New Med = Less Bathroom (so far)

I went to see my GI the other day and we discussed the Pentasa I’ve been taking for longer than I can remember. 2 pills 4 times per day. I was out of refills and needed a new script called in. He told me if I wanted I could take 4 pills 2 times per day or he could switch me to a different drug (Asacol ~ mesalamine ) that was 2 pills 2 times per day. I said sure I’ll try the Asacol. About a week later, after my insurance company approved it (don’t you just love insurance companies) I got it filled and started taking it. I’ve been taking it for about a week now and it is helping better then the Pentasa. I don’t have to go to the bathroom as often woo hoo. As a matter of fact it is 1:42 and I haven’t gone yet. This is like the closest I’ve ever gotten to constipation lol. Going less should be very helpful during mastectomy post-op. My surgery is scheduled for October 22nd which is creeping up on me quickly. I’ve found some very informative blogs that have given me lots of ideas of what to take with me to the hospital and what to expect after the surgery. I’ve started packing a bag already so that I don’t forget anything that I read about. The bad news is my fistula has been acting up. I got a script for Cipro so I hope that gets it under control FAST. I don’t want anything to postpone my surgery. I just want to get this over with. I’m also getting back on track with my gluten free diet. All the junk food is gone. B had some friends over and the gobbled it all up. I want to eat as healthy as I can leading up to the surgery (something I should have been doing all along). Since I’ve been off the vitamin D3 my joints have been hurting more and the past few days have been really bad. This could also be because of the change in the weather. I hope I can get back on the D3 quickly after the surgery is over. Well I will try to update you a few times between now and my surgery. Until then

Love, Laugh, and Always know where the nearest bathroom is

Take her perfume…PLEASE!

I had to take B to the doctors last week:

Scene: Doctors waiting room where all crohnies can be found on any given day and today an old lady wearing an entire bottle of the worst smelling perfume ever.

Enter: Sweetpea (me, btw I already have a bad headache) and B



I immediately smell said awful perfume. It fills the room like a bug fogger. I sign B in and we take our seats. They are the only two seats together that are left in the room and they are way too close to smelly perfume lady. Mars would be to close. I’m not sure I can take it. I pull B towards me to try to block the smell. If I could I would bury my face in his armpit because I know it would smell a lot better but I would look even more ridiculous. I say even more because the entire time I am sitting there I have my hand up under my nose as if I am covering a cough…only I am not coughing. I continue to pull B towards me and inform him that I may have to hurl on his shoes. I am just about ready to go up to the window and say “Listen you need to either take her back to a room or us because I can’t stand the smell of her anymore”. Since I know that will get me no where I decide that I’m going to make a run for the hallway when the door opens and they call the woman’s name. I thought for sure her last name would be stinkbug. I was so glad to see her go until I realized she left the awful perfume smell behind. So I continue to sit with my hand under my nose looking around at the other people wondering how they can stand it. Finally they call for B and I almost knock him over as I run to the door. “Room 1” says the nurse. We rush in and I turn to the door as she is closing it “NOooooo this is the room she was in” B (who just happens to be sucking on a cherry lifesaver starts blowing in my face. Ahhhhh cherry lifesavers have never smelled so good. I continue the hand under my nose position. The doctor comes in, checks B’s incision, and gives us his instructions which include returning in two weeks. I try not to knock the doctor over on my way out. We check out with the receptionist and go back in the waiting room. Smelly perfume lady is gone but her perfume remains just as strong, just as smelly. Holding my breath I race to the door and into the hallway. I grab B and say that smell is still in there…what if its still there in two weeks??? Does anyone know where I can buy a cheap gas mask and a sign for the door that says “For the love of God No one is permitted to wear smelly old lady perfume EVER”.

Love, Laugh, and Always know where the nearest bathroom is
(and pray that smelly perfume lady hasn’t already been there)

I Think I'll Plant Flowers

We had a lot of rain this week but last weekend was beautiful and we were able to get a lot of work done outside around the house. This is the first spring in a couple of years that we have planted flowers. Having two sons playing on several baseball teams makes it difficult to keep up with watering and weeding beds of flowers so we have opted for some well placed potted plants the past couple of years. This spring and summer with J in his second year of college and B now too old for rec. ball B is only playing on his AAU traveling team so we will have a little more time for weeding flower beds but not much so we just planted a small row of flowers along two walls around the driveway and have flower pots and hanging plants by the front door and back deck as seen in the pictures below:
















We will be pouring a new bigger front porch and sidewalk soon so it would be a waste to plant anything around there like we use too. We also ripped out our front hedges and front gate…yes all gone no pics of that yet. Hubby has been wanting to do that for some time now. He has always hated trimming them. Now are you ready for this news sun bathers…. Yes the pool is open…now all we need is the SUN! Getting the deck furniture out and the pool open explains why we have had rain and cold weather most of the week. That’s just always how it works. It’s the same way in the fall. It’s cold so you close the pool and then it gets hot again. But it is warming up again so let the pool side cookouts begin!!!

I went to the doctors on Monday for my blood work results and it was all good news. My B12 and D levels were all up to normal levels. He gave me a new med for my migraines that I can take daily for preventative measures. I am gradually working to get to the regular dose so it has not kicked in yet. I hope it helps because I really can’t take the headaches anymore. The Imitrex is great and works well but my insurance will only cover 9 pills a month and I get the headaches almost every day.

We thought J’s baseball season was over but they qualified for the ECAC tournament and won their first game so they will move on to play in Delaware this weekend. He got creative with his hair for the tournament:

Some good news:

I’ve been stressing for the past couple months. My husband works for a small company that is struggling through the rough economy. In an effort to save money the bean counter (small comp. = 1 bean counter) was considering switching health insurance providers to a provider that 3 of my doctors do not accept. 2 of those doctors are my GI and my surgeon and they are both the best doctors that I have found so far. The company was presented with an offer from a provider that was significantly less expensive and understandably needed to be considered for the benefit of the company. One of the perks of small companies is that the powers that be know you and your situation well. The owner of the company (and even the bean counter) was very concerned about me having to change doctors and asked me to check with my doctors before they had to make their final decision. My husband told them about my doctors but told them not to worry. If the new insurance company would save them that much money they should switch and my doctors would be able to recommend other good doctors for me. So they continued to look into the new insurance and I put off scheduling some of the tests I needed done in case I would have to schedule them with different doctors. All the employees had to fill out a personal and family medical history form. After this was done the insurance provider quoted the company a new price that was much higher than their original quote. (they probably took one look at my medical history and said raise the price) The good news is THEY AREN’T GOING TO SWITCH!!! I can keep all my doctors woo hoo. Now I have to schedule the rest of the wonderful tests on the to do list from my wonderful doctor.

Love, laugh, and always know where the nearest bathroom is