Haircuts are Wonderful!

This morning I went and got my haircut, finally!!! It feels so much better. Amazing how a haircut can make you feel better. I feel like now I can actually style my hair again. YIPEE!

Now my friend who cuts my hair, I have not talked to in months, and when I called her yesterday to make an appointment she told me that she had breast cancer and that this was a good week for her to cut hair. WOW!!! SHOCKER!!! She is a year younger than me and has 3 kids, an 11 year old, 4 year old, and 18 month old. She has had a couple of treatments of chemotherapy and has lost her hair. She had a wig on this morning and if she had not told me beforehand I would not have noticed. The wig was amazing. It was slightly lighter in color than her original color and shorter, she usually wears long curly hair with bangs, and this was a shoulder length with bangs and straight. It looked so natural. She has been depressed about the whole situation but who wouldn't be. But then she also has a positive outlook on it and sees that this situation may improve her marriage. She was telling me that she has a strong family history and they have done tests on her and it is not a genetic trait that she will pass on to her children. What a blessing! She should be done with the chemo treatment and then they will check to see if the lump is gone or if they need to remove it, but no mastectomy. She has a small chest. If it were my I think I would be devastated to have to have a mastectomy. The "girls" have been such a part of me that I would have to have implants put in right away. I pray that that will never happen to me. I do not have a family history of breast cancer, now skin, brain, and colon cancer are in my family, and possibly a couple of others but not sure. I do not know what we would do if I got sick. I pray that my health will continue to be good and that I will be able to take care of my family and my husband. This experience really makes me realize that everyone has their own trials to go through. I heard it once said that if we all put our trials into a pile and we could pick up any, after looking we would pick our own back up. I believe it is so true. I know that I am blessed in so many ways and I am so greatful.

Oh, so after I get my haircut I go to get some lunch and after I had placed my order, John calls and says that his mom has passed out and he does not know what to do. Under his breath he says that he thinks she is faking. He tried yelling, pulling her eyelid, cold washcloth, and finally smelling salts, those brought her to. I told him that he should call 911 and I would get home as soon as I could. He had me call his sisters since I had the cell phone with everyone's numbers. So I called Martha and she said that she would call everyone and be right over. When John told his mom that he was calling 911 she said not to and when he told her that his sisters, nieces and nephew were coming she was not happy, but they showed up anyway. She said that she did pass out and that she could hear him but couldn't move. She says that this has happened a few times in her life and that she just needs about an hour and she will be just fine. When everyone showed up, she was embarrassed and told them that they should not have come, but they told her that they would have come anyway. I think that she just wants to die and stresses herself out. I also think that this episode happened because of low blood sugar, she only had a granola bar for breakfast and this was 1:00 in the afternoon. It is almost 7:00 and she is just fine now. She has had something to eat and had family visit, so now I have to wonder too, was this for real or was she faking it, only she knows!

School's in Session

Evanslee started 2nd grade Monday!!! She is growing up fast. She has a "BOY" teacher this year and is excited because he has promised those that are good and do not get in trouble until Christmas break they will get a drawing of any animal they want, drawn by him. She is so excited, she is already trying to decide which animal she wants. She is a GOOD kid and I know that she will accomplish it. She is so quiet and shy (like her parents) that it sometimes worries me but she seems to enjoy school and has friends. She was so excited to see her friends again, but they have a different teacher so they made plans to meet under the big slide at recess. SO CUTE!!!

Today we had an appointment for the Headstart teachers to come and meet us and Caddis so that he can go to Headstart. He was so excited, he gets to go to "school like Evanswee! (that's how he pronounces Evanslee)." They gave him some tests and he was so proud of himself. He would concentrate so hard that his little tongue would be sticking out and going back and forth across his lips, so cute! He got that from John. Evanslee does it too! So CUTE!!! They were so good with him and told him that he was so smart and such a good little boy!! His little chest was all puffed out and he wanted to show one of the teachers his spiderman wall in his room, which was a total mess (coming from me that says something)! He cannot wait until next week when he gets to go to school, he evens gets to eat lunch at school, such a big boy!! What will Miko do with 3 adults all to herself? A spoiled princess for sure!

I am so greatful for my kids and I am so thankful that they are healthy and have no physical or mental problems. I saw a neighbor this morning at the bus stop and her little daughter who is just starting 1st grade this year has juvenile rheumatoid arthritis and has to have CHEMO therapy once a week!!! So sad. She has to really watch her and during the winter they have to be extra careful with her. The poor little thing is so cute with a head full of blonde natural curls that look like a perfect little perm, and then she has to wear a medical mask so that she does not get any infection. I am greatful that John is the one sick and not one of the kids, that would just break my heart! I feel so sorry for her.

Now it is time to get the kids to bed, for another school day!

WHY OH WHY!

So this Sunday morning I had the opportunity to sleep in, and my stupid body decided to wake up at 6:00 a.m. UGHH!! My chance at catching up on sleep and I wake up earlier than I have in weeks. Today is Stake Conference, and I know that I should go, but with 3 little ones it is hard to keep them behaved for 1 hour in Sacrament Meeting let alone the 2 hours or so in Stake Conference. Also we have been invited to a family birthday party at 1 p.m. If it had been a regular "church day" I would take the kids to church and go late but since it is not we will be going to the party. I have issues with it being planned at a time when they know that we would be in church, did they not want us to be there, who knows! So now I am playing on the internet catching up on emails and such since I have this extra time this morning. I also came across the scripture that I added in my title, it has become my favorite scripture and gets me through my trials of life. It keeps me on the right path, back to my Father in Heaven.

Doctors can be idiots!

I went with John to his follow-up procedure the other day. Well the pain is gone but he is having pain in other parts of the body and he still gets sick, so now what? The doctor says great you feel better (uh still sick). Then the IDIOT tells us that his labs showed high triglycerides and that could be a serious problem causing the pancreatitis. DUH!!!! We told him the last time we saw him that John had pancreatitis even though the levels that they test for it were normal. He said at that time that there was no way that he could have had pancreatitis. He knows of only 1 person in his 12 years of practice (yes PRACTICE) that had pancreatitis without the lab levels being elevated. Now this visit he is saying that the high triglycerides could cause pancreatitis and that John needs to watch what he eats and take medicines to control them! DUH!! We have been there, done that! A few years ago John developed these bumps that kind of looked like pimples on his elbow and knees, were very tender to touch, and could not be popped like a pimple (he tried many times). It turns out that his body was trying to get rid of the excess triglycerides in his system by creating these "pimples." Well once we got them down to a reasonable level the bumps vanished, left scars, but no bumps, and not tender any more. So we have used those as determinations if John is getting sick again....yes, they have come back but now not for a few years but still the pancreatitis comes back.

So now we are in limbo of what to do, doctors are done with what they wanted to accomplish but John is still getting sick, it is enough that he does not think that he could hold down a job yet, so the trouble continues......UGGHHHHH!!!!!

9 Years, I can't believe it!

John and I celebrated our 9th anniversary a couple of days ago. I cannot believe that it has been 9 years already, but then some days it seems like we have always been married. We do not have much money so we went out to a movie (have discount tickets) and went to dinner at our FAVORITE Japanese restaurant in Ogden. Grandma watched the kids so we went to an early movie and then had reservations for an early dinner. It was very nice. I so loved the food.

I was thinking back to the beginning when everything was wonderful, we had jobs, love life, place of our own, and no icky ucky disease!!! And now here we are with this disease that has changed our lives and I remember the first attack, driving him to the hospital as he is screaming "LET ME DIE, I WANT TO DIE." I was racing down highway 89 trying to get to McKay-Dee Hospital and shouting back "SHUT UP! YOU CAN'T DIE ON ME, THE DOCTORS WILL TAKE CARE OF YOU!" Well he was in the hospital that time for 11 days and I spent all the time I could there even sleeping there, a couple of times on chairs pushed together for a bed (and I was about 2 months pregnant, you know, not feeling so swell). I kept having horrible feelings of I am pregnant and I am going to lose my husband, what will I do? Well he came home and everything was good except he had lost his job just before going into the hospital and so we had to move in with my in-laws for the first time. It was okay, then at the end of my pregnancy (yes, 9 months along only 3 days from my due date) he has his 2nd attack and I think OH NO, this is a chronic condition and we are going to be dealing with it for a LONG TIME!!! Little did I know what was coming. He had a scare this time and ended up in the ICU for a couple of days, I was really sweating it and thinking about funeral arrangements, YUCK! Well it has now been 8-1/2 years of our marriage that we have been dealing with it and I think that I am better prepared for his death now but I still want him to be here for a long time. I love him and I love how he is with our kids and I want them to know their dad and not just memories. My brother sent me a link today about an artificial pancreas, SIGN US UP!!!!