New Computer

Yeah for a new home laptop!! Finally, 6 months after the desktop crashed we are back in business at the Williams' house. No more fighting over the work laptop. So really essentially, this one is mine. ;) This really great guy named Allan, at Best Buy, helped us. He was very kind and patient and full of answers. I sort of equate the computer buying experience for a woman, the same as the car buying experience. The salesman can really treat you like you are incompetent. Allan did a great job of giving me the same attention as Brad and not just talking straight to Brad about it. He also showed us a great printer. We left last night mulling it over and came home to compare to what we could get through IBM. Turns out that it really was going to be apples to apples. We weren't really going to save any money going through IBM.



Returning to Best Buy today was an interesting experience. They guy helping us was a complete, how do I say this nicely, idiot. That is the nicest word I can think of. His customer service sucked. He was rude and short and not at all helpful. I called him out on it and he tried to change his tune. Too late, I was already irritated. When I would ask questions he would act like it was 1) a stupid question, and 2) beneath him to answer. All in all we got the computer and printer and were done with him.



I'm so excited to be able to get my itunes back up, get pictures loaded from the camera, have the ability to work on the budget, work on other projects, and print things from home finally! Well worth the money we paid.



In other news....

Tonight Brad and I got serious about potty training. We've decided that we are going to have to be a little unconventional with Cameran. She doesn't want to sit on the potty. I know once we can get her to actually sit on the potty that we will have success. She is scared of it. Though, she will sit on it at daycare if Hailey sits on it first. So the minute she gets home, we take off the pull up and she goes commando until bed. She held it for 2 hours tonight. We were hoping she would get to the point where she would sit on the potty because she had to pee so bad. She did start to do the potty dance. Poor thing. Alas, no potty. She ended up in time out for being disobedient regarding something else and tee teed on the floor. We're hoping that she will soon realize that she can just sit on the potty. She knows if she goes in the potty she will get some Dora treats (her favorite!) and a toy from her Potty Bag. Please pray for her that she will not be scared to use the potty. Please pray for us that we can be encouraging and consistent. I seriously never thought I'd have a nearly 3 year old and still in pull ups. My one goal on this break, aside from getting healthier, is to get Cam potty trained.

Tomorrow is a full day of packing and trying to get ready to head to NM.

R & R so far

It's been nice to have some time to rest and relax. Though I seemed to be fighting this nervous energy in myself that I should be productive. I did manage to get about 8 loads of laundry done and now I just need to find the energy to fold the last of it. I look at our house and see all the things I should get done, but honestly, it's so nice to have a quiet house to myself. I'm trying not to feel guilty for sleeping late. Though I sort of do.

Yesterday, for the first time in a long time, I took a nap. It was wonderful. I think I'll try this more over the next month. I fell asleep quite by accident, watching Magnolia (weird movie). When I woke up I felt happy and energized.

Today I tackled the scary cavern in the bathroom, otherwise known as, my side of the closet. I'm slowly getting rid of those pieces that I haven't worn in too long. You know those pieces you just can't seem to get rid of. You say to yourself, " I'll wear this again." And then it ultimately hangs there untouched for another year. So I got really tough with myself and really did get rid of things I haven't worn in eons. I only got half of it done, but I already feel lighter...like after a much needed hair cut. Even better, I found some really wonderful things I forgot I had.

On the health front, I rescheduled my sonogram for later this week. Monday morning was too hairy and scary and I had to deal with a screaming 2 1/2 year old. Trying to get her out the door these days is no easy feat. 7 time outs and 4 spankings later we finally got out the door. I don't know who was more exhausted me or Cam. I seriously have no idea how the teenage years could be worse than the toddler years.

Keep Austin Weird

This weekend was all about relaxation and change of scenery. Thank you to my husband for letting me get away on my own for a "girls weekend" with Terra, and flying solo with Cam for 2 1/2 days.

Leaving Friday was crazy. I had to wrestle Cam to the floor like a greased pig to get her dressed and get her on her way to daycare. The minute Brad left she completely melted like an ice cream cone in the August heat. "I want Daddy!" It's good to feel loved. ;) So after an hour of struggling to calm her down and redressing her, off we went to daycare. I wonder how I'll be able to handle her in the coming month, when it's just us. Dear Lord, Father, please please give me patience and grace.

Finally I was off to our State's capitol and some much needed down time. The drive down was nice, and I can say i think i stopped in Texas' cleanest gas station restroom! Seriously, this place was immaculate. And smelled good. And I was NOT afraid to touch anything. The three hour drive was calming and despite getting stuck in one lane traffic between Hillsboro and Waco, I enjoyed the time to myself. This basically consists of me cranking music and singing at the top of my lungs like I'm the next American Idol. Cause, I am! LOL!

On Friday I actually got to go to a theatre to see a movie! This seriously was so exciting. I don't think you realize just how RARELY I actually get to see a movie in the theatre. We saw Baby Mama, which was so freaking funny I nearly fell out of my chair on more than one instance. Amy Poehler and Tina Fey are genius!

Saturday was filled with country music and the best damn pancakes I've ever had! Seriously. If you are ever in Austin, go to The Omeletry. It was this little hole in the wall, with I swear to you, the BEST pancakes ever to grace my mouth and stomach. I got the gingerbread pancakes and Terra got the buttermilk ones. The gingerbread pancakes were great, but you can only eat so many until they become too sweet. The buttermilk pancakes were like no other! Seriously, these pancakes needed NOTHING on them. No butter, no jelly. T and I ate until we couldn't eat anymore. After a nap at home we were ready to go listen to some country music.

We picked up Leslie, Terra's wonderfully sweet friend, and off we went to a park near the UT campus. It was like I'd stepped back in time to my college days. And was it hot out! We saw some crazy things at the concert. Lots of girls in too short skirts and cowboy boots. Let me tell you, it was so bloody hot I couldn't imagine wearing boots. My feet were sweaty enough in flip flops. We had fun watching all the crazy people in their crazy outfits going by and drinking too much. This is just one of the crazy things we saw.
Here we are at the concert...

If you've never seen or heard of any of these bands, check them out.. this is who we saw...
Bleu Edmonson
Wade Bowen
Eli Young Band
Cross Canadian Ragweed
Corry Morrow
Roger Creager

The night ended with a stop at Rounders for some really really wonderful Pizza. Then home for some sleepy.

Sunday I headed back to Frisco, and had more time to just think and relax on the way home. It was good to get back home and it was a great reception from Cam and Brad when I returned.

Thanks to Terra for a great weekend! Thanks to Brad and Cam for letting me take some time for myself.

The Day After: Stomach Pains etc.

Today was a day of more tests. I woke up with the same stomach pains as last night, only worse. It didn't matter how I laid in bed, it was uncomfortable. Brad called Dr. Oomen this morning and as per usual, his bedside manner sucked. I told him about my stomach pains, the cramping and the burning, and the first thing he says is, "I didn't do much yesterday." Right, I'm the crazy one. Listen buddy, I'm having these pains in my belly and it says on the sheet you sent me home with that if i have severe abdominal cramping I should come to you. So he had his staff make an appointment for me to come in at 12noon.

Brad was so kind and took Cam to daycare. I got to sleep a little more and then Dr. Oomen's office called around 9 and asked if I could come in as soon as possible for some blood work and some xrays. The BEST part of Dr. Oomen's office is Allen, the tech. He is the sweetest, funniest man. He has a talent for making people feel comfortable and for making you laugh so hard you forget what is wrong with you. A shower and some primping later and I headed off to the hospital. First up some blood work. Seriously, at this point in my life, I have NO fear of needles. In fact I don't feel them most of the time. Max, the tech in the lab...who is so nice and has pulled my blood the past 4 times I've been in...was so fast I literally didn't feel it. Congrats to Max who proposed to his gorgeous girlfriend over the weekend. I got filled in on the proposal and the upcoming wedding in September. He told me to feel better and he'd have some engagement pictures to show me on my next visit...which he hoped for me wasn't soon. Up to Xray I went. Two scans, both abdominal, and a nice surprise to see Brad when I was done. I didn't expect to see him when I came out of my Xrays.

My poor husband was really wigged out by an article that a co-worker sent him on how Uterine cancer can mimic gastro problems. He was trembling when I saw him and nearly in tears. I assured him I was okay and let's wait to see what Dr. Oomen had to say at Noon. We wasted the next 30 minutes at the Gap and headed back to Dr. Oomen's office.

Dr. Oomen talked to me about my stomach pain and poked around at me, which was none too pleasant. Poke, poke, poke..."does this hurt?"...poke poke. Yes, you idiot it does! I am wincing as you prod at me like a piece of dough. He tells me that he's going to give me some antacids for reflux, which he saw evidence of during the Endoscopy. Then again he says, "I didn't do much yesterday." Again I think, "I'm not imagining this pain mister sister!" He asks for the 40th time, "are you sure you didn't start feeling this until today?" I didn't feel it until after my Endoscopy yesterday. I promise I DIDN'T feel this beforehand. So irritating! So despite wanting to kick him really hard, i kept calm. Brad asked most of the questions and really grilled Dr. Oomen, cause frankly I just didn't have the energy for it.

What we walked away with was this: Some evidence of reflux in my stomach or esophagus during the endoscopy. No other problems seen. Biopsies came back clean. So no evidence of Crohn's, no evidence of Colitis, no evidence of Celiac Sprue, no evidence of colon cancer, no evidence of pancreatic cancer, no evidence of cancer in the intestines. On Monday I will have a sonogram on my gallbladder to rule out anything wrong there. And if I choose can do a Barium swallow test on my small intestine. There is 20 feet of small intestine unexamined. Dr. Oomen did say there is a small chance that there could be evidence of Crohn's or Celiac Sprue in those 20 feet. He also suggested going back to my OBGYN because of the possibility of it being something there. He said that problems in "the plumbing" can cause all sorts of gastro issues. So despite all the positives above, ruling out all those things, I feel frustrated and helpless that there is no reason for all the problems I've been experiencing.

So for now I will go check in with my OBGYN and investigate there. And have the sonogram on my gallbladder. The search continues....

It was nice to spend the day reading and enjoying the sunshine. I spent a very nice lunch enjoying some yummy nosh at Whole Foods and reading my new book, "Eat Pray Love." Thanks for the recommendation Licious, it is an amazing book! I also was able to pick Cammi up from daycare for the first time in too long. The excitement on her face makes all my hurt diminish, at least temporarily. Then we ran over to our friends' Elizabeth and Felipe's house to take them dinner. They just had their son, Alec, who was so incredibly beautiful and perfect. I was blessed to hold that perfect Angel in my arms and gaze upon his sweet face. I am so blessed to have a friend in Elizabeth, and Cameran had the most fun with Alena.

Endoscopy: Otherwise known as "Where'd the day go?"

It's always good to start the morning off with a sick child. So much for good sleep before my procedure. Cammi was up last night at 3:30 because she couldn't breath. We've all been suffering terrible allergies. Brad and Cam have sinus infections, and I have been lucky enough to avoid it. After some late night wheezing and throwing up (Cam,not me) we laid her between us with a bottle of milk and off we slept for another hour until Brad and I cracked up at the noises coming from Cam's nose. Off to her bed we took her, and another hour of sleep until the alarm blared into our ears. Joint grumbles were heard from both of us, and both the dogs.

Eventually I managed to roll myself out of bed and brushed my teeth and hair, put on some pants and socks and schlepped myself out to the car. I was instructed to go to the wrong building so we got to the actual office a little late. Man, they really cracked the whip when we got there and i had 5 minutes to fill out all 100 forms before the procedure. Then I was whisked off to the OR. My nurse Ann was very kind. We have the same birthday and wished each other a happy upcoming birthday. One IV later and off I rolled to the OR. Greetings from Dr. Oomen and a shot of some sedative...rolling to my left was the last thing I remembered. The next thing I knew there was Brad's face hazily coming into view. The recover nurse, Kathy, pretty much threw me into a chair after that and parked me by the desk to go outside. I remember having some apple juice and trying to look at the new InStyle while I waited...but I kept falling asleep every page. You know, sort of that head bob you get when you fall asleep in class in college. The next time I opened my eyes the tech was bombing me down the hallway at what I swear was the qualifying speed for NASCAR. Seriously buddy, I'm sedated so bad that the objects going past me are nothing but a blur. This was about the time I started singing
The Ramones..."Twenty twenty twenty four hours to go, I wanna be sedated Nothing to do, nowhere to go, I wanna be sedated Just put me in a wheelchair, get me to the show Hurry hurry hurry before I go loco I can't control my fingers, I can't control my toes, oh no oh oh ho" Hilarity ensued within my own brain. I was convinced that when we came to a stop that I would just shoot head first into the car like in the cartoons. I don't remember much of the ride home except i made brad have the windows down and he said my hair was blowing everywhere and i had my head half out the window like a dog. I remember stopping at the store. I made brad park by the grass cause i was convinced i was going to throw up. The next thing i remember is being home in bed. No idea how i got upstairs or in the bed. I just remember waking up with a half eaten cracker in my left hand.

Brad has filled in some humorous moments for me. I have no memory of how i got dressed at the hospital. Brad said i nearly busted myself 2x. He said I gave the nurse a dirty look when she was taking off all my sticky monitors and taking out my IV. I seriously do not remember ANY of that. He said I was signing again. I remember that after my colonoscopy because i couldn't talk from the sedative. I just don't remember it this time. He said I as giving them the finer points of American Sign Language. Good to know that all that work I did with Cam came in handy later for myself. I asked him if I walked myself up the stairs at home. He said yes. He said he laughed at me with the half eaten cracker in my hand but didn't bother to take it out b/c I might need it later.

I've been in and out of sedation all day and still don't feel 100%. My stomach has been cramping quite a bit and my back...which i am not sure is normal, but I'm just going with it. And I've been nauseous, which has been frustrating because i am very hungry. Thanks to my friend, Leiann, who was gracious enough to bring us some dinner, despite her own busy life. Thank you Lei! It was delicious!

I'm fading again. Goodnight!

The Night Before

First entry into my blog regarding all things my health.

I have to be thankful for the prep work before the endoscopy being so much more pleasant than the prep work before the colonoscopy. This time I just can't eat past midnight. Which is a damn sight better than having to drink that nasty stuff that I could hardly choke down after 3 glasses. I was quite intimate with the bathroom. At least it gave me time to rethink the decor in there. LOL!

I can't say I'm too crazy about the thought of something going down my throat, but if I'm even half as sedated this time as last time, i won't even remember it. Scary the stuff they give you to not remember. At least this time my bum won't be exposed. Isn't that a lovely thought?! *giggles* A gastroenterologist can say that he is a pain in the butt for a living. *laughs hysterical at own joke* I have a much more crass one, but I'll leave it in my own brain.

The hope for the endoscopy tomorrow is to determine what the heck is going on in this stomach of mine. They're going to look at my stomach, my esophagus, and my small intestine. They're going to take a biopsy of the small intestine to look for Celiac Sprue. Here's a good website on that: http://digestive.niddk.nih.gov/ddiseases/pubs/celiac/. So big prayers tomorrow that SOMETHING comes of this test and that I can have some sort of peace of mind.

For those of you who don't know the results of the Colonoscopy, everything came back good. No evidence of Crohn's disease, no evidence of Colitis. No polyps. The biopsies had no irregular results. The CAT scan came back good too...no major issues with any organs they could see, except one small cyst on my left ovary that I'm not worried about.

So here's my last glass of water for the night. Cheers!