Here I am

So…..here I am….I didn’t get swallowed up by the couch! As a matter of fact I am happy to say I am spending less time on the couch. I had my swap surgery and I’m praying that all the painful stuff is behind me now. I am slowly, slowly getting my energy back. I’ve started exercising again and I will never complain about dragging myself out of bed to exercise. I actually missed it.

As for my behind (and intestine) I am doing pretty well. I’m back to my normal bathroom runs. The four to six times a day seems like nothing compared to the 12 to 16 times a day during the chemo. I’ve stopped taking the flagel and so far the fistula has been calm. I have started the Tamoxifen which is causing horrible hot flashes…blah!

I’ve shared with you many times how much I HATE needles! Well before my swap surgery, when the very nice pre-op nurse came into start my IV she said the words I dread “You have very small veins”. This is never a good sign. So after tap tap tapping my arm and hand she gives it a try in the side of my left hand…strike one! She tries in my right hand…strike two. Sorry Ms. Nice Nurse today rule is two strikes and you’re out. She goes to get another nice nurse who isn’t very confident either but she does get it into my left hand on her first try. Ughhhhhhh!




At least this surgery was not as uncomfortable as the last. My new perky boobs are in and hopefully once the swelling goes down and everything falls into place they will look great (at least under my clothing :)

I am due for an appointment with my GI doc. During my last visit, before all the cancer stuff, he wanted me to have a colonoscopy in March. The last time I talked to the nurse I told her it was going to have to wait. I need a break from poking, prodding, and removing things. She completely understood.

Well it is March already and March for us means BASEBALL. J already went to FL for his spring baseball trip. His team did very well. He has a DH today but it’s away. His first home game is Friday so I’m looking forward to that. B however has his first scrimmage game today Yeah! I am very very excited. They will be playing on the brand new high school turf field.

I’ll let you know how that goes!

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

Picnics and Piggy Toes???

A three day weekend and here we are in June! And a busy weekend it was. What a way to end the month of May. Baseball, picnics, sunshine, family, good food, homeruns, and a beautiful baby girl I love with all my heart!!! After a little break B had two baseball games. They were just practice games but still a nice opportunity to get to see him play and a homerun is a homerun in my book practice game or not GO B!!!





J is officially moved back home for the summer (doing a dance right now)and I have the piles of laundry and maze of extra furniture to prove it plus a very large supply of creatine???



Three Picnics this weekend, all with wonderful family and friends who I love spending time with and the food YUM! There is nothing better after starving all morning and afternoon at a baseball game then going right to someone’s house and eating a LOT of wonderful food (none of which you had to prepare) Nom nom nom!!! Then spending the rest of the evening taking pictures of my favorite baby girls piggy toes!!!





The weekend was so great I almost forgot that this Wednesday was my forth week Wednesday which meant it was time to shoot up the Cimzia WOOP!!!



I can’t believe I almost forgot…I usually stress over it for a few days before. That hate of needles thing ya know. It was kind of nice doing without the stress for a change.

Well we are getting closer to our walk date. 9 days and counting, nails are painted purple



T-Shirts are here (I have to tweak them a bit; need to add cousin, niece to a few of them :)



Fundraising continues

http://tiny.cc/63lsy

Excitement level very high YAY!

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

Gee Thanks Crohns

So you all know that I have been having a lot of nausea and fatigue yadda yadda yadda, and baseball season is always a difficult time for me. For me Crohns and baseball just doesn’t go well together. As I’ve said before I don’t do porta johns unless it’s an extreme emergency. So I avoid extreme emergencies by not eating. As you can imagine this makes even a good day turn bad very quickly. So I’ve been struggling through the season going to all of B’s games and most of J’s home games. This week however I was just worn out and feeling extra nauseous and fatigued on Tuesday so I decided not to go to B’s game. Now my kids are wonderful and they completely understand if I can’t make it to a game. As a matter of fact when they know that I’m not feeling well they encourage me to stay home because they want me to feel better more than anything. It’s me being stubborn and not wanting/letting Crohns interfere with any part of my kids lives. But I do know my limits (most of the time) so I stayed home and it felt good to stay home until I hear “B hit a homerun” his third one this year and I missed it. I missed it because of you Crohns. You are such a pain in the butt Crohns (pun intended). All I can say is it’s a good thing I got to see the first two. I am very thankful for that!!!

J’s team is doing very well! They qualified for the Quarter Finals that will be played on Sat. at their home field. If they win they move on. GO TEAM!

I got my Cimzia shots last night and I hope its kicking your butt Crohns. Blood work today, ugh more needles. Hoping she can get it on the first stick this time. I’ll be sure to let you know. So until then

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

Did I Mention That I HATE NEEDLES!!!

I keep telling myself that I should stop hating needles, after all they are a big part of my life so I should just accept them, learn to love them, enjoy their purpose in my life. So go ahead and stick me with a needle, take some blood, find out what is wrong, and stick me with another needle full of medicine to fix the problem. Whats not to love??? Nope, not gonna happen. I hate needles no matter what their purpose and that hate was reinforced today. I went to have my blood work done and I heard those dreaded words again “Your veins are so tiny”!!! As I mentioned in a previous post these words are usually followed by a traumatic needle experience. So here we go, make a fist, rub, rub, rub, tap, tap, little pinch………….hmmmmmm I must have missed……..let’s try your other arm. Rub, rub, rub, tap, tap, tap, little pinch…………hmmmmm I must have the needle in funny…….(ya think cause if feels like your using a crochet hook)…..wiggle, wiggle, wiggle, yes it must be in there funny because its coming out so slow and strange wiggle, wiggle, wiggle,……..finally one tube filled……only four more to go……….Uggggggggggggggggg.

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

Good News and Some Other Stuff:

First things first…Thank you to all of you who kept me in your thoughts and prayers while I went through my prep and colonoscopy. Your support means the world to me and helps me get through the tough times.

So I made it through my prep day although I must say I almost did not keep the phosphate toxic crap down. I’m gagging right now just thinking about it. Also a friend just enlightened me on the dangers of drinking this horrible stuff so guess what my dear GI doctor…I will never drink it again. So unless you come up with a better way (which my friend has already told me about but don’t tell my doc) you better enjoy this peek inside me because it might be your last…. In case you are wondering I WOULD LIKE IT TO BE HIS LAST!!! Okay to the good news… The scope went well from beginning to end hahahaha no pun intended. What I mean is the nurse had no problem starting the IV. I was a little worried when I heard those dreaded words “Your veins are so small”. In my experience those words are usually followed by a traumatic needle experience. She flicked and slapped, and rubbed, and flicked and slapped, and rubbed my right arm then went over and flicked and slapped, and rubbed, and flicked and slapped, and rubbed my left arm. So I held my breath and prayed and she did fine, got it in on the first try (sigh of relief). Then my favorite person came in…the anesthesiologist woop. She talked to me for a bit then did her thing and the next thing you know I woke up and it was over (another sigh of relief). Then the doctor gave me the good news…Normal mucosa in the whole colon! The ulceration, granularity, friability and congestion at the resection area that was seen on my previous scope has healed. The Cimzia is helping PTL!!! I have been so discouraged lately with all the fatigue and joint pain that seems to be a side effect of the Cimzia (for me) and not really knowing if the Cimzia was helping. Now I at least know that it is helping.
So here is the plan…

More blood work to re-check B12, and CBC, and check Vit D level to try to resolve the fatigue issue.

Since I still haven’t heard from the Rheumatoid Doctors office about when he can see me my GI Doc is going to contact them to see if he can get me in soon. He is hoping the rheumatoid doc can help me with the joint pain and find out if it is a side effect of the Cimzia.

I am also going to see the Nutrition Doctor again for help with diet and vitamins (B12, D, and whatever else I might need).
I hope I can get some quick answers because it is March and if you know me you know what that means!!! It’s almost baseball season and I NEED to go to ALL my boys games….PLEASE!!!

Which brings me to the other stuff…..BASEBALL. The title of this blog really should be Crohns and baseball lives with me. Like I said its March so here we go. J will be headed to FL for his spring training and his first game will be on Saturday. I really really wish I could be there. He is so excited because Coach R wants him to pitch more this year. He always did a lot of pitching from little league thru high school and for his summer travel AAU teams, but he was recruited as a 3rd baseman so his coach wasn’t even aware that he pitched till the end of last season. I hope he does well in FL.
B’s high school season is due to start with his first scrimmage game on March 18th. There’s only one problem. There is still 2 feet of snow on all the baseball fields in the area??? I did get some other good news today though. Mr. FF (use your imagination) will NOT be helping with the team (jumping for joy). It’s a very very long story but Mr. FF is someone that I hate. Yes I Hate!!! He has done some awful things in the past (as a so called coach) and therefore I do not want him anywhere near my kids. Long story short, even though everyone in this baseball area hates him no one has ever had the “hardware” to tell the man NO except my husband (a few years back). So when Mr. FF didn’t get his way he spent the next 2 years trying to keep my kids from playing baseball and my husband from coaching baseball. Now he has wormed his way into the coaching staff at the high school but it appears that the head coach has come to his senses and is not going to have him be a part of the varsity teams staff as originally planned. (Jumping for joy again). Well that’s all for now. I will be sure to keep you posted with updates of both J and B’s seasons!!!

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