December Embolization 2012

Hi again!  How is everyone?  Ready for the holidays?  Well, Celia and I just got back from CO from my having another embolization done @ Swedish.  But before I start talking about that, let me show you a photo of me with one of the wound care techs @ Dr.'s Regional hospital where I go twice a week!  Her name (nickname) is Miro and she is a doll! We live a few blocks from the hospital, so I go to wound care, then on to work on some mornings!  There have been times I don't feel well or up to dealing with avm issues, and it's people like Miro that help lift me up!  She is spiritual, kind and always has a hug for me!  She knows how much I love our furry kids, so she lent me a book about a dog and also got me a couple of Twilight posters from a magazine!  Cool, huh?

My Aunt Elsa from WA was visiting during Thanksgiving, but I didn't have a chance to even visit with her!  While she was in town, I had a couple of bleeds, so I didn't want to move off the couch!  Mom was nice enough to bring her by for a few minutes while I was @ work, so we had a little time together!  You can really tell how much paralysis I have in that photo - ugh!  I asked Mandy, one of Dr. Yakes P.A.'s about the possibility of having anymore paralysis - she said there could be some, but there is also I might regain some feeling back depending on how the avm situation settles in the end.  I can understand why people stare when I'm out in public, but I still wish they wouldn't!

Several co-workers had been sick and sure enough, by Friday afternoon I had picked up the bug!  I immediately started taking antibiotics and Musinex and cough supppresant - I can't be hacking since that sometimes starts a bleed!  I was looking forward to getting to CO, where I feel very well cared for!  Arrived @ Swedish on Tues. - got admitted and settled in for the night!  Had the chance to visit with so many of my favorite nurses!  Some came by to say hello when they saw my name on the schedule - Judy, Laura, Jill (my Twilight buddy), Elizabeth, Burgen, Becky, Jack and even Alex (a/k/a, Jacob Black!) a recent tech hire!  Can't forget Nicole, Kurt and Dave and Zufon!  Got a photo with Victoria - she is so down to earth and always prays for me!  Very enthusiastic and has told Celia she has seen patients w/worse avms completely recover, so she knows I'll be fine!  I tell you, Kim Kardashian has nothing on me when I'm @ Swedish, I'm quite the popular patient!  Even have the papparazzi hounding me!  That's what the guy transporting me to OR called Celia as she was shooting photos of me with her camera for my blog!

Dr. Yakes used 15 cc's of alcohol this time - it doesn't sound like a lot, but I had so much swelling!  My left eye was completely closed and the area under my chin was very swollen too!

I was admitted under Dr. Pinsinski's name, since Dr. Yakes was leaving the country right after my procedure.  Heading to Telaviv and Cairo I believe!  He won't be back for a while, so I had to wait an extra 2 weeks later than my usual appt. time for my next procedure!  Going back to Dr. Pinsinski - he has an awesome bedside manner and we have a good rapport!  Turns out his first career choice had been to be an Astronaut, so he was pretty psyched to find out Celia's brother-in-law is Astronaut Mike Fossum!   Gotta hook up Dr. Pinsinski w/some space stuff when we return in January!

 

I am very happy with how the entire procedure went this time!  No problems or set backs!  I was anxious to get home to my furry kids and to be home with Mark!

 

As always, my sister is very generous and treated me to a new phone case @ the Denver airport from Anthony!  I had purchased a phone cover from him before (it broke @ Celia's on Thanksgiving when I dropped it) and he remembered me and said he had checked out my blog!  So here's Anthony!  I ended up getting a fuschia blinged out phone cover and Celia got a light pink blinged out one!  We had plenty of time to visit as Celia spent time with me in the hospital as she worked on some needlepoint!  I had a couple of books on my Nook to read, so between that and the great staff @ Swedish, I had a very good experience!  Would you believe the hospital food is great too?  Every night for dinner I had the salmon with pinne pasta w/alfredo sauce and cheescake!  Yum! Actually, soon as we picked up the car rental on arrival to Denver, we headed to Sams Dinner (that has been featured in "Diners, Drive-ins and Dives") for some down home cooking!  Had some delicious meatloaf, mashed potatoes with gravy and veggies!

Guess I'll wrap up this entry!  Speaking of wrapping, is everyone ready for the holidays?  I'd like to send out some cards, but we'll see how far I get on that!  For now, I'm taking it slow as I recover from this procedure.  Back to work today and loving it!  Take care everyone, and as always, thank you for all your love and support!  Mark and I couldn't do it without you!

Cyndi

P.S. Had turned in for the night when I felt a trickle of fluid coming out of my mouth.  Sure enough - had a minior bleed.  Just had to get up and rinse my mouth out - didn't even pack it w/gauze!  Whew!

P.P.S.  Got a couple more photos from Celia, so wanted to add these on!  I'm glad she took the pix of me right after getting to the room and sent it to Mark.  Right away he told her I shouldn't have that purple tube on my trache.  I kept feeling the area, looking to cover the opening in order to be able to speak, but of course being out of it, I wasn't able to figure out what the heck was around my neck!  I didn't have my usual anesthesiologist (Wendy or Quinn), so I hadn't gone over what I expect to wake up to w/the anesthesiologist that was on duty.  No biggie - just happy I didn't struggle or feel like I had to sit up right away. Which I probably actually did - Dr. Yakes does an angiogram each time to "see" what's going on and this is the first time I have a lot of really dark purple bruising in the groin area from the angiogram.  Not painful or dangerous, so no problem.  The other photo is just me having fun w/the dry eraser board!
Oh!  Found out too that doc won't be going out of the country after all, so I'll get to see him in 5 weeks as I have been doing, instead of having to wait the extra few weeks putting me almost @ the end of January - which was kinda scary, since I always tend to have problems right before my scheduled embolization.  Whew!

Ok, I just had to throw this in! Aren't the pups just precious?!!