WARNING: LONG POST UPDATE ON MY DAD!!!
Wednesday nights are busy for me since I work @ the church. Dad called and left a voicemail so when I left church I called him back, got his voicemail. Mayci and I went to catch the end of the men's basketball game when dad called me two times, leaving 1 voicemail. It was so loud in the gym I couldn't hear. Then I got the dreaded text from Irene; "your dad wanted me to let you know he's back in the hospital for more tests, he's still getting worse". I run up the stairs and towards the back of the building trying to get as far away from the noise calling dad at the same time. My heart was racing, phone service was terrible but we finally got connected. Dad said he was having some motor skill problems; like talking and walking. They said they would do an MRI in the morning and go from there. So I was on standby all night and part of the day Thursday waiting to see if I needed to head that direction. It isn't easy being 500 miles away, 6 months pregnant and wanting to be right there with my daddy!
The MRI showed some progress from the chemo treatment, positive! But...there were new spots, taking over a larger part of his brain which controlled motor function. They immediately started him on a 5 day steroid treatment Wednesday night when he was admitted so they were continuing that, and then just monitoring him. They also started physical therapy to help him with the loss he had in his right hand, and would do some speech also. I'm not sure what other "issues" he may have been having that they would cover.
He was released Monday, will do PT & OT and then chemo again in 2 weeks. Today(Tues) is the first time I've talked to him since he's been home, it was about 5:30pm, he sounded worn out, said he wasn't sure how much more he could take. We didn't talk long, he said he would call back when he had more energy. It's so extremely hard to hear your Dad, the one whom is supposed to be your "rock", in so much pain...and not to mention whom seems to be giving up. Please keep praying as that's the only thing I know to do...I need guidance, and understanding. I so badly want him to transfer to a hospital over here!! It's hard talking to dad bc he gets his days mixed up, probably forgets what we talk about and don't talk about so sometimes I feel as if my info is distorted somewhat...I'm trying to stay positive, I know God is in control!
Tuesday, February 5, 2013
Monday, February 4, 2013
30th Bday, Baby Shower, & 29w2d
So Casey asked what I wanted to do for my bday, it is a big one(30) but I'm not big on it! He mentioned going to Temple since the majority of my friends live there and his sister, etc. We left Saturday morning, dogs and all and arrived to Windee's surprised with a bday party/baby shower! Mayci was excited to know I was having a party, she insisted she would have another if I didn't! Little did I know, had we not made the trek there...they had planned to come to me. It was a beautiful day, we visited, ate LOTS, and just enjoyed watching Mayci and Kyler play. Malli was shower with lots of goodies that will be put to great use. That night we went & ate @ Oscar Store...it was yummy! There is nothing better than homemade french fries, especially when prego!
Sunday I woke up to a donut cake put together by Julie, we ran around town, had lunch and then wrapped up the visit and headed back home. I must say we were all worn out! Mayci and both dogs snoozed the entire way home while Casey and I jammed out and chatted. We haven't had much "quality" time together lately so it was nice. Mom had me some cheesecake when we got back...all these yummies are why I gained 2 lbs since last visit only 2 short weeks ago!! Fb blew up my phone like crazy...all in all, a great bday!
Today, Monday, Feb 4th I was welcomed with the "Happy birthday" sign on my door, as well as a shout out during the announcements. It's so nice getting recognition from my kiddos and coworkers.
I did have a checkup today, everything looks great! Malli's heart rate was 152, I'm measuring 29.5 cm...and have gained 13 lbs to date!
Sunday I woke up to a donut cake put together by Julie, we ran around town, had lunch and then wrapped up the visit and headed back home. I must say we were all worn out! Mayci and both dogs snoozed the entire way home while Casey and I jammed out and chatted. We haven't had much "quality" time together lately so it was nice. Mom had me some cheesecake when we got back...all these yummies are why I gained 2 lbs since last visit only 2 short weeks ago!! Fb blew up my phone like crazy...all in all, a great bday!
Today, Monday, Feb 4th I was welcomed with the "Happy birthday" sign on my door, as well as a shout out during the announcements. It's so nice getting recognition from my kiddos and coworkers.
I did have a checkup today, everything looks great! Malli's heart rate was 152, I'm measuring 29.5 cm...and have gained 13 lbs to date!
Wednesday, January 23, 2013
My(Blaine) Dad
Forewarning, this is a LONG post!!
Some of you know, some of you may not know. My dad has been ill for a while now, with an unknown diagnosis. Around the first of October he was having trouble seeing, along with other things. He called me on a Friday...he was waiting on his sister to come get him and take him to the ER because they thought he might be having a stroke. They ruled out the stroke, but had no clue...sent him home. Sunday night, he went to St. Dominic's in Jackson, MS. They immediately ran multiple tests, including spinal taps and tons of blood work, MRI's, you get the gist. The initial was to to rule out things, (however, they did find a small blood clot on the back of his brain) mainly Multiple Sclerosis (MS). They really weren't sure what was going on and nothing was making him better. He stayed in the hospital for quite a while, and then eventually was sent home for two weeks to see if any improvement would occur.
He went back for his checkup, got more MRI's, blood tests, spinal taps, etc., as well as a second opinion. This doctor was sure that it was MS, that the blood clot was old and that he had probably had it for a while. 7 years ago dad had an episode, they diagnosed him with Gilliam berea, a rare auto-immune disease. She was positive this was really MS, just misdiagnosed. So, her suggestion was plasmapherisis (a blood cleaning treatment). This would take place for 8 days, treatment being every other day and lasting for hours each time. This made him feel terrible, but what do you do?! After this treatment, they sent him home to "rest". They are still on the hunch that it was MS but not 100% because the plaque that normally builds up on the myelin sheath wasn't there. Every day he felt like poo, nauseated, dizzy, still terrible vision, etc.
He went back for a checkup, the blood cleaning treatment didn't work, therefore it was back to the drawing boards. They did say his vision up close and directly in front of him wasn't all that bad but that he had no peripheral vision which is why he has been stumbling, etc. They ran more tests and discussed more treatment options, mainly steriods but since the last treatment didn't work, they would have to be agressive in their approach.
This past Monday, January 21, 2013 he went in to talk with the doctors about the aggressive treatment...chemo for 6 months. This was not what I was expecting to hear. They said that since the plasmapheresis didn't touch the MS(yep, back on that), that chemo was the only option. They are guessing he has had MS for at least 20 years...untreated so that is why it is so bad. MS is worse for men anyway, and definitely worse that it's been untreated for so long. So yesterday he went for his first treatment, it took about 5 hours, he is taking cytoxan intravenously. He called me during treatment, sounded pretty run down. He is taking this junk day by day, every day he is alive is one more day that "he's made it". I spoke to him again after treatment and he was excited they were going to let him go home. He had a terrible headache, I'm sure one of many side effects that he will have. Last night was rough, didn't sleep well and just feels yucky.
I am positive this will work, only way I can be. Keeping faith in HIM is what will get us all through this. Hardest part is being 6 months prego and 600 miles away from my Daddy. Please feel free to say a prayer for my family during this time as we really need them. Sorry for the long post, it's good therapy for me :)!
Some of you know, some of you may not know. My dad has been ill for a while now, with an unknown diagnosis. Around the first of October he was having trouble seeing, along with other things. He called me on a Friday...he was waiting on his sister to come get him and take him to the ER because they thought he might be having a stroke. They ruled out the stroke, but had no clue...sent him home. Sunday night, he went to St. Dominic's in Jackson, MS. They immediately ran multiple tests, including spinal taps and tons of blood work, MRI's, you get the gist. The initial was to to rule out things, (however, they did find a small blood clot on the back of his brain) mainly Multiple Sclerosis (MS). They really weren't sure what was going on and nothing was making him better. He stayed in the hospital for quite a while, and then eventually was sent home for two weeks to see if any improvement would occur.
He went back for his checkup, got more MRI's, blood tests, spinal taps, etc., as well as a second opinion. This doctor was sure that it was MS, that the blood clot was old and that he had probably had it for a while. 7 years ago dad had an episode, they diagnosed him with Gilliam berea, a rare auto-immune disease. She was positive this was really MS, just misdiagnosed. So, her suggestion was plasmapherisis (a blood cleaning treatment). This would take place for 8 days, treatment being every other day and lasting for hours each time. This made him feel terrible, but what do you do?! After this treatment, they sent him home to "rest". They are still on the hunch that it was MS but not 100% because the plaque that normally builds up on the myelin sheath wasn't there. Every day he felt like poo, nauseated, dizzy, still terrible vision, etc.
He went back for a checkup, the blood cleaning treatment didn't work, therefore it was back to the drawing boards. They did say his vision up close and directly in front of him wasn't all that bad but that he had no peripheral vision which is why he has been stumbling, etc. They ran more tests and discussed more treatment options, mainly steriods but since the last treatment didn't work, they would have to be agressive in their approach.
This past Monday, January 21, 2013 he went in to talk with the doctors about the aggressive treatment...chemo for 6 months. This was not what I was expecting to hear. They said that since the plasmapheresis didn't touch the MS(yep, back on that), that chemo was the only option. They are guessing he has had MS for at least 20 years...untreated so that is why it is so bad. MS is worse for men anyway, and definitely worse that it's been untreated for so long. So yesterday he went for his first treatment, it took about 5 hours, he is taking cytoxan intravenously. He called me during treatment, sounded pretty run down. He is taking this junk day by day, every day he is alive is one more day that "he's made it". I spoke to him again after treatment and he was excited they were going to let him go home. He had a terrible headache, I'm sure one of many side effects that he will have. Last night was rough, didn't sleep well and just feels yucky.
I am positive this will work, only way I can be. Keeping faith in HIM is what will get us all through this. Hardest part is being 6 months prego and 600 miles away from my Daddy. Please feel free to say a prayer for my family during this time as we really need them. Sorry for the long post, it's good therapy for me :)!
Tuesday, January 22, 2013
Yuck! Glucose(27.5 Weeks)
I don't remember the glucose drink being quite so bad! Maybe having my appt after lunch wasn't such a great idea! When I arrived, Amy (receptionist) gave me my wonderful orange drink and said, "You have 10 minutes to finish it".
It was cold-positive, but still wasn't very tasty. It just sat on the top of my stomach and in my throat. The rest of my appt was good, the lady that took my blood did a great job-I didn't even know she had stuck me! Hopefully results come back ok! Here are some belly pics of me...27 1/2 weeks:
It was cold-positive, but still wasn't very tasty. It just sat on the top of my stomach and in my throat. The rest of my appt was good, the lady that took my blood did a great job-I didn't even know she had stuck me! Hopefully results come back ok! Here are some belly pics of me...27 1/2 weeks:
Glucose Testing & Other Things
So today is the lovely glucose testing day, I get to go sit for an hour after drinking the wonderfully tasting drink. I guess it's a good thing, means I am entering the 3rd trimester! Things are going well, I did go to the dr. last week and was diagnosed with a sinus infection but am feeling much better, modern medicine is a marvelous thing! We haven't done anything in the nursery in a while, Casey is working to get the massive desk I had to have out of there and then things should start falling into place. We do have furniture though and bedding!
Names are tricky...Casey originally liked Maryn(pronounced like Karen), and I was ok with it but he wants the middle name to be Laine and that's where the problem came about. I don't love Maryn Laine. So then I started saying the name I liked, Malli...it has grown on Casey and now I think we've "officially" decided we will name our precious bundle Malli Laine Hamilton. Mayci on the other hand, up until last night has disagreed and been referring to the baby as Maryn. This is an advancement from Minnie Mouse and Pudding Tang! I know I shouldn't put a whole lot of weight on my stubborn 3 year old but I do want her to call the baby what we name her and not something completely different!
Names are tricky...Casey originally liked Maryn(pronounced like Karen), and I was ok with it but he wants the middle name to be Laine and that's where the problem came about. I don't love Maryn Laine. So then I started saying the name I liked, Malli...it has grown on Casey and now I think we've "officially" decided we will name our precious bundle Malli Laine Hamilton. Mayci on the other hand, up until last night has disagreed and been referring to the baby as Maryn. This is an advancement from Minnie Mouse and Pudding Tang! I know I shouldn't put a whole lot of weight on my stubborn 3 year old but I do want her to call the baby what we name her and not something completely different!
Wednesday, November 7, 2012
Baby Ham #2!
We are expecting again and oh so excited! We told Mayci by showing her a picture of the sonogram...she replied saying it looked like mud. She was more excited to know that it was a baby in my tummy. She has been going around telling everyone that she also has a baby in her tummy. I am about 16 and a half weeks, due April 21, 2013. Hopefully I will be better about staying updated this go round. Here are our announcements that we posted on fb:
Saturday, September 22, 2012
Mayci Turns 3!
So today we had Mayci's 3rd bday party. She wanted Minnie Mouse(same as last year), so I convinced her to do Mickey and Minnie...it was really cute. We had a great turnout, about 50 people! The kids played on the swingset, drove her camaro around, tried to smash the pinata, decorated their cupcakes, and much more. Mayci is one special little girl to have such great people in her life. She's been begging for a pink kitchen, For Kids Only has one in their store and she just loves it so that's what Casey and I got her. She was definitely excited and has been making us all sorts of things since. Kyler, Windee and Gary stayed the night with us. Kyler helped Mayci check out all of her new things, they had a blast. They danced with the Wii for a while too. It was nice to catch up and let them play just like old times.
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