Health Update

Had a follow up with my ENT Doc yesterday. I had a CT scan done recently to follow up on the Petrous Apicitis. It was assumed that I had the Petrous Apicitis, however the CT scan showed that I have a Apex cyst (fluid filled) if I'm describing it correctly. All I care is that nothing has to be done, not to worry is what I was told, it could very well go away, there is no infection. The dizziness I had been experiencing he seems to feel was unrelated, could have been an infection wiped out by the antibiotics. I will follow up in 6 months. I like that, I'm good with that. I don't need anymore info. Believe me the Internet is a wonderful tool for information, but unless you know what you're reading ignorance is sometimes bliss. We all have our areas of expertise and I'm not a Doctor, I'll be staying away from trying to look up anymore info. for awhile. I feel I've found a trusted ENT I'm confident with so that is why I can say this.

I went to see a new Primary Care Physician recently. He was recommended to me by a good friend. One of the "get to know me things" they wanted to do was a "routine" EKG on me. Hadn't had one of those since I'd had my Gallbladder attack in '87! I had no worries about this though, to my knowledge I'm good in that area. After the EKG was done, I met the Doctor for the first time. We talked for a few moments, I was really impressed by the time he spent with me. Then he asked if I'd ever been told anything about my heart, was I having chest pain, do I take aspirin etc.... NO! it's good as far as I've ever known. He left the room for a few minutes to go get a book. I thought OK I don't want to hear any more medical news about myself (mind you I still think I have the Petrous Apicitis at this time) He got out a book and showed me what appeared to be going on with my heart talking about how it charges....and what the EKG was showing. He did say it may be "normal" for me, I'm holding on to that thought tight! I do not want anymore health surprises please, thank you very much. I've had cholesterol checked and it's been normal, blood pressure is usually normal. So now I wait until my appointment the end of next week to see what happens then, he will have gotten the lab results from my previous Physician by then and then maybe we can do another EKG. Meanwhile it's all in God's hands and He's in control. Not going to worry, that won't do me any good at all. I'm feelin fine :)Story to be continued, prayers for all well greatly appreciated :)

Beautiful Patagonia

OK after taking that fun little test of what Latin country I should visit, I've got Patagonia on my mind :) My husband and I would love to go to Patagonia someday. It's one of those goals in life that we can dream about together. This is one of the many beautiful shots I have seen taken there, had to share it.

This is perfect because I want to see Patagonia!

You Should Visit Argentina

Cowboys, European food, beaches, and skiing. This country is like no other! Learn to tango, hike across Patagonia, eat at fine restaurants... you'll never be bored.

What Latin American Country Should You Visit?

LEGO blocks and lots of them!

My husband and son went to a garage sale this morning. They came home with a garbage bag full of Lego blocks! (I am saying "Lego" rather than Legos which I was originally inclined to say because my husband tells me he heard that calling them Legos is wrong, they are neither plural or singular, interesting) I can remember looking for shells on the beach, this I would compare to that. We had them out on the floor and all four of us were looking through to see what cool new Lego building pieces we had. Lots of "guys" as my son calls them, unique pieces we haven't seen before. The giant bag was $10 and worth so much more, knowing how much we've spent on them already ourselves. We've had a Lego store open up nearby and we love going there. We recently bought our son a table and chairs for his Lego building so he doesn't have to put them away. Now the process of sorting and thinking about creative ways we can store these and make them user friendly :)

Ribbon Valence

My daughter has only had wood blinds on her bedroom window for the past year. It looked pretty plain. The rest of her room has been finished. She got some new furniture, the walls were already purple when we moved in, she was happy with that. She has added her own touches to the room (posters pretty much wallpaper the walls) I thought either drapes, a valence or beads would be nice. While she was at Camp I went to my new favorite store "Hobby Lobby" and bought some ribbon. Unfortunately I'd hope to finish it before she got home, I miss judged how much ribbon I needed and then they were out of stock for a few days on 2 of the ribbons. Total I bought 20 rolls of ribbon that was 15 ft each. There were 10 different colors, styles that could tie in with one another color wise. She really likes the finished result. It ended up costing me $20 to buy the ribbon. My son helped me put them on the rod once I had them knotted. What I did is I took the ribbon and cut it into strips of 36 inches each. I folded it in half and knotted it with about an inch and a half loop at the end. Then we just slipped it on to the rod. I think it looks pretty cute!

Journey to the Center of the Earth 3D

On Sunday afternoon after Church we went to the IMAX theater nearby. We just wanted to get some info. about an upcoming event. My husband was checking into it, next thing I knew he had tickets to see Journey to the Center of the Earth in 3D. Honestly I hadn't heard of this movie at all. My first thought was that it was a documentary type film. I wasn't thrilled with the idea of seeing it without my husband asking if I'd wanted to first, I wasn't in the mood to see a documentary. I quickly thought well at least it would be something to do that would be in a cool place, ok fine I warmed up to the idea.... I was totally surprised by the movie, it wasn't a documentary after all. I loved this movie! The kids loved it also. I especially liked it in 3D.

What happened to good old communication?

I'm sad at the decline in communication in this country. The majority of people have cell phones and computers you'd think we can communicate with one another in a more direct way. I suppose with text messaging and e-mail, automated services can be expected. I don't have to like them though! I called my med. insurance company this morning. I dialed the number I usually do, I was told there was a new number (this was told to me by an automated response) I called the "new" number and was asked for my tax ID! I'm a med. Insurance customer not a provider. I followed all the prompts as I was instructed. I also gave my med. ID about 5 times to an automated system that couldn't understand me! I repeated it over and over, I now have it memorized :) I think somewhere along the way I spoke to a live person only to be transferred to another automated area and be told they were currently closed! I called back an hour or so later, same thing, the system didn't understand me after giving my ID several times, did I mention previously I began refusing to the prompt to give my ID again (lots of good that does) so finally I speak to a live person because the automated system got frustrated with me, I was told I was calling the wrong number, I was told to dial the number I had first began my morning with! Are we saving time by not talking to people? Are we getting more frustrated along the way? I usually end up speaking to a live person anyway. I wish we could go back to talking to the live people. Can anyone relate with this?

Church camp was a blast!

My daughter came home on Friday and she had a great time at camp. She climbed a rock climbing wall and went down a zip line. She canoed, hiked, swam, mountain biked...... The praise and worship band was absolutely awesome she loved them. She enjoyed getting to know lots more kids and getting to know better some others. She was so glad to have been able to go. It was a growing experience for her and a lot of memories were made. Here are some pictures a friend took of her.

Latest sightings in my yard

We always seem to have something interesting going on in our yard! A while back my husband put some wood up there (see pic) to keep the pigeons from getting in. Our neighborhood is full of birds. Our yards is full of a variety of birds in the trees but the pigeons seem to love hanging out on all the houses in the neighborhood. This spot must not have been to closed off for these little guys to get in there. I'm guessing Love Birds? There are actually 4 of them from what we can tell. I thought I heard some sweet bird music just outside of my loft the other day :)

My husband found this big guy or pardon me girl, in our yard. To be honest I thought, from a distance, it was a huge pile of dog (um a you know) He called me over to take a look and I thought what on earth for, do I really need to? Oh, it was a huge Toad! Never a dull moment here.

Your Inner European is French!

Smart and sophisticated. You have the best of everything - at least, *you* think so.

Who's Your Inner European?

Just for fun, thought I'd do this :)

Church Camp

My daughter is at Church Camp this week. She left on Sunday afternoon and will come back tomorrow afternoon. I truly miss her and can't wait to see her and talk to her. I am looking forward to hearing all about camp and what she did there, how God has impacted her life and who she's become closer friends with, what boys she thought were cute, how the weather was, what her pictures look like (she's got 48 exposure to take) and how much fun she had. She's up in a cooler part of our state, one of my favorite places. The kids can't bring cell phones so there isn't a way to talk back and forth for obvious reasons. Kids these days are so attached to their cell phones and text messaging. My daughter does not have a cell phone yet. She has no need for one yet in our opinion. We've send her cards and e-mails, even though the e-mails can't be replied to. We want her to know that we are thinking of her, we love her and miss her and hope she's having lots of fun. On Tuesday morning I went to the camp website and this picture was there. It's weird because I haven't seen her and there she is dressed in different clothes than she had on when she left all safe and sound sitting next to a friend I know.... She is on the right side, second row down, second one in. You can click on the pic to enlarge it.

A day or two after our daughter left my husband and I were talking about how we only have another 5 years with her. She'll be 18 then, off to college is the thought and starting her adult life. The time has gone by so fast, I won't say it seemed like yesterday that she, our first child was born, maybe more like 5 years ago. Our son is now 5 and still has a ways to go. Our days with our daughter are much shorter though.

I have to say I'm still sad that more Mom's don't choose to be at home with their children? The years go by so, so fast there is no opportunity to claim those lost years back. I'm speaking as the Mother of a child that is about to turn 13. I know we still have years ahead but not as many as the ones that have already gone by with our daughter. I am really reflecting this week about what is important to me, I won't regret the time I've spent at home.

My son talks about going to camp. It will still be several years before he's able to go, I can wait :)

ENT Doc Visit

On Tuesday I had an appointment with an ENT Doctor to follow up on the Petrous Apicitis. I had been on antibiotics for 3 weeks to wipe out the infection. After only a few days the minor dizziness I felt was gone. My primary care Physician said that that meant the antibiotics were working and that I no longer needed to see the ENT. I felt as if I needed more info. since she didn't seem to know a whole lot about the infection herself. I chose to keep the appointment for a follow up. I'm so thankful for answered prayers and that I am feeling well, but I still felt a follow up was needed. I'm glad that I kept the appointment. The ENT is very knowledgeable and experienced with the Petrous Apicitis. He claims to see about 20 cases a year of it, I didn't feel as if it was such a rare infection after all. He's apparently written an EMedicine article on the subject as well. He tested my hearing, perfect, he tested the dizziness, all gone! Now he'd like to do a CAT scan to follow up and see that the infection (fluid) is gone. He said if it is not, that he rarely has to do surgery to drain. His experience has been to keep an eye on it and make sure there are no changes. He says it can usually be left without treatment provided that there are no changes. I'm just praying that it's totally gone and it's all over :)

Happy 4th of July!

This is my daughter today, very patriotic :)