Monday, February 24, 2014

All about tonsils

Lest this should sound complainy/whiny, let me first say it's not meant to be. This week has given me such a greater gratitude for the good health that i and my family so often enjoy. We are so blessed!

It all started last Sunday when I woke up achy and with a sore throat. Better stay home from church, Matt said. Let me take a bath and see how I feel, I said, because see, I hate missing church. A few minutes into the bath and it was clear that I needed to stay home. I slept all day long, ate nothing, drank very little, and was in a lot of pain. After a rough night I was pretty sure I'd need some meds, so Matt and I decided to hit up the urgent care (at the er, so I guess really just the er, wish they were more separate) before the kids left for seminary.  4am, we were on our way.

I got some fluids and swabbed for a strep test, which came back positive, so I got some antibiotics and Tylenol 3 with codeine, which didn't even touch the pain in my throat. The er doctor said he could see an abscess developing, so i thought i had strep throat with an abscess. I just kept thinking, this is strep throat? This is what little kids go through? It was so awful I couldn't imagine it being common. And it felt like my throat was closing up. Another day of no food and very little fluid again. 

That night i went to take my antibiotics and had to laugh at the ginormous horse pill they gave someone with strep throat to swallow! It wasn't so funny after I actually tried to swallow the thing. :( It got stuck! I frantically tried to drink more water to force it down, no luck! I frantically tried to spit it out, no luck! So then I did what any other right minded woman would do, I frantically ran to find my husband. He helped calm me down, (having a horse pill stuck in your swollen-feeling-like-it's-closing throat is a little scary, let me tell ya) and convinced me that it probably wasn't stuck, it just probably felt that way because my throat hurt so bad, and even if it was it would dissolve.
the next day we knew we would have to go back to the dr and get a new antibiotic. the pharmacist said we shouldn't crush it, and i was too scared to even break it up and try to swallow it, because by that point i could hardly swallow. my ear and the whole right side of my face had been sore for awhile too. we went to the dr when lexi got home and he said we were doing the right thing. rest, try to drink fluids, and to crush the antibiotics. he said the pain in my ear was just associated with my strep.

I didn't get up much, but i walked past frankie's room at rest time one day and saw this. :) i missed these kids a lot.
By Wednesday Matt had gotten some of these Luigi's Italian Ice that was really yummy. I can't have any dairy because I don't need any more mucus, so it's hard to find soft things to eat.
*** speaking of matt. oh my, that guy. he has won me over (not that he ever lost me, but you know). he has waited on me hand and foot. he's comforted, held back my hair, and brought me my every whim. he took 2 days off work and was very willing to take more. he totally picked up the girls and all of the workload, including keeping them away from sick mama. (for the first few days, delaney would try to come into my room and matt would say, no, mama's sick. and then she would say, yeah, mama's sick. then she'd just check on me and say "mama's sick." precious girl) and he's done all of that with a cheerful attitude. 1am, happy to help. 5am, happy to help. day or night, he has been amazing. and i love him for that. among other reasons.

wednesday was another miserable day. i was weak and dehydrated and not in the best spirits. i'd been spitting into a towel (gross, i know, but cups are so messy) for days because swallowing was just so painful. i didn't feel like i was getting better at a all, and by that point, i couldn't even talk. by wednesday night it was clear that i was going to run out of my pain meds, which was terrifying, because i was still in pain even with the meds. matt tried making several phone calls, to no avail. even though we'd been seen in the er and in a dr.'s office, no one will refill a narcotic prescription over the phone.

so by thursday morning we were heading back into the dr.'s office. i had sent out a plea for babysitting because i knew i couldn't take care of my girls by myself. it turned out to be the perfect day to have the girls occupied because i was at the dr.'s office all day. lisa took me at 9:30, then to get my rx after. the dr had noticed that the right side of my tonsils were much bigger than the left and referred me to an ENT dr. so at 12:30, lexi and kimmy took me to my 4th doctors visit of the week.

we waited for over an hour before finally being taken back into his exam room. he examined my throat and determined that i had a peritonsillar abscess. i said that yes, the er dr had mentioned that. he was like "oh no, they couldn't have, they would have had to keep you if they had seen that." but he did! i've never even heard of a peritonsillar abscess before, i couldn't have just made that up. anyhow, i had an abscess and i knew (thank you, google) that draining it was not a fun experience, but i figured i had at least a day to prep. and then he handed me a gown. :(

i had gotten a little teary when he confirmed the abscess. 4 days of misery and no food will do that to me. i asked if he could wait for matt to get there and he told me that no, they had squeezed me in to their schedule and they needed to get it done as quickly as possible. poor lexi didn't understand what was going on, but she was upset because i was upset. and she needed to get to work. so i had her call matt, then call laura to pick up chris and addie. thankfully the little girls were with christina and i didn't have to worry about them.

now, i've had a lot of small medical procedures done. nothing serious, thankfully, but quite a few random biopsies and outpatient surgeries. but this was beyond the weirdest medical experience i've ever had. first of all, he had no nurse, so he did everything himself. strange, strange, strange. he sprayed a horrible, burning, numbing spray in my mouth, and then gave me several shots of novocaine all around my tonsils. then ***gross alert*** using a needle, he poked all around and drained a vial and a half of pus. isn't that the grossest thing you've ever heard of? after he got the first vial, he poked around some more and decided to try for a little more, just to be on the safe side. it was painful, but i was thankful - get it all out so i don't ever have to go through that again.

matt finally showed up as we were finishing up. he said he walked in and couldn't believe it. i had blood all over my face, my bib, and some on my gown. and there were vials of grossness all over and i looked like i was in shock.

i had been praying all week that i would feel better. but that if i needed to go through this, that i would be strengthened. as i was sitting in that weird office going through that weird procedure, i felt like i was strengthened enough to be calm. i did my bradley breathing and pretended i was on a beach drinking lemonade. that bradley method has come in handy so many times.

before i left the office the dr made me try to swallow and i could immediately tell the difference. that was a big obstruction and to have it gone was awesome. i've still been in pain, but each day my throat feels a little better. my ear and face still hurt, but hopefully that'll go away soon… i go back to the dr tomorrow and i'm really praying that the infection is gone and we're on the road to healthy town.

it's felt like forever and i have had a lot of little life lessons learned. i am so blessed.

also, this happened. i hate propane heating.

Saturday, February 15, 2014

Happy valentines day!

We've been pretty consumed with valentines day, which is just as it should be. On Sunday we had some valentines pasta that I found in California. 
As a treat, I also made meatballs, which i don't usually do. 
#toolazy
That night we all worked on Addie's valentine box for school. 
She chose a mailbox from a selection I had picked on Pinterest. Matt found a decal and then the lettering to write Addie's name like the post office lettering.
#nerdlove
It's not perfect, but I think it turned out pretty well. Ps - as we got going I realized we didn't have any blue construction paper, so I texted the ladies in the neighborhood and almost immediately miss Arden showed up at my door. 
#awesomeneighbors
She takes awkward pictures but she's really cute. 
#flawlessskin #onahashtagroll #sorry
Isn't that cool?!
On Tuesday we had our play date valentine party, so I worked on d-money's valentines until my hands cramped. But they turned out so cutely. (:
#pinterestobsessed
The kids got a lot of fun gifts for the 14 days of valentines.  It's such a fun tradition, they love checking their mailboxes each day. 
Also for our playgroup valentine party we made some valentine heart shaped carrots. 
#yuppinterestagain
Frankie loved them. Laney loved the ranchy and tolerated the carrots. (:
Frankie chose Twinkie minions for her valentines. 
We had fun assembling them and they were cute too. Armature'ish, but cute. 
We had our valentines dinner on Thursday night since Friday was date night. We had heart shaped potatoes, heart bacon, eggs (made from the eggs Lexi hollowed out for Ryan's v-day gift) and heart pancakes. On heart plates. (:
#pinterest #imeanttocropmyfeetbutiforgot
Friday morning we had our last day of valentines scavenger hunt. So fun!
They loved finding the clues and were actually pretty good at figuring them out. 
We went upstairs, downstairs, and all around. Their gifts were finally in the master bathroom. 
Paint by numbers art kit for Addie. 
And do-a-dots for Frankie. 
#poorgirlshavemyhair
Then it was the big kids turn. 
They laugh and make fun of my rhymes and clues, but they secretly love it. 
Chris is wearing his gift, this nice blue button up, and Lexi got a button up with pink bicycles all over it. It's cute, but she's still on the fence about it. 

Lexi headed to Ryan's for him to make her dinner at 3:30 and Chris to Jordan's at 5:30. He got her this ridiculously huge teddy bear. 
Matt brought me roses on Wednesday and today Addie asked me to take a picture of her with one. See, another awkward pic. 
#loveher
Friday night was the annual valentines dinner and fundraiser for the YW. it's always so fun. The food was good, Matt and I enjoyed dancing to several songs, and we "won" several fun auction items. Before we went home, Matt took a few minutes to dance with the girls. They loved it!
It's been a lovely valentine season. Busy, but so fun! Happy valentines day!!!

Monday, February 10, 2014

Homey stuff

We haven't been up too much. Dreary February, what's to do? This little beluga is addicted to the iPad. Up until now I didn't really feel the need to limit, because she never really played on it that much, and even when she did, she played starfall. But now she swears she's a YouTube afficiando. She goes straight there and finds new videos to watch. Not super safe. 
Did I mention Addie's gifts? Either way, it bears repeating. Addie made each of us a turkey using her hand print, got gallon size ziplocks and wrote all of our names (including Michelle and Matt), helped herself to the candy cupboard to include a treat, and left them at everyone's door. Isn't she the cutest?!
Auntie henna's Frozen book is a huge hit with our crowd. It.is.so.long. and I don't love reading it. It's cute though, so
I guess I'll read it a few hundred more times. 
Chris enjoyed looking over papa's scrap books. Papa said not to laugh too hard, because this is his future. True dat!
I thought I'd include a grandpa Ray pic. He's doing great! He'll be heading to Seattle for a few weeks soon and then home for good this summer. That was a fast two years!
We are well into our 14 Days of Valentines. Since I was gone the first of feb, and then just getting back into the swing of things, I was late starting. So on the 6th everyone got hooked up. (:
Addie poses. 
Lady in red on National Wear Red Day. 
That day (Friday) we had Abby and Ellie over and played dress up. 
Only it was more like mama Olympics of getting dress up clothes on and off 4 girls just as fast as I got them on. 
There was a little bit of drama from each of the 4 little girls and also a certain big girl during the morning. Thankfully by the afternoon all was right in the world again and the estrogen level had evened out. 
I think Ellie had already escaped the dress up gear by the time I went to snap her... she's a slippery one. 

On Saturday morning Sarah drove the ballet bus, so I got to sit and chat with Addie for a few while we waited for them.  She's so precious and silly. 
After ballet Addie went home with Abby and stayed for an all day play date. Daddy worked, Lexi went to Ryan's and Chris to Jordan's, so it was me, Frankie, and little miss potty pot. 
(Two cowlicks?! What am I gonna do with that?)
F and d took a long bath and d decided to try some potty time several times during her bath, all to no avail. She tried though, so that's a step. One step closer to no more diapers!!!
And lastly, Sunday morning bubba phone time. 
I'm still behind, so I don't remember many details. But a lil' bit about last week:
*Missionaries for dinner on tues
*All big people (minus me) to church on weds
*preschool for froggy and tech center expo with Chris on Thursday. He is applying for the dental tech program with a secondary choice being carpentry. They are both amazing programs (they build a house!) and I will be thrilled if he gets into either one! I rushed from there to church for our Love the Missionaries ARM. Fun night. (:
* on Friday Matt and I went out to dinner with d & l to get the lowdown on l and c's 2 weeks with them. Basically, there was no lowdown. Everyone behaved and there was no drama. Yay!
*we are Olympic fools up in here all day e'rry day!


Saturday, February 8, 2014

No place like it

Two cuties dancing to Katy Perry's Roar. Laney's loved it for awhile, and now quinney does too. (:
I missed a court of honor on Lainey's birthday, but I stole this from Lana, so it's sorta good.  2 more merit badges and an eagle project and we're all good!
Our flight home was supposed to be nonstop, but we actually did have a quick stop in Atlanta. It was a very good travel day for lanes. She slept, she watched, she ate, she was great!
And it was so nice to have auntie Alli (and her iPad and computer) travel with us!
Matt picked us up at the airport and we dropped Alli off at her hotel near the greyhound in Baltimore. Then it was home sweet home! Chris waited up for us and shortly after we got home, Lexi got home from work. Then we must have been a little too loud because Frankie woke up with a "hurting leg." It was so fun to see everyone!

Addie helped herself to my phone and took some still shots. She's very abstract. 
Everyones winter favorite - the space heater. 
Sunday morning was like Christmas morning. Everyone came and sat on our bed and I gave out everyone's souvie's. Sweaters from YouTube for the biggins and little google toys for the littlest's. 

Sunday was the Super Bowl and we showed our Seahawks love. (Another Addie shot)
It's been cold and wet and rainy. Addie put on my rain boots and they were like stilts to her. (:
One night Lexi and Chris told us they were taking the girls to mcdonalds for dinner because they had promised them. And then they asked for money, so isn't it really like I took them to mcd's? Laney was conflicted that evening. She wanted to go, but she didn't want to get dressed. She even tried pulling her diaper off. She walked around the mudroom pouting and it was kinda cute. She ended up staying home with mom and dad. 
I've pretty much gotten right back into the swing of home. I've had some late nights as I'm adjusting back to the eastern time zone. Late nights mean sluggish mornings and add in the freezing temps and we've done a lot of cuddling on the couch with some blankets. We missed each other too though, so it's all good. (: