My Prince, My Partner, My Dream!

Happy New Year Everyone! Please be safe this holiday and even if you don't drink, be looking out for those who do!

This blog is dedicated to someone very special to me - the Birthday Boy himself ... my husband Mark, a/k/a St. Francis of Assissi! I never used to like New Years Eve, because there was always the pressure of having a date! Wouldn't you know that the man I married was born on New Years Eve?! Now, I have the best date ever!

I know I go on and on about how wonderful Mark is, but he really is amazing! I used to wonder when I would get married and to whom. I kept waiting, and hoping for the right guy to come along. He sure was worth the wait!

Before Mark and I got engaged, we sat down to have a talk. I told him about my health issues, but little did we know what we were really in for! We had no way of knowing things were going to get to this point! I've just got to highlight a little of what makes Mark the love of my life! Not only does he do lots of little romantic things on a daily basis, but when we have been faced with this crisis (the avm) he could have given up, but instead his faith gives him the strength to look after me! Mark assures me we will get through this together and he is not going anywhere!

When I'm in pain, Mark reaches out to me and takes my hand and says, "give me your pain honey"!

When I was in the hospital a few weeks ago, he got up extra early, fixed me a cappucino and surprised me with it by bringing it into the hospital room before he had to go to work! That meant so much! It was delicious too! He spent all his time that he wasn't @ work or asleep, with me in the hospital.

When I have these "bleeds" and my nightgown is covered in blood, Mark soaks my gown and puts Spray & Wash and that gown looks like new again!

When I'm having a bad day, Mark is right there for me with one of his wonderful hugs and it's all I need to feel better right away!

Marks company is all I need to feel like I'm @ the best party ever and we're the only two people invited!

No matter how bad I look or feel - Mark makes me feel so special and loved!

Mark is my Prince, so that must make me a Princess! Wow! Once this avm business is over with, I'll certainly feel like one! Here are a couple of photos of my darling husband! That cat is our youngest cat - Giovanni, named after an older gentleman that is a waiter @ the hotel we stay @ in Englewood, CO for my proedures! The other photo is Mark w/the newest member of our family - a little Brussels Griffon, 3-4 months old and he has no name yet! Can't decide on one!

Along with Dec. 31st being Marks 49th birthday - it is also my Uncle Luis and Aunt Betty's 49th wedding anniversary! Congratulations y'all!

Happy Holidays to everyone and again, thank you so much for all your love and support!

Hugs!

Cyndi Schuman

P.S. Don't forget! We head out for procedure #31 next week!

Final Chaper of ... My Sister, my friend

Hi Everyone!

I am finally getting around to finishing the final "chapter" of my last embolization trip to Denver in November! That was the trip Celia went w/me on and it turned out to be a week hospital stay instead of the usual over night! I've come to learn that 95% of Dr. Yakes patients get sent home the same day as their embolization - but since my avm is facial and extensive, it's best that I'm kept overnight! That week in the hospital took a lot of my time I might have been holiday shopping! To boot, I ended up having to go back into the hospital those 4 days here locally, so there went more time I could have been shopping or enjoying the holiday season! Darn! Oh well.
Here is the photo we've all been waiting for! The sister photo! My sister Celia had been trying to "edit" the photo, as she thought it was too dark.

Also, I want to include a photo of my two bears, Saba and Rulon! Saba goes with me to work every day and to all my doctors appt.s! I get so many comments on them both, so they are a nice distraction from my avm! I have fun dressing them differently - they make me happy, so I enjoy having them around!

Oh! I want to send a "shout out" to Dr. Zane, my ENT here locally! He is very supportive of avmers - I had given him Shalon's web site address once and he looked it up and had liked her site! I recently had an appt. to see him and know he was going to try and check my blog out!

Well, I am heading out to my next embolization Jan. 6,7 & 8th - and this time Mark will be coming with me! With any luck, we'll have a few minutes to spend with Shalon and her husband Josh while we are up there!

We hope everyone is having a great holiday season! I will certainly try to blog again sooner this time - as Marks birthday is New Years Eve! Catch up w/all of you soon!

Love,

Mark & Cyndi

Hospitalized yet again!

Hi Everyone!

Thanks for tuning in! I need all of you so much and appreciate your love, prayers and support - that gives me the strength to go on! I'm thinking of you especially David Miller! Lets see ... where did this latest adventure start ..., Oh yeah, last week I was having a hard time keeping my pain level under control. I knew I needed to get in to see the doctor, and the soonest I was given an appt. was the following Tuesday with Tammy, Dr. Boyntons Phys. Asst. Tammy is great and she loves seeing my little Saba when I have an appt. Come Monday I was desperate to get in to see the doctor and called the office and was lucky Dr. Boynton had a work in that morning. I didn't know whether the small amount of puffiness under my left eye and the pain in my ear area (that little "flap" above the earlobe was soooo tender - ouch!!!) was being caused by a stubborn infection that wouldn't go away or what! All I knew was I needed help and relief immediately! Dr. Boynton gave me a choice of starting w/oral antibiotics or admitting me to the hospital and getting IV antibiotics which of course would be the quickest way to get things going! Mom had come with me to this appt. and I had my two bears, Saba and Rulon and I have to say say that Tammy stopped by the exam room I was in just to see Saba and she had not met Rulon yet! Most of the doctors staff commented on my darling furry kids! Anyway, back to my story! Mom and I had lunch and I went home, took a shower and packed a bag and headed to Dr.'s Regional to be admitted. Mom had gone home to get her crocheting and stayed with me until Mark was able to get to the hospital after work. So of course the fun began with IV's and blood work - the nurses and lab tech were good - just one try with no problems! Mark stayed w/me very late and finally went home. I was sleeping when I felt something on my neck and I could not believe I was having a bleed! I had not had a bleed since being back from Denver! I immediately pushed the call button for the nurse that got to me right away and I know the amount of blood she saw must have freaked her out. In seconds my entire nightgown was covered in blood and I kept telling her I needed a mirror to pull the dressing off so I could see where the blood was coming from and put pressure right on the area. Normally when I have a bleed, I go get a mirror, take the dressing off and put pressure where I'm bleeding. Unfortunately, I was hooked up to the IV and could not get up and away from the bed to help myself! The nurse called for help and I called Mark - we live a few blocks from the hospital so he was there right away! The nurse kept putting pressure on the area with a towel and that was almost getting that blood in my eye! I finally got the nurses to listen to me and get the mirror I had in my wound care bag. I removed the dressing and a big flow of blood was coming from the top part of the wound. Usually when I have a "bleed" the arterial flow is a thin stream of blood, like the size of the end of a pin. This time it was a thick flow and we know that area had some puss (probably due to the infection, and the area was painful) so since it was a weak spot .... therefore the bleed. Anyway - I held pressure on my face w/a towel until Mark got there and got everything under control. I know the nurses were looking out for my best interest, but one nurse said she wanted Mark to spend the night and move me to ICU where I could be watched better. Well, unfortunately of course, if I'm in ICU there is no where that Mark could sleep - so instead it was decided that I would stay in my room and a nurse was called in to sit next to the bed and watch me all night to make sure I didn't bleed again! By the time all that happened, it was already almost 2am and we all agreed Mark just needed to go home. I know I woke up about 3am and was talking to the nurse (it was a nice male nurse) and I slept some. Every morning Dr. Boynton would check in on me and I kept asking whether the blood test were showing an infection and it just seemed I never really got a definite answer! Mom stayed with me all day and she kept telling me to just rest, I kept yawning and my eyes were tearing from needing sleep, but I kept figeting and felt like crawling out of my skin! The nurse finally had to give me some Xanex, and one dose didn't help - a few hours later she gave me more and I finally slept some. It was decided that after that major bleed (the only one worse has been the one I had in San Antonio over the summer) I needed a transfusion again - 2 units. Of course that meant another IV in the other hand!

I thought of you again David, and how you eased my fear of having my first transfusion! All along this time, I had to keep asking for pain medication because it was just not being controlled! When I was in Colorado during that week I was @ Swedish, I had asked Justin (male nurse) how he was keeping me pain free so I could follow a similar schedule. He was nice enough to write it out completely, along w/drawing a chart and all. I gave a copy of that to the nurse here ... but oh well. The nurses were very nice and I know I'm just a rare case that baffles most medical staff.

Speaking of medical staff, I would periodically call up to CO to ask questions and seek help/answers! Dr. Yakes nurse Julie called and was very sorry to hear I was having a set back. I asked her if this would ever really, really be over for me one day, because I was just not believing it @ this time! I wanted to know whether she felt Dr. Yakes would be able to completely get rid of this AVM! She assured me that Dr. Yakes would be able to help and that he was very pleased with my progress ... and are you ready for this?!? Julie went on to say, that Dr. Yakes felt we were 8O% done! WOW! Now I'm not going to hold him to it - but just hearing a ball park figure of where we're at was wonderful to hear!!! Course once Dr. Yakes is done w/me, then Dr. Snively (Plastic Surgeon) will do his part and I have no idea how many reconstructive surgeries I'll need with him! Going back to Julie though - she felt I should not have had that embolization while I was in CO since I had already gone through so much w/the infection.

Then Rhonda (Dr. Yakes Phy. Asst.) called and we talked about all I had been going through. She felt like I did need to have that embolization, even after having the infection, because it's very important that we keep ahead of this avm and not let it get ahead of us! In all reality, Dr. Yakes would like to see me every 4 weeks (Shalon goes once a month!), but I'm doing good to get there every six weeks because that is when that darned avm reminds me, "I'm Here"! Rhonda agreed that since I was on steroids most of the time I was in the hospital this past time - the combination of the steroids and antibiotics is probably what I needed now. So, she was concerned about stepping on Dr. Boynton's toes, but I assured her he is a fantastic person and I felt he just wanted whatever is best for his patient! When Dr. Boynton wrote the prescription for the steroids, he gave me 10 mg. but I need the wompa steroids @ 20 mgs! Rhonda had already told me she would not be available the next day due to a class or something she needed to take, but she would have Eric, Dr. Yakes other Phy. Asst. call me. Eric is super nice and he did call and he too was concerned about overstepping on Dr. Boynton, but I assured him I felt Dr. Boynton would appreciate their input. Eric ended up calling in the steroids I needed. Dr. Boynton wanted to keep me one more day, but I pleaded to be able to go home! I had already been on the required 3 days of IV antibiotics, so knowing I had steroids too - I was anxious to have IV's and needles out of my arms!!! The lab tech came to take blood @ least 4 times if not more! I kept telling them it's no wonder I need a transfusion, y'all keep taking more of my blood!

Oh! I almost forgot! Wed. after work, Mark had gone to HEB grocery store to get a couple things I had asked for and ran into our friend Pauline Foegelle! She said we had been on her mind and Mark filled her in on where I was. She had invited Mark over for dinner, but Mark thanked her and told Pauline that most of his time was spent w/me in the hospital. When she got home, she told her husband Keith about running into Mark and he too said we had been on his mind. Keith calls me @ the hospital and asked if it was ok to come by and bring us dinner! Wow! Talk about nice! It was a cold night out and I kept telling them it wasn't necessary - but they wouldn't take no for an answer and we are so glad too! It was great seeing them and hearing about how their daughter Mary is doing! I always know how old she is, because she is in our wedding video in a baby carrier a few months old! So, on December 19th we celebrate 16 years of marriage and I want to say Marys birthday is in August or September when she turned 16! Not only did they bring dinner, but cookies, candy and the cutest little stuffed dog in a Santa Suit that plays (or barks) "We Wish You a Merry Christmas"! They really cheered us up just chatting about what all everyone had been doing lately!

Markie Poo Hoo came by to see me - brought a pretty arrangement of carnations in a Christmas sleigh! I told him his hug and kiss was the best medicine ever! He's a doll and right now he is having his own surgery for a deviated septum. Poor kid, can't breathe through his nose! Davis is on his way home from College Station today, so some time this weekend I hope to see both of them! Mom wouldn't let me go to see Markie before surgery since I just got out of the hospital myself.

Celia & Gregs friends The Satoris' sent a vase of white carnations with pine and fir. Mom brought me a beautiful and fragrant red rose from her garden, and Greg just stopped by with some goodies for me from the girls @ the office! I got some chocolates and munchies and Saba got 2 outfits and Rulon got one too! Mom & Vicente's friends came by while I was in the hospital, Pam and Gene - Jim knows Gene! Also Helen and Joe Lee also came by with a lovely get well card for me - they are dear friends of the Morins that all spend time playing Mexican Train and just enjoying each others company! Mom Schuman called this afternoon to see how I was doing - that was so sweet! They were heading out to Dianes to see her son Matthews girlfriend graduate from college! I told Mom Schuman maybe she could send a photo or two our way from the event and she was glad I reminded her to take the camera!

So I was finally sprung from Dr.'s Regional by 4pm Thursday - yesterday! Once I got home, I waited for Mark to get home from work - poor guy, he had to go 2 different places to pick up prescriptions, plus the medical supply place I get my wound care supplies since we needed some Tegaderm! I took a shower once he was home and put on some comfy jammies while Mark made a big pot of chili and cornbread to go with it! Unfortunately I couldn't eat too much of it - I have some discomfort on the inside left part of my mouth that hurts with that chili sauce. Darn! Luckily chili freezes well! Both Mom and Celia had brought me good books to read, so last night I felt like I was in heaven ... sleeping in our wonderfully comfortable bed w/my husband next to me, something good to read and NO IV's ANYWHERE! Whew! Am I long winded or what? Well I want y'all to feel like you are right there with me and I love to write! You know before getting that transfusion, I was just dragging and telling Mom that I didn't know how much more I could take! I know when most of you see me I'm upbeat, but I do have my down times and this last hospital visit was definitely one of those times I just felt like it was too hard to be cheerful! That's the reason you won't see but probably one photo (Mark only took 2) and he hasn't had time to download them on to the computer from the camera!

So there's my story folks! I'm feeling better - still not sure why my eye was puffy - I know the avm is blocking my inner ear where maybe the puffiness is coming from fluid build up - even though I have a t-tube in my ear to help w/drainage. I don't know - I just want to be able to keep my pain under control and not have a bleed!!! I really think that bleed was just due to that area being too moist and that avm has a mind of it's own! I do know how blessed I am that not only do I have my immediate family here in town doing all they can for me, but also my brother-in-law Jim and his wife Shelley have been very supportive and concerned. They sent me a lovely Get Well card in the mail! My in-laws Doris and George have been praying, along with Schumans and friends up in Ohio and Indiana and all over the U.S.! Lots of Fossums (my brother-in-law Greg) are also very concerned, his brothers Mike and Terry and their mom, Pat and some of his family in South Dakota! My moms family in Oregon and Washington and of course all our wonderful friends here! If it weren't for all of you and our faith to give us strength - Mark and I could not do this on our own! We need all your prayers and the combination of medical teams here and in Colorado! Let's look forward to the end of this avm business, ok?

Oh! As always - if you have a moment, please keep up with my new BFF Shalon! She has so much interesting information on other AVM-ers, plus all her own adventures! You can get to her web site from mine, or go to http://sites.google.com/site/shalonsavm/Home - you can read about all her trips to CO and she puts great medical information on there! Plus, as an added bonus - you must visit her new blog site - that is where she has information on other people that have avms and Shalon just always has cute stuff on herself on there. She, like me, also has an amazing husband that is extremely supportive and loves her so much! Joshua is super nice! You know one of the nurses was telling me that Mark looked so tired when he came in one day and they asked him if he wasn't getting enough rest. He responded with, "I can't sleep alone without my wife"! That's why I wanted Dr. Boynton to release me and not keep me that extra day - I needed to get home to my wonderful husband that I missed so much! Ok! I've gone on long enough! Thank you everyone! We love you all!

Mark and Cyndi Schuman

I'll try and post a photo later tonight!

My Sister ... (Chapter 2)

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! Wow - we made it home for the holiday! Our family here kept worrying about whether we would make it home in time for Thanksgiving - we kept telling the PA's and nurses @ Swedish to set extra places @ the table for us! I still can't believe I'm home! Can't kiss Mark - since my bottom lip is extremely swollen!

The great news is - I think I finally stopped oozing, so I don't have to keep dabbing that area anymore. You cannot imagine what a relief that is - that was getting old, keeping an eye on that to make sure it didn't create another wound! Whew!

Thought you might enjoy some more photos of our confinment @ Swedish! Take Care!

Love,

Cyndi

P.S. Justin was absolutely the best nurse I had on the 4th Floor! He is one of those people that love their job and do it well! Celia still has a couple photos that I would like to share - but we'll do that later! Courtney was also a great nurse - she was very easygoing! Then of course once I was moved to the 6th Floor, (Monday) I got to see Saba! She always asks for Mark! I also had another excellent nurse on this floor that I had had before - Dave! He was on my "dream team" my first emboization - sorry didn't get a photo!

My Sister, my Friend - Chapter One (chapter)?

Greetings to everyone!

As some of you know, I was scheduled for an embolization last week @ Swedish Medical Center in CO and that Celia would make the trip with me! I was excited about our trip because I knew we would get to see Shalon and Celia had been wanting to meet her! Shalon also sees Dr. Yakes and Dr. Reed for her facial AVM! We arrive in Denver in the morning, got our car rental and then shopped and had lunch. Normally I see Dr. Reed the day I arrive, but for whatever reason, he was not able to see me.

We finally go check in @ the hotel and found the room was very hot inside! We called the front desk to have someone check it out. Anyway, all night, I felt like my ear "drained" some and I was just not feeling my best! Celia tried to hurry the next morning to get ready so we could get to the hospital as soon as possible! I have a high pain tolerance, but turns out that I had a fever as well and I was just miserable! The ladies in Admissions were shocked to see me crying when I walked in, as I'm always upbeat! Anyway, I get an IV put in once I'm in Ambulatory Care and "wait" to see what is going to happen. I felt so rotten, I didn't even want to hold Saba or anything. Turns out since I had a fever - that my procedure was canceled! That was fine by me - I was very anxious about finding out why my left eye gets puffy! After being admitted, Dr. Yakes ordered me having an ultrasound and a CT Scan of my avm area.

Dr. Reed - Head of Voice & Swallow Inst. (that I didn't get to see @ his office the day before) came by my hospital room the next morning and did an exam. Yeah, that long scope up my nose (twice!), so I told him, "I don't like you anymore Dr. Reed"! So @ this point, we know I won't have a procedure, and the doctors have not agreed on what is causing my puffy left eye! I was put on some IV Antibiotics and was told I would not be let go without first finding out what the problem was. Which is just as well - no one here ever wants to touch me here in town because of the AVM!

Celia was glad to know that @ least I was in the right place to find out what the heck was going on! Our plans changed so completely - but there was nothing for us to do but listen to the doctors! We of course had to give up our return flight for Thursday evening. I kept thinking of more days w/the car rental and hotel too!

Since two days of IV antibiotics were not improving my look, Dr. Yakes group decided to send in the big guns. The doctor for Infectious Disease and Control came in and checked out the situation. He suggested a different and much stronger antibiotic and said we would have to stay another few days! I just burst into tears - I wanted to go home! Celia and I knew I had to be there - but that sure didn't make it easy to hear it! We missed our families! Meanwhile, the lab came by to draw blood on @ least 4 occasions because of the wompa antibiotics I was on - making sure they weren't hurting my liver or something! Do you know the whole trip I had 11 needle sticks? Five of those were IV's! Yikes! Oh! Mark reminded me - that with the groin stick for the angiogram - that would bring the needle sticks to a dozen during this trip!

Finally, we were seeing an improvement in my puffy eye and at least had some answers, but not the one we wanted - when can we go home!

Poor Celia, stuck watching me getting stuck w/needles was no fun for her either! She never once complained - she brought in almost every meal - as the hospital food was terrible! Celia had to get us some essential items @ Wal-mart since we had only packed for an overnight trip and this turned into a complete week in the hospital! She really cheered me up by putting up a poster of "Edward" from the movie TWILIGHT on the wall of my room! We were going to see the movie when it was released, but no one was releasing us from the hospital! We kept getting comments on it - most of the nurses had either read the book or had seen the movie! Celia got us some Rook cards, so I taught her to play Hand and Foot. Once we knew we were stuck for a few days, we made the best of it! See photos! She bought me a pink nightgown and even some cute clothes for my bears!

Did I mention that on some mornings it was 27 degrees and Celia had to scrape ice off the windshield - that is not the norm for us in S. Texas! I never left the room once I got in the hospital, so I didn't share in some of the "fun" she was having! There is a Greek restaurant that she brought in food from - also from Ricos Pizzeria - yum! Whole Foods Mart also became a frequent stop for food - it's not far from the hotel.

Ok, back to the miserable part were were experiencing. I wanted my dressing changed on my face because I had been wearing the same one already a few days. I could just tell that some of the nurses would not know what to do, so I got them to page the wound care therapist @ Swedish that has helped me before. Well, I had a bleed while she was trying to change it out! I was sooo disappointed in how that was done! One of the nurses got scared when she saw all the blood on a towel that the therapist was using to stop the flow of blood. By the following day, I told Celia that between she and I we would change my dressing better on our own. We were eating lunch, when ... you guessed it! Another bleed! The nurse on duty that day was impressed @ how quickly I got it stopped. We got all my supplies and got it redressed! Whew! I had been put on the Cardiac Floor as that is the only room that was available! Last time I had an embo - I stayed in recovery because there was no room! I had asked if a room came open I wanted to be moved to where more of the nurses had experience w/Dr. Yakes patients!

I knew Shalon was in the area - she was arriving the day I was to be discharged. I called her on her cell phone and she said she would stop by w/her sister Taryn before going to see Dr. Reed! Well, right before she stopped by, is when I had that bleed! See photo of Shalon and myself!

I want to say it was that night, that Dr. Yakes P.A., Rhonda came by and said since I was doing so much better as far as the puffy eye and no more fever - to get more "bang for my buck" I should go ahead and have a procedure in the morning! We opted to go for it - because if I hadn't, then I would let the avm get ahead and we're the ones that need to keep ahead of it!

Monday morning, I was moved to a room on the 6th floor, so my tech got to be Saba! See photo of Saba w/namesake! I would be taken to OR right from my room and then brought back there after the embolization. Rhonda said she would suggest to Dr. Yakes that he go easy on me due to my trauma I just had w/the puffy eye. No, he goes there and hits me with 22 cc's of alcohol! I heard I lost 10 cc's of blood during the procedure. I remember being in recovery and Dr. Yakes stopped by my bed and asked how I was, saying I was his sweetheart. Dr. Yakes was telling this to Rick (my favorite Recovery Room Nurse) who also claimed I was his sweetheart. Ok guys, I know what you're doing! One hits w/the ammunition and the other has to soften the blow! I could not have endured this much alcohol after what I'd already been through, if Rick hadn't been right there for me! He is very conscientious of my comfort level, thirst and pain level! Thanks so much Rick - you are awesome!

So ... back to the room and I still couldn't believe how much alcohol Dr. Yakes used! My eye was completely swollen shut (here I had just gotten it open from the trauma I had just got through w/the skin infection)! Did I forget to tell you that Dr. Yakes also did an angiogram - he usually does that every 3rd visit, but I just had it done last time! That means haveing to lay still in bed w/out bending my leg @ all until they tell me I can get up!

So, since I'm usually kept overnight for observation, I knew we could leave in the morning! Celia goes back to the hotel for the night. In the morning, she repacks everything, gets my prescription(s) filled and then comes to pick me up! We head out to return the car rental and catch their shuttle to the airport. We had just gotten off the shuttle when it took off w/my carry on bag! Yikes! Celia was able to get it back - so we went inside and started trying to get through security! We were flagged because our tickets had been purchased so quickly and only one way. We were dying to just get on the plane and get home - not having to have all these special screenings! My face is oozing some alcohol from an injection site, and if I don't keep dabbing it, it will burn a new wound in the area! With all that to worry about, and Celia making sure I'm ok while she carrys 2 totes from Whole Foods, my carry on and her purse, plus my eye shut - I just wanted to stop the insanity! So... finally, finally we have landed in Houston, where by the way we had to switch airlines, so we got them to ride us around in one of those carts - otherwise there was no way to make it w/all our junk! Had to go through security once more! Not too bad this time. Couldn't believe when we actually landed and had arrived in Corpus Christi! As we deplaned, I bumped my chest into the seat in front of me or something, and one of the lenses popped out of my glasses! Never did find it, so now I have to go get some new frames! I just wanted to be home with my husband for some love and comfort after our ordeal! I was happy to see all the Fossums be there for my sister Celia! It was great to see her boys and of course Greg! Mom and Vicente made it to the airport w/my Mark as well!

I remember laughing w/a co-worker a while back, about those items @ the store, about items that said, "My sister, my friend" - and wondered whether I would one day be @ that place, feeling that way about Celia. Well, I can honestly that day finally arrived after so many years. I told Greg never to underestimate his wife - she was a real trouper for me when I was so miserable and kept everything together! That was one tough procedure we didn't anticipate, but we made it! The longest week of our lives it seemed - but we did it! Thanks to all of you with your prayer, love and support and of course the Grace of God - we made it!

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone! I have a lot to be grateful for so .... goodnight!

Cyndi Schuman

Embolization time!

Hi Family and Friends!

How is everyone? I'm almost ready to leave again for Colorado! This time, Celia will accompany me! In fact, we will try to hook up with Shalon and her sister Taryn! Shalon arrives the day we leave - but we'll have time to see each other for a bit! We'll definitely take pictures and share them with all of you!

Celia and I leave early on Tuesday morning and arrive in CO mid morning. I can't wait to get there - I have been in a lot of pain lately and the area under my left eye is back to being puffy again! My favorite part of the trip is being wheeled in to surgery and being put "under" - that way I feel no pain and just get some good rest! Next thing I know I'm waking up in recovery and hoping I see my nurse buddy Rick! If he's there - I've got it made in the shade! He will go above and beyond to make sure I am comfy, cozy and pain free!

I usually see Dr. Reed (the head/neck doctor)the day we arrive, but for whatever reason, my appt. w/him was canceled! My procedure will be the following day - Wednesday, @ Swedish Medical Center of course. I get booted out of the hospital the following morning - Thursday! About the time I'm being ousted from the hospital, is when Shalon will be arriving - so we're hoping to meet for lunch somewhere - before we have to return the car rental and head for the airport! Our flight leaves @ 5pm, but we need to be there @ least 2 hours before our flight leaves! I'm already missing Mark and I haven't even left yet! Sniff, sniff, boo hoo! I'll be talking both the kids with me, Saba and Rulon! Between Celia, the kids and a good book, I should survive missing Mark so much! Never mind the needles, alcohol and whatever Dr. Yakes has in store for me, huh? I love the whole group up there in CO - so I know I'm in good hands! Thank you everyone, for all your prayers and support! Love and hugs to Lupe from choir! I just spoke w/her this evening, she is a dear friend that keeps us in her daily prayer, as do so many of you! All of you should be proud to say you are a big part of a very special journey! Just think how wonderful it will be when it's all over and we can all say we did it together! Much love to all!

Cyndi

P.S. I'm putting in a photo of my little Saba - she is such a doll and I get so many compliments on her!

Here we go again!

Hi Folks! I can tell you now that this won't be a humorous blog, just a boring, factual one! Late Saturday night I had a bleed. Nothing major, because the surgicel stopped it. Enough though to get blood on my neck and around the neckline of my night shirt! Had a long day @ work on Monday - came home, got comfortable and in bed to get some rest! As usual, if I sit still too long, I'll fall asleep (due to so many meds that make me drowsy), so I woke up @ 745pm to the phone ringing. It was Mark and he was @ the grocery store wanting to know if I needed anything. He got home and I ended up watching TV in the living room, trying to catch up w/some shows on the dvr, and fell asleep! By this time, Mark was in the bedroom, and I woke up and felt that my neck was damp. I could feel the back of my hair was a little sticky, so I knew what that meant! I went to look in the bathroom mirror and sure enough - I could see on my wound dressing that I was having a bleed! UGH! I went to get Mark, we got the wound care bag and got the dressing taken off. Yup - a stream of blood was coming out! I was trying to put pressure on the area, but not before I got blood all over the front of my nightgown! Mark put some surgicel on the area that was bleeding and got it stopped! Got myself cleaned up and my nightgown soaking and Mark redressed the wound. Each day the area below my left eye is getting puffier too. If I can just get through the week, it's almost time for another procedure next week! I'm really hoping I won't have a bleed @ work or on the plane en route to Denver, like what happened during our last trip! This trip I will be accompanied by Celia! As always, all your prayers and well wishes are appreciated!

Cyndi