BLESSINGS

Growing up I remember getting father's blessings for different occasions like the first day of school or when we felt like we needed it. When my dad was ex-communicated, I figured father's blessings were things of the past. He has since been baptized again and has had his priesthood restored, but due to our history I don't know if I will ever get a blessing from him again. We are taking baby steps towards restoring our relationship, but at this point I just wouldn't feel comfortable. Which is why I am so thankful to have a wonderful husband (and awesome brothers) who can give me blessings.

I was feeling kind of crappy Sunday when I woke up. My neck hurt all day and I just figured I slept on it wrong or had a pinched nerve due to the way I was sleeping. By Sunday night I was in so much pain that I couldn't sleep. Hmmm.....familiar. I was going to make a doctors appointment first thing Monday morning, but actually got a half hour massage instead. We have a massage therapist that helps with our patients. We've worked out a deal with her and the company so that she comes in every Monday and gives the employees half hour massages. She kept commenting on how tight my neck and back were. I felt better right after she was done, but about ten minutes later regretted getting the massage because it started to hurt even worse. So, I made an appointment with our family doctor and later that afternoon went home with muscle relaxers. He mentioned I had a temp and asked if I felt ok. At that point I did (other than my neck and shoulders) so he just said if I started to feel worse, call them and they would call in an antibiotic for me.

Due to being in so much pain, I asked the Bubs and my little brother for a blessing. For some reason I don't ask the bubs for blessings probably as much as I should. I know he loves to give them to me and loves it when I ask for them, but I just don't think about it. But, I hurt so bad and knew that between the blessing, a heating pad, muscle relaxers and icy hot, I was sure to feel some relief soon. And I started too, for a little bit. Around ten that night my right side started to hurt so bad I thought I was going to die (way worse than than the C02). I tried to wait it out and just go back to the doctor on Tuesday, but ended up waking up the bubs about five in the morning so we could go the ER. After two CT scans, an ultrasound and X-ray it came back that I had an infection and pleural effusion (where fluid builds up between the lungs and diaphragm) which is extremely painful. Two prescriptions and some pain meds later, I was discharged (after about six hours in the ER).

I am so thankful for blessings in our lives. Not only for priesthood blessings, but also for things we take for granted like insurance through our employers. We are lucky enough to have insurance through bubs work. I do complain about having to pay for it each pay period because the majority of the time we never use it. But after surgery and all the complications I've had due to the surgery, I am SOOO thankful for that cushion. Otherwise, the bills that are starting to come in could completely cripple us. I'm also thankful for flexible spending account programs through work. It sucks paying into them, but sure nice to get a hefty check back in the mail! It's the small things we take for granted. I'm also so thankful for a husband who honors his priesthood and can give me blessings when I need them. Just another reason why I love him so much. He's really stepped up the past couple of weeks and didn't complain once while waiting in the ER with me. I know he loves fussing over me, but after having to do it for pretty much two weeks straight, I'm glad he'll still put up with me!

JUST CUT IT ALREADY!

The bubs and I are having an on going debate. I'm TIRED of his hair and want him to cut it. He, on the other hand, loves the length and thinks it looks sexy. Especially after he's straightened it. I came home from work today and saw this (he was getting ready to go running)....Seriously?! He looks like a 70's child! Ugh! He tells me he's going to cut it in June. In the meantime, he takes longer to "do" his hair than I do! Plus, since I just recently cut my hair, we have almost the same length hair. There's just something wrong with that! It's a good thing I didn't go any shorter!

SURGERY UPDATE

I thought I would just type a quick post on how I was doing as I've had several people ask. Today I'm doing great....last week, I wanted to die! I didn't tell a lot of people I was actually going in for surgery. For one, it was scheduled pretty quickly. For two, it wasn't a huge procedure. A couple of years ago they found a benign tumor on my right ovary. The only time I really could feel it was when I ovulated on my right side, so, every other month. TMI? Anyway, the pain has been steadily getting worse and I was also curious to see if I had endometriosis. I've never been checked for it. So, last month when I went in for my yearly, I talked to by OB and we decided to remove the tumor, check for the endometriosis and then remove any blockage he could find in my fallopian tubes. Again, maybe tmi? It was an outpatient procedure which required anywhere from three to four incisions and then filling the stomach with CO2 so they could better access the organs they needed to.

I was super nervous about the CO2 because I'd heard such horror stories of how painful it is when it leaves the body. It actually travels up and out through the shoulders. One friend told me it felt like she was having a heart attack for days. Another said it was worse than giving birth. Um, thanks. So, Tuesday the 15th rolled around and at noon I was checked into McKay Dee Hospital. By 3:30ish they were rolling me into the OR and that's about all I remember until I woke up once in post-op and then finally really woke up in the recovery room. My OB told the Bubs that everything had gone well. I had three incisions but the tumor (which was a lot bigger than anyone had anticipated) was gone and although I didn't have endometriosis, I did have blockage in my tubes which they flushed. Sounds weird, doesn't it? Flushing out your tubes....such a car thing! I was SOOO sick trying to come out of the anesthesia and then had to be on oxygen for about four hours. They couldn't get my oxygen levels to rise (they should be at 95-97 and I was at 85-87) which was a huge concern for them. I also couldn't keep anything down because I was nauseated. They gave me three different kinds of nausea meds, but it wasn't until they had the pharmacy mix up a super powerful one for me that I actually started to feel a little better and could keep the coke and crackers down they gave me. In order to get out of recovery you have to do three things: 1- Keep your oxygen levels up. 2 - Be able to keep down coke/crackers which means your nausea level is down. 3 - Have a pain level of 5 or less. I missed being admitted to the hospital by an hour and a half. They close recovery at 10 pm and we didn't end up leaving the hospital until about 8:30. I was SOOO excited to go home! I actually felt pretty good Tuesday but by Wednesday was in sooo much pain due to the CO2. It hurt to stand, it hurt to sit, it hurt to move and laying down made the pain unbearable. So, I didn't sleep for about four nights. There's not a lot of good tv on in the early morning. Poor bubs had to deal with a mini breakdown on Thursday. I was soo tired and didn't feel good because of the pain meds they had given me. The bubs has been the absolute best. He took almost all of last week off and wouldn't let me lift a finger. Such a great husband!

Anyway, now that this post is forever long! I'm starting to feel a lot better. I actually was able to sleep most of last night and have just a little left over pain in my shoulders/back/tummy. I can DEFINITELY feel the incisions now and where they removed the tumor, but I'll take that pain over the CO2 any day. I'm planning on going back to work tomorrow. I was going to go back today, but ended up being a little too ambitious yesterday and made one of the incisions bleed. So, today I'm taking it easy and catching up on sleep and maybe just a teeny tiny bit of housework.

Thanks everyone for the prayers, positive thoughts and calls. They've all been super sweet. Also thanks to the Bubs for being the BEST husband in the world. He's been such a trooper and I secretly think he was kind of relieved to go back to work today! He also pointed out that he didn't go running at all last week in order to make sure he was around to help me with whatever I needed. I think it was driving him crazy as running is a huge stress outlet for him. So Bubs, by all means, please go running today!

10 YEARS AND COUNTING

Well, I never did finish my countdown. Oh well, at least I got to day 6, right? Things just got a little too hectic. Anyway, our anniversary was the best! We wanted to go away on a trip, but are thinking about doing it later this year. Maybe a cruise in December to the Caribbean again? Or maybe Hawaii? Not sure yet! Anyway, on our actual anniversary (Wednesday the 16th) we headed down to Salt Lake for the day. It's kind of funny because I took the day off for the bubs not knowing he had already taken the day off and was going to surprise me at work. It's a good thing we found out what the other was doing the night before! Anyway, we ended up at the Salt Lake Temple (which is where we were married) and did sealings. We've done sealings in some of the closer temples, but have never been back to the Salt Lake to do any work. We've talked forever about going down for a live session but haven't made it. After we got done at the temple we went to the Spaghetti Factory (which is where we had our luncheon) for lunch. It was fun to just reminisce and spend the day together. The bubs also informed me he had a surprised planned for the Saturday following our anniversary. I was way excited to find out what it was and anxiously waited for Saturday to arrive.

When Saturday came I was informed we would be going back down to Salt Lake for dinner and I needed to dress up. We ended up at a restaurant called Metropolitan which is in the heart of Salt Lake. The atmosphere was way cool (kind of LA or a New York scene) but one of those places where you're not quite sure what it is your ordering. Just kind of pick and hope for the best. When we first got there they asked us what kind of water we wanted to drink - still, mineral, sparkling. I got sparkling and the bubs got mineral and we happily sipped away. Found out later that the glass of water cost us about $16 for both. It was Voss water. Nice. If we ever go there again I'll ask what they have on tap first. That, or go outside with my glass and hope for rain! The food was great and surprisingly the portions were a decent size. The desert left much to be desired, but overall the meal was great. Expensive, but good. But hey, you only celebrate a ten year anniversary once, right? But the best moment of the night was when, after ten years of marriage, I finally got my proposal! If you read back a couple of posts you'll see the bubs kinda jumped the gun on proposing. He got nervous and just kind of blurted it out. Anyway, while we were waiting for dessert the bubs mentioned he had something for me. He then placed two conversation hearts of the table. One said "Will You" and the other said "Marry Me?" I thought it was so sweet and when I looked up from reading them he had a ring in his hand. So, I not only got my proposal, I got some bling as well. It was a past, present, future ring and then an eternity band, both in black diamonds. I've never seen black diamonds before and LOVE the rings! He did a great job and I've gotten a ton of compliments on them. Overall, it was probably the best anniversary we've had so far. Thanks bubs for being so great to me and for the great surprise. Love you!