Cute

So, today was Sunday..

This usualy means going to church for most people.

The three of us went and despite Hyrum being almost 3yrs old, he hasn't quite figured that you need to be quiet during the first hour of sacrament meeting.

He woke up early today and was tired and ready for a nap before we even left home today.

This means he was quite the hassle during sacrament.

He was pretty noisey and we had to constantly ask

"sshhhh, Hyrum please be quiet and wisper."

It didn't work at all and we kept giving him little toys and stuff to distract him and get him busy 'being quiet' and focused on something.

Towards the end of sacrament meeting Hyrum was asked to quiet down probably 53 times and for whatever reason he was choosing to ignore us.

At one point he got particularly noisey and Ricky bent over to wisper into Hyrums ear yet once again to please quiet down only this time Hyrum saw what was coming and beat Ricky to it and looked up at Rickys face coming towards him and Hyrum said

"sshhhhh, Daddy BE QUIET, Be quiet daddy!"

I couldn't help myself and just had to laugh!!

Visit from the South

For Adrienne's Birthday, Corey surprised her with 2 round trip tickets for the two of them to come up to WA and visit us.

This was their first time coming up this way so we did a lot of the tourist stuff to let them get a good taste of Seattle.

We walked Pike Place Market, ate Ivars Seafood on the water front. Rickys favorite place to take new visitors is Dicks. He loves their burgers and frys so we did that one night also.

Eating at Ivars.

Before coming up to visit Adrienne told me to plan everything out and made a request or suggestion that she would like to go to Forks, WA. (you know, the place Stephanie Meyer has made famous with her Twilight Saga?)

So, one full day was dedicated to going out to Port Angeles, Forks, and La Push, WA.

I know that I have some blog readers that are pretty indifferent to the whole Twilight thing and I can see where they are coming from but to me, the Twilight Saga isn't much different that being someone who read all of the Harry Potter books and watched the movies.

The books were fun to read and the movies are okay.

With that being said, after visiting these areas of WA, I recommend anybody, Twilight fan or not, to take a trip out that way.

The scenary out there is amazing.

Plus you can go to the beach and play in the Pacific Ocean. This was mine and Hyrums first time to the Pacific Coast and I am pretty happy that our first trip was to First Beach in La Push.

The beach was beautiful. The weather was perfect.

There were many awesome view points along our drive. I tried to capture some of it but I don't think my pics do it justice.

Above here is the House that the town of Forks has appointed to be the replica place of Bella Swans home from the books.

Below are photos that I took while at First Beach in La Push.

Hyrum LOVES playing in water. He loves to swim and could swim all day everyday if we let him.

When we got out of the car Ricky took Hyrums shoes off and Hyrum took off for the water and jumped right in.

We did not take swim suites because I didn't think the weather was going to be SO nice out. Luckily I packed a complete change of extra clothes for Hyrum before we left because he got in the water fully clothed.

This was also Hyrums first experience with a 'beach.' He's only been to lakes and swimming pools.

Below is the truck Bella drives in the Twilight movies. 



These last few photos are more of the Pacific Ocean leaving the La Push, WA area.

I can't wait to be able to go back again, and this time to be able to get in the water myself. 

It was a short trip for Adrienne and Corey but it was fun. Hyrum got to get some much needed Auntie and Unkie time and was extremely sad when they had to leave on the Airplane without him.

Hyrum loves to point out airplanes and trains and big tractors and trucks when we pass one.. Now, instead of yelling "Look, Airplane up there!" when he spots a Plane in the sky he yells;

"Look There's Auntie!"

..to Hyrum, Auntie is still on an airplane flying above because an airplane is how she left.

It was a great visit for all of us and we can't wait to be able to see them again!!



All of that for this!?

Holey Goodness!!

The prep for a Colonoscopy is the absolute most horrible thing I have EVER experienced to get ready for ANY type of procedure in my life.

It is an absolute miracle that I got all of that awful 'GoLytley' stuff down my throat!

Call me a drama queen, but I honestly feel traumatized from this entire experience.

As soon as I sat down and took my very first sip I immediately said "oh my God, I can NOT do this!"

(sorry, it was that awful. I wouldn't usually use the Lord's name in vain, but that was my response..)

If you are ever preparing for a Colonoscopy, please don't come to me because I wont be able to give you any words of encouragement.

In fact, I might just start gagging then turn and walk away.

I was up until 3am drinking my first half of the solution.. and running back and forth from the toilet.

It took forever because I had to mix it with several oz of juice or something to get it down.. so I had lots of drinking to do because of that..

This morning I got up at 7:45 to start drinking the last 2liters of GoLytley with juice and what not. Then right before 10am (cut off time for intake) I started to doubt that I had gotten enough down.

I had only swallowed roughly 3liters of the stuff.. my BM wasn't quite yet 'yellow clear' so I filled a glass full of the stuff, stood in the restroom and started chugging..

It was a 2steps forward 1 step back process..

I chug 2 gulps, gag up 1 gulp. did this process a few times until I said "ok, that's it, NO MORE!"

dumped it out and left to drop Hyrum off with Gretchen and Caleb.

I went to my class so I could get the credit for it.. I had already talked to the 'teacher' about me not being able to participate in the work out because of the Colonoscopy earlier in the week.

When I got to class she looked at me dressed in normal clothes and asked "no work out for you today?"

I quickly reminded her of the colonoscopy because my system was still cleaning itself out, and I felt that if I were to do even one jump, crunch, or sit up.... well, there would probably be a big mess to clean.

After reminding her of the Colonoscopy she smiled and said very sly like (in slow motion) "Ooh, that's riiight." and proceeded to say "You are having a different kind of work out today."

Any way..

Luckily my system was cleared out to perfection and I was able to have the Colonoscopy.

After the torcher they put you through to prep for the dang thing, the Colonoscopy is a walk in the park.

They don't put you totally under, though they do put some kind of awesome magical drug in your I-V. You are there, but totally loopy and out of it, but yet aware of where you are and what's going on.

The Doc. said it was a mix of feel good, comfortable, amnesia type stuff.

I can't tell you exactly how long I was in there, I remember looking around, probably closed my eyes a few time (don't know how long for) and even looked at the TV screen to watch and get glimpses of the inside of my colon.

You can function and do all of this stuff but you can't really 'focus' on anything.

I remember being wheeled out and put in a corner recovery spot.. the procedure gave me the hiccups and I guess the doc. and nurses thought it was cute because I remember the nurse saying "aww, we gave you the hiccups :)"

The doctor ALSO commented on the fact that he had given me hiccups before sending me to recovery..

After the 'oo and ahh' of my "cute" little hiccups, they informed me I could start passing gas any time I felt like it now. ( haha )

Any way, the colonoscopy was non painful.. no pain afterwards, never felt a thing during the procedure.

I was just off in my own little feel good magical world for the whole thing.. Came home and went to sleep for a few hours..

The meds. haven't wore off 100% yet, and I could definitely go back to sleep now.. So, that is just what I am going to do.

P.S I can't forget the results! I'm sure you are all tired of reading these 'grose' blog entries about my digestive system. and the results are that I am not dieing.!

After being to 2 doctors previous to coming to VMason, I was told that I had NO tearing and NO hemorrhoids and that I would need a Colonoscopy to find the answer as to why I am bleeding and that it is something further up that they can't see without a colonoscopy..

Okay, well that pretty much freaked me out because hemorrhoids are practically the best case scenario for bleeding in that area.

My family physician couldn't say, and didn't have tools to look up inside so she suggested the specialist.

My absolutley awesome and KNOWLEDGABLE young 26yr old Doctor at the UW ER SEATTLE,

did an anal exam and DID take a look inside and if you read my previous blog on the matter you would remember that This doctor found 'spots' inside that he could not identify.

He said I would need a Colonoscopy with Biopsies to find out what these 'spots' are and see further up to check for more stuff going on..

Results of TODAYS COLONOSCOPY!!

are you ready...?

!!!HEMORRHOIDS!!!

hemorrhoids are easily identified... but according to the 26yr old ER doctor, they were unknown 'spots' far up that needed a biopsie.... yeah.. NOT the case..

Oh well, GI isn't going to be his speciality.. He was finishing up to be a Family Physician.

What a Week

I know tons of people have had colonoscopys before me.

Because I have never had one, it's a big thing to me.

Maybe if this week wasn't going to be so hectic as it already was going to be, things would be a little diffrent..

I had a little 'melt down' this morning and I believe I earned it.

I had 4 appointments this week, 4 days in a row.. My first appointment on Monday lasted 7hrs.

Tuesday wasn't so bad, Wednesday was ok besides my 'melt down' and an absolutley aweful headache/lightheaded feeling I have had for a large part of the day.

I was able to lay down and take a nap with Hyrum but it didn't really help.

Tonight at 7pm I have to start drinking the laxative.. I am not thrilled one bit about it.

Every time I open the fridge door and see the Jug sitting there on the shelf I want to vomit.. I think It may be hard to get down.. I have to drink 8oz every 15min until I finish 2liters tonight.

...then I will be on the pot for a long time from what it says.

at 8am Thursday morning I get to drink another 2 liters. Then sit around until time for my appointment.

Any way... I have an aweful headach right now.. Sitting here blogging to pass the time away.

I am going to go prepare a few things before my 'evening' gets started.



A Little of This and That

Yes, life is going on despite my medical issues.

Over the weekend we were lucky to attend the wedding of Katrina and Paul Andrews.

I must say it was a rather awesome wedding. These two really put together an amazing ceremony and picked great selections (scripture and poems) to have read throughout the ceremony.

I don't know Kat as well as Ricky or any of her family and long time friends but I can say that I am not the only one that was shocked and surprised when Katrina first announced that she had 'a boyfriend.'

Why is that so shocking? I dunno.. just kinda really was.. Once I was able to see her and Paul together at our home before Paul left on a mission to Papua New Guinea, I just KNEW the two of them were going to end up engaged and soon married.

They compliment each other very well. They are both great down to earth people and I know that the two of them are going to accomplish a great many of things throughout their partnership and marriage here on earth.

Congrats to Mr. and Mrs. Paul Andrews!!

Also, I can't forget to mention that Hyrum was their ring bearer! He was mighty handsome and eventually made it down the isle holding little Abbis hand.

On Monday the 11th, my Sister, Adrienne had her 26th birthday.! Because she is married to a totally awesome, loving, caring man, as her gift she was surprised with 2 round trip flights for her and Corey to fly out here to visit us for a few days starting July 25th!!

Corey even had babysitters lined up for the kiddoes and everything!

Happy 26th Adrienne! Hyrum is excited for you to visit him.. We all know he is the only reason you are excited to come out here  ;)

And lastley.. I posted this pic of the girls just because I felt like it!

...and because I miss them.

They partied and the Dueling Piano Bar in Houston for Carlas birthday at the end of May without me!!

I'm glad and thankful that these three are buddies to take care of each other when I'm not there to hold down the fort ;) 

I told Jessica the other day that you are one extremely LUCKY human beeing to be our age and able to say that you have AT LEAST one best friend..

If you can even count on one hand the number of great, close friends you have, you still are one lucky duck.

Sucks having to be a grown up sometimes.. You can't spend every waking moment with your buddies like you use to be able to in Jr. High and High School..

Oh, to be young again...

I Love and miss all of my Texas folks!! Take care of Each other for me!!



Do You REALLY Want to Know?

Just so we are all on the same page for those of you who are on facebook or hear by word of mouth that I am having certain medical problems at the moment.

Here is my blog to all so nothing is lost in translation.

I will start with the most recent of events to spare everyone a long 'read.'

For those of you are are easily grossed out and get queasy just by reading gross things or about blood, exit this web browser immediately.

For those of you who are left and still hear reading, here it is;

!!!!!!WARNING!!!!! THE LAST PHOTO (NUMBER 6) IS NOT TO BE VIEWED BY THE EASILY QUEASY!!!!!!!!!! so make sure to count.

About a month and a half ago I started to notice bleeding with my bowl movements. Ok, no biggie, it has happened on and off over the last several years so when it happened just over a month ago I didn't pay a bunch of attention to it.

I always hear people blow things like that off saying it's fine it's just maybe a tare or hemorrhoids, no biggie.

A week later it happened again, and then again every week for the next month.

It really caught my attention after about the 3rd week but I still kept watching it and telling myself "ehh, it's nothing."

Plus, with someone as 'shy' as me, I want to be certain there is a problem before I bring it to the attention of others, even my doctor.

Who really wants to sit down and say "umm yah, so, I'm having anal/rectal bleeding.."?

Any way, with the increase in frequency I sent a little text to Kasey Cahan to see what she thought and she told me I needed to get it looked ASAP and possibly have a colonoscopy.

After I had this exchange with her I started having twice a day episodes of anal/rectal bleeding.

Monday I called the doc office and made an appointment to see Dr. Yoo. My appointment was made for Wednesday at 1:05pm.

By the time I made it to my doc. appointment with Dr. Yoo on Wednesday I had had 7 episodes of anal/rectal bleeding in 4days.

Don't you think that would be raising red flags at my doc. appointment and make you think it was something severe going on..? I thought so.. but I guess it didn't exactly go that way. Not sure what she was thinking.

At my appointment I told her about EVERY single episode of bleeding I have had and that I was up to 7 times since Sunday.. She put a glove on and did an anal exam.

In her exam she found no tearing in the area, she also found no sing of external or internal hemorrhoids. Dr. Yoo also did a stool guaiac test that came back positive for blood, that just says 'yes there is blood in the rectum.'

After coming up with no answers with what she was able to do in her office she sent a referral for me to see a stomach specialist at the UW in Seattle.

Apparently her referral wasn't 'urgent' and the doctors in Seattle decided that my case was a "see when next available." (I will come back to THAT part again at the end of this blog.)

I go home with no answers and thinking that I will be able to get in right away to see the specialist and have a colonoscopy to get answers so I can get this taken care of whatever it is.

And then....

I went about my evening as 'usual' except this time I was thinking "great, something is wrong and it's NOT one of the most typical cases like tearing or hemorrhoids, now what..??"

Before bedtime, I did my usual 'going to bed' activities, changing clothes, brushing teeth.. urinating...

After I finished 'urinating' I look down to discover that I am now having anal/rectal bleeding without the aid of bowl movements.. I sat down to urinate, and bled from my rectum..?

I officially started the "what the heck!?" Freaking out process..

I stayed up a little later, and it happened again.. I knew there must be something terribly wrong if I am bleeding like this freely without the help or aid of anything. Plus this bring my total up to 9 bleeding episodes in a 4/5 day time frame.

Instead of going to the hospital then, I went to sleep and in the morning I told Ricky about the new events and let him know that there was a possibility I would be needing to get back in to a doctor ASAP because of what I had experienced.. He asked if I needed him to stay home but I sent him on his way.

I did my usual stuff but with all of the internal freaking out.. I took Hyrum to his babysitter at 10am, then went to Highline and did an hour of step aerobics, went home, had lunch, went to the restroom and more bleeding.

This time I called my docs. office and let them know that I didn't think it would be wise for me to wait around for an appointment with a specialist because of how I was bleeding now without the aid of bowl movements.

The TWO people I talked to informed me that I should go to the UW ER. I called Ricky and let him know he needed to come home then I showered and we got things ready, dropped Hyrum off and headed to Seattle.

Here is my hospital buddy, watching some 'Swords' on Discovery.

Once I was finally taken to a room to get the process started of what I hoped meant getting some 'answers' seemed to move fairly quick.

The doctor seemed to be pretty good at what he was doing. He did take a very extensive and thorough history/medical history on me.

I even had some 'photos' on my phone that I had taken of a couple of my bleeding episodes that he was really interested in and thrilled to be able to view to see what it is I am experiencing.

Did I mention he only just turned 26yrs old about 2 weeks ago.?

Any way, they ordered blood work and checked all of my blood levels to see how much blood I am losing. Blood results came back good and I haven't lost too much blood so no blood infusions needed.

At the beginning he told me that all he was going to be able to do was another rectal exam much like what I already had done the day before with Dr. Yoo, because if isn't possible to come in to the ER and get a colonoscopy. (I knew that part) But it was still a little disappointing.

After leaving to consult with the head doctor overseeing him and the ER that night, he returned and told me that he was going to be able to do a little more than just a rectal exam.

I forget what this particular exam is called but it allows them to look inside the anal/rectal/mucosa area with a scope and light. Nothing that you have to be put to sleep for but not very comfortable.

He came came back and dropped off this kit in my room and went back out to wait for the head doctor to be available to come and watch and assist him in this procedure.

After my doctor got instruction, they lubed the toll up nice and good and have me lay on my side..

They started the procedure and started looking around.. Again, no sign of hemorrhoids. I hear the doc. tell the other doc. that he can see some 'spots.' The female doctor bends down to take a look and things seems to start going in slow motions at this point by her response.

It sounded concerning to me.. When she bent over to look her response at first sight was "Oooooh yeeaaahh, I see."

So, they found something. Good news I though, I might finally get some more answers. But I was wrong.

All they could tell me was that they see lots of inflamed 'spots.' They wouldn't give these things a name, just kept calling them 'spots.' And they confirmed that they do definitely see signs of bleeding but its not 'activley' bleeding meaning a steady constant flow of blood.

After this procedure, they tell me I can go ahead and start getting dressed and are going to draw up some discharge papers.

When the doctor came back in to talk to me again about the 'findings' and my discharge he said that the definite next step for me is a complete colonoscopy with biopsies of the 'spots' and whatever else they may find if they find anything else further up and throughout my colon.

He proceeded to tell me to come back if I start vomiting or bleeding a cup of blood within 24hrs or "notice anything out of the ordinary"....

I look at him and say "Umm.. Well, I came in because I thought all of THIS was out of the ordinary and even it didn't get me anywhere."

He looks at me and says "Do you have any questions..? you look pretty disappointed?" my dry response. "Yeah I have questions but they aren't any that YOU can answer."

He apologizes, goes over things once more, says he was happy to meet Ricky and I, and sends us on our way back home.

He said they would send another referral for me to the GI Specialist floor.. I thought maybe it would be easier to get in for the colonoscopy now that I have been seen in the ER and they know that I have things inside of me that need to be looked at and biopsied..

I called the number I was given for the GI Specialist to try and get an appointment set up and while on the phone, the lady tells me that the only referral they have for me is from my Primary Care Physician Dr. Yoo who I saw on Wednesday and that based off of her referral alone, the Specialist has decided that my case is a "see when next available" case..

I guess the referral from Dr. Yoo wasn't put through as 'urgent.'

Then the receptionist tells me that the Specialists are book through to the end of August and that I can't come in for a consult until September sometime and that they aren't even currently scheduling out that far yet and I would need to call back in a week to set the appointment...

I start freaking out and becoming emotional because I don't want to wait 2 1/2 months just to get in for a freakin consult!!

I tell the lady on the phone that I was seen there at UW last night in the ER and that the ER doctor was supposed to send up another referral and if that is going to change anything.

She tells me "sorry, no it wont change anything unless/until we receive a personal referral from the ER to take another look at your case, after getting the referral you still have to wait for the specialist to review the file yadi yadi yada." I say bye and hang up.

I talk to her again later and ask if they have yet received the referral from the ER, she says no, then I ask her if she can pull up my record and view it on the computer. She tells me no, the ER needs to send her a fax or something...

(I know for a fact that UW clinics and hospitals are all linked to the same system and ANYBODY within the UW network can type my name into the computer and pull up my complete file and history, and because of this, that is why my UW primary care physician sends me to clinics and doctors from UW and Harborview anywhere between Federal Way, and Seattle, because at each office, they can pull up my file in the computer took at the referrals and get any information they need.)

I get off of the phone and call Ricky and ask him if he can call the ER to have them send the file and referral up to the GI floor because I was out running errands and didn't have any of the papers with me.

I get home and Ricky tells me about his phone conversation with the person he talked to in the ER and the ER lady told Ricky "The file has been sent and the notes for the GI Specialist have been made, they just need to pull up her account and go to the file and open up the little folder to view it."

seriously..??

Any way, I got no where with UW today.. So as of right now I do not have a current appointment made to see a Specialist and I am no where near getting this much needed colonoscopy..

I'm burnt out and frustrated about all of the phone calls and don't know what to do now.

My thoughts are all back and forth and mixed up about everything... I have a power of telling myself that I'm making a big deal out of nothing and that maybe MY situation really isn't a big deal. I'm good at pushing things to the side because I think so much about everything that I start to tell myself it's just silly and maybe I don't really need the help or medical attention..

Weird huh..?

Right now I just don't know.. I have not been through medical school, I do not have a medical degree or license and I am no GI Specialist. Is my situation a big deal or major case? I don't know.

Is it something simple that is going to be an easy fix or something that will go away on it's own.? I don't know.

I feel like if I hassle everybody and make a huge deal about my situation to get in ASAP that it will turn out to be 'nothing big' or too serious, and I would have done all of that 'fighting' for 'nothing.'

but then again it wont really be for 'nothing' because I will have answers and will no for sure what is going on or not going on, if I need some serious treatment, or no treatment, and can rest my mind having answers and knowing what is or isn't going on inside of my body.

Welcome to the world that is my complicated, mixed up, frustrating, drive me crazy, thought process.

That is what is currently going on with me medically for all of you who have been asking.. bottom line, I have no answers, I can only say what is happening to me and going on..

I'm curious about the 'spots' the doctors wouldn't or couldn't name that they know need to be biopsied..

I can't sit down and google "rectal spots" trust me, I have tried.. All of the GI disorders I have looked up and researched don't talk about 'spots.'

'Spots' isn't an GI disease... or any disease in fact..

Until I can find a way to get in to have a Specialist look at me and my spots and look within my entire colon for more signs of anything else, or nothing at all, I guess I will keep doing what I've been doing until things are absolutely considerably worse to where I have to be admitted to a hospital and just see how things go..

In the Photo below you will see a long round light bulb tube of a thing.. That is what they used to view the inside of the anal/rectal/mucosa area during the exam.. Of course I had to get a picture for Bloggings sake. What good would this blog be without ALL of the gooey details..

p.s. following this photo is a photo most of you will want to skip... So, this is the end of the line for you!

p.s.s Feel free to share any comments, concerns, or advice you may have now after reading this blog. Just don't ask me any questions because sadly, I do not have any answers.

For those of you who stuck around to view this last photo... Doesn't 5 days of bleeding like THIS seem out of the ordinary to YOU.?? 'Cuz it totally seemed like an out of the ordinary ER worthy problem to me but maybe I'm wrong..??



You Have a Doctors Apointment

Story of my life.

no, really..!

I can/do fulfill any and all medical insurance deductables within the first few months of a new year.

and then some... well, and then a lot.

I should start putting all of my doctors office address's down as my home address because if I'm not 'home' you can almost always catch me there.

p.s. Aren't colonoscopys for 'old' people..?

The 4th of July

How did we celebrate?

Well, as I felt like poo ALL weekend we didn't really do a whole lot of anything..

I think I got out of the house and ran a couple of quick errands with Ricky and Hyrum.

I don't remember if I did anything on Sunday

and on the 4th...? umm, we went to Target, IHOP, then came home and I did 2 loads of laundry.

We live right down the street from the park in Federal Way that does fireworks for this area but we didn't go.

Ricky had to go to work the next morning plus Hyrum hadn't had a nap and would want to go to bed, and my eyes kept crossing and I felt dizzy/light headed so we didn't exactly 'party'

Just chilled and relaxed.

We were able to hear and see the fireworks between the trees from our balcony.

When the fireworks started we turned out all of the lights in the apartment and opened up the door to the balcony to see what we were able to see.

Once they started Hyrum got big eyes and asked "what's that noise?"

I picked him up and carried him out to the balcony to try and show him where the fireworks were and tried to get him excited so he could enjoy them.

He didn't exactly liked it and after hearing the loud pops and bangs for about 15seconds Hyrum decided/said "umm, I wanna go night night."

So, I put him down and he ran to our bed, climbed up with his doggy and bear, covered himself up under the blanket, hid from the fireworks and went to sleep.

Yep... We sure know how to party.!

I hope everybody had a great, fun, relaxing, enjoyable and safe 4th of July!



Amazing

So, I. LOVE. Music.

I especially love finding new, good, heart felt music/artists.
Some of my favs to come across are that of people who don't typically 'fit the profile.'

Weather it be because of age or what have you.
My dad posted a music clip from this little boy by the name of Brendan MacFarlane via somebody else on Facebook.

Of course I had to check it out...

and..

I LOVED IT!!
This boy can sing.

His talent is too good for me NOT to share with everybody else.

I am a fan, and now I have to go buy his CD...

check him out in the clips below.