I need a new body transplant

You see it on TV all the time, people have a problem, they just make an appointment and change their nose, face, etc... Well, my problem is my whole body. Do they do that yet?

Besides the nightmare of the migraines, I'm dealing with a horrid right shoulder. Saw the bone doctor today. I had my left shoulder operated on about 4 years ago, so when I started having pain in the right one, I got worried. I ignored the pain as long as I could, then went to see a bone doc. He did an exam and sent me for physical theraphy. It's helping, but not quite fast enough. It's either a "frozen shoulder" or my rotator cuff is torn. Either way, it hurts!!!

The bone doc is now sending me to get an MRI on Friday. Not looking foward to being stuck in a coffin for 25 or so minutes. I'm suppose to bring a CD or my iPod to keep my calm while in there. I think my music choices will scare the technician, so I better go through and take some things off. Going from Pavaratti singing Ave Maria to Marilyn Manson's Beautiful People and then maybe Elvis or Rammstein's Engel (Angel) or Du Hast (You Hate). I have quite a bit of German heavy metal.

So now I have to bribe someone into driving me there (about 20 minutes), sitting there for the half hour, then back home again. Thankfully, my daughter or son are happy to be bribed with McDonald's or Wendy's.

Hope everyone is having a wonderful summer!

My updates

Sorry I haven't been around lately. We had another family emergency and it's taken over all my life and thoughts. This is the first time I've even opened my laptop in about a week.

My mother-in-law got very ill on Friday afternoon and we had to rush her to the hospital. On Saturday, she was bleeding very badly and was sent immediately to Hamot Hospital. They wanted to fly her, but the weather was too bad, so it was a stat ambulance. We followed and go to Hamot around midnight. By the time she got there, she had been given almost a dozen bags of blood and 5 or 6 bags of plasma. It was a very scary day and we almost lost her.

She was in Erie four days and after exploratory testing, they found the bleeding had stopped on itself, so she didn't need to have surgery. We're very thrilled about that. We brought her home Wednesday night. After the holidays, she'll be getting her knees replaced. She's in horrible pain from them and can't take much more of it.

She's home now where she feels better. My 18-year old daughter has moved in to help take care of her. When she leaves for school, my mother goes over to hang out. MIL won't let me just stay there because she's too worried I have too much on my plate to bother with her. Silly and I've told her that, but she won't budge. I can stop by and have lunch and run a few errands, but that's it.

This was another of those turning points in life for me. I've always known how fast we can lose those we love. We make sure we hug and kiss and say I love you before we leave. Those should be the last words your loved one hears.

Since it's Christmas time, the moral of my story is to please make time for your elderly family and friends. Record that show or football game and go spend a couple hours making grandma happy. Have her tell you about Christmas when she was young. Let it be the start of a family history. Record it and you can make special gifts for everyone with photos and words telling about their family tree. Imagine how important those CDs will be for future generations.

We all need to tell those we love that every day. I hope everyone has a wonderful season!

Happy Birthday, Trevor!!!! (Plus an update on me)

Today is a huge milestone in my son's life. He turned 16! How did that happen? Those last years just seem to have flown by.

We went out to eat at Red Lobster with his grandparents. Of course, I slipped a note to the waitress that we were celebrating, so they came around and sang for him. He was turning red, but I know he loved it, even though he claimed that he didn't want that done. He should know better. I never let a special event go by without recognition. These are the little things he'll never forget. Who care if we don't have a mansion?

After dinner, we ran to the mall for a few minutes, then came home to open up his gifts. We got him a TV, Arielle gave him a lap blanket she designed and sewed herself, my parents gave him a video game and Randy's mom got him a laptop. That hasn't arrived yet, so he has to wait a bit for it. Yes, Trevor is a wee bit spoiled. I figure it this way, he's had a very rough life so far with his health, so if playing a few video games makes him happy when he's not able to be out, so be it. He's had over a dozen major surgeries done on both ears. On his left side, they've removed his mastoid bone and completely rebuilt his eardrum and two of three hearing bones. It's truly a miricle he's able to hear at all. There's significant hearing loss, but he can hear. That's all that matters in the long run. He doesn't want short hair because the scar is very noticable where his left ear was cut off to do the surgeries. It embarasses him when people ask about it. The right ear only had one main surgery when the eardrum had to be repaired after an IDIOT POS sucker punched him at school and broke this eardrum. All the kids know about his ear problems. It's a very small school district, so the brat did it delibertly. WHY? A girl, what else? The girl liked Trevor and not the POS. Trevor wouldn't hit back. He knows no fighting, but especially not in school. Obviously, the other kid wasn't taught the same. So typical! Not a thing was done to punish the kid. Makes me sick to think about it.

Anyhow, we hope he's done with all the ear surgeries, but nothing is guaranteed. He visits a specialist once a year to keep an eye on it. One little infection could cause huge problems.

Tomorrow, I have to go to the hospital for a CT scan with constrast and all that fun stuff. The pain has moved recently and it concerns the doctor. He said it sounds like it could be an aneurysm and wants the scan done ASAP. Am I scared? A little. I'd be lying if I said different, but I just want to know what's causing the pain. I know that little thing could cause a world of problems or just kill me, but at least then we'd know something. Will post when we're back from the hospital. I'm back on the strong pain pills for a few weeks until we know for sure what the scans say. They knock me out and I sound like a loon when talking after taking them, but keep the pain knocked down enough that I can be aware of life.

My update

The current year us almost finished. My kids gave to go in for one HOUR tomorrow. Now, does that make any sense? Think of all the wasted time, energy, gas, etc... I'm sure there's a sane reason for it, but I can't think of any right now.

My daughter turns 18 on Sunday. Where did all those years go? Seems like only yesterday she was a baby. She brought home paperwork showing the requirements for all seniors.That scares me. I'm so not ready. Soon we'll have to start looking at colleges. She's interested in fashion design. She gas a lit of talent. I'll post a photo of the Sundress she made herself. She also created two very unique purses for me. I love them and always get tons of complements on them. Will also post a photo of them.

My son will be 16 in November and he will be a sophomore. My babies are growing up so fast and are ready to stretch their wings. We encourage both of them to try new things, but let them know we are always behind them. I think that's what most teens want. They may whine and moan about rules, but deep down they want the safety net of being able to use curfew or whatever to keep them out of some situations with their friends they aren't ready for. What are your thoughts on it? Am I right or just fooling myself?

Doc has me on two more meds to try and get the pain under control. Not helping so far, but I'll keep trying.



Hope all my American friends had a wonderful Memorial weekend. We did the family BBQ at my aunt's farm. Tons of food and being around my family is always a good time. The newest generation in our family is now a year old and is the sweetest little girl. She's always smiling and jabbers up a storm.

Hi All!!

Had a couple rough days, so I haven't posted enough lately. The doc changed my meds AGAIN and I'm having trouble with it. It's for the dizziness, but all it does is put me to sleep. Not good when I want to drive. My 17-year old daughter has to play taxi for me. She doesn't mind, but it makes me feel useless. What kind of mother can't drive her kids around and depends on them to do it? :( Another med, he changed to every other day because the doseage was way too high for a tiny person. Of course, I say I'm not short, I'm fun-sized.


Hope everyone is doing well!

My last post for the day, PROMISE!

OK, I haven't posted this much in a week, but wanted to let those who have emailed that I'm ok. I was back in the ER earlier this week, but I'm home now.

Tomorrow is my absolute favorite holiday of the year - Yes HALLOWEEN or SAMHAIN to others. There is NO WAY I'm spending another one in the hospital. The last two years were spent there and not this year!

Thanks for all your thoughts and prayers, I do appreciate it!

Skywatch Friday

A local school received a grant to work on wind power. It's a great way to earn energy credits and lower their electricity bills, but I chose this photo because of the pretty sky in the background.

I'm still having the awful migraines, so these new meds aren't doing the trick either. Looks like I'll be going to Michigan for their in patient treatment. It's a week-long program. Just waiting for the insurance to decide it's necessary since you know, a pencil-pusher knows sooo much more than a REAL doctor about medicine. :(

For more info on this fun meme, stop over at Skywatch Friday and learn all the details.

Cleveland Clinic

Just getting ready to leave for the Cleveland Clinic. My appointment is tomorrow morning. Not sure what all the neurologist will do. Hopefully, he'll change the meds to something I can tolerate.

Catch everyone when we get back!

Cleveland Clinic

I'll be leaving for a week of intensive IV therapy in just a couple hours. The neurologist thinks that replacing all my current meds with brand new stuff will make all the difference. He's also warned me that it will be very painful for at least the first couple treatments. Just what I needed to hear. Even more pain. :( The treatments start at 8 a.m. tomorrow morning and go five hours a day. The thought of getting jabbed every day is making me very nervous. I'm not good with needles at all. My veins are very small and will roll and hide from IVs. I've had more than a few veins collapse because of that.

The doctor said he's treated other chronic migraine patients like me and this does help. I promised to try anything that might give a little relief, so ...

Of course, it's snowing for the drive. Can't have nice weather. It's not coming down as hard as it did our last trip there.

We have a room right across the street from the clinic. It's an efficiency apartment, so there's a stove, microwave and refrigerator for us to use. Much better than eating out every night. How many fast food burgers can anyone eat before they puke? They also have a van that will take us to and from the treatments as well as local restaurants (Hard Rock Cafe, here we come!). That will be so much more convenient that driving and trying to find parking. We can just leave the car at the hotel the entire time we're there.

Not sure about internet access. This laptop is about dead. I've asked Santa for a new one, so we'll see how that goes. It doesn't even have to be fancy. As long as I can get on line and do my articles and photos, I'll be happy.

Hope everyone has a great week!

Just a quick update

I'll be going to the near-by pain clinic next week for the initial consultation, then they'll set me up for weekly injections. Not sure what. Guess we'll find out everything then. I HATE NEEDLES, so I'm not thrilled about it at all, but at this point, I'll do anything to stop the pain.

Then I go to Cleveland Clinic the following week. We're going a day early since it's an early appointment on Thursday. It's the initial consult. I don't know what all will happen or what will be done.

So, what I am saying is I have the appointments set up, but have no idea what will happen. I don't like to not know things, but I guess this is time to just go with the flow and see what happens.

Denise is home now. They still have no idea what is wrong, but no insurance, so ...

Please say a prayer to your chosen deity

I rarely do things like this, but I'm pretty scared right now. My cousin is in the hospital and they have no idea what's wrong with her. She's on oxygen and morphine and they're doing tons of blood tests. They think she might have an infection around her heart or maybe some unknown viral infection or who knows? The docs sure haven't got a clue.

If you have a minute, please say a prayer to your chosen deity for Denise. She has three daughters and a grandchild on the way. She's worried it's something contagious and has passed it on to the baby to be.

Here she is during A's Sweet 16 party dancing with her youngest daughter.

Reign of the Dead and a quick health update

I just finished reading Len Barnhart's Reign of the Dead on Saturday. WOW! It was an awesome book. It wasn't just about zombies eating the world, but added how people worked together to survive and threw in a little romance.

I met him at a horror "Scare Fair" in DuBois and picked up the book, mainly just to get the autograph. I like to try new authors and horror is one of my favorite genres. I started reading it on the drive home and had to call hubby at work to go get the second in the series Apocalypse End: Reign of the Dead because I had finished the first one already. I'll have the second one done tonight. Sitting up that long and concentrating on the words make me sorry yesterday. I literally couldn't get out of bed because of the pain, but it was well worth it for the well-written novel.

He has a third book in the series coming out soon and I'll have to have it, too.

If you have a chance to meet Len, take the time to do so. He's very friendly and by all means get his books. He grew up watching George Romero's Dead movies and it shows. That's not a bad thing at all though. Romero is the father of the zombie movie and a hero of mine. I met him many years ago and he's very down to earth, too.

So what is everyone reading?

As a quick update for those who asked, I'll be getting the MRI results this morning, so hopefully, we'll be able to find out what is causing all the pain and get rid of all the medicine. I want to get back to normal. It's not fair for the kids to have to take care of their mother. When we get to steps, they automatically hold onto my arms and help me down. A drives everywhere because my meds are pretty strong. She also cooks, but always did love to do that. I'm sick of being sick. I can't even take the dog for a walk because if she pulls the wrong way, I'll be on the ground and could break my hip. I'm too young to have to worry about this. :(

MRIs

Today's the day of the MRIs. Not sure what they'll find. The doc said the last x-rays showed something wrong with my spine. Always what a person wants to hear. He's still trying to get insurance (blood sucking leeches) to allow me to go to the Cleveland Clinic. Heaven forbid they spend a little money to cure me. Their CEO has a lifestyle to support. So greedy of me to want to be pain free!

Anyhow, they're doing a regular and one with contrast. I'm allergic to the contrast material, so I might end up admitted again. I'm so tired of hospitals and needles and pain. What I wouldn't give for just one day, hell, one hour free of pain.

Hope everyone has a good day!

Finally the election is over!

It's been a long few months of listening to mud slinging and lies, but the election is over for now. I know, the Presidential race is still raging and will continue for ANOTHER year, but at least the local stuff is over. I can ignore the big stuff, at least Hillary and Rudy aren't calling my house begging for my vote. I refuse to vote for anyone who calls me at home. I don't care if they are the better candidate, simply by bothering my peace has cost them a vote. Also, don't show up at my door. That's another big NO NO in my book. Send me all the crap in the mail you want. It makes good fire starters in the spring for camping.

To try and catch up on life around here, I was back in the hospital on Halloween, hooked up to a HUGE IV, getting pain meds pumped into me every couple hours. It was not a good way to spend my favorite holiday.

I'm slowly on the mend and have gone back to work on a limited basis. I try to get to about half the event I normally would cover. More than that and I can't move. The doc says I'm doing well, but still can't drive long distances or lift anything over 5 pounds. My camera weighs more than that! I've also had to dig out a teeny little purse, rather than my normal Mommy bag that has everything needed for a weekend.

Hope everyone is well!

Can I get a full body transplant?

As I creep closer and closer to the dreaded 4-0, my body seems to have betrayed me and I think it's time we part company.

Spent all day yesterday having tests upon tests to see what's wrong, then went to the orthopedic surgeon about my left shoulder. It's been killing me for months and he's decided it's time for surgery. I have a couple bone spurs on the shoulder blade as well as a calcium deposit in my rotator cuff, which may or may not be torn. He won't know for sure until he opens it up.

Today, it's back to the neurologist for a check up on the horrid botox treatment. It didn't work and I won't go through it again. It may be time to find a different one.

After that, it's Randy's turn to go under the needle. He had an emergency root canal last week and goes again today to have it finished. What fun!

Since we'll be in State College for his appointment, we're going to see the Spikes play. It's one of their last games of the season. One of my last chances to get autographs from the team and take photos. I'm hoping to go again tomorrow night, but we'll see if I can drive. Randy has to work and won't be able to take me. It's 1 1/2 hour drive at night and it's not my best time to see.

Hope everyone is having fun! Summer is just about over here and the leaves have already started to turn colors.