Tuesday, October 30, 2012

Surgery Scheduled (Posted on PKD blog)


I went to see the Cardiologist (Dr. Chun Hwang) today. He wanted to squeeze me in for surgery on November 8th at 430am, so that's great!
I'll be having a catheter ablation, to fix my PSVT. Yes, I'm being totally lazy and making you click on links to read about what they are if you want to know ;) Basically, they'll put a wire catheter through my leg up to my heart and burn the part that is causing the arrhythmias. Poor Nate had to sit through all the possible bad outcomes, most of which are totally rare, but the doctor was great at explaining everything in great detail and very informative.
They said plan on staying overnight, but it could be outpatient if everything goes well after the 6 hours of bedrest (to help the incision heal and not bleed out).
As weird as it may sound, I'm pretty excited to get this done. It'll be so nice not to have to worry about it happening anymore!!

Tuesday's 10: 10 reasons I love Halloween!

Let me start off by saying: I LOVE HALLOWEEN. It's always been one of my favorite holidays. Here are 10 reasons why!

10. Seeing all the cute little kids in their costumes and how excited THEY are about my favorite holiday!

9. All the fun treats you can make (you must know I love baking).

8. Seeing weird people all month and not knowing if they're wearing a costume or they're actually dressed that way ;)

7. Scary movies!

6. Haunted Houses. Although I haven't been to one in years... ahem, hint hint.

5. Dressing up in fun/silly/scary costumes.

4. Wearing crazy makeup you wouldn't dare in real life.

3. Doing other people's crazy makeup they wouldn't dare do on themselves (this might need to be moved to #1).

2. It's a great excuse for a party!

1. And number 1 was donated from my kids... CANDY!!! (Erik specified I must put it in all caps and 3 exclamations).


We're having our annual (we only call it that because people come over to hang out and it turns into a big party each year, so now it's official) Halloween party tomorrow night and I'm getting super excited finishing up some of the fun things we have to do! Nate decided on the theme this year: "Pirates vs Ninjas", so we'll have a contest to see who wins, plus best costume, and lots of fun and games. Now all I have to do is decorate and decide if I want to make my Dad's amazing sugar cookies or make some cute ghost cupcakes, hmmm.

What do you love or hate about Halloween?


Thursday, October 25, 2012

Life is busy (no, I'm not wearing it as a badge of honor!)

Life is so busy, but I think I have more time now to get back to our blog!

I know everyone is so busy in their own life. I feel like some days I am crazy busy, and some days I'm really lucky and I get to just relax and fold laundry while I watch a movie in the silence of my home, while the kids are at school. I have a pretty blessed life, really.

The kids keep me busy with their different activities, although this semester we have decided to slow down and cut back on extracurriculars.
Thor is loving being in the school Concert Choir, and we've given him the challenge to audition for a solo/duet for his Christmas Concert, he has a great little voice. He will be starting his basketball season in December. He gets better every year. It's neat to see the improvement from the side-lines. I'm sure he doesn't realize it like we do, but for us on the outside it's like a time-lapse video; when he was just little he would just run back and forth between the baskets, the next year he would get the ball but immediately pass it to someone else, next he would actively try to get it and make baskets. This year should be exciting!
Erik is still funny little Erik. Last week he had a well-checkup and the doctor noticed his hip wasn't as flexible as the other. They sent us to x-ray and at first they thought it was severe hip dysplasia, told us he'd need surgery and sent us to Primary Childrens to have it re-examined. Upon arrival there they were extremely worried that it was Perthes disease, but after hearing he'd had surgery on the same hip when he was a baby (when he had the blood infection, it settled in his hip joint and they had to do surgery to drain it), she decided it was caused by that and it had become necrotic over the years, as well as being somewhat misshapen and the growth plate had already closed. She said typically they close around age 13, so his legs shouldn't be too off, but if they are he'll have to have surgery to adjust his other leg. Other than that, it's a wait and see game for now. He'll eventually have arthritis and definitely need a hip replacement, she said best case would be when he's 50, by then I'm sure it'll be like magic. ;)
Annika is your typical first grader, I would guess. She's too smart for her own good, she's too independent for her own good (or mine!), but after the boys, it's much easier to just let her be and watch what becomes of it. We're still working on teaching her not to be so bossy, she's definitely an A personality. She's still got her daddy wrapped around her finger, which is adorable and I hope lasts forever and ever. She's very into dance, and is very good at it. She's got an amazing, natural grace when she dances, which she definitely didn't get from me!

My health keeps me busy. I really don't feel like I have as many problems as I do, since I can't "see" any of them, sometimes it's hard to do everything I need to to keep things working right, but hopefully someday I'll see the benefit of it all. I've had so many people tell me I'm amazing for having such a positive attitude and dealing with all these issues, but honestly, it's all you CAN do, and I'm sure anyone else would do the same. I'm not amazing, it's just life and I've been dealt some crazy organs and I get to just accept them for who they are! haha. I like to say I must have been last in line when they dished out bodies ;) But I'm definitely grateful for a working one, as much as it does, they truly are amazing, aren't they?
I try to workout at least 5 days a week. I do Zumba almost every Mon-Fri, I'm pretty much addicted to it, but I think it's a good addiction. I've made some of the most wonderful friends I've ever known. I get an amazing workout that happens to be fun at the same time. It's my "me time" when I just get to have fun and focus on myself for an hour or so. I really want to go to the instructor training, it's just a matter of time/money, I'm hoping soon!!

APC work keeps me pretty busy. I have scheduling to do, which is pretty much a 24/6 kind of thing (I won't answer my phone on Sunday), so I'm kind of "on-call". I have accounting to do, payroll, training, hiring/firing (which luckily we're good with for now, I have amazing girls!), all the usual tasks of running your average business. Nate has been great to help me with the accounting and teach me new things all the time, since we use Quickbooks and he's a pro. It has really been a blessing to have this company, in so many ways. I have learned so much in so all different areas, I feel like I should be able to test into an MBA degree, since I've already done most of it in life-experience at this point! I wish. ;)
Business is going extremely well, and it's a relief to know we have it to fall back on should anything ever happen with Nate or his job, but it's also just a great thing for me to do and have something to feel accomplished about.

Being married keeps me busy. In a really good way. I have the most wonderful husband, he stands by my side and holds my hand. When I'm having health issues, he bares it so well, even though I know it kills him to watch me go through this stuff sometimes (watching the worry on his face that night at the ER was more painful than all the heart issues I was having, and that heart-stopping drug was not fun!). He is constantly motivating me in all different areas. I definitely wouldn't be who I am without him. After 13 and a half years with him, I'm totally in love and wouldn't trade this life for the world!