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

Checking in!

Hi Family and Friends! I had to blog one more time before our next trip to CO soon! I've had lots on my mind the last couple of weeks - have been having problems w/a puffy lower left eye (see photo) and fighting that infection and keeping my pain under control! I think I mentioned in the last entry that I went to see my primary care physician, Dr. Boynton and he prescribed Cipro for the ear infection I thought I had. A few days passed and I still had the puffy eye, so I contacted Dr. Hepworth in Colorado and he prescribed Cleocin (antibiotic) and Prednisone (steroid). A few more days go by and I'm worried that the eye isn't looking any less puffy! My fear was getting up there and having the doctor say he couldn't do the debulking while I had an infection! So when I called up to Hepworths office w/my concerns, his Nurse Mary said she would speak to him and call me back - so then I was prescribed some Augmentin like 875mg! That is finally helping, and I have a couple days left of the steroids! I'm anxious to see Dr. Hepworth so he can "clean up" my ear some of all the dryness and scabing - gross! I am really scared of how I'll feel when I wake up in recovery - don't want to be hurting and suffering too much like I have been lately! Yikes!

I have found some more birthday photos that I want to include! First, I don't think I had told you what my friend Dorinda from Houston sent me! I have a new favorite show called The Little Couple - it's a reality show about two vertically challenged people (Bill and Jen) that are newlyweds! Bill has his own business and Jen is a Neonatologist (sp?) @ a hospital in Houston! Well, Dorinda has a friend whose daughter works on The Little Couple show, so she managed to send me a wonderful surprise for my birthday! Dorinda wrote a letter to Bill and Jen, along with a photo of me telling them what a fan I was and would they sign my birthday card that she enclosed! So they did and sent back an autographed photo too! Very cool - I loved it!

Here is a photo of me with my sister Celia and her husband Greg - they generously hosted my party @ their house! I wanted to add a photo that looks similar to one you've seen - but my nephew Mark looks so good, I had to post it! Here is a picture of my Mark making those "Mark-a-rita's" of his! I get after him for looking the other way when he adds the tequila!

Here are a couple more photos of my Hanzie just because he's so darned cute! We took him out to Cole Park the other day and it was sooo windy! (Hanz is sporting a new "Lion cut" that Mark did, so Hanz has a "mane" that would blow in the wind!) It was good just getting out of the house and letting Hanz enjoy the outdoors! Do you know what is in that tote bag I'm carrying? Anything that my baby might need while we're out! Doggie treats, his bowl, a bottle of water for each of us, some poop bags, and some wipes in case he gets anything on himself! He's high maintenance like his mommy! Hey, you can never be too prepared! I miss him already and we haven't even left! You should hear Hanz when Mark leaves to run an errand - Hanz howls such a mournful sound! After Hanz does that a few times, he'll lay down on the floor and stare @ the door until Mark gets home! I try to distract Hanz by tossing around a favorite toy for him to chase and it works sometimes! Lucky for us, his Uncle Jim and Aunt Shelley love him and take very good care of Hanz while we are in Colorado! His cousins Emme, Ripley, Katy and especially Bessie do a great job entertaining my Hanzie while he's visiting! I have to add that Jim and Shelley's friends Linda and Buddy live on the same property and Linda and Hanz adore each other, so that makes feel really good too! When we get to Jim's, we pass by Linda and Buddy's place first, and sometimes they are sittnig outside on lawn chairs, so we stop to say hello. Hanz practically jumps out the window to get to Linda, he's so excited to see her! Jim and Shelley live out in the country and have a huge fenced in back yard, so Hanz gets to run freely with the wind blowing in his hair as he chases a ball or one of his cousins! Jim tells us Hanz comes in exhausted @ the end of the day - walks into his large, wide cage that he sleeps in and just plops down for the count! We leave one of our t-shirts in his cage, so he can have our scent near him. Hanz is used to sleeping between our two head pillows in our bed! It does my heart good knowing my baby is being so well taken care of and Jim gives us updates or Shelley will text us a message saying Hanz is fine - but I miss him sooo much, waaaaah! Oh well, I just take it a day @ a time and know that it will all be over soon enough!

Thanks so much to all of you that are so generously thinking of us in prayer and making us feel like we are not alone in this! My debulking surgery will be @ Swedish Medical Center, and my Mom is coming with us this time, which is wonderful so that Mark will have some added support while I'm under! Of course it's an added treat for me too, having Mom w/us! I really dislike worrying her over all of this and sometimes I think it's worse being home and NOT knowing what's happening, than to actually be there in CO with us! We rented a suite, so we'll all be staying together! I hear I will be kept in the hospital 2 days, instead of the normal overnight that I do for an embolization. I think we'll be staying an extra day in town before leaving the following day for our trip home!
We'll be in touch!
Love,

Cyndi

Latest on avm stuff

Wow, I can't shut up, huh? Ha, ha, ha! Once I start to blog .... it's hard to stop! No, I didn't want to ruin my birthday blogging with avm stuff! Originally, Dr. Hepworth wanted me to have the debulking done like April 17th or so, but I thought it was too soon after the last embolization where I felt I had been put through a lot, what with not being able to swallow for 4 days! So I had asked the doctors for a break, which they allowed. Meanwhile though, that means that I'll have the debulking done in early June (June 4th) and Dr. Hepworth wants me out of work for 8-9 days! I'm sure I won't want anything done to me after that - but I'll probably be needing an embolization very soon!

A couple weeks ago, I noticed my eye starting to get puffy. I HATE when that happens! So I called up to Dr. Yakes office and got a hold of Eric, one of his P.A.'s and Eric called in some steroids for me. Well, it brought down the puffiness under my left eye, but guess what? Yeah, the puffy eye is BACK! UGH! Not only that, but I spent all day yesterday in bed, feeling rotten and achey! I don't like not feeling well - poor Mark and Hanz having to put up with me!

I plan on calling my primary care physician tomorrow and hoping he'll call in an antibiotic for what I think I have - an infection! Seems like I'm forever on anti-biotics or steroids or BOTH!

Let's go back to the subject of debulking. My family and Mark all feel that this is what we've been waiting for the last six years - getting rid of the mass under my chin. It scares the heck out of me! I just can't help but feel that when Dr. Hepworth goes in there, that a massive amount of blood will gush out! I'm also afraid of what I'll feel like when I wake up in recovery! Well, let's hope I DO wake up .... the last couple times I've woken up in recovery I have felt pretty bad! The worst of course was when I had the trache - it was dark in ICU and my hands were tied down and my mouth was full of tubes. Not good. Then the last embolization I had, Dr. Yakes hit me pretty hard wanting to close off as many arteries as he could before Dr. Hepworth went in to do the debulking. I completely trust these doctors - they really know what they are doing... but still I worry. Dr. Hepworth says he will cut an oval "hole" under my chin and start getting rid of whatever needs to be taken out of there - tissues, old glue-like substance that other doctors had used to stabilize my avm and fluids. I hear I'm supposed to be in the hospital a couple of days - instead of the usual just overnight like when I have an embolization. There had been talk of possibly having a transfusion before the procedure - but Dr. Hepworth has decided I don't need to have that done here prior to the debulking. He says if I need a transfusion, they'll do it up there during the debulking I guess. Yikes! Ok, I don't want to sound like a big cry baby, and I do realize that other people are worse off and they don't have hope like I do - but after six years of procedures, I'M TIRED! Tired of not feeling well, of being in pain, bleeding and having IV's out the wazoo! I do have to say though that I have the most wonderful family that is completely devoted to my well being! Especially my husband Mark, he truly is an angel! Every once in a while it strikes me that I am so blessed to have this man as my husband! That this is really forever! I want all this avm stuff over with so I can go back to being Marks wife again! Mark is patiently waiting for that as well!

My left ear is all corroded (sp?) and when I put antibiotic ointment on it, no matter how I try, my hair gets stuck to it. I used to tell one of Dr. Yakes former P.A.'s, Rhonda, that I just wanted to shave my head! My hair always seemed to get in the way of what was going on w/my avm! I really dislike having to sleep with that mist cup on my trache at night. That darned thing sounds like an air compressor! I won't miss any of this when it is all said and done! It feels good to get that all out of my system! I do realize that I have a lot to be grateful for, but sometimes I just can't handle all of this gracefully! Thanks for listening and for all your love, prayer and support!

I'm gonna go get a bag of candy corn, my book I'm currently reading and enjoy some quiet time before Mark and Hanz get back from Petsmart! Take care y'all!

Love you!

Cyndi

Part II - Cyndi's B-day Party!

Hi again!

Here's hoping I won't have any more problems posting pictures! Let's try one right now! It will be a close-up of the dice Mark made for me!

Course I wanted to have a picture of myself with my sister Celia and with my Mom! Isn't my Hanzie cute?!

Mom gave me a photo album filled with pictures of me as a baby and through the years! I really liked it a lot! She also gave me a very pretty knick knack box that looked as if it was made of stone - and the lid was ornate and has a gold cross on it and the word Love off to one side. Inside the box was a check to cover what I owe the doctor that will be doing the debulking in June! Yehaw! We have soooo many medical bills - but this one needed to be taken care of asap! Thanks mom!

Got a call from my brother-in-law Tom, from Ohio! He and his family had already sent me a card in the mail, but it was so nice to hear from him on my birthday!

Mark got me a beautiful birthday card that I read out loud and almost started crying, especially when he wrote that he and Hanz love me so much! Wow, aren't I a lucky girl?! Oh! Wait till you see the cake Mark baked for me! I had seen this pan and really liked it and talked Mark into getting it! This was the first time he used it! It was sooo good too! Mark made some buttercream frosting and then added the candy sprinkles on top! Cute, huh? Also I'm sure by now you've noticed the tiarra I'm wearing in some of the photos - that was Celia's idea!

Greg helped scoop out some ice cream to go with the cake! Celia and Greg opened up a nice bottle of wine, so we had that and played some farkle! Of course I used my new dice that Mark made for me!

Here is a cute photo of my Mark and Hanz! Then we finally called it a day and loaded up the car with balloons, flowers and gifts! Everything was absolutely perfect! I had the most wonderful time, feeling very blessed and loved! I know there are more pictures out there, so be looking out for those! Take care!

Love to all!

Cyndi

My Birthday Party!

Hi Everybody! I've missed blogging and sharing everything with you! I'm finally taking the time to write and post photos of my 49th Birthday Party! It was so awesome - more than I ever expected and I had so much fun! Got lots of photos, so this may be a 2 or 3 parter so I can include them all! I know some may not get such a big kick out of this, but I want to share with everyone how much it all meant to me! I had originally told my family that I just wanted all of us to get together and have dinner - I didn't expect any more than that, because everyone has already been more than generous with all they do for us! I have to tell you that Mark was really excited about going to buy the meat for the party, because he would be using a gift certificate that the Fossums gave him to Moody's Meats last Christmas! We knew that certificate was somewhere in the abyss of our home, but as my birthday drew closer, Mark started turning the house upside down looking for it! The morning of my birthday, Mark had already decided to use an "old" certificate to the same place that maybe had like $35 still left on it and he would just pay for the rest. Mark was already fixing to go get the meat and decided to look in one more place and guess what?! HE FOUND IT! Whew! Talk about close!

A few days prior, I was surprised by my nephew Mark Fossum, when he showed up @ my job with a vase of beautiful pink roses! Let me tell you, my co-workers all admired the flowers and one even said that she hoped her nephews would remember her on her birthday when they were Marks age!

So I took those flowers with me when we left to go to the Fossums on the island! Of course Hanz came with us, as well as my Build A Bear, Saba! She had a party dress she had been dying to wear, so she looked really pretty! We arrived @ Greg and Celia's and I was amazed @ how wonderful their dining room was decorated! Streamers and balloons everywhere! Mark had told his mom Celia that I liked Hanna Montana, so there were some baloons with her logo on them! Marks girlfriend Alyssa helped him decorate, but unfortunately was not able to make the party due to a committment out of town! Mom had brought me a vase full of white roses and other flowers, my Mark brought me a vase full of very colorful flowers, like purple and my favorite color right now - lime green!

Celia was recently given a Margarita Machine for her birthday, so we were excited about giving that a good workout! We added a shot of Amaretto to the margaritas and got the party going!

The guys were outside making sure the beef tenderloin was cooked to everyones liking, along with bacon wrapped shrimp stuffed with cream cheese and jalapenos! A variety of vegetables were also grilled - yum!

I got so many pretty cards in the mail from family and friends! It seems the theme was flowers and butterflys! I appreciated so many people that remembered me on my birthday! Thank you! I just have to tell you about some of my gifts because they have special meaning for me! I think the most special gift came from my nephew Mark! Our family likes to play a game called Farkle (some grew up knowing this game as Ten Thousand, because that's how many points you need to win)! Mark has been working with his dad Greg @ the office - sometimes assisting him while Greg works on a patient, but mainly making crowns that used to be sent out to be made! Mark spent a lot of time making me some dice out of the stuff he uses to make crowns and he made six of them (how many you need to play Farkle)! I could not believe it when I opened the box! I thought it was the coolest thing ever!

Ok, I'm experiencing some problems with posting more photos, so I'm going to end this right now and start Part II of my birthday party, ok? Don't go too far, lots of good photos to come!

Cyndi