So far in 2017

As most, our house is hoping that this year brings new opportunities and great growth.  Who knew that not even 2 weeks into the year we would be be facing our biggest outbreak of illness.  Last week Mr. H had to call off 2 days of work for his illness.  Monday I had to call off work to take both boys to the doctor and they both were diagnosed with strep throat.  KK was so bad, he had a hard time walking and was shivering with fever for a good 24 hours (Caleb reacts very harsh to the strep virus).  ET only had a wet cough and low appetite. Both started their antibiotics, KK slept most of the day under our electric blanket. I kept them home from school Monday and Tuesday to allow the meds to do their thing.  In those 2 days I scrubbed and cleaned door knobs, handles, bedding, blankets, etc.  I wanted the illness to leave this house as fast as it came.  Wednesday, the boys went to school and we went to work.  While at work, I was cold, shivering, and couldn't get warm.  I hurt all over.  I didn't want to eat.  I took my temp throughout the day and it reached 100.8 at the end of the day.  I'm grateful I work with physicians, because I was able to obtain a prescription to start, which I got filled at the pharmacy at the hospital. But towards the end of my shift, I was useless.  I came home, took a scolding hot bath, turned the electric blanket up, took sleeping meds and went to bed.  Mr. H. didn't want to disturb me and went to bed on the couch that night.  I called my mom Thursday to ask if she could pick up the boys from school, which she agreed.  She was still dealing with insurance things from the tree.  When she came to my house after picking up ET from school in the AM, she was worried and stayed at my house until after she picked up KK.  She's such a good mom.  I was useless on Thursday too.  Friday, I was feeling worse, despite the antibiotics, I was useless.  I called my doctor and was prescribed something different.  After 24 hours on the new meds, I'm feeling 50% back to normal.  I'm sure I'll continue to feel better the longer I've been on the meds.  Throughout all of this, I feel that all Moms should have immunity from illness.  We are the glue of the family that somehow holds everything together.  I didn't realize how fast my kids make messes, or how high the trash piles, or how many dishes are used, or how dirty my floors are before I start to pick up the messes, take out the garbage, clean the dishes, or vacuum the floor.

I'm hoping that during 2017 we keep some of these resolutions:

• Continue towards being debt free
• Make healthy choices to live a healthy life and be active
• Make more memories
• Meet new friends
• Take chances and be more confident
• Reduce stress
• Have a garage sale
• Become organized
• Journal more

We shall see was 2017 has in store for us.  I'm hoping that this outbreak of illness will be our only for at least this year.  

Rough

As most of you know, I take care of a woman who is 109 years old.  She was pretty mobile, but recently she has become less mobile and has needed a lot of extra care.  I late November her son had a medical emergency and was admitted to the hospital, and between myself and another person we were providing around the clock care for Nannie.  In fact, the first day, I was working for 27 straight hours!  Most of the time it was 12 hour days everyday for about 3 weeks.  The decision was made that she was going to be placed in a Nursing home, but she never made it and died on the 18th of December.  109 YEARS OLD!  Can you believe that!?

Before Christmas break, we had a bit of a rough patch.  KK's throat started hurting (and he never complains about things like that!) and I called his school to tell them he was sick and took him to the doctor where he was diagnosed with Strep Throat and had to miss the next day of school, which he was upset about, but he needed time for the antibiotics to kick in.

The same day that I took KK to the doctor, after dinner my stomach hurt...I thought that I ate too much, and I went to take a bath.  I couldn't even get through the bath and I started throwing up.  I threw up about 10 different times that night.  I was sooo dehydrated and sick.  I couldn't even sip on water I would puke it back up, so I had to sip on ice cubes.  Mr H was so worried that he wanted to take me to the hospital...I knew all they would do is hook me up to an IV and push fluids.  I thought I would wait it out.  I don't think it helped that I was STILL nursing ET even though I was so sick!  Mr H tried to take care of ET, but he wasn't having it.  Mr H was up until almost 4am with him crying and screaming and only sleeping for 20 mins at a time.  I could tell Mr H was running thin so I took him and let him nurse and he was out for the rest of the night.  I was worried that I was going to get him sick, but prayed that he would be alright.  I was sick for about 5 days...I couldn't eat solids.  I tried once and I started puking again, it was TERRIBLE.

While I was trying to recover from being sick, I had noticed that ET was having trouble breathing and would wheeze at night.  He was very fussy during the day and it was very hard to handle when I was still feeling sooo sick.  So on Monday I took him to the doctor and he was tested for strep and RSV.  Strep was negative, but the RSV came back positive.  I panicked a little bit because all RSV babies that I have known they all have ended up in the hospital so I was worried.  I tried my hardest to make him comfortable during bedtime, propping him up on pillows, nursing him, holding him, rocking him, etc.  Eventually his wheezing concerned me and I took him back to the doctor and asked for a breathing treatment, which didn't really help, but I was told from the doctor that for an RSV baby he looked REALLY good and that I'm lucky that he's such a big baby, but it still didn't make me feel any better!

By Christmas we were all better, but for a couple weeks it was rough in our household.  I do want to give a little shout out to the wonderful friends I have...I was brought meals for 4 days so that I didn't have to worry about cooking!  I'm so grateful that I have close friends who love me enough to serve me when I needed it...and my family needed it too, cause we all know Mr H. would've made mac n cheese.

I was Awarded...

Before I go on about this award, I need to give some background information.  My family has a history of nosebleeds but I've only had a couple in my lifetime.  I could probably count on my one hand how many I've had, like the time my brother, RP, and I fist fought and he got my nose, once in the bathtub, and once during a 6th grade class.  Well, I guess that I have passed on that nosebleeding gene to KK because this is something we've been struggling with for a while, remember this?  Within 3 weeks he's gone from an occasional nosebleed to 2-3 nosebleeds a day!  Sometimes they are so bad that it takes 10-12 mins to stop them.  He gets them in the middle of the night, he got one when he bent down to kiss me, he'll be playing with cars and get one.  He sleeps with a humidifier, I've put vasoline in his nose, and he now takes allergy medication with no avail.  He's seen his pediatrician and she recommended him going to an ENT.

Today was the ENT appt.  KK was VERY nervous, he was so quiet in the car and mad that I was bringing him to a different doctor than his usual peds doc.  But he lit up once he saw all of the toys.  I'm glad that I filled out the paperwork earlier because we only had to wait about 15 mins.  KK's nose was professionally picked by the doctor and he also showed me the blood vessels that is causing the nose bleeds.  KK definitely has tons of them, on both sides.  Through the conversation with the doctor he asked me when I was due, and I told him less than 4 weeks.  And so he checked with his nurse/assistant and opened a spot in his schedule for KK to get his nose cauterized because he didn't want to postpone too long because the baby will be here.  This will happen next Wednesday morning at our local Children's hospital.  

When I talked to Mr H. about it and mentioned that KK would be missing his first day of school, KK started crying uncontrollably while I was driving.  I couldn't do anything to help him.  He told me that I was the worst mom because I made him miss the first couple of days last year when we were in AZ and now he was going to miss the first day this year.  So he's not happy with me.  I'm so mean and horrible.  It's been hard to explain to him that it's alright and not that big of a deal, but he's not having it.  He told me only if we went bowling he would feel better....ha, he's a sly one!  

I'm nervous for him to be put under general anesthesia, he's never had to be before and I'm hoping that he doesn't have any problems with coming out of it.  I'm just a nervous mom right now so any good thoughts and prayers would be welcomed!

Change of Pace

This week has been nice change of pace, not worrying about a schedule or homework/studying.  I have been focusing on getting my life and house in order.  We are planning on a family vacation to Disney World in the middle of May and there is nothing worse than coming back from vacation to a messy home.  So, room-by-room I have been spring cleaning and I will tell you something....it's so much harder to do pregnant.  I'm getting to the point where I have a hard time getting up off the floor and it's super hard to bend down to pick things up because of my hips/pelvis.  So, it's been a very slow process with LOTS of breaks.  I finally did get KK's room cleaned and toys moved out.  We've decided that KK won't be able to keep his toys in his room because we need to set up the crib and other baby things in there.  So a couple months ago Mr H. and I donated our couch and loveseat to Goodwill so we could convert the living room into KK's playroom.  So far the living room is a mess.  I need to go through KK's toys again and toss out the broken and yucky toys...He has SO many toys and things to play with!  He's spoiled rotten.

This week I got my hair dyed and cut.  It's like an auburn brown....I LOVE IT!

Rachel, Brenda, and I

This week I was also one of four bridemaids in a wedding for a great friend whom I met in my Nursing classes.  Her wedding was "May the 4th be with you!"  When she had asked me to be a bridesmaid, I was NOT pregnant and when I did find out I was pregnant I was afraid that she may not want me in the wedding because it might be hard.  She told me that the decision was up to me and I still wanted to be in it.  She picked out very pretty dresses that complemented everyone and that looked good despite the baby bump.  I was excited to support her on her awesome wedding day...and it was so much fun to watch people with one too many drinks in them.  And I was also able to see a lot of friends from my Nursing track.

Coming home from the wedding my mom texted to tell me that KK's tummy had been hurting and that he pretty bad diarrhea.  I called and talked to KK and asked if he wanted me to come get him and he did so even though it was very late and we were tired we went to go get KK from my parents.  By the time we got there he was sleeping.  When we got home Mr H. laid him in our bed while we got KK's sheets made (they had been washed but I hadn't put them on his bed).  KK asked if I could sleep with him, and how could I say no to my sick baby boy!?  So Mr H. decided to sleep in KK's room with Zero and I laid down with KK in my room.  We were up A LOT last night with his problem.  So we didn't even wake up in the morning until 10am!  KK seems to feel a little better today, he still has diarrhea, but a warm bath took care of his crampy tummy.

This week, we will be getting ready for our trip and I hope that I will continue to be able to blog about it...but something is telling me that I will be too tired each day...but there should be lots of pictures once we come back!

Stomach Pains

Today was not a productive day.  I had all intentions of studying and cleaning but that didn't happen.  I had a Dr. appt today to remove my IUD, but on the way there I had extreme stomach pain.  I'm not really sure what was going on, but it hurt!  The appt went well, I didn't feel it at all, which was a relief because I almost passed out when it was first inserted. 

When I was home I tried getting something to eat and my stomach just wasn't having it.  Any time I drank or ate anything my stomach had severe, sharp, cramping, pain.  Needless to say I have hardly eaten anything all day. 

KK tried jumping up and having me catch him but I told him that my stomach hurt and he said, "Maybe you're getting pregnant!"  I just started laughing.  He says the funniest things.

And BTW, I REALLY hope it's not my gallbladder...but that could explain my heartburn.  I don't have time for that.  Keep me in your thoughts though!

As swift as an Arrow

For a couple of weeks KK has had bloody noses everyday, sometimes twice a day.  I've been worried about him and meant to call the doctor about it, but always remember after the office closes for the day. 

During the week of July 30th KK took swimming lessons.  He has learned a lot and can swim in the deep end by himself, although, I never let him swim by himself yet...I have been so proud of him.  August 2nd was the last day of swim lessons and during his lesson, KK had a bloody nose, which reminded me to call his doctor right away for an appointment, which would be later that day. 

After swim lessons KK was very clingy and cuddly.  I just thought it was because the water was so cold and he was trying to warm up.  I thought the inside of the car would be warmer, I suggested to go in there.  He told me that he couldn't walk and needed to be carried...now he is a whopping 45 pounds, he's getting to the point where I can't carry him very much.  I made him walk! 

Once we got home he just flopped onto the couch. I thought his behavior was a little odd, but let him lay naked with a blanket covering him while I washed the dishes. He started moaning and saying that he didn't feel well, he felt hot to me. Soon after, he said he needed help to the bathroom. I fetched a bowl and I helped him onto the toilet. He had major diarrhea and I set the bowl down to steady him because he was very dizzy and that's when it happened...VOMIT all over me! Grateful for having a closed mouth, but vomit everywhere on me, the floor, and walls. Yes, THE walls! I was surprised for keeping my composure because I am a sympathetic puker.

After he finished vomiting, I started a warm shower and I placed him in there.  He couldn't stand.  He just layed there on the floor.  I washed him and myself as best as I could.  I let him stay in there until I was dried off and had clothes on.  I had to bend down to pick him up...and he's getting so heavy! 

 Since he was saying that he was so cold I tried dressing him up in long soft pants.  By the time I put those on him, he was asleep.  I didn't want to disturb him.  For some reason your parents bed/bedroom makes things feel better...nightmares or being sick, have you ever noticed that?

 Since I had the original doctors appt scheduled for them to look into the nose bleeds I decided to just take him in for this illness that came as swift as an arrow and see if the doctor could take a look at his nose.  I was so grateful that I made the doctor's appt earlier. 

My dad was borrowing my car because their car took a turn for the worst.  I had called Mr H. to let him know what was going on and to ask if he would be able to get off earlier from work to take us to the appt.  No Luck!  I called my dad because sometimes he is able to get off early and to my great surprise, he was actually off work!  I let him know what was going on and he was so concerned.  He came over right away with my car to help me out.  KK was also given a Priesthood Blessing.  I packed up the stroller to take to the appt so I didn't have to carry him, plus it would give KK a smoother ride, especially with an upset tummy. 

Dad drove, I stayed in the back to help with KK.  He had thrown up another 2 times before we headed to the doctors and again in the waiting room...luckily I brought the bowl.  Dad had called mom and told her what was going on, she left work and came right over to the doctor's office to help (you couldn't tell KK is loved, huh!?), she even offered to help me clean the bathroom.  I love my parents, I am so lucky.

KK threw up, yet again, before he saw the doctor.  If you're counting...that's 5 times in less than 3 hours.  KK had a throat swab and it was determined that he has strep throat.  I learned that strep throat comes on all of a sudden.  The doctor said that she suspected strep throat before she even saw him because of the sudden onset of symptoms.  I will have to take that little tid-bit of info and put it in my back pocket for another day!  Also, the doctor did look at his nose and it was found that KK has an extremely thin septum and it has lots of capillaries.  So anytime he picks his nose, bumps it, or thinks about a bloody nose...he will have one.  She told me that cauterizing actually thins his septum more and can risk a perforated septum.  She also said that as he grows hopefully his septum will too and that if his bloody nose lasts longer than 10 mins without starting to clot than go to the hospital. 

I am so grateful that I had that stroller because after vomiting 5 times, KK fell asleep and if it weren't for already being in the stroller I would have had to disturb him by picking him up, which could have made him throw up again and I didn't want that!  After the appt dad rode back with mom while I took KK home.  My parents picked up KK's prescription and popsicles for him.  I don't know what I would do without them!  Thanks mom and dad!  KK is much better now!

The Good, the bad, and the coyote ugly!

It's been a while since I've posted anything worth-while. Blogging has taken a back-burner while I am in school. I thought that I would do a little catching up by giving updates on everyone

KK: He LOVES that I have a summer break. We've gone to the pool quite a bit and he has a tan that would make anyone jealous. A few days ago he was eating spaghetti at Fazoli's and bit down and said his tooth crunched. It was his front lower right tooth...and it is very wiggly now. He'll lose that tooth soon, hopefully when we're in Virginia. I think it would be really neat for Grandma Lisa to be a part of that milestone. KK and I are traveling to Virginia for a few days to visit his grandparents.  It will be a nice vacation.  KK graduated from preschool last week. His teacher was awesome, she provided each of the students with a graduation video of everything they've learned in the classroom.  I am grateful that she was his teacher.  KK can't wait to start Kindergarten in the fall. 

My mom usually spent the night on Monday night during this quarter because my Tuesday morning was pretty difficult since I needed to be at the Children's Hospital at 5:55am.  Even though I did not have school this Monday (June 11) my mom came over anyway because KK really missed her.  And I am so thankful she came because soon after I got KK in bed he started yelling for me, I ran into his room and he was throwing up.  Now anyone who knows me knows that I am a sympathetic puker.  I can handle most everything else...but if you are throwing up I will heave as well and please don't ask me to clean it because I will blow chunks.  So thankful that my mom was here to help me, she took the sheets off and shoveled the chunky puke into the toilet, rinsed the sheets and pajamas off, and threw them in the wash while I took care of KK, washing up and brushing his teeth.  He said he felt sick again and needed to sit on the toilet.  I sat on the edge of the tub to let him lean on me, then he sort of fell asleep.  He just wasn't feeling well.  I'm not sure what upset his stomach but by Tuesday he was all better!

Me: School, family, and work basically consume my whole life...now it's just family and work.  I ended the last quarter with 2 high B's...no complaints!  Now I only have one more didactic semester left, then a semester long preceptorship, then I AM DONE!  I have this summer off which is a huge blessing.  I need to recharge my batteries.  Mr H. and I went to see Wicked on the 8th and I can't wait to see it again.  It was that awesome and that was the best Elphaba I have ever heard!  If you EVER get a chance to see it...go!  Plus, I was able to check it off of my List.  Another thing I got to check off was having a garage sale on the 9th.  We made hardly anything, but I can't wait to have another.  I am reading my heart out this summer...if you have some suggestions for books...please let me know in the comments.

Mr H.: Finished up his quarter with straight A's and is taking 5 weeks in the summer for another quarter of classes. He works hard fixing cars during the day and going to school at night. Mr H. achieved a bucket list item for himself on June 23rd. He is now a pilot! We are so proud of him...he's already taken AA and her boyfriend up.  They even were able to help fly it.  I, on the other hand, need more convincing! 

On another note, a family we know had a baby boy on June 11th (they thought it was a girl...BIG surprise, concidering her hubby is an OB/GYN). Their son has a heart defect and is in the children's hospital awaiting for surgery on the 15th. Well, on the 13th her father (baby's grandpa) had a heart attack that required open heart surgery. So she and her husband drove to Indiana to support him with that. Well, they have 2 dogs who needed to be fed and let out while they were gone. Mr H. volunteered right away. So he would go to their house before and after work. On the 15th, before work, he went there to let the dogs out and played with the dogs for a few minutes before walking them over to the pasture to do their business. Mr H. realized that there was a large coyote standing in the middle of the pasture and it started snarling at him and the dogs. The smaller dog chased the coyote into the woods along the pasture, which worried Mr H. because he didn't want their dog to get hurt. So he drew his handgun that he carries and went into the brush, which was pretty dense and hard to get through. When Mr H. got the dog to come back to him, the coyote began to approach them and when the dog was just a few feet away, the coyote charged them. Mr H. already had his gun pointed at the coyote and when it was about 20 feet away Mr H. fired a single shot that hit the coyote. It managed to stagger off while Mr H. got the dogs inside the house but he was certain it was a fatal shot. Mr H. got some long sleeves on and some boots (because of the massive amount of poison ivy) and tried to find it after he got off work later that day. He didn't find the coyote he shot but he did find a den with at least 1 more coyote in it (he let that one be since it wasn't posing a threat), the coyotes' water source, and the skull of a very large cat the coyotes recently ate. It turned out the coyote he shot had been stalking our friends for a couple of weeks and had gotten very brazen with its behavior. This really concerned our friends because they also have two young sons who are 5, which made it hard to let them play in the yard and pasture area. Mr H. was very glad that the coyote charged at him and not our friends or their children, because Mr H. was thankfully prepared for it.

Erythema Infectiosum

Erythema infectiosum aka "Fifth Disease" is a viral illness caused from Parvovirus B19 which affects children ages 5-15. The child appears with a rash on their cheeks "slapped cheek" and spreads down their trunk and extremities. They are most contagious before the rash appears once the rash appears they are no longer contagious. So more than likely KK picked this up from school. He never acted sick or had a fever so he went to school and probably infected more kids. But this is what the rash looked like on him.

Birthday Eve

Every Wednesday night Mr H. and I play Volleyball at church. Last week we didn't go because there was just too much homework for both of us and the week before that no one really showed up so we couldn't play. So this week we really wanted to go. There were only 6 people there but we figured 3 on 3 would do especially since our friend, Ben B., will be leaving for Afghanistan on Saturday so we all wanted to play before he left.

We played one game and were in the middle of another when Ben spiked it and I complained that he couldn't do that when there weren't so many people to dig for it. He told me that I could have blocked him [now you have to realize that Ben is probably at least a foot taller than me]. So I walked over and jumped, not thinking that I could even reach the top of the net and when I came back down I sort of landed wrong, very wrong. My ankle twisted and I experienced the most horrible pain. I tried to stand and walk it off but I couldn't even get 2 steps and had to lay down. This pain made me physically nauseous and shaky. I just breathed through it all the while thinking that that was dumb and feeling so stupid for getting hurt and ruining volleyball for the night. I didn't want to make a scene so I put on my brave face and tried standing and walking again. I made it to the car and just wanted to go home but Ben and his wife Bonnie wanted to bring us out for dessert [Ben felt bad about me getting hurt] at Bill's Donuts. The way to my heart is through pastries and donuts and pies. So while I ate the donut I almost forgot about my ankle until it was time to go and I had to walk on it. I was jumping out of my skin every time I put pressure on it, but again I put on my brave face until I got into the car, where every bump in the road hurt me.

Arriving at the big house to pick up KK I was able to receive a Priesthood Blessing from my dad, RP, and Mr H., blessing that my ankle was not broken and that it would heal fast. After the blessing I shuffled to the car while Mr H. got KK ready to leave. We stopped by CVS and bought an ACE wrap. I put the wrap on at home...remembering the RICE method, Rest, Ice, Compress, and Elevate. Took tylenol and went to sleep.

Sorry to those who hate feet [like me], but I had to take a picture

Can you tell which ankle is hurt?

I didn't have many problems sleeping with a hurt ankle but when I woke up in the morning to use the bathroom I felt like I was going to die! I felt fine sitting up, turning and letting my legs hang down over the sides of the bed, but when I stepped down and put pressure on my foot I jumped out of my skin. So I hopped to the bathroom, which isn't very far [probably less than 10 steps] and the pain was so bad that I felt like passing out. I got flush, sweaty, nauseated. I sat on the toilet [I was afraid to sit on the floor because I didn't know if I could get back up] and told KK to get me a bowl to throw up in. Now you have to understand I am the kind of person who HATES vomiting, I will swallow and swallow to keep it down so I sat for a while, gained my composure, used the restroom, washed my hands, asked KK what he wanted for breakfast, and hopped to the kitchen to make it. I got out the eggs, toaster, bread, pan, and butter. After that, I had to pull the chair over and sit down. The light headedness overcame me and I had to lean over the stove. I told KK to get me another bowl and I started heaving. KK's scared, he starts crying, "Momma don't die...momma we need to call 911." I really did feel like dying, I told him to grab my phone. KK's still crying I dialed Mr H.'s number and gave the phone to KK. I'm still hurling and KK's scared and crying, something Mr H. could not understand. He was crying so hard Mr H. tried to get him to calm down, to understand what he was saying. And finally KK said, "Momma's throwing up. You need to come home." Mr H. asked him if I told him to say that and he answered, "Yes." Mr H. asked KK to give the phone to me and at that time I had stopped throwing up and was horribly shaking. Mr H. asked if I was vomiting -- Yes! I told him I was in so much pain. He asked if he needed to take me to the hospital -- Yes!

Once he came home he got everything ready, KK's toys to play with, my purse, my phone, my make-up to put on in the car, and some other things. We headed out to go to the hospital stopping by the gas station first. At the hospital, they were busy and we waited a while. Luckily the pain had subsided so we took some pictures to document.

In pain still, but was happy to be seen

After some pain medicine

X-rays were taken and we were sent back into a room at 1:11pm. I asked if there was some crackers for KK or myself to snack on because neither one of us had breakfast. They said I couldn't have anything, just in case I needed surgery! Surgery!? Are you kidding? I can't have surgery...I don't want surgery! They grabbed a Popsicle for KK, but I know he was extremely hungry and I felt like a horrible mom for not feeding him...but I can honestly say that when I was in THAT much pain, I wasn't really thinking of him at that time. I was hoping he would just be patient and not get too grumpy. I also had some emergency snacks I keep in my purse that he devoured.

After the doctor took off the ACE wrap



We were waiting for a while for the Radiologist to read my x-rays and that made me nervous. I was thinking, "It's taking long because it's broken and I need surgery and their waiting for an ortho consult...crap!" Luckily I didn't think like that for long because the pain meds were kicking in and making me sleepy so I fell asleep. Until the doctor came in to tell me that nothing is broken...thank goodness! But I wasn't out of the clear yet. If my ankle isn't healing within this week and if the pain doesn't seem to get better than I should probably have another x-ray because there may be a hairline fracture that may not show up for a couple of days. So I have an air cast and some sexy crutches. Just in time for my 28th birthday!

Mr H. stayed home for the rest of that day to help me out and to take care of KK. He did, however, need to work on RR's car. So he did that for a while during the evening. I couldn't get KK to bed because I was in a lot of pain and we hadn't filled the prescription yet. I called my mom to have her come over and help me. She fed us, cleaned my TV room, and washed my dishes. She even brought me some pain meds...I love my mom! I really don't know what I would do without her!

Orthostatic Hypotension Vasovagal Syncope Episode

You're asking me what is this? Let me break it down...Orthostatic Hypotension is what happens when you stand up too fast and you feel dizzy or like you're going to pass out. Vasovagal has to deal with the vagal nerve in the parasympathetic nervous system (rest and digest). Syncope is when you actually pass out.

I let Mr H. take a nap this afternoon...he works hard and I think he deserves to take a nap when he is tired. While he was napping I was checking on G making sure he was studying. G had a Saturday school today and was a little butt-hurt that I was making him study even though he studied for a whopping 3 hours in Saturday School. KK was with my parents and since I had a semi-quiet house I poppd in a movie to watch. After the movie, I checked on G and he was sleeping. SLEEPING! I told him maybe he should study at the dining room table to help him not sleep. After not listening to me and adding 2 more days onto his grounding G decided he should go to the table. He was being G and started saying some mean things to me which Mr H. had heard from the bedroom and Mr H. came rushing into the room and started scolding G.
Then all of a sudden Mr H. slumped over the table and then sort of leaned over and face-planted into the floor vent. I freaked out...called his name. He didn't respond. My heart sank. G was still sitting at the table still mad that we were getting on his case...he wasn't observant as to what was going on with his dad. I told G to move...to give me more room. I rolled Mr H. over...his ashen face and his eyes rolling in the back of his head made me tell G to grab the phone and call 911. G was just sitting on the couch still pissed off at us. I got up, ran to my room, and grabbed the phone. I leaped back over to Mr H., who was now conscious and profusely bleeding from his head. Mr H. asked what happened? He was wondering why he laid down on the floor to finish his nap. His face wasn't so grey and his color was returning. G brought me a wet wash cloth to wipe up the blood that was now seeping into his hair. I was shaking so hard and my heart was pounding. I told Mr H. that he probably needs stitches and he told me, "Naw, that's what tape's for!" That statement helped me to know that he was feeling better. For about an hour Mr H. was still looking very pale and I made him sit and eat something and drink some water. Now he feels back to normal. I am concerned about him. I hope that was an isolated incident! The only thing that I can think of to make him do that is standing up too quickly and then getting upset with G and raising his voice which can increase the blood flow to his head. But his blood vessels couldn't adapt quickly enough to the increased blood flow and he went down. Let's hope this doesn't happen again. I don't want to experience something scary ever again!

August 18, 2010

It's about time I finish my honeymoon stories. On the 18th we ported at CocoCay, Bahama's. It's an island that only Royal Caribbean owns. We had to port in the middle of the ocean and shuttle to the island on a boat. We got to the island and gathered our snorkling equipment and went to rent a locker then realized that we had to actually pay for it and not just credit it to our account like we had thought. So I laid in the nice hot sun while Mr H. ran back to our ship to get some money. He must have been gone a while because I fell asleep waiting. Once he was back we took pictures. Like these ones: After the pictures and getting our valuables put in the locker, it was time for snorkling. Can I just say:

I LOVE SNORKLING!?

It's so much fun! We were able to see a whole lot of different things. We were so engrossed at what we were looking at that we went beyond the boundaries and a lifegaurd on a wave runner had to tell us to go back...Oops! Here are a couple of things we saw:
Sea Urchin
Jelly Fish
1st Sting Ray After swimming for a while we took a break and sat down in the shade...I was looking for shells on the white sand and I was doing quite well. Until I picked up one and claws came out and wrapped around my finger...it scared the crap out of me. It was a little hermit crab. It was so totally cool (after my heart stopped beating out of my chest). Once our "break time" was over. We went continued swimming in the water. We found some more things while scavenging the ocean like:
Ship Wreck
Swimming with TONS of Fish

2nd Sting Ray

After our little rendezvous we decided to return our equipment and get something to eat. But unfortunately we were too late and lunch was already served and over with. We hadn't eaten or drank anything from about 9am to 2pmish. It was so hot and being in the ocean just made us so thirsty and luckily we found a fountain of water to drink from. Surprisingly we weren't hungry so we walked around the souvenir shops and bought a photo album. After looking around and finding nothing more to see we loaded onto the boat to take us to the ship. Once we were on the boat I knew this wasn't going to be good. I felt the boat rolling with the motion of the ocean and I knew I was in BIG TROUBLE! I looked for a seat close to the edge of the boat because I knew I was going to be sick. Unlucky for me...it was packed so we sat and I just prayed that I wouldn't "get sick". The boat transferring us have two levels and we were on the bottom and at least it was a little cooler and in the shade, but that didn't help very much. There was so much rolling...and rolling...and rolling. Once we parked next to our ship the boat unloaded the top level first...I couldn't wait for them to unload us so I ran to the front of the boat and hopped over the gate that we weren't supposed to cross until a boatmen opened it and once I was off the boat I felt a tiny bit better that I wasn't rolling anymore. But I wasn't out of the woods just yet. I had to wait in line to have a gaurd check and scan each and every person trying to get back onto the ship. As I was standing there my field of vision was disappearing I was swallowing hard to try to keep whatever it was from coming up. Once I was cleared to get on the ship...I sprinted to our room and into the bathroom were I could finally stop trying so hard to keep it down and I just let it come up until I was coughing and choking. I was laying on the cold bathroom floor thinking that I was going to die. Mr H. finally got to the room and I told him we needed food and water and that I needed a cold shower.

After cleaning the sand from hidden places in the cold shower I started feeling A LOT better. When Mr H. was in the shower and I was putting on my clothes I realized that I was burned REAL bad (I didn't realized just HOW bad until that night). Once we were clothed we went to eat and drink to replenish what we lost having fun in the ocean.

Later that night, my skin hurt so bad that I couldn't even sit down...it hurt so bad I would cry. And aloe was NOT packed...not my fault though, I didn't know where we were going. We paid $13 on the ship for some aloe though which worked out. Both Mr H. and I were burned to a crisp. I was in so much pain that I asked Mr H. to give me a Priesthood Blessing. And can I just pause for a moment and tell you how grateful I am for the priesthood and the blessings that have been recieved because of it. I am grateful that my husband takes the time to serve others...but esspecially his family. I love you Mr H.! So after the blessing I still felt awful but Mr H. suggested we go see the comedian to take our minds off of the pain and it worked for an hour but going to bed was torture. We hardly slept at all, we missed home, and were in pain. It was a good thing that it was the last night on the ship.

Next time I think we will be more mindful of the time and not be out in the ocean that long. Surprisingly we DID have sunblock on...but we need to remember to REAPPLY. Always rehydrate ourselves. I think we'll need a little better planning next time...and YES there will be a next time!