I GOT IMPLANTS!

My entire life I have wanted perfect vision.  At the age of 8, I got my first pair of glasses.  At the age of 9, I had my first pair of glasses with bifocals.  At age 13, I got my first pair of gas permeable contacts.  Boy were they expensive...$375 back then!  At age 18, I went to toric soft contact lenses and switched to regular soft lenses around age 21.  Needless to say I have spent practically my entire life in either glasses or contacts and I was ready to stop.  I always wanted to have my vision corrected but always thought it would be out of my reach financially and I probably wouldn't be a candidate anyway due to my high prescription.  It is funny to me that I spend my whole day now dispelling this financial myth and giving patients the opportunity to see a whole new world!

One of the many perks of my job is majorly discounted vision correction with payroll deduction.  Around August, I decided I was ready.  I have a very strong prescription and am severely nearsighted.  I couldn't see anything unless it was about a foot in front of my face.  In fact, there had been many times I had taken my contacts out at night only to put them back in because I couldn't find my glasses.  Sad but true! 

Due to my high prescription, I had the option of two different surgeries....LASIK or ICL.  Working closely with both surgeries and knowing my own vision I easily picked ICL (intercollamer lens often referred to as implantable contact lens) for better optics, quick recovery and longer lasting correction.  I will have these babies until I get cataract surgery when I am older.  The patient discounted price for the surgery is $5900.  The full price is around $13,000.  My price was about 10% of this.  Nothing short of a miracle!  I jumped on this opportunity quickly!

On September 29, 2010, the world as seen through my eyes changed.  I had ICL done in both eyes.  The following day I woke up looked at the time on the alarm clock and didn't even realize I actually saw it.  I went to the bathroom where I reached for my glasses when I looked in the mirror I gasped.  I ran back out and looked at the alarm clock in total disbelieve.  Is this happening to me?  I could see the time on the alarm clock clear as day.  I have never seen the time on the alarm clock unless I feel asleep in my contacts.  In fact, without glasses or contacts I couldn't even see the alarm clock existed let alone the time.  All I would see is a red light blob across the room.  Amazing!  I continued to get ready for work. 

On my way to work I just looked in awe at everything.  Now sure I had seen everything with my contacts but now it was even clearer than with my contacts and I wasn't wearing any glasses or contacts for the very first time since I was 8 yrs old.  Life changing I tell you!  My sister called during that drive and said, "How is your vision?"  I started crying like a big baby saying, "I just can't believe it is clear so fast.  I can see everything Lisa.  I can see everything!"  I cried the rest of the way to work just out of pure joy and thankfulness.  Everyone at work thought something was wrong when I got to work with my red weepy eyes then just hugged me and laughed.  They checked me for my one day post-op appointment and I was seeing 20/20 in one eye and 20/25 in the other.  Now six months later I am seeing 20/15 in both eyes and still just as amazed. 

It is funny to me that I see patients all day that come in telling me how "blind" they are.  When I look at their prescription it will be like a -1 and I think wow I was 6 times worse than that....they have no clue and they are still legal to drive without correction!!  I enjoy helping them see better but I also know it is not that big of a change for them.  BUT I also see patients with eyes twice as bad as mine and I think wow they are blind.  If I couldn't see anything more than a foot away from my face and trust me that is no exaggeration, then how do they see anything at all.  Those are the patients I enjoy helping the most.  I know how my life changed so I can't imagine how their life changes until they send me a thank you card or call me crying because they are just so thankful!  Those are the ones that get me and tug at my heart strings!  Those are the patients that I know understand why I cried after surgery.  Those are the ones that make me think I love my job!  Those are the ones who understand me when I say....

 "I love my new eyes!!"

A WHOLE NEW EXCITING WORLD

You all know my parents closed their business in April 2009 and I was unemployed for a little over 7 months.  Finding a job was way harder than I had ever even imagined.  I could do HR, AP, AR, taxes, place order, post orders, enter new items, sales reporting, marketing and much more but no one cared.  I couldn't find a job anywhere.  I was told basically I had too much experience in too many areas aka they "thought" they couldn't afford me or I would quit too soon for a better opportunity.  I just needed a paycheck.  No one was willing to give me  a chance.  I finally got hired on at the Ophthalmology clinic/surgery center where my sister worked on November 17, 2009.  This would be a whole new world for me considering I had never worked in the medical field but I was willing to do anything by this time as long as it gave me a paycheck again!

I won't even lie when I started I absolutely hated it.  I always hated filing and would even pay my nieces and nephews to file for me.  Instead of laziness or just mere hatred of filing, I chose to call it "outsourcing".  Filing...ugh!  The first day at my new job I filed for 10 hours in heels.  I wanted to chop my feet off.  Hubs asked me what I did and I said, "I filed all day!"  He said, "Well you had to do something other than file."  I replied, "No, I filed all day long IN HIGH HEELS!"  Then I began to cry!  I hated it but that didn't matter I had to have a paycheck to feed the boys.  I was there everyday at 6:45am.  I no longer got to get the kids up and ready for their day and take them wherever they needed to be.  We all had a bit of adjusting to do for awhile and saying it didn't go over well is quite the understatement.  I didn't even see them in the mornings and then all day until about 6pm.  Let me tell you working 7-5:30 was a big change from 10-4!  I do not like mornings especially starting my morning at 5am.  I had to dress up daily including dress shoes aka high heels during my probation period then they would order scrubs.  I was excited at first but that was extremely short lived consider I wanted to cut my feet off after day 3!  I managed. 

First I worked in medical records.  Prepping almost 100 charts for each day constantly trying to stay one week ahead, sending medical records to other doctors/patients/agencies/insurance companies, searching various offices within two floors for missing charts and filing.  Oh the filing!  I thought it would be the death of me.  I moved to two desks within two weeks.  Then was I started filling in at the front desk.  Then I moved to check-in at the front desk and then check-out at the front desk.  They quickly figured out what I had said all along in each of my billion interviews over my 7.5 month long unemployment, "I learn quickly and can do anything I am taught".  I worked my butt off and it quickly paid off. 

In April after only being with the clinic a little over 4 months, our LASIK surgery counselor resigned.  I wanted the position but feared I wouldn't get it for two reasons:  (1) I had only been there for 4 months and (2)  I was too good at my current position that they wouldn't want to move me.  By this time, two of the front desk girls had been fired (one including my sister...ouch....that is a long story) and there were only two of us up front.   I just knew I wouldn't get it.  I decided to try anyway in hopes that at least they would see I wanted to move up and was willing to learn more.  Plus, I needed more money....in a bad way!

I GOT IT!

Saying I was floored is putting it lightly.  I had my very own office.....A BIG OFFICE WITH A WHOLE WALL OF WINDOWS.

I did strictly LASIK counseling for about two months.  Then the Cataract counselor took a week off so I was quickly thrown into that as well.  Now I do LASIK counseling, cataract, YAG, SLT, ICL, DSAEK, PTG and corneal transplant counseling plus they have added a little marketing to all of this.  (I know you don't know what half of that is but it is a LOT!)

I LOVE IT!

I ABSOLUTELY LOVE IT!

I AM MAKING A DIFFERENCE IN PEOPLE'S LIVES AND LOVING EVERY MINUTE!

Now it is by far not the perfect job and I have my moments (especially when insurance companies are involved) but I have learned a whole new world of information involving eyes and vision and it is truly interesting and amazing the things we can do!  I work a lot and often worry about the impact this has had on our lives but I also have not missed a thing involving the boys sports or school activities.  I have become friends with some great people and had my own life changing opportunity that I will tell you all about later.  In short, this job has been a whirlwind and a God send to my life.  It seems like just yesterday I was searching high and low desperate for job but really I have been here almost a year and a half.  I think it is good to keep that time fresh in my mind so that I will always make sure I am an asset and keep my job as well as keep me humble!  Wow how time flies!

JUST ANOTHER MANIC MID-WEEK DAY!

I get a call from a friend tonight whom I haven't talked to in a little while. She says, "How was your day?" Not sure if she really wanted to know but this was my answer!!

This is how my day has gone.....

8:30am ~ Dad calls telling me he won't be in today because he went to the ER last night and he has two kidney stones. This means more than likely he will NOT be making his Aunt's funeral or pickup up my Grandma to take her to Iowa for her sister's funeral. What now?

9:00am ~ While getting out of the shower, I hear Isaiah having a coughing fit. I go to check on him wrapped up in my nifty new Sexy Mama towel Momacita Cleta made me when low and behold he coughs, gags then vomits on my feet! Nice! He doesn't have the flu or anything like that he just does this if he gets any cough AT ALL! I think he has my easily triggered gag reflex!

9:15am ~ Done with shower #2

9:20am ~ Mom calls to tell me about Dad going to the ER not knowing he already called. She wants to know if I will stop by his doctor's office to pick up his medicines. Ok what is one more stop for Dad!

10:00am ~ We are finally in the car and on our way!

10:40am ~ FINALLY leaving the doctor's office! I thought I was going to go postal in there, seriously! First I had to wait in the line with 5 people in front of me. Going pretty fast until the man directly in front of me had a NEVER. ENDING. STORY. I thought I was going to rip my hair out! This man kept asking the same question over and over and over again and without fail the receptionist kept saying I don't know sir you will have to ask him when you see him. He kept saying, "Well is he going to do it!" Same cookie cutter response. "Well is he going to do it!" Again same cookie cutter response! Man....GET. A. CLUE. she does not know!! I thought for a minute maybe he needed a quick slap on the back of the head because he had a one track mind or something was stuck up in there! FINALLY THEY GET TO ME! No meds! No prescriptions! I then begin to wonder if I had misunderstood Mom and was supposed to go to the pharmacy but now the blind receptionist just missed his prescriptions ON THE TOP OF THE PILE THREE TIMES!! Call Dad to see if he wants me to drop off the scripts for Mom to P/U or just wait for them! Just wait! Great!

10:45am ~ The pharmacy says it is a 30 minute wait if I "drop off" the script in the drive thru but only a 10 to 15 minute wait if I come inside. OK well that was a no brainer! I unload the boys, go into the pharmacy to shop around while we wait!

11:00am ~ Still waiting!

11:15am ~ Still waiting and getting impatient!

11:35am ~ It's finally go time! We waited not 10 minutes, not 15 minutes, not even 30 minutes BUT A WHOPPING 45 MINUTES! DUDE I SO ABOUT LOST ALL MY MARBLES IN THERE!!

12:00pm ~ On my way to work I decided to call my friend to see if she had left her house since Monday. She does NOT leave her house until ALL ice is gone and refuses to emerge to drive AT ALL until then. I was calling to check on her....well ok more like make fun of her when all of the sudden A LARGE LINE OF ICE from the power line above my car FALLS ONTO MY WINDSHIELD! I screamed and think I peed a little which she thought was absolutely hilarious and said it was God teaching me to be nice! Not funny, not funny at all! I am finally at work! Woohoo the excitement is almost unbearable!

2:00pm ~ Went to Taco Bell. More ice failing from power lines onto my windshield which means more pee and more screaming. Dude it makes you want to scream "the sky is falling, the sky is falling" and hop out of the car until you realize you would look like a complete moron and that would totally undermine the whole "I am woman hear me roar" mantra! I might need to carry clean underwear in my car from now on!

NOTE TO OKLA DRIVERS: Do not stop directly under any stop lights or power lines at traffic stops when the ice begins to melt. The ice will fall on your car and can cause temporary loss of bladder control! No loss of bowel control has been reported but it could be likely! You've been warned!

4:02pm ~ I got a rather cryptic email from fellow BA blogger Georgie telling me school is cancelled again tomorrow. I thought surely it was just a sick joke and laughed it off!

4:05pm ~ My sister calls to tell me her husband has been rushed to emergency surgery to have his gallbladder removed at 3:40pm

4:25 pm ~ My phone rings again and blinking "BA Schools" knowing it was the automated telecast school cancellation message, I cringed but answered only to find out Georgie's email was in fact correct and school is cancelled again tomorrow! UGH! This prompted my Writer's Workshop post I will be doing when I am finished with this one!

4:45pm ~ Feeling bad for my sister waiting in the family surgical waiting room alone I decide to go sit with her. This was quite a tough decision for me since on Oct. 7, 2008 her husband left her and the kids. My thoughts went like so

1. My sister is alone! Although estranged from her husband, the father of her youngest boy, she still desperately wants to work it out with the giant sized loser and I know she is a bundle of nerves.
2. Although I under no circumstances wanted to see him, I did have visions of him in a drug induced state and me kicking some sense into his big 'ol butt. This would probably be my one and only chance to fight him AND win!! Oh how nice it would be for him not to be able to talk back~!!

5:00pm ~ I arrive at the hospital and convince my sister to walk up to EOPC to see a certain special little girl in the blogger community. Guess who I say this evening? My sister thought I was nuts and would come off as stalkerish but after telling her HARPER's story and about all the gifts and visitors she has already had then she was on board. We thought we would never find her through the medical supply and blind covered windows but low and behold we found her. They were holding her for the first time and we just cried. Mommy was grinning ear to ear with teary eyes while Daddy was taking pictures a million pictures with his giant camera. No joke guys they have a whopper of a camera! Then the nurse handed her a bottle so she could feed her for the first time and we cried even more. I wanted so badly to wave or knock on the window but there was NO way on God's green Earth I was going to interrupt their long awaited moment. I can't imagine waiting that long to hold and feed my baby and the last thing I would want is some blogger bangin' on the window! lol I could barely see Harper but when I could she was a beauty. She is so big and cute! I wish I could have met the Stamps but it was not about me after all just that sweet little baby and her parents. I could not wait to get home to see all the new pictures I knew would soon be up!

7:30pm ~ I call Hubs to tell him I am leaving the hospital and will be home shortly when he says, "Can you stop and get some food?" meaning he has yet to feed our children.

8:00pm ~ Get home, feed family nutritious fast food, begin cleaning house and doing laundry with a blogger check now and then! OOOOhhh and they have tonight's pictures of Harper up so you must go see her!

NOW I have kids in bed and onto my obsession.........oh blogger how I love thee!

UNBELIEVABLE RECOVERY

After hearing MANY horror stories along with very firm instructions and warning signs from the doctors and nurses, I totally expected a week of agony for Isaiah and prayed so hard that he would drink enough to stay hydrated. Answer to prayers, soldier boy or freak of nature are just some of the many thoughts I have had since Zaya's surgery!! The kid came home and although I thought he would be sleeping off anesthesia for hours, he had different plans. The boy ate applesauce, 2 popsicles and drank 2 sippy cups of white grape juice WHILE playing with cars, chatting on the phone and flipping out because I wouldn't let him go outside to play. I then believed the pain medication I gave him had an adverse affect b/c he was so freaking hyper and NOTHING like the hospital staff said he would be. They called in a different medication to use that evening and just said to keep him calm and not running around. RIGHT? Hey let's hop the boy up on steroids which make him super hungry, hyper and irritable THEN give him some pain meds that INCREASE the hyperactivity and you expect me to keep him calm! OK! Then fill him with juice, pudding, jello, popsicles, applesauce, slushies and ice cream for a little extra kick!! I think the withdrawal from sugary soft foods may be the worst we get. Don't get me wrong I am esctatic that his post-op status is amazing but I am still waiting for the other shoe to drop since I have heard some awful stories. I just keep saying well now that he can actually breath and he doesn't have rotten food in his throat he probably feels so much better than the pain is almost worth it! The worst part right now is just chasing him and listening to him scream while I put in the ear drops other than that you wouldn't believe he had surgery two days ago if you saw him. The first day he ate 5 popsicles, jello, apple sauce, bunch of juice, 2 slices of cheese pizza (w/o the crust) and a cupcake. Unbelievable I know! We actually even let him go to the end-of-the-year football party the night of his surgery since he was just his normal self and had asked ALL day if he could go to the "football birthday party". I told him he could go BUT if he ran AT ALL or jumped AT ALL he had to go home with Mommy. As we were walking into the party he was walking REALLY slow with his arms stretched out to the sides as if walking on a balance beam. When I said, "Hurry up baby it is cold!", he responded with, "No Momma I can't go fast or you will make me miss the football birthday party!" Him eating pizza at the party was "ify" for me but the doctors said he could have pizza as long as it was soft. I was very scared I would regret that decision into the wee morning hours if he woke up in pain. I was told MANY times to make sure I gave him his pain medicine AROUND THE CLOCK and to even set an alarm to WAKE HIM UP and give him medicine. Ok the plan was to wake up at 3am and give him a dose that would last until 8am.......yep you guessed it I did NOT wake up at 3am. I woke up at 5am scared to death to wake him up for fear he would be in pain. Luckily unlike Elijah, Isaiah is not to hard to wake up. I woke him up and said I need to give you some medicine baby. In his sweet sleepy gruff surgery voice he says, "Otay Momma!", took his medicine then laid back down. I starred in awe at my sweet sleepy little boy when he lifted his head and grumbled, "tan I *garble garble grunt garble* for my birdday?" then laid down. Unsure of what in the world he said, I simply replied yes and while walking out of the room in love with this sweet baby of my mine he sits up and says, "Momma I wuv you buncha bunches! See you in da morninG!" Wake up to morning two.....throat a little sore but I believe it was from sleeping and not drinking for several hours. He was hungry but didn't want anything I gave him so I just told him to keep drinking until he felt better. I wondered if this was the beginning of his little surgery downfall.....NOPE I cleaned all morning while he watched cartoons and played with his cars then after his nap he ate. Yesterday he ate ice cream, jello, a little applesauce, about 5 popsicles and 2 bowls of macaroni and cheese. I think the worst part is going to be getting him back onto a regular diet because he is totally in love with the whole "popsicle as a meal" idea!! They say days five through seven are actually the worst b/c the scab will fall off and the throat will basically be raw but I have high hopes for our little soldier boy that he will continue his march in recovery!

SOLDIER BOY

Got to bed a little before 2am then laid there panicking that I wouldn't wake up to the 5:30am alarm clock so I have no clue what time I actually fell asleep but I know I woke up on time and didn't sleep long. Isaiah was already awake when I went in to get him and he is just a riot. I cut his hair last night and upon going potty and getting ready to leave he says abruptly, "What did you do to the back of my hair?" My response was, "I cut it like the rest of your hair!" "WHAT DID YOU DO TO MY HAIR???" Honestly it looks just like the other 50 times I've cut his hair so I am unsure of the problem. I asked if he wanted me to fix his hair before we left and the little squirt said, "Yes Mommy I can't go like this I need my hair fixed!" Funny that this morning of all mornings he wanted his hair fixed when he gripes every morning that I fix it. I think it may have been a stall tactic!! Upon arrival at the hospital he whined, "I've awweady been here before! I want to go home now!" I found it odd that he remembered this hospital since he was only there once for his first ear tube/adenoid removal 18 months before.

He was calm, timid, whiny and grouchy but for the most part very good ~ no end of the world fits before surgery!! He kept kissing Little Bill and telling him everything will be "otay"! They had given him his "happy juice" when he then began the drug induced happy phase and started to beat himself in the head with Little Bill.

They took him back promptly at 8:15am. The crocodile tears rolled down his sweet little cheeks as they took him away. I tried to reassure him everything would be ok and he could have a popsicle when he was done but I just wanted to cry and hug him tight! That is the worst feeling ~ handing them over for the unexpected and knowing it will cause them pain! We went to eat breakfast in the new cafeteria. During his first surgery we ate breakfast here before they even had the cafeteria and they had GREAT food and amazing cinnamon rolls. Cafeteria built ~ food quality down! The cook was talking about how amazing her pancakes were and how they tasted just like heaven. Not sure how heaven "tastes" but I am a bona fide pancake lover so I got one! This pancake was no one near mine and now I KNOW mine taste like heaven or pretty darn close!! First of all I had grabbed the plastic silverware and the knife would NOT cut through my PANCAKE! HMMM......I then went to get real silverware and still found it hard to cut through. The actual taste of the pancake was not bad after sawing off a bite BUT the bottom of the pancake was so hard I had to pray I wouldn't chip my teeth!! Not kidding! The syrup was not good either! I took some extra stuff out to the car then we went to the waiting room where we only waited about 10 mins when Dr. Cutie-pants-love-him-for-his-patience-and-fixing-our-baby-boy walked in. I said, "wow speedy gonzalez you are right on the nose with that 45 min surgery!!"

Here is the news we got:

• surgery went great
• he was sleeping in recovery
• his adenoids were gone but his tonsils were huge and pushing into all kinds of other areas? (didn't ask!)
• His tonsils were really big and nasty with gunk stuck into little crevices
• He actually had pockets of ROTTEN FOOD embedded in his tonsils, This could explain the horrid breath of a small forest creature devouring spoiled food! Yes I gagged in disbelief at this news! I did NOT know this was even possible and that is beyond disgusting!!!
• He replaced the tubes but had to recreate another hole in the right ear because he had a large hole in the ear drum that had to be patched.
• They will be watching this hole/patch to make sure it heals properly b/c it may need more repairing when he is older!
• He wants to retest his hearing once the patch has been on for a few weeks

Back to recovery for our angry groggy little bear to flip out until he truly awakens!! Not a happy camper! He does not like the hospital!! He only wants an orange popsicle and all they have is blue! He does not like their apple juice ~ explaining it is nasty! (Good thing I brought along our own!) Totally despised the IV in the hand and would NOT calm down until it was out! Flipped out because he did not like the band aid they placed on his hand upon removing the IV! His mouth hurt, he wanted his tonsils back and he wanted to go HOME! He wanted to wear his own pjs and not their gown! He wanted to wear his OWN socks instead of the slipper socks they gave him!

The humorous side of the recovery room was this: Isaiah had taken his "Little Bill" doll into surgery with him. You know Little Bill (Cosby) the cartoon character who wears the same shirt daily with a giant B on it. The Doctor says, "Oh look a little Barack Obama doll!" The nurses responded while laughing, "No Doc I think that is Little Bill!" Seriously a Barack Obama doll?! That would be weird!

We got back home at 10:45am. They had said to try to give him anything soft that he might actually eat then give him his pain medicine around noon. They also explained that the majority of kids WON'T eat a thing but he absolutely has to stay hydrated so as long as he is drinking he will be fine. So the plan was to come home, attempt to feed the boy, give him the pain meds and then take a forever long nap with him!

Plan not working out so well for me! It is now 1:15pm and the only sleep he has done since waking up from surgery is about 10 minutes during the car ride home. He came home ate a snack pack of applesauce and an orange popsicle. He then watched cartoons with Daddy until he could take the medicine at 12pm. I gave him the medicine at 11:50pm and little soldier boy is now talking on the phone to Chai while playing with cars and he just finished his purple popsicle!! He is now crying b/c he just RAN in here to get his shoes so he can go outside which is not allowed right now! Calgon take me away! I pray the rest of his recovery is this easy but I've heard the first day is the easiest and around the fifth day is the worst!! You will hear about it if he coughs up some big 'ol nasty smelling scab ~ trust me! *gagging....* Dear Lord make his recovery a speedy and pain free one.....pretty pretty please!

HIGH HOPES FOR THE BABY BOY

So Wed the 12th Isaiah had to go in for his 6mo ENT checkup and we came out with way more than expected! He officially has "birdies" in his ears which is a playful way for the Doc to get the kids attention and not be scared complete with birdie sound affects but now Isaiah thinks that there are birdies in his ears. I guess that is better than the before believed bugs which he now says are dead. One of Zay's tubes had fallen out however the other remained. I took this opportunity to discuss Zay's breathing/allergy issues with the cutie patootie young Doctor boy. I talked to him about ALWAYS being "stopped up" and a "snot factory" to put it nicely. I told him how he has been on several meds over the last six months that only seem to work about 7 to 10 days then I might as well give him a syringe of water b/c the med becomes that ineffective. I REALLY WISH HE COULD BE ALLERGY MEDICATION FREE but so far that has not been the case. He was med free for about nine months but the past six months he hasn't been so lucky! I told him about the snoring, his awkward sleeping positions, unpredictable sleeping patterns and the horrid breath of a small forest creature devouring spoiled food. Seriously his breath is bad and that was supposedly going to be remedied by the removal of the adenoids. I also told him about his pediatrician telling me he needs his adenoids removed when I informed her they were done about 18mos prior. I also brought up the fact that I was supposed to take him to the lab so they could take blood for further allergy testing since the nurses couldn't get any blood after three tries. I could just say I am lazy but I will tell the truth and go with sympathetic to my three yr old son and say I just didn't want him to have to endure that again even though he is quite the trooper. I just wish he didn't have any of his little "issues" but what Mom doesn't! ANYHOW the doctor took a look in the ears, nose and throat since that is what a ENT does..ha....and he was NOT pleased!! One of his adenoids had in fact grown back! I was never informed that this was even possible and wondered if maybe it was just left from the original surgery until my friend informed me being the freak that she is (love you Shan) she had to have hers done four times!! Freak huh...told you! He also said he seriously needed his tonsils taken out and soon since they are cm. from closing his throat! He said this should solve the horrid forest creature breath, the snoring and the restless sleep since he will finally get air. He also told me to watch him at night for erratic breathing, sleep apnea and gasping. If this occurs, call him immediately and go to the hospital!! WHAT! OK now I will NOT sleep AT ALL and I'll be the Mom accidentally waking her baby up by constantly holding a mirror in front of his mouth to check his breathing especially since the surgery isn't scheduled until Dec. 9th. They gave him meds to hopefully reduce swelling and scheduled surgery to replace his tubes (YEAH!!! I truly think his tubes and his ENT are gifts straight from God! They changed his whole little world!), remove the adenoid that grew back, take all the blood needed for allergy testing while under anesthesia and remove his tonsils. Dear Lord, I pray this will be the end of all his problems and he will soon be drug free! I truly love our ENT and not ONLY b/c he is a cutie patootie!! He also told me that he may not even have allergies or they could be minor and most of his issues could be caused by the tonsils but that won't be known until after the surgery and testing. PRAY HARD!! Well the weekend came along with a fever and coughing. I didn't worry about it until the sleeping stopped and we got about 8 hours in TWO nights. I called the on-call ENT Sunday night who said to go the pediatrician first thing Monday. We did!! More antibiotics, steroids and after she talked to the ENT surgery was moved up to TOMORROW Nov 24th! They discussed it and decided the surgery could NOT wait until Dec 9th because his throat is closing faster than expected. I was then told more things to look for, keep him out of his little preschool and told to call with ANY changes but they wanted to get the antibiotics through him before the surgery if at all possible! OK so tomorrow morning we will be at the hospital at 6:45 am and surgery will begin at 8:15am. If everything goes well, we should be home around 11am and I will be able to blog...oops I mean clean house...while the baby boy sleeps in a drug induced pain-free state for days or so I am told! Pray for the hand of God to lead the surgery, for my baby to be ok even better than before, ease through the expected bad next few days and hopefully this operation will take care of all of his problems!! It is funny how tonsil removal surgeries differ from one Mom to the next! One will talk about how bad it is and the next tells you what a blessing it was and it wasn't that bad! I am going to pray for Shan and Quin's experience since the situations are a little more similar than others I have heard. I am hoping that since his situation is so bad now that the surgery will be more of a relief than a pain otherwise I am shipping him to Shan's so Quinlynne can take care of her man!!

MADDOX NEEDS ANOTHER NEW HEART

I realized I hadn't posted about Maddox lately so I decided to update his story again. Apparently although Maddox and his donor, a 5month old little girl, weighed the same (that tells you how small he is at 20 mos. old) her heart was not large enough to compensate for his extra length and his lower extremeties are not getting enough blood flow. The problems with this new heart are not repairable and he is being placed on the donor list once again. This miracle boy and his family still need your prayers!

MY PERSONAL SNOT FACTORY

I was taking a shower this morning when I heard Isaiah screaming at the top of his lungs over the water running and the exhaust fan running. I turned off the water, grabbed a towel and ran in his room to discover the most disgusting thing I think I've ever seen. The nurses and doctors said he will have some nasal discharge and some coughing for a few days. What I saw was beyond excessive in fact he looked like something off of an alien movie and I would rather clean up a full room of vomit than do what I had to do!!! Since I've become a mommy I've learned to handle things I never thought I would like projectile vomiting and diarrhea but this one grossed me out! Isaiah had a mound of dried snot covering his nostrils and dried into a little hill between his nose and his mouth. His nostrils weren't even visible. His shirt, hands, mouth, and pillow had neon green strings of snot everywhere!!! Yes it was a gag fest!! He was screaming and I tried to clean it off but it was stuck. I had to soak it with a warm cloth. After I got the mound removed I tugged at a booger from the edge of his nostril and I never could've imagined what happened next. The booger ended up being about an 8 inch long string of green snot that just kept coming out of his nose! Isaiah was crying and all I could think was I want MY mommy! I got Isaiah cleaned up and he put his head on my shoulder then began to scream again. I thought maybe his ears hurt but no it was just more of the alien invasion snot fest that was now stringing down my shoulder. That's it I was calling the doctor because there is no way this is "normal". Well it's not he has an infection so he needs antibiotics which means diarrhea and diaper rash for my boy. I hope this all ends pretty soon because I know he has to be miserable!! I also informed the nurse not to tell parents they may have some nasal discharge but instead tell parents their children could wake up resembling a slimy green little alien!! I really should've taken a picture because no one can even imagine the amount of snot coming from my boy it was unbelievable but I didn't think he was in the mood to smile for the camera!!

TUBE TIME

Yesterday Isaiah had his ear surgery. We had to be at the Tulsa Spine and Specialty Hospital (71st & HW 75) at 6 a.m. Now we all know that I am an insomnaic and hate mornings especially early morning appointments!!!! I went to bed at 1:30 a..m. and woke up at 4:50 a.m. sometimes I amaze myself with how stupid I can be! Isaiah did really really well!! No end of the world tantrums except for when they put him on the scale then decided they didn't need his weight that bad!! He went into surgery at 7:15 and we went to eat breakfast in the mini cafeteria. It was actually good! Dr. Vaidya came back at about 7:50 and said everything went well. He said Isaiah had even more fluid than he had originally thought and he was surprised he talks as much as he does because there is no way he was hearing very much at all. His adenoids were "huge and nasty" but gone!!! Are adenoids ever not nasty? I hope this fixes all of my baby's problems like the constant bad breath, hearing and speech probems and the 24/7/365 runny nose. The doc said his breath would actually get worse for awhile and would "test the love for our child because it will be like breath from an animal that eats its own feces". Did he read my blog??? So far so good he woke up at about 8:45 and we got to go in and see him. I was ready for the screaming fit I was told would occur due to the anesthesia but it didn't happen. WHAT? No my child was the only quiet one of the bunch - now that is the true shocker!! They said he slept so long that he probably slept off more of the anesthesia than the others. He saw me said "Unt juice!" He downed two cups of juice, they took out his IV, we were home and he was in bed by 9:50 a.m. I had to stay up because Elijah had his spring music program at school at noon. When I got home Isaiah said "HI Mommy" and was eating. He is truly amazing - the kid has had two surgeries in 9 mos and both times you wouldn't even know he had anything done by that night. Then it was time for the ear drops or WWIII! Isaiah is doing really well and hasn't even had any of the after effects they said he would have. No blood coming from his ears and no bad breath YET! He will have his first hearing test in two weeks. I am willing his results be the best possible!!

DUH!!!

We've been searching for new health insurance so tonight we met with a very nice but not so bright gentlemen about health insurance and I HAVE to tell you something he said. This is NO joke! He was asking about recent surgeries for an example of the coverage with his insurance and get what he said. Ok so I tell him I had my appendix removed in January (I didn't mention the ovary and tumor they also removed so as far as he knew at the time it was a simple appendectomy) and he SERIOUSLY asked me what he thought MY odds were for having that surgery REPEATED. WHAT??? I said, "My odds would be NONE since humans only have one appendix and now mine is gone!!" And everyone who knows me knows I said it really snotty! Seriously dude get a clue! NEXT!

FINALLY!

Isaiah got RSV when he was 9 mos old and ever since then it has been just one thing after another with that boy - things that aren't even related but that is when everything began! In the past 11 mos, Isaiah has had 10 ear infections and they are getting harder and harder to cure and of course he gets diarrhea with all antibiotics so then he gets diaper rash. I feel sorry for the poor kid because I am sure he is more sick of it than I am. Well today we went to see an ENT named Dr. Vaidya and he was an amazing doctor. He was great at explaining everything and really good with Isaiah who by the way has screamed at every doctor since he went through the whole RSV deal. I do mean scream!! Isaiah didn't even wimper there even at the hearing test and ear pressure test (I don't know the actual name!). Isaiah will be getting tubes in his ears and his adenoids removed on May 1!! I know it may sound odd to want your child to go through that but I can't wait for my baby to feel better. It makes me sad to think that all this pressure in his ears has been causing him pain even if it isn't infected! He has significant hearing loss that the doctor "hopes" will be recovered! On the ear pressure test his line was completely flat which to my understanding means his ear drum is not even vibrating enough to register because of all the fluid in his ear. He said his hearing test results were right on the verge of what will normally be recovered and that which is often permanent. However he said he would be worried about it more if he was older because hearing test results are not as reliable at his age because they may not turn their head when they first hear the noise instead they may wait until it annoys them which totally fits his personality. He said we won't know for sure until he gets the tubes and gets a little older for some other hearing tests. I've wondered for awhile if he might have trouble hearing especially when he has an ear infection. If he isn't facing me then I can call his name about ten times before he turns around but again he is very stubborn so he could just be ignoring me and that is what I want to believe right now! Plus when he has an ear infection he doesn't speak as clear which could be the case for any child but he doesn't talk as well as Elijah did at this age but then comes the fact that each child is different. He is also a REALLY loud child which he said is because everything sounds muffled to him so he has to be loud to hear himself - how sad is that. Basically I am trying to be hopeful that he has no permanent damage but I always have my best friend in mind because her son had the same problem with the doctor sending her to an ENT much later than he should have and he still has some hearing loss. I am trying really hard to be hopeful because right now I could easily go the other way! The funny part is every parent wants their kid to do their best well I was doing just that in the hearing test like it was some kind of competition. He was sitting on my lap and I heard the noise when it started. He wouldn't turn his head until it was kinda loud but the whole time in my head I was thinking "just turn your head, come on turn your head, please hurry". For now I am believing everything is going to turn out for the better and hope the doctor's prediction for better sleep in Isaiah's future will come true!!!

Thank God for Appendicitis!?!

THANK GOD I HAD APPENDICITIS! I HAVEN'T FELT WELL FOR AWHILE NOW BUT DIDN'T KNOW EXACTLY WHAT I FELT. TUESDAY I DIDN'T FEEL WELL ALL DAY BUT WHEN ASKED WHAT WAS WRONG WITH ME I COULDN'T EXACTLY SAY EXCEPT I JUST HAVEN'T FELT RIGHT. TUESDAY EVENING WAS MY SON'S 5TH BIRTHDAY PARTY AND I REALLY WANTED TO STAY HOME BUT COULDN'T DISAPPOINT MY BABY! AS THE EVENT DRAGGED ON FOR WHAT SEEMED A CENTURY I FELT WORSE AND WORSE. I WENT HOME AND WENT STRAIGHT TO BED. ABOUT 11PM I WAS VOMITING AND LATER ON HAD A FEVER. AGAIN I DIDN'T KNOW WHY B/C IT DIDN'T FEEL LIKE THE FLU JUST WEIRD! THEN THE PAINS STARTED AND THE CHILLS CAME ALONG WITH ALL THE OTHER SYMPTOMS. I COULDN'T SLEEP ALL NIGHT LONG AND WHEN THE PAINS BECAME ALMOST UNBEARABLE I GOT ON THE TRUSTY COMPUTER AND LOOKED UP SIGNS FOR APPENDICITIS. I HAD EVERY SYMPTOM AND TOLD MY HUSBAND I NEEDED TO GO TO THE HOSPITAL. SURE ENOUGH I HAD APPENDICITIS AND MY APPENDIX NEEDED TO BE REMOVED. I STILL HAD PAIN EVEN AFTER SEVERAL ROUNDS OF MORPHINE SO I DON'T EVEN WANT TO THINK ABOUT HOW MUCH PAIN I WOULD'VE BEEN IN WITHOUT THE MORPHINE. THEN ABOUT 5MINUTES BEFORE MY SURGERY THE SURGEON SAID HE WOULD PROBABLY NEED TO GO AHEAD AND REMOVE THE OVARY TOO. NOT KNOWING WHY I NEEDED AN OVARY REMOVED FOR APPENDICITIS, I ASKED WHY! THIS WAS THE FIRST TIME ANYTHING ABOUT MY OVARIES HAD BEEN MENTIONED. I HAD A MASSIVE TUMOR GROWING ON MY RIGHT OVARY AND HE SAID IT NEEDED TO BE REMOVED BUT HE DIDN'T THINK HE COULD SAVE THE OVARY. THEY REMOVED MY APPENDIX, AN OVARY, AND A MASS ON THE OVARY WHICH WAS SENT OUT TO BE TESTED FOR CANCER. THE PAIN SUCKED AND THE EVENT WAS SCARY AND I AM STILL UNSURE HOW I FEEL ABOUT THE WHOLE THING BUT I CAN SAY THANK GOD I HAD APPENDICITIS OTHERWISE THE MASS WOULD STILL BE GROWING INSIDE ME AND WHO KNOWS WHEN I WOULD'VE FOUND OUT ABOUT IT! GOD WORKS IN MYSTERIOUS WAYS!