More Photos!

Hello again everyone!

I've decided to post a few more photos from our trip, since I always hear how much you enjoy them! This time around, our car rental was a red Kia! It was cute and Mark drove us all over Denver and surrounding areas in it!

The anesthesiologist always comes by to touch base and see if the patient has any special needs!

In the one photo, I'm holding a hand towel to my swollen eye hoping it will feel better! As long as I have the other good eye to read with, I'm doin' good!

I'm so glad Mom remembered to bring some dice to play Farkle! That really helped pass the time!

As always, I think I'm super woman (that's mom's fault!) and I went to work yesterday morning! By lunch time I knew I had made a mistake and decided I really needed more rest to heal! The area where my stitches are is draining some, so I am wearing a strip of gauze over that! Hanz and I decided today we would go see Grandma and Uncle Greg! I called Mom as I was having coffee this morning, and she decided she would come pick me up and take me to run some errands! So ... after she picks me up, we'll go see Uncle Greg, since I want someone that I don't see every day to see my face after having this procedure done! Here is a photo of my Hanzie - I've enjoyed being home with him so much! He is such a good boy! We need to go to Petsmart and get him some food!

Here's more photos of Mark @ Garden of the Gods! Oh! I can hear that Mark just got home from work! Wonder what we're having for dinner?

Hey Twilight fans! Have you read The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner? You can read it free on Stephenie Meyer.com until like July 5th or something - or you can buy the hard copy @ your favorite bookstore to add to your Twilight book collection! I wanted to read it before Eclipse came out!

My lower left eye is HUGE! We're guessing because I haven't been using the ear drops Dr. Hepworth gave me for my left ear to use 3 times a day! UGH! Mom thinks my primary care physician will want to put me in the hospital for IV antibiotics! Lets hope not! I'd just better post this already, since Hanz is really wanting to get on the computer desk! Ciao Y'all!

Cyndi

Fear of Unknown (Part 2)

Hello again everyone!

Here we go again! Here is a photo of Dr. Hepworth removing my head gauze and I just want to title it, "Are we having fun yet"? I don't remember much about it, but Mom says Dr. Hepworth was concerned about actually cutting some of my hair! Once that gauze was removed, I was able to take a shower! I felt better and got a good nights rest! We just happened to have extra time on our hands since I stayed only one night in the hospital, so we were able to relax and played Farkle in our suite the following evening! That's another thing that made it easy - we had a 2 bedroom suite, so it was nice staying together and having time to visit and enjoy having a fridge, microwave, etc.!

The next day, Sunday, we started by going to an early Mass @ a nearby Catholic Church! Then we drove less than an hour away to get to Colorado Springs! Mark had always wanted to go see The Garden of the Gods - rock formations and places where folks can climb rocks! Mark then drove us to one of my favorite cross stitch/quilting stores, where one of the ladies that works there recognized me from past visits! Mom ended up buying some of the iron on patterns you can embroider and I didn't really see a specific pattern I wanted, but I did get a couple of bright fabric pieces that I can make a kerchief out of! I figure if I'm having to wear a kerchief w/this trache, I may as well have a little fun, right?

We were happy when it was finally time to drive to the airport and get home! We were missing our Hanzie! Arrived in Corpus Christi Monday, early evening - and Vicente was @ the airport to pick us up! We had a nice surprise when we realized Celia came to the airport too, so she ended up driving Mark and I home! We set our luggage down and headed to Rockport to pick up our kid! Jim and Shelley are so awesome to take care of our Hanz while we are gone! During this visit, it seems Hanz played hard and was slobbered by his "girlfriend" Bessie (one of Jim/Shelley's outdoor pets), so Aunt Shelley had to give Hanz a bath! Jim would always call us and give us an update on how Hanz was doing, knowing that I was really missing my furry kid!

One of the problems I had on this trip, was not having my humidifier w/me! I have to sleep with a hose attached from the humidifier to where my trache is, to keep it moist or however your body would keep it if you didn't have a hole in your neck! Since the humidifier is too heavy to carry through the airports, I just do without it, knowing that it is setting me back a bit not having it. Sure enough, by the end of our trip, I could just hear the phlegm rattleing in my chest and just felt the need to keep hacking trying to get all that out! I'm sure the folks in the seats around me on the plane didn't appreciate it! Oh well, we had a crying kid on the way over that no one was too happy about either, so what can you do?

This was a heck of a trip and Dr. Hepworth already put me on his surgery schedule to go after more of the avm! From what I understand, I will be having an embolization AND having more of the AVM removed!

I checked with Dr.Hepworth about being able to get back to work, and he said no problem, so I'll be working Thurs. and Friday! I'm doing a few loads of wash right now and I'm thinking a nap sounds pretty darned good! I'll look over both entries of the blog later and probably add a little something here or there!

Thank you again everyone, for all your love, prayer and support! Where's Hanz - it's nap time! Take Care!

Cyndi

Fear of Unknown finally over!

Hi Family and Friends! We are home safely from CO, after what we believe is our 38th procedure @ Swedish Medical Center! I want to share all the photos we took, so this may take several entries to complete! Like Shalon says, "I want details"! So here goes!

Let's start with the fact that the whole idea of "debulking" by Dr. Hepworth scares the heck out of me! Again, like Shalon says, "It's not that we don't trust these doctors, it's just that for years we've had these deep rooted fears that no one could help us"! It's been drilled into our head that if surgery were performed on the avm, that the possibility of bleeding to death might happen!

As usual, the night before one of our trips we only get 2 or 3 hours sleep! Can't ever get ahead of schedule! We had gone out to Rockport to go leave our baby with Uncle Jim and Aunt Shelley while we are in CO, and had been home maybe 20 minutes when the rain storm came in! Mark had taken the trash out and came in all wet! A few minutes later, I was standing in the kitchen having a snack, when the power went out! My first thought was, "Oh no! How will this affect our trip"? Luckily the power came back on 5 minutes later, so that was a relief! Mom and Vicente picked us up a few hours later and we headed to the airport!

Mom, Mark and I arrived in Denver to perfect weather! The sun was out, not too warm ... got on the Enterprise shuttle to get our car rental! We were starvin' Marvin, so we decided lunch @ Mimi's Cafe sounded delicious! Course that is right near the Park Meadows Mall, so after lunch we shopped a little bit! Mom ended up buying some tennis shoes @ the same store that Celia bought me a pair of snazzy clogs last time she and I went to CO! We always try to have some fun on these trips - even though our time is so limited! I knew @ 2:30 p.m. I needed to show up @ Swedish to pre-register for the surgery the next day! Plus, I wanted to look for Eric Adrid (Dr. Yakes Phys. Asst.) since the 4th would be his last day @ Swedish! Got pre-registered (see photo of blood drawn) and then headed to Dr. Yakes office to look for Eric! Got to talkin' to Sadie, Dr. Yakes patient coordinator and was asking her for several people - I have lost Wendy's e-mail address (from Canada), so please write Wendy, ok? Had not caught up w/Shalon lately and was so happy to find she was @ Swedish having just had an embolization! Eric was supposed to be in the recovery area as well, so Mark and I headed in that direction! Found Eric and spoke to him a few minutes and then we were able to see Shalon! This trip, Shalon was accompanied by her mother-in-law and sister-in-law! See photos of the latter and of Eric and Shalon! The nurse taking care of Shalon showed us Shalon's x-ray and you should see how many coils were removed from Shalon's face! OMG! Shalon asked Eric to show us the photos he had of her during her emboization. The photos Eric had taken w/his camera, showed the pile of coils that had come out of Shalon's face that had been placed on her chest as the coils were being removed! Shalon really had so many coils removed from her face - it is just amazing! Maybe she'll post those photos on her blog! Actually, now that I'm thinking about it, I may also have had some coils removed from my face as well!

After leaving Swedish, we went to Whole Foods to pick up a few items before checking in to the hotel! It was great to finally settle in and relax - for Mark that means getting the remote control for the TV! For mom and I that means getting a good book or magazine to read once we've changed into our pajamas!

Next morning we begin the process of getting ready for surgery! I'm anxious to see Dr. Hepworth, as I have a few questions for him and am wanting some reassurance regarding the debulking! Finally! I see Kris Pacheco - Dr. Hepworth's P.A. and right behind her is Dr. Hepworth! See photo of "Team Hepworth"! Usually, Mark walks along side my bed as I am taken to the surgery room - but this time I was given my knock out meds in my IV while I was still in that little cubicle, so I have no recollection of the surgery room, any nurses, doctors or techs! Woke up in recovery to a familiar looking nurse - got some ice chips and pain meds - then before I knew it, I was being taken to my room! Mark and Mom were already there, so they helped me get settled in! Beware - graphic photos to come! I had absolutely NO concern for what I looked like - I was just happy I woke up and that being in recovery wasn't as bad as it has been in the past! Of course there was no angiogram done, so I didn't have to keep my leg straight, so I didn't have back pain!

Dr. Hepworth had given Mom and Mark a "heads up" on what I would look like after the surgery - my head was wrapped up like a mummy! The doctor also mentioned that we shouldn't be disappointed in the results, as he wasn't able to get to all of the avm during this surgical procedure! There started to be some swelling and I needed 2 units of blood, so Dr. Hepworth felt it was better to wait and finish up the avm area next time! I'm just happy I woke up, for one thing! I started feeling better right away, once I got put into a room, so Mark and Mom decided it was ok to leave me alone in the hospital while they went back to the hotel to get some rest. Those poopies! Celia said I should have played it up a bit better so that one of them would have stayed with me! Actually, everyone @ Swedish is so awesome, that I know I'm in very capable hands! Sometimes I wish the nurses would move a little quicker if I need something, but other than that, no problems! I know I'm not their only patient, but when you're in pain or needing something ...., you know how all that can be! One of the nurses said every time she came in to the room I was looking better and better! I'm so glad that Mom was with us on this trip! It was a comfort just knowing she was there and I felt she helped support Mark as well! Very happy the two of them get along so well, they always have!

Mark always brings me a venti white chocolate mocha the morning after a procedure, so I'm definitely a happy camper then! Guess who was on duty as the Tech.? SABA! The beautiful Saba is always so sweet and kind to me! See photo of me w/the 2 Sabas!

Ok! This is a good stopping point! I do want to mention something before I forget though .... lately (as in during the CO trip), I have been talking in my sleep! Mom and Mark also mentioned that while I was asleep in the hospital, I was "typing" away @ my computer and reaching for a book @ my desk! Weird, huh? Ok, I wrote to Shalon to ask her to delete one of the photos I posted twice by accident! I don't know how to do that on my own and she has access to my blog from her end in CA! I'm starting a new entry as soon as I close this one!

Much love to all!

Cyndi