Yay! Poopie Poopie!

Hi Everyone! How are you? I am fantastic! Before we go any further, let me explain the title of this post - apparently, when our nephew Mark was a little boy and would get excited about something, he would say, "Yay! Poopie Poopie"! I'm really excited about the fact that I have not had a bleed - just thinking about going through that makes me cringe and wonder how I got past that! Let's hope we don't go there again anytime soon! Up until almost 2 weeks ago, I had felt very weak and was barely able to get myself to work and home. It's only been since I've been back and recovered some from this past procedure in Colorado, that I have felt well enough to - well, feel half way human! For a while since I was having so many bleeds, that was really making me very, very weak and unable to do much for myself @ all! As I've said though, my family and friends have really stepped up and done so much for me - things I couldn't do on my own! From basic things like taking me to a doctors appt., or just listening to me talking about how I was feeling or always volunteering to help in any way! My sister Celia always reminds me that I'm not alone and never will be. Even my co-workers that I don't know all that well, have taken the time to come tell me that they are there for me if I need them. To please let them know if they can help in any way! Wow! Again, like Celia tells me, I'm surrounded by angels that God has sent to help!

Had a culture done @ woundcare last week, since I'd been having some issues w/drainage and such on my left ear. Got the results on Sat. morning - I have a staph infection as well as a pseudemonous infection. I should have known - I was also trying to get by with not using my last few Oxycontin painkillers, but had to break down and use them because of the pain the infections were causing! Darn it! I also hated to bother my primary care physician, but my husband Mark kept after me to call him and let him know about the infections that wound care had informed me I had. They would be notifying Dr. Boynton on Monday, but I finally gave in to calling the doctor Sat. evening - and luckily I happened to have the 2 oral antibiotics that Dr. Boynton wanted me to get started on! This way @ least I'll get a head start on some meds, before he calls Quorum in San Antonio if he decides I need to go w/an IV Antibiotic. This will also mean having Nurses on Wheels come and put a needle in my mediport, that way when the IV meds do come in, Mark can get me started on them having access w/what the Nurses on Wheels have started. Believe me though, I am ok in dealing w/an infection - that is certainly something that can be taken care of pretty easily! I'll take that any day over having a bleed of any sort!

Another reason I'm excited (not sure that is the word I want) is that last week Wednesday, ELLEN had a guest on her show that will be on a new reality show called Push Girls. The guest is a 32 year old girl named Mia Schaikewitz, that says @ 15 she was in high school, healthy ... until she had severe abdominal pain and was taken to the hospital thinking it was appendicitis. Mia went on to say something about her legs feeling heavy, and an MRI was done, revealing that she had an avm in her spinal cord that had ruptured, causing her from then on to be wheel chair bound. YIKES! So many thoughts are running through my head, like, can't someone help her now? I've always known that as much as I'm going through - there are people worse off - I blog partially because I feel so bad that I'm "out of commission" because of what I'm going through and can't do all the things I enjoy doing or being due to this avm! Well however much I've been through w/all the bleeds, pain, swelling, etc. - how lucky am I that my avm has always been visible, even though I unsuccessfully sought treatment for it @ least 20 years before my sister Celia found Dr. Yakes through the internet! I wonder if there is any hope for Mia getting out of the wheelchair @ this point - if her avm is treatable. There is still so much I don't know about avm's and I have one!

Meanwhile, I think I might have mentioned in a past blog, that my mom Mary, her husband Vicente and my husband Mark had all gone to breakfast after Mass one Sunday, and had seen a lady that looked as if she had a facial avm. I had asked my family if they had approached this lady and they said no, they had lost track of her. Well, we ran into her again last weekend as we were leaving the same restaurant - and Mom, Mark and I approached the lady. She was with a young boy and actually I think she was waiting on her parents to join them. As I started to introduce myself and ask her about what looked like her having a facial avm, I got the impression she didn't completely understand what I was asking or wanting. Mark felt that what this lady looked worse than I ever have and we're actually not sure just by looking @ her what she may have. Her complexion was very dark - but never mind what she looked like - I worry if she is in any danger physically due to her possibly having an avm! What if it is damaging her heart, like the internal medicine doctor thought might be happening to me?! The lady tried telling us she was getting help or something to that affect. Didn't quite grasp what she said, but I'm hoping Mom and Vicente run into her again and maybe can give her family Dr. Yakes card!

I just wanted to put all this information out there. I need to add more to this blog. Will tweek it here and there when I get a chance. Meanwhile, here are some photos of our children! Took Hanz and Bella to Petsmart on Friday evening and ran into a Great Dane! Went on to Petco and here is Hanz looking @ the hamsters and Guinnie Pigs! Then that one photo of the kiddos on the couch with Mark - and just put in a few more, just because I love my furry children so much and they are so cute!

As always, thank you everyone for all your love and support! I was adding some stuff to this blog, but Hanz has already been over here several times to tell me to get off the computer - gotta go!