a few notes

I did not realize how long it had been since I last posted.  Goodness.  There has been a lot going on around here.  

The latest, happiest news is that I no longer have a 6mm kidney stone trying to push its way out of my body.  Last Tuesday I had it removed.  My doctor said he tried just pulling it out but it would not fit through the opening into my bladder.  So he had to cut it in half first.  He then went out to show it to Nathan who said it was the most disgusting thing he had ever seen.  I didn't even get to see it!  They sent it off for analysis and I should find out exactly what type it was when I go for my follow-up next week.

Bethany has her very first dentist appointment in the morning.  She's a little excited about it.  I hope that it does not turn into a scary thing for her.

I hope to get back on the weight-loss wagon soon.  When I was dealing with that stone, I would just eat anything that didn't make me nauseous.  Thus, I've gained a few pounds.  I also quit exercising.  I was walking at night after putting Penny to bed.  But then the time changed and now it's dark out by 6:30.  I'm not sure what to do.  I have tried at-home video workouts.  I'm not very good about doing them.  For some reason it just seems weird to me to get dressed in workout clothes to stand in front of my TV.  Plus, we don't really have great space for it.  We can't afford the "Y" and even though I could work-out for free at Stetson since we're alums and employees, that seems weird, too.  I've always had a thing about people "looking" at me at the gym and going to Stetson where there would be mostly 20-year-olds (some of whom work under me) would be worse.  

Anyway, I'll get there someday, I guess.  Right now the weather is pretty good so maybe I can get out and at least walk around the neighborhood with Penny during the day.

Wish me luck!

the week from h-e-double hockey sticks

For those of you that I have not had a chance to talk to this week, I've been stuck in bed with 3 kidney stones, the largest of which is 6 mm.  My dear hubby took me to the ER Monday afternoon after I experienced some stabbing pains in my left side along with dizziness and nausea while driving home from Orlando that morning.  They gave me fluids, drugs, a CT scan and an X-Ray.  They gave me the bad news and then sent me home to lie in bed.  Well I was over that after a couple of days.  

As many of you know, I'm not one to be still for very long.  Fortunately (in a sick way), the pain was so bad that I had to take the Percoset they gave me which pretty much left me no choice but to stay in the bed.  

I was drinking so much water that both of my kidneys started to feel funny; I guess just from system overload.  The dizziness and nausea came back.  Then I got sick - literally.  I cut back a bit on the water so all of that went away.  Between the drugs and the pain I basically had no appetite and then my whole system just got screwy.  I went off of the Percoset yesterday since the pain was practically gone and I just couldn't take it anymore anyway.  How anyone can want to feel like that on purpose, I'll never understand.

The pain has subsided now and I saw a urologist this morning.  He basically said all I can do is wait.  Fun.  There are procedures that I could go under to remove it/break it up but that they would *love* for me to pass it on my own.  I'm all set with some Flomax (yes, the prostate drug - apparently some recent studies have shown that it also helps kidney stones move down more quickly and easily) and some Percoset, in case the crazy pain returns.

Thank you to everyone who called to check on me and sent good wishes and prayers our way.  Nathan was a trooper with the girls this week.  He even got some laundry done!

So it could still be a couple of months before I'm out of this.  And I'll have to cut back on that Chick-Fil-A tea!  Darn!