So, it has been a while since my last post. It is probably due to the fact that nothing too out of the ordinary has happened. I have been caught up with the Olympics and I was sad to see them come to an end last night. However, I am not going to lie. I am pretty upset with the whole gymnastics fiasco. Gymnastics has always been my favorite event to watch. To me, gymnastics IS the Olympics. But this year, with the the investigations of the Chinese gymnasts, it really just took away from the whole splendor of it. BTW, I really do believe that some of those gymnasts, maybe not all of them, but some of them are under the age of 15. (You have to be 16 the year of the Olympics to compete.) BUT, Michael Phelps totally made up for it by winning his 8th medal. Not gonna lie, I got kind of choked up!
Shaina came to visit!! I got to see her an spend some time with her, although not enough. It had been 8 months since I have seen her and it was nice to continue where we left off. Shaina has always been a best friend to me and I always considered her like a sister before Bryce and I were even engaged. :)
I started classes at Ashland today. Well, actually I am taking the classes at Lorain County Community College but they are Ashland classes. It is nice that LCCC has the University Partnership for those who would like to attend the school but are not close to them. However, the financial aid process is taking a lot longer than I anticipated and I am becoming more and more agitated the longer it takes. But, I will leave that story for another time because I am really tired and have some homework to do.
Catch ya next time! :)
Monday, August 25, 2008
Sunday, August 10, 2008
Thankful Cami is home!
Cami has pulled through and is now resting at home. She is still quarantined to the house but we are just glad she is still with us...there were times that we thought the worst but we held on to hope and she made it! Thanks for all the positive vibes! :)
With all that has been going on with Cami, I haven't had a chance to update on anything else that has happened in the last week. On Monday (Aug. 4) Bryce came down to Berea and we went to go see Radiohead at Blossom. It was an awesome show. I don't claim to be a huge Radiohead fan but I have to admit, they put on a really good show and the energy that they had was contagious. Even though I didn't know too many of their songs, I still found myself dancing along and cheering them on. The only bad thing about it was the parking and driving at Blossom. If any of my blog readers have been there then you know that there is no rhyme or reason to the parking situation after the concert. Sure, they direct you before and tell you where to park. But afterwards, it is every man for himself and you really need to have a pair of cajones to navigate your way through. Thankfully, Bryce was driving and he pretty much just cut everyone off and we got out of there pretty quickly. Here are some pics from the show:
It was also surgery day for my younger sister, Erin. She has always had hammer toe and walks on her toes. When she tries to walk flat-footed, she loses her balance and falls backwards. When she was about 10, she had surgery to correct it but eventually the corrections failed and she was back to square one. Since it was not life threatening and she had no other issues, it kind of went on the back burner. After a while, we started to notice that her toes were curled and they looked almost claw-like. We figured it was just from the toe walking. Well, as of recently she has started to lose her bladder control and wets herself, especially when she plays sports. Well, when you are 15 you should not have to be worrying about that. After many opinions from several seasoned neurologists it was determined that Erin might have a tethered spine. This basically means that the spinal cord has become attached to the spinal column at some point along its length, most often in the lower (lumbar) portion. That would explain why she is having trouble controlling her urges to use the restroom and her curled toes. This is something that she apparently has had since birth. To correct it, they went into her lower back and literally removed part of her spine. It was just a small piece but the doctors think that might have done the trick. The pressure on the spine seems to be alleviated and Erin says she can already feel a difference as far as not having to go to the bathroom all the time.
She has to be in the hospital for at least 5 days and 3 of those days she has to be flat on her back so that no spinal fluid leaks out of her incision. I went to see her today and she seemed her usual cheery self. She was getting antsy from laying flat for 3 days and she was starting to move around more. At one point, she complained that her head was itching and asked the nurse of she could wash her hair. The nurse brought us some shampoo and conditioner and towels. We took the meal tray and lowered it as far as it could go. We then raised her bed as high as it could go and put the tray and bed side by side. Erin then shimmied to the edge of the bed so that her head was hanging off of it. We put a basin under her neck and used a pitcher that the nurse gave us and I washed her hair that way. It was pretty funny and Erin totally felt better afterwards. Here are some pics of that adventure:
Until next time! :)
PS: Congratulations to my good friend, college roommate, and bridesmaid Sarah on her recent engagement!! :)
PSS: I am way excited to see Shaina in a week!! :) :)
With all that has been going on with Cami, I haven't had a chance to update on anything else that has happened in the last week. On Monday (Aug. 4) Bryce came down to Berea and we went to go see Radiohead at Blossom. It was an awesome show. I don't claim to be a huge Radiohead fan but I have to admit, they put on a really good show and the energy that they had was contagious. Even though I didn't know too many of their songs, I still found myself dancing along and cheering them on. The only bad thing about it was the parking and driving at Blossom. If any of my blog readers have been there then you know that there is no rhyme or reason to the parking situation after the concert. Sure, they direct you before and tell you where to park. But afterwards, it is every man for himself and you really need to have a pair of cajones to navigate your way through. Thankfully, Bryce was driving and he pretty much just cut everyone off and we got out of there pretty quickly. Here are some pics from the show:
It was also surgery day for my younger sister, Erin. She has always had hammer toe and walks on her toes. When she tries to walk flat-footed, she loses her balance and falls backwards. When she was about 10, she had surgery to correct it but eventually the corrections failed and she was back to square one. Since it was not life threatening and she had no other issues, it kind of went on the back burner. After a while, we started to notice that her toes were curled and they looked almost claw-like. We figured it was just from the toe walking. Well, as of recently she has started to lose her bladder control and wets herself, especially when she plays sports. Well, when you are 15 you should not have to be worrying about that. After many opinions from several seasoned neurologists it was determined that Erin might have a tethered spine. This basically means that the spinal cord has become attached to the spinal column at some point along its length, most often in the lower (lumbar) portion. That would explain why she is having trouble controlling her urges to use the restroom and her curled toes. This is something that she apparently has had since birth. To correct it, they went into her lower back and literally removed part of her spine. It was just a small piece but the doctors think that might have done the trick. The pressure on the spine seems to be alleviated and Erin says she can already feel a difference as far as not having to go to the bathroom all the time.
She has to be in the hospital for at least 5 days and 3 of those days she has to be flat on her back so that no spinal fluid leaks out of her incision. I went to see her today and she seemed her usual cheery self. She was getting antsy from laying flat for 3 days and she was starting to move around more. At one point, she complained that her head was itching and asked the nurse of she could wash her hair. The nurse brought us some shampoo and conditioner and towels. We took the meal tray and lowered it as far as it could go. We then raised her bed as high as it could go and put the tray and bed side by side. Erin then shimmied to the edge of the bed so that her head was hanging off of it. We put a basin under her neck and used a pitcher that the nurse gave us and I washed her hair that way. It was pretty funny and Erin totally felt better afterwards. Here are some pics of that adventure:
Until next time! :)
PS: Congratulations to my good friend, college roommate, and bridesmaid Sarah on her recent engagement!! :)
PSS: I am way excited to see Shaina in a week!! :) :)
Thursday, August 7, 2008
Please say a prayer for our little Cami...
..she has been diagnosed with the Parvo virus. She is currently at the vet's in quarantine. I cannot express how much my heart aches for her. I can barely write this without crying. I know she is a little fighter and can get through this. The vet said they found it early enough where there is some hope. She is hooked up to an IV and is receiving fluids and antibiotics. She also has a fever, which could be a good thing because it means she is fighting the virus.
Bryce and I are trying to be strong but it is so hard because she is our little baby. As I am sure you all can relate, you start to love your pets like they are your own children. She is our first pet together. When they are so young, you don't think about anything but playing with them and cuddling and all of the fun stuff. And now, she is fighting for her life. She's just a baby...
Please say a prayer for her and keep her in your thoughts.
Thank you,
Monica & Bryce
Bryce and I are trying to be strong but it is so hard because she is our little baby. As I am sure you all can relate, you start to love your pets like they are your own children. She is our first pet together. When they are so young, you don't think about anything but playing with them and cuddling and all of the fun stuff. And now, she is fighting for her life. She's just a baby...
Please say a prayer for her and keep her in your thoughts.
Thank you,
Monica & Bryce
Sunday, August 3, 2008
Oh boy...
Well, I am back from Atlanta! I had a blast and cannot wait to go back in September. I have been back for about a week now and I have been busy getting the house back in order and making sure Papa has been okay. He had a little bit of a scare while I was gone.
As I have mentioned before, Papa has congestive heart failure. Well, it has been catching up to him as of lately and one of the symptoms of it is shortness of breath. Apparently, while on a visit with his "lady friend" he became very winded and could not seem to breathe. So, she drove him home and his brother-in-law made sure to check up on him several times that night. So he seemed fine after that.
WELL, on Friday, my step-mother and I were going to volunteer to raise money for the Berea High prom at the zoo. I pulled up to the house at 4:30 with Papa and got out of the car. I waited for him as he caught his breath ( he gets winded just from getting out of the car). I asked him if he was okay and he nodded his head and said yes. The next thing I know he was swaying from side to side and he sunk down and fell backwards onto the concrete. He had just fainted in front of me!!! I thought he was having a heart attack. I ran into the garage and screamed for my step mom. Luckily she was in the kitchen and came running out right away and called 911. I went to Papa and and he was lying face up with his eyes open staring at the sky. I thought he was dead! But then he looked at me and I asked him if he was okay. He looked at me strangely and said "I'm sleeping." My step mom and I both kind of snickered because we were glad he was alert and speaking but he had no idea that he had just passed out. He realized he was on the concrete he then asked "What am I doing down here?" He was trying to get up but we would not let him. I ran inside and got a pillow and his blood pressure machine. He had scraped his head on the ground and was bleeding a little bit but I don't think he hit it too hard. By that time, the ambulance had come and they were evaluating him. They decided it was best to bring hikm in because he does have a pace maker/difibrillator. Laurie (my step mom) followed the ambulance and I went ahead and told my sisters what had happened. They had been home the whole time and had no idea what had happened!
Laurie texted me for the next couple of hours and kept me updated on what the doctors were saying. At first, they though it was his pace maker that was not working correctly but they then determined that wasn't the cause. So they decided to keep him overnight to run tests. At that point, I went over to the hospital to see him and he was alert and cracking jokes. I knew he would be okay for the most part. The next morning, he was discharged after saying there was no obvious reason for his fainting. So, just to be on the safe side we are staying in Berea for the next week.
Soooo that was my weekend in a nut shell. Pretty exciting! :-0
As I have mentioned before, Papa has congestive heart failure. Well, it has been catching up to him as of lately and one of the symptoms of it is shortness of breath. Apparently, while on a visit with his "lady friend" he became very winded and could not seem to breathe. So, she drove him home and his brother-in-law made sure to check up on him several times that night. So he seemed fine after that.
WELL, on Friday, my step-mother and I were going to volunteer to raise money for the Berea High prom at the zoo. I pulled up to the house at 4:30 with Papa and got out of the car. I waited for him as he caught his breath ( he gets winded just from getting out of the car). I asked him if he was okay and he nodded his head and said yes. The next thing I know he was swaying from side to side and he sunk down and fell backwards onto the concrete. He had just fainted in front of me!!! I thought he was having a heart attack. I ran into the garage and screamed for my step mom. Luckily she was in the kitchen and came running out right away and called 911. I went to Papa and and he was lying face up with his eyes open staring at the sky. I thought he was dead! But then he looked at me and I asked him if he was okay. He looked at me strangely and said "I'm sleeping." My step mom and I both kind of snickered because we were glad he was alert and speaking but he had no idea that he had just passed out. He realized he was on the concrete he then asked "What am I doing down here?" He was trying to get up but we would not let him. I ran inside and got a pillow and his blood pressure machine. He had scraped his head on the ground and was bleeding a little bit but I don't think he hit it too hard. By that time, the ambulance had come and they were evaluating him. They decided it was best to bring hikm in because he does have a pace maker/difibrillator. Laurie (my step mom) followed the ambulance and I went ahead and told my sisters what had happened. They had been home the whole time and had no idea what had happened!
Laurie texted me for the next couple of hours and kept me updated on what the doctors were saying. At first, they though it was his pace maker that was not working correctly but they then determined that wasn't the cause. So they decided to keep him overnight to run tests. At that point, I went over to the hospital to see him and he was alert and cracking jokes. I knew he would be okay for the most part. The next morning, he was discharged after saying there was no obvious reason for his fainting. So, just to be on the safe side we are staying in Berea for the next week.
Soooo that was my weekend in a nut shell. Pretty exciting! :-0
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)