a hidden video camera and tries to record me. How embarrassing.

More of the same...

Olaf got the results today from the spine doctor and everything is normal. We are just waiting for the blood work from the rheumatologist. If that is normal, then I guess he needs to go back to work until he goes to the Mayo Clinic in July. Yes, he still has pain and yes, he is still taking pain killers but perhaps he can get away with not taking the pain killers during work hours.

I go in tomorrow for the ultrasound on my breast. I will post results as soon as I know something. I am the same age as Olaf's mom was when she was diagnosed with breast cancer. She died at age 50. Needless to say, Olaf is more scared about this than I am.

We are getting estimates for concrete work and landscaping. We need our driveway and walkway regraded and poured as the run off is still causing our house/foundation to sink. We also need the front lawn landscaped since the septic lines have been replaced. I am sure it is going to cost a lot of $$ that we really don't have to spend.

Camille leaves this Friday. She spends all day Friday traveling with huge lay overs in Dallas and Los Angeles. She doesn't get on the plane to Aukland until 2:30 am (Eastern) Saturday morning. She arrives at 8:30 am Sunday morning local time (which is 4:30 pm Saturday for us!) Talk about jet lag! She is going to be SO messed up when she gets home. At least she gets to change seasons and have some winter weather. Lucky girl.