can't sleep

So I'm blogging...

I had my 6 month follow-up with my neurologist a few weeks ago. Everything looks great! I'll go back in a year as long as my symptoms from the chiari malformation don't get worse before then. I'm still having severe headaches (accompanied by occasional ringing in my ears and vision problems)...maybe 1 a month that is BAD (like stay in bed all day bad) and 2-3 more in in a month that require meds, but I can still deal with everyday life. I also have pressure when I bend over or turn my head suddenly, and blacking out (not passing out, just everything goes black for a few seconds) when I stand up suddenly. It sounds a lot worse when I type it out than it actually is. At least I think so...

Jaina was a garden gnome for Halloween. She was adorable and it fit her perfectly! It was hilarious when we could get her to dance in her costume for us!

This was about the clearest picture I could get. She was waaaaay more interested in moving around and her candy instead of being still for me!

pics

I just posted lots of pics on facebook! Go check 'em out!!!

Hey all...

I guess I should update this thing, huh? :D

Jaina is now 21 months... I think? I keep losing count. LOL! It's easier to say she'll be 2 in January. She's been going to a babysitter that has some older kids so her vocabulary has EXPLODED in the past couple of weeks. She's still in 18 month clothes, with very few 2T.

We're trick-0r-treating tonight after church... should be lots of fun!!! I'll post pics eventually.

:)

Jaina pooped in the potty. I'm very excited about it. :)

Guess what?

After thinking about it for a long time...

After a couple of hospital stays for myself and a couple for Jaina...

I've decided I'm going to nursing school! I don't know where yet but I'm planning on starting next fall, so I have almost a year to get everything in order. The top runner is Baptist Health School of Nursing in Little Rock, simply because they help you get your pre-requisites as part of the program and everywhere else you have to have them before you can even apply. I have most of them, but is the 1 or 2 I don't have that will make it a pain. I'm really excited about it and I haven't been this excited about any career decision I've made up until now.

Have I created a monster?

At the end of the first prayer I hear, "Amen. A-MEN. Good girl. Amen." Lol. And, yes, that was coming from JAINA! How could I not laugh?

18 month pics

www.myonlineportraits.com

session number: 105592

password: FPMJ2

This child looks just like her daddy. Scary.

um...

It's been an embarassingly long time since I updated this thing. I'll get around to it, I promise. :)

Jaina was in the hospital for an infection in her arm, and then again a few days later because she had an "altered mental state" (according to the hospital paperwork). She was pretty much unresponsive to everything. She's better now and acts like nothing happened, which is good except for the fact hat we have no idea what happened or if it will ever happen again!

Later.

Homemade Salsa

I made some tonight... I was actually impressed. It only took an hour from the time I started until I finished washing dishes, so not bad. The only other time I've ever made it was with fresh tomatoes and it took ALL day. I did manage to pour it all over myself, my husband, and the stove and floor before getting it into the containers... go figure!

I'm very blessed.

If all I have to complain about is Jaina not staying in bed, it sounds like we're doing OK. :)

We went to a friend's house to watch Dear John. I really just wasn't impressed. I've talked to people who thought it was great... not so much for me.

Jaina did WAY better with bedtime tonight... only got up a couple of times and she was on her way back to bed when I "caught" her.

OK, I gotta go to sleep. My eyes are starting to cross. Nighty-Night!!

WHAT have I gotten myself into!?!?

Jaina has turned into a climber. She can climb into our chairs (that are bar-stool height) and did so TWICE today so she could play with my laptop.

She was really good for church tonight. I'm worn out but she was really good and she is learning fast! Then Wal-mart (ugh) and home.

She's been out of bed an uncountable number of times tonight. I think I may take my book to the hallway instead of going back there to constantly check on her. There's an idea...

Oh, and by the way...

CONGRATULATIONS to Jordan and Chris! They are now officially moved in to their first house!

I think a housewarming party is in order...

Well

Jaina is still doing great in her toddler bed. She got up and came in our room once last night. I took her back to bed and, thankfully, that was the end of it (for last night at least). Tonight she's been in bed a total of 20 minutes and has already been up once. She was so proud of herself for getting out of bed! I just took her back to bed and she is fussing about it!

Greg and I went and played racquetball for a little while tonight. We got a friend to keep Jaina. Her grandson is in town and they needed to play. :) It's nice to get a little "date" once in a while!

Yay

Jaina is now officially in her "big girl" bed. It's really just her crib that converts into a toddler day bed. She didn't get out (or fall out) of her bed at all last night, which is a lot better than I was expecting. Let's hope tonight goes as well!

Jaina's Favorite Website

Cullen's ABC's

She will sit and watch this and stay entertained for quite a while, which is unusual for a very busy 16 month old. :) The only ones I've looked at are the "Christian Songs."

I had the afternoon off today (since I have to work Saturday). I got Jaina out of the house so Greg could paint our bedroom. That's my Mother's Day present. It's about half way done now. WooHoo!

Chiropractor

I've been going to the chiropractor. If I ever had any doubt in my head it would work, that's gone. My neck pain is completely gone and my headaches are gone except for the occasional annoyance. I've gone 4 times now (I think). The neurosurgeon pretty much told me that was all part of my condition and I was gonna have to live with it for a while at least. Hmmm...

Not much going on.

Busy 3 day weekend! Jaina and I spend all weekend with my mom and Greg came down Monday. We did a TON of yard work and had a little party Monday for my dad's birthday (which is today). They took the cover off the pool Thursday and it was VERY green. We still did lots of swimming this weekend. The green went away after a couple of days but it was still cloudy.

Bedtime

Bedtime is getting so much easier! Hardly any crying and screaming. We just tell Jaina that it's time to go night-night, change her and take her to bed, and tell her to lay down and cover up. We walk out of the room and haven't been hearing anything until morning. It's nice. This whole crying herself to sleep EVERY night was not going so well for me.

Pics

I was totally fascinated with this little guy.


Jaina and Daddy :)


Showing her the flowers

The Koi Pond

The flowers we couldn't let Jaina pick :(

The waterfall

Jaina and Daddy again... This is his favorite!

Oh, and I forgot to add that Jaina managed to still be awake at 1:00 AM since she just kind of napped off and on yesterday. Then this morning she was too much like her daddy and refused to wake up. She fell back to sleep on the way home from church this morning and is still asleep... she hasn't had anything but about 1/2 of a banana today, since that's all she would eat. I'm surprised she's not starving!

Busy

We had a wonderful and busy weekend! Friday after work we drove to Hot Springs to see Greg's Memaw. She had a pacemaker put in. She is home now and seems to be doing fine. Then we went to The Purple Cow and had milkshakes. Jaina had some of mine... just enough to make her want more! We stayed the night with my mom Friday night. Jordan and RC were at my mom's, so we got to hang out with them for a little while before we went to bed (I might add that Jaina got to sleep with her meme since my dad was working... so mommy and daddy got to go to bed without worrying about getting her to sleep!).

Saturday morning we got up and had breakfast with the family. We went to see my Granny for a little while and went to see my Grandpa and his wife (I may as well start calling her Grandma Betty like Jaina does...).

We took Jaina to Garvan Gardens. It was pretty fun and she really enjoyed it, although it was pretty hot and she fell asleep towards the end. I think she'll enjoy it more next year or the year after when she can walk longer and we won't have to take the stroller. I should have worn comfy shoes, but I guess I'll know next time. Jaina had lots of fun looking at the flowers, but I was a little disappointed. I thought there would be more flowers (and a bigger variety of flowers) and less woods. It was still a fun day and I really enjoyed spending time with my little family. :)

Ummm...

I just walked in the kitchen and there was water dripping out of the bottom of the dishwasher... great. Like I need something else.

Grey's Anatomy

The season finale was Thursday night. They apparently know their demographic and how to keep us waiting until next season!!! That's really the only show I watch on a regular basis. I guess I'm addicted to all the drama!

Soooooooooo tired.

Yesterday was loooooong... Had work from 8-5 and then a work meeting 5:30-7, then left Jaina with a friend so she could play with her grandson and I went to Wal-Mart. Jaina didn't get to bed until about 10:45 (her usual bedtime is 8). So I left at 7:30 AM and didn't get home until about 9:30 PM. I don't think I've recovered. Today was another tiring day and when I came home for lunch at 11 Jaina and Greg were both still asleep.

I think I'm headed to bed now...

Short and simple

I'd better update this thing before I get in trouble...

I'm back at work... half days and/or less than 3o hours. No more sleeping until 9:30. I don't like getting up before Jaina.

I can drive. I'm not confident enough in my driving abilities to drive any more than around town, but I can drive.

And now for the one I'm most excited about... My Mother's Day gift... Greg is painting the bedroom for me. :)

Jaina's words

Here's a list of her words. I've been working on it for a few days because I keep forgetting HOW many she actually knows! The doctor said she should know 3-6 (I think) right now.

Daddy
Mom
Jaina
Ya-ya (my mom)
Jo Jo
Dog (she can't tell the difference between a cat and dog)
Eat
Bite
Good
Cracker
Banana
Hot
Bear (pointing at the bear on my UCA shirt)
Clap
Eye
Ear
Nose
Thanks (or Thank You)
Welcome
Light
Uh-oh
Elmo
Book
Pretty (when pointing at her painted toenails)
Yes
No
Tickle (every time she sees bare tummy or bare feet she "tickles" us)
Shoe
Hi
Bye
Gone or "gone gone" (when she's through eating)
Here (when handing us something)
Coke (because she's figured out she likes sugary sweet stuff)
Look

That's 34. I'm sure she knows more than that, but won't remember them until she says them! She won't say toes, knees, fingers, or head, but she will point to them. If we ask her a question she will either nod her head or shake it for no. I can pretty much tell her to go get me anything and point and she will.

Oh, and when we sing the ABC song she sings with us, but none of the letters are right! LOL!


Edited-because we remembered some more to add

It's Friday

... which is exciting for some people, but means absolutely nothing to me since it's just another day. Greg got some more done on the yard this morning and got the front porch swept off. Jaina and I went outside and "helped." He said that's all he's doing since it's about to rain.

I'm sitting in the living room with the windows open. The cool air feels so good! I think we're fixing to have to make a Wal-Mart trip and run a few other small errands. Woohoo. We might have to wait until after Jaina's nap... it's about that time.

I'm really starting to get bored. I have one more week off work. I go back on April 10th. At least that's the plan right now. I've still not really decided if I'm going to try part-time for a little while to get myself back into the groove of things.

It's Toad Suck Weekend!!! I doubt I'll go, but I really want one of those awesome corn dogs and Greg wants some of the fresh squeezed lemonade. I'm completely fascinated with watching Stuck on a Truck. I could never do that. I'd be the first one out. LOL.

No title

Living room is picked up... dishes are done... baby girl is with a friend until 8:00... time for me to rest for a couple of hours. :)

I got my hair cut today. It's shorter and I really like it. She even showed me how to fix it and it will only take a few minutes. My appointment was at 11 and then we took Jaina to Chick-fil-a for lunch. We were gonna let her play on the playground, but it was right at noon and it was FULL of kids.

Greg worked on the front yard for several hours today. It looks like a yard now. All the brush is gone and he said he's going to finish mowing it tomorrow. Apparently this new medication is a miracle drug... he was able to take Jaina to church last night (without me) and even spoke during class. I'm really proud of him considering all he's been through. Most people don't even know half of it.

stuff

I always seem to blog about yesterday. It's easier that way.

Jaina took her diaper off twice yesterday. Once she was in bed napping and once she just walked up to Greg and handed him her diaper. I'm not ready for this.

Yesterday I managed to get a couple of loads of laundry done and the dishes washed. That took me several hours (and we didn't have that many dirty dishes... Greggers washed them the day before).


Fast forward to several hours later... since I never finished that blog and just left it up on my laptop...

Anyways, today was long, Jaina is asleep, and I'm about to go to bed.

I spent most of the day just not doing anything, got up and started getting ready for church, and just decided I'm too tired and worn out... I just don't feel good.

Yesterday

Greg has a new medicine that's supposed to help keep him awake during the day. We went to get it filled last night and it was $300.00 after all discounts... that's a pain. At least it works! He's been up all day today and done a ton of yard work that really needed to be done.

I managed to get some stuff done... by some I mean a couple of hours of stuff that normally would have taken me only 30 minutes, if that. I wrote some thank you cards and went through all the mail for the last 5 weeks. I hadn't paid any bills except the ones that come out automatically, so that was fun *insert sarcasm here*.

15 month check-up

Jaina had her 15 month check-up today. She's 20 pounds, 12 oz (15th percentile) and 30 1/4 inches (around 5oth percentile) long/tall. She got two shots, one in each leg and then slept until about 5:00.

My vision

is still bad. Everything looks like it's been cut in half and squished together. I noticed today that it takes several seconds for me to look at a car and figure out if it's 2 or 4 door. This is getting annoying.

That was going to be the end of this post, but I decided to put all my complaints together in one post to make it look like I complain less.

My neck hurts and is stiff, so I can't turn it without pain. My back hurts. I wonder if a chiropractor can help me...

I want to go to sleep but I can't sleep. Off to find the Tylenol PM...

Oh, and I'm really grumpy today.

Any suggestions?

We've never really had a problem with Jaina bothering her earrings. She just started pulling her earrings out every time she goes to bed or gets in her car seat. She doesn't put them in her mouth or anything, just twists and plays with them until the backs come off and they come out. Any suggestions?

I've been bored

I'm stuck where I'm feeling better, but I still depend on Greg if I want to do anything. I'm not *supposed* to pick up Jaina or bend over to pick up after her or anything... so I'm bored and have a constantly messy house, both of which are driving me up the wall.

On a side note, I have figured out that when I look up my head/scalp and neck start going numb and when I look down my arms and hands start going numb. Good to know. By numb I mean the tingly feeling you get right before and after your foot goes to sleep. I started paying attention to this because my mom has an ear infection and told me that when she looks to the right and tilts her head she passes out. Hmmm.

I've really been wanting some pizza and cheese sticks... I've been watching a lot of TV lately (due to the boredom thing again) and the new Digiorno Pizza and Breadsticks commercial has really been getting to me. Tonight when the person bringing us dinner called and asked if we wanted pizza instead of a home-cooked meal I was super excited.

Happy 15 months to my baby girl! I'm trying to make a list of words Jaina knows, just because I want to count them. She has about 20 she says all the time and more she says occasionally. She also talks 24/7 even though I have no idea what she's saying, gives lots of kisses (complete with the "muah" sound), and blows lots of kisses (particularly to random old men in Wal-mart). She really understands a lot of what we're saying, and probably more than I give her credit for. I've really noticed this in about the last week. I can tell her to go pick something up for me or bring me something and she normally does. Oh, and she also barks like a dog and makes monkey sounds. We were sitting outside a couple of days ago and the dog across the street started barking, so of course my child started barking back.

Jaina went to Bible class for the first time last night. Her teachers said she was so good! I'm excited about being able to pay attention in class again or maybe even teach. I was kind of expecting someone to come get me half-way through the service, I guess mainly because I didn't really know what to expect, but she was a good little girl!

Today

Went back to the doctor today. I don't have to go back for 6 months! He said it looks like everything is going back to normal. My neck still hurts, but that may not go away for a while since it's because of my condition and not because of the surgery (which is also why I was having neck problems before the surgery).

Jaina was so good the entire time. The only time she really got fussy was when we went to Sam's and I wouldn't let her drink all of my Icee. Once we got back to Conway, we took her by the bank to see her friends (my co-workers :P) and went by Lowes to get some stuff for the yard. After 2 years we are planting a tree and some grass in the yard!!!

Pics

Here are some pics from the park, once about six weeks ago and then again today. Enjoy. :)

It's almost 8.

And sweet baby girl is asleep. We had a long day and she only took about a 15-20 minute nap. I am feeling so much better than last Sunday. I can't really tell I'm much better from one day to the next, but I can see a huge improvement over a week. My eyes are still giving me problems, which is why my time on the computer is short. My eyes either see double or there's black spots on everything. I mostly notice this on numbers, but sometimes numbers/letters are "missing." I was reading a phone number on a bill board a couple of days ago and it only had 4 numbers... and they kept changing... that can't be right.

I got my new glasses last week. I forgot to post that! I love them.

Time for bed. Have to get up in a couple of hours for my IV. I'm getting tired of that but at least it's only for a few more days. It's like having a newborn again. At least my baby girl only got up a couple times during the night and started sleeping like her daddy when she was just a few months old. She got to bed late tonight (about 10) so she'll probably sleep until at least 9 in the morning if we don't wake her.

Night all.

Urgh.

Stupid doctor's office. I've been calling them for 3 days trying to find out when my MRI is. They finally told me I could come in today. I get there and they were expecting me earlier in the day, since the doctor's office just asked if they could send me over. We had to get ready, feed Jaina, and drive the hour to the hospital, which took us about 2 hours. Then it took another 2 hours for a 15 minute MRI. If I didn't like this doctor so much, I would probably.... well, I don't know what I would do. Probably nothing. I'm just aggravated.

My child

is a little whiny baby today!!! Grrr! She is really cute, though. Maybe soon I'll feel well enough to try to take some pictures. :)

Jaina's learned how to walk sideways. It's funny. We painted her toenails for the first time Saturday night and she's been doing it since. Not all the time, but that's when she started it. I am constantly amazed at how smart she is. She knows how to point to all the places on her face (eyes, nose, mouth, ears) and her list of words is growing every day! She loves to blow kisses. It's hard to believe she'll be starting Bible class in another month and half. She seems too little. I'm looking forward to it though...

Feeling better

I'm feeling sooooo much better! I'm still giving myself IV's 3 times a day (although 1 time is 2 IV's). I made it to church for services this morning. I somehow managed to sit through the entire service and then go out to eat after. I was not a very happy camper by the time we made it home. I immediately fell asleep and didn't wake up until someone called about 3:30. I would've gone straight back to sleep had it not been for my meds. :(

Jaina's sleep schedule is a little off. Her meme thinks when she comes Jaina doesn't have to go to bed until 10:30 or 11... which means an 8:00 bedtime the next day does not go over very well.

Ok, now you're current.

I woke up Tuesday feeling better! Still nowhere close to great, but better! Home Health came out and showed us how to take care of the IV stuff at 9 AM and 5 PM and then we successfully did it ourselves at 1 AM. Well, Greg did and I slept. :)

Someone from Church brought us a huge meal Tuesday night and my Aunt Joy is bringing us something tonight. I'm back to eating 3 meals a day, although still losing weight.

My mom is bringing Jaina home tonight! I miss that little booger so much! I have to call her at least once a day. Most days more. Last night I was singing to her and she was giving me kisses over the phone. It was so sweet!

Monday

I got my first night of sleep. It was interrupted every few hours, but it was sleep. I felt horrible all day long. I had a pounding/throbbing headache and felt sick to my stomach, had no desire to eat, and everything smelled and tasted horrible.

They tell me about 10 AM they are going to discharge me as soon as I get my last IV and Home Health will be coming to my house at 5 PM to set up my IV's for the night and next day. I will be connected to the IV 24/7 and have a pump that gives me a dose of antibiotic every 8 hours. Someone from Home Health will come and change my IV bag once a day. THEN they change my meds (after they've been delivered for me to take home) and tell me that I'm actually going to have to have 2 antibiotics and that Greg will have to administer them for me or if he's not able I will have to do it myself. I think I would actually prefer to only be hooked to the IV for 30 minutes 3 times a day. There's a lot less of a chance of Jaina pulling on something she shouldn't. The nurse from the Neurology office finally came by about 4:00. Actually she came by earlier, left to get me pain meds, and never came back... It had been 2 days since I'd really been able to talk to anyone and I had a list of questions. I was absolutely not leaving until my questions were answered. We also finally talked them into giving me something besides Darvocet for pain. It was really not doing anything for the pain and only lasted a couple of hours when it did work.

I was discharged about 5:45. When we got home we were waiting on Home Health and they never showed. The hospital neglected to tell us that they wouldn't be coming out to the house until the morning.

Sunday

Easter Sunday in a Catholic hospital... most of the staff was aggravated because it they were not getting holiday pay and they were very minimally staffed.

I felt really good on Sunday. Didn't do much but just chill at the hospital.

Saturday

Still no sleep.

The doctor came in and talked to us for a good 15 minutes or more. He said that after going over my MRI from the night before and comparing them to pre- and post- surgery MRI's that the area where he did the surgery looks perfect. He may even use it in lectures. After all of my new symptoms and consulting with the other doctors in the practice and going over my scans again, they've concluded that I have Chiari Malformation. I picked that particular website because it was the first one I read and I have every symptom listed with the exception of 1. It kind of shocked me when I read it because some of them I didn't realize were related and hadn't even mentioned to my doctor. He said that my symptoms may resolve themselves once my spinal fluid builds back up or he may (as a last resort) have to go in and correct the problem. He then discharged me and told me I could go home. We got out to the car, got buckled in, and started to pull away when the nurse comes running out of the hospital and tells me that my blood cultures came back showing infection and that I have to come back in and have a PICC line inserted so I can have IV's at home.

I'm re-admitted to the hospital and have the PICC line inserted. I would also like to insert here that when I went to the ER I asked for one since I knew it would save me a lot of pain, but they said no and I ended up being stuck with a needle lots and lots of times. A caseworker came to my room and said she was trying to verify that my insurance would pay for home health and get someone to come out to my house and set everything up for the IV's. Since it was a weekend and a holiday, no luck there. The hospital could verify my insurance but Home Health couldn't verify my insurance until Monday and the hospital would not send me home without an IV. So I get to chill at the hospital for 2 more days so I can get an IV every 8 hours.

I sleep about 4 hours Saturday night.

Friday night

I did not sleep. AT ALL.

I had another "episode" as I was leaving the ER, but it was not as bad. This time I was able to keep control of my arms and legs. I knew what was happening when it started happening and had been told to flex my arms/hands/legs if it happened again. It didn't last as long and I calmed down in just a few minutes.

I had at least 2 more instances (these were not dramatic enough to be "episodes") over the next few hours where my face went numb and that (thankfully) was all that happened. I had a very painful next few hours that involved many blood draws, IV's, and pain medication wearing off after an hour.

I had ANOTHER "episode" about 1:30 AM. I was having to keep my arm straight because every time I would move my arm the IV would come out. My face started going numb and I thought at first that was all that was going to happen. About 15 minutes later my hands and legs started going numb and I woke up my sister to get the nurse. A few minutes later I lost control of the muscles in my face (so they could really understand what I was saying) but I was able to flex my arms and legs and not lose control of them. It took me about 45 minutes to stop shaking and calm down from this one. My sister crawled in bed with me and basically held me down to keep me from shaking and kept telling me to "sniff the roses and blow out the candles" to get my breathing regular. She's such a good little OTA. :)

By this time they were telling me I was having anxiety attacks and the numbness was from me hyperventilating. I refuse to believe this because every time my face started going numb first. We learned later that my Dilantin level was low, which can cause numbness, and my theory is that when my face and hands started going numb and I became unable to move my hands I may have had anxiety attacks.

The rest of the night consisted of (in this order) leg ultrasound to make sure I had no blood clots, another IV where I had to lay flat on my back without moving my arm for an hour, a lung CT, a 45 minute wait on a stretcher in the hall, and some kind of heart scan (I want to say it was an X-ray, but I'm not sure). Everything was normal. I can't wait to get this hospital bill... the last one was $64,000.00. THANK GOD for insurance!!!

I haven't updated this thing

Because I've been stuck in the hospital since Friday... got to go home last night. I'll be slowly updating everything as I feel up to it.

Friday I went for the CT scan. I had to wait FOREVER. OK, maybe not really forever but when you're so sick you can't hold your head up an hour feels like forever. While I was in the waiting room, I had what we are going refer to as an "episode" since no one seems to know exactly what happened. My face and arms/hands started to go numb and clench into fists. I had no control of my arms or hands and had difficulty speaking. The people who saw what happened thought I was having a seizure. My mom went to get someone and they brought a stretcher to the waiting room and took me to the ER. (This happened to be during the Good Friday Mass and someone had pulled the fire alarm, so there were all kinds of flashing lights and sirens... NOT a good thing for someone who has just gone through something like that and has a migraine-style headache!) After I got to the ER it took them another 30 minutes or so to get me calmed down, did blood work, got some morphine for pain (I just had to mention to the ER doctor that my doctor wouldn't give me anything but Darvocet for the pain and he made sure I got something while I was still in his care), had an MRI, and was admitted until they could figure out what was happening.

Going back to the doctor tomorrow... I called today because I just keep getting worse instead of improving and they said needed to either 1) go to the ER at St. Vincent's or 2)go get a CT tomorrow and come by the clinic. So option 2 it is for now, unless I start feeling worse tonight. My mom is staying with me tonight and going to the doctor with me tomorrow.

Blogging

Is therapeutic. Forgive me for any typos as I can't actually see most of what I'm typing. :)

I feel like all I do on here is complain, but it helps me! It also helps me remember all my symptoms so I can look back if I need to.

This morning started off really bad... On a scale of 1-10 (1 being a minor annoyance and 10 being reserved ONLY for childbirth) my pain was about a 8. I stayed in bed until about... well I have no idea, but I know at some point I tried to eat breakfast and lunch. I ended up taking a muscle relaxer and going back to bed. I just rested and slept off and on most of the day. Greg moved the TV to where i don't have to lay on my back to watch movies in the bedroom. My neck is too stiff to turn my head and my head starts hurting when I'm up for more than 30 minutes or so.

I feel a lot better now. I managed to eat a little bit for dinner and am fixing to drug myself up on Tylenol PM and a muscle relaxer so I can sleep.

I miss my little pookey bear. :(

Bad day...

Warning: Do not read any further unless you want to hear about my inability to vomit.

Today has been my worst day so far... I woke up around 7, but didn't actually get out of bed until 11 or so. We had to drive to Little Rock to get my staples out. I was fine while she was taking them out but I got sick as soon as we walked out of the office. I'm one of those people that lacks the ability to throw up, so I stood in the hallway dry heaving and just wishing I could get anything up for a few minutes. It was not fun. I haven't been able to eat anything today and I feel all shaky and sick to my stomach.

My mom met us in Little Rock and Papaw and Betty are going to keep Jaina for us the rest of the week. Greg said I was doing too much. :( I'll miss the little booger but I guess it's more important for me to get better.

I still can't wash my hair until tomorrow... oh, well. I guess I've had enough excitement for one day! The nurse did say I can take Tylenol PM to sleep so MAYBE I'll get a full night of sleep tonight.

Tomorrow

Getting my staples out! All 41 of them... I took a picture but I'm too chicken to post it right now. My scar will not be hard to cover up at all with as much hair as I have. I'm probably looking forward to it the most just so I can actually wash my hair without help. I will never take for granted being able to wash my hair or shave my legs again. LOL.

I only slept about 4 hours last night/this morning. I woke up about 4 AM with my entire left side in pain. I almost feel like I have a pinched nerve or something and I can't sleep on the other side for fear of being smacked in the back of the head by a certain heavy sleeper... named Greg... yeah.

We went and picked up my prescription for glasses and I ordered some online. I've never ordered any from here before, but I got 2 pairs for $20 with shipping. If I like them, I may just order more and have a different pair of glasses for every outfit. OR not. :)

The positive side of all this is that I've lost about 15 pounds without even trying. I'm thinking that might be motivation I need to keep up with it this time. I weigh less now (by about 10 pounds) than before I got preggers with Jaina.

I have decided

That my life is perfect. :)

I woke up this morning to breakfast in bed, Clifford the Big Red Dog blaring at the top of the TV, and a sweet little girl running around with my (clean) underwear on her head. It just doesn't get any better than that. LOL.

We have to make a trip out of the house today. This should be interesting. My glasses are about to fall apart (my mom already took them and got them repaired enough to hold me another few days or so...) so I need to get some more ordered before they completely disintegrate... I'm just not feeling up to wearing contacts right now.

So tired...

I managed to answer a ton of emails and facebook posts today until my head started spinning uncontrollably... so if I haven't made my way to you yet, I promise I will!

I noticed earlier when writing thank-you cards that my handwriting has changed a little and it takes a lot of effort for me to sit and type something out. It's almost like my fingers are moving faster than my mind can think. Kind of scary. I get my staples out Tuesday so i might mention something to the nurse then, but surely that's somewhat normal, right?

I might have messed up and picked up Jaina today... all 24 pounds of her. She was throwing a little tantrum and hit her head on the floor, so I had to! I'm learning really fast that I can't do that! We figured out tonight that everything just goes a whole lot smoother if I just sit in the floor and let her play with me instead of me trying to get her to hang out with me on the couch. She's a lot happier that way and can come and go as she pleases... not to mention I'm a lot less likely to forget and try to pick her up.

OK, I guess I'll go to bed. I'm putting it off because I think if I stay awake later, I won't wake up until morning. My headaches are the worst during the night and if I wake up during the night I will sometimes be up for a couple of hours before I can go back to sleep.

Back among the living!!!!

AAH! It's so cool to be able to see the computer screen again! No more double vision!

Apparently I had the only 2 side effects of my surgery that my doctor had never seen... double vision (considering he operated no where near that part of my brain) and my left vocal chord was paralyzed. I'm almost back to normal. I still have a massive headache (and am loopy on pain pills...woo hoo!), but I'm sooo much better.

Thank you so much for all the cards, phone calls, flowers, food, and especially PRAYERS over the past couple of weeks. Love you all!

Update from Greg

Hello everyone! Jessi's surgery went very well. The operation took about 3 hours, which was less than they originally thought. The tumor was indeed benign, so there shouldn't be any more complicatioms. It was however the size of a golf ball, and left indentions on each side of it. Again nothing that should be serious.

She will be in ICU at least until tomorrow. I'll get a room number at St Vincents when I can. She's in a lot of pain and nautious but the worst should be behind us.

Thanks to everyone for the help and visits as well as keeping us in your thoughts and prayers.


Greg

oops

I'm adork. I meant st Vincent

The pre-testing and everything went great today. They said I passed. I have to be at St. Joseph's at 5:00 in the morning and the surgery will start around 7:30. They took 6 or 7 vials of blood, did a chest x-ray, EKG, and asked me about a billion questions. I'll be having an MRI in the morning when I get there.

Jordan should be updating everyone on facebook and I might be able to talk Greg into updating this blog. She'll also have my phone so feel free to text if she forgets- 501-514-8383.

And to answer the question EVERYONE has been asking me the past few days... No, I'm not worried. I have faith in God and faith in my doctor. I am a little nervous, but who wouldn't be?

Ok, well...

As everyone already knows, I am having surgery March 16 at St. Vincent’s. I have to be there at 5:00 AM and they said they would take me back about 7:30. I have a small tumor on my brain that I have known about for a few years. It was found “accidentally” when I started having headaches and was sent for an MRI, although the tumor is not what causes my headaches. I have most likely had it since birth. At first I was told that it would never really grow and I would probably never have to have it removed. My pregnancy seemed to set it off and it has grown by about 30% within the last couple of years. It is not affecting me in any way right now, but could start at any point. My surgeon (Dr. Krisht) feels confident that this is a benign tumor, but that will be checked after it is removed. The surgery should be relatively simple (if that can be said for a brain surgery) and, in my doctor’s words, “If you are going to have a brain tumor, this is where you want to have it.” The surgery should only last a few hours and I should be in the hospital less than a week, provided there are no complications. My total recovery time/time off work is a minimum of 8 weeks.

yay

I can now successfully blog from my phone. You just might hear from me a little more often.