Riverbanks

We went to the zoo two weekends ago...and I finally have a minute to post the pics.  I think Disney spoiled Owen, because we flew through this place.  As soon as we would get to an animal he wanted to see another one.  Last year we would stop and talk about the animals and I would have a chance to take photos, but he would hardly stand still.  Of course he was also in a stroller last year and now he wants to walk "all by myself". 

My health scare

Wow...what an interesting week it has been.

Two weeks ago, I started having this pain in my lower abdomen.  I thought it might just be gas, but it didn't go away after a few days.  One Sunday night I texted my friend Heather, who is a nurse and asked her to please tell me what she knew about appendicitis and to please tell me I didn't need surgery.  Well, other than the pain (in the wrong place) I didn't have any of the other symptoms.  She said I should have it checked out anyway.  I did, but my usual doctor was off last week so I had to see his partner.  She was nice but didn't really do anything.  I was also in a conference last week and had to work long days so I just figured I would see how it went and if I didn't feel better this week I would go back.

This weekend was awesome...we went to the park, played outside and went to the zoo.  More on that in the next post.  On the way to the zoo this past Sunday I started having lower back pain.  It wasn't something I couldn't deal with, just not right.  I called in to the get an appt on Monday and they couldn't fit me in with my normal doctor.  I told them I didn't care, just wanted to see somebody.  When I got there they put me with my usual doctor b/c he was available after all.  We talked about all my symptoms and he immediately ruled out hernia.

He sent me for a CT scan right away and nobody explained what that entailed.  To prepare for the test, you basically have to sit in the waiting room for two hours and drink some nasty concoction every 20 minutes.  Let's just say I sat 10 feet from the restroom.  Two hours later they came and got me, had me lay down and gave me an i.v.  They shot this dye into me, called contrast and it was supposed to make me feel warm.  I didn't feel anything until the test was over and my left eye started to itch.  I asked if I could scratch it and told the CT lady that it was probably allergies.  And then my right eye started to itch.  And then we both became suspect.  I got up and right before she took the i.v. out she noticed my left lower eyelid starting to swell.  She immediately got a doctor and he said I needed some Benadryl.  It was like going from sober to drunk in 15 seconds.  I had to be put in a wheelchair and moved to the urgent care section until the swelling went down.  I took a little snooze and when I woke up they already had my results.  Turns out I have a gallstone and the next day I would need an ultrasound.

Tuesday I went in for my ultrasound.  I have been to several of these when Brig was pregnant, but I didn't realize how "thorough" the tech would be.  It took 30 minutes and when she was done she called my doctor.  She rattled off some medical jargon, but it seemed like much more than just a gallstone.  Based on the results, my doctor wanted blood work.  Yay...more needles!  I knew I wouldn't get the results until yesterday, so I patiently waited until my appt yesterday afternoon. 

It was a really long 24 hours.  I played out every bad scenario in my head.  What did they find?  Is it a tumor?  Cancer?  Would I need surgery?  Worse?  I thought mostly about Brig and Owen.  Would I be here to see him grow up?  How would we explain this to him?  I was also mad at myself for eating bad food and not exercising enough.  I thought if it was good news I wouldn't be going in at all.  Surely they would tell me that over the phone.  I was just praying that it was only a gallstone.

And that's all it is!  A gallstone that I can live with...that requires no surgery.  The ultrasound tech saw some other stuff, but once the radiologist read it, he deemed it nothing abnormal.  And my blood work came back completely normal as well.  My doc said I could resume normal activity and I was released...and relieved!  

Happy Valentine's Day

We finally got Owen to start calling today Valentine's Day instead of Thanksgiving!?  Don't know how or why he thought all the hearts we see everywhere remind him of turkey day, but he does now distinguish between the two.

This is part of the conversation I overheard last night when Brig was getting him ready for bed:

B:  Owie, will you be my valentine?
O:  No, I'm a boy.

He's big into labels!

Owen and Brig also did a little baking over the weekend and I was on hand to lick the bowl take some pics.  He had his share of batter and icing too, way before the final product was ready.  You always need a taste tester right?