Past, Present, Future

I know that it's been awhile since I've posted. My last post Jamie was just recently home from the hospital and we were dealing with all that... Since my life was so crazy I stopped posting because it was just a lot going on.

Jamie had another surgery shortly after we got home to add additional hardware into his pelvis. The plate and 4 screws that he first received during his first surgery were not quite holding up as well as the doctor would like due to Jamie's muscle mass. The pelvis began to separate again millimeter by millimeter and Jamie was sent to the ER for a ct. At the ER the doctor told us that it wasn't as bad as he had thought, but he still felt like an addition surgery was needed for more hardware. After much debate we went ahead with the surgery not knowing if it would continue to separate more with out it. The next day was the surgery. That day was HELL for me. I had clinicals and could not be there for his surgery. I was so nervous that I couldn't be there. The doctor promised he would call and he did. Of course I was on the one floor of the hospital that didn't get service, but luckily he left a message. I also had a fellow officer and his wife (a nurse) there to have eyes on him and make sure that he was indeed alive and well.
The days following the surgery Jamie had great pain relief and was able to start going off the pain meds. Eventually over the next few weeks he was able to begin to use a crutches and a walker instead of the wheelchair. He started therapy and then began walking. To see him walk again melted my heart. I still get goose bumps when I realize just how far he has come... WOW!!!!

I took time off work to care for Jamie because it was a full time job. It was nice being able to spend my weekends with him. I was only able to take off 6 weeks before I needed money for gas to drive back and forth and pay rent and such. Going back to work was a struggle for me because I worried about Jamie. Needless to say I did it... Jamie started back to work on light duty. I told him it was too early, but he is a stubborn man.

I spent the summer in vacation mode! I went to Utah to see my sister and her family. I met up with my parents and my other sister and we all drove to Wyoming to Martin's Cove where my niece was baptized in the Sweet Water River. For my family that river is a special place for us because that's where our family a LONG time ago came across the plains and became trapped in that area during major snow storms. Eventually they were rescued after running out of food. Many people died including some of our family. It was a very humbling experience to say the least! We drove back to Utah and I flew back out a few days later.

Two days later I was on another flight with Jamie to go see his uncle and grandma in California. We went originally for Jamie's coworkers wedding, but decided to stay with his uncle and his grandma lives right next door. His grandma is sassy and protective. We learned a lot more about Jamie's father who died when he was very young. We looked at a lot of pictures of him and could pick out resemblances in Jamie. It was soooo amazing to see his family and find out more of who he is. You never really know someone until you know where they come from.

In July we went to Kauai!!!!! It had been my dream to go there. OH MY GOSH!!!! It was the most amazing thing of LIFE! I can not even begin to write just how beautiful it was. It was so green and lush. First we flew into Honolulu and rented a car to go to Pearl Harbor. From there we went to Waikiki to do some shopping by the beach and see some of my favorite places there. We turned back in the car around 9 and got on a plane to Kauai. We drove to the place we were staying and were taken back because there was no ac. Coming from AZ no ac is a death trap. We opened all the windows and it cooled down. It was so amazing because the beach was right outside the window we could hear the waves hitting the reef. WOW! We spent the week doing fun activities including: snorkeling, paddle boarding, tanning, lounging, eating, and so much more! We ate some of the most delicious food at this place called Ally Cats I think. HEAVEN! We had banana pancakes for breakfast and listened to Jack Johnson. It was EVERYTHING I had dreamed of. We went on an excursion on a catamaran out to see one of the coast lines. We saw a lot of spinner dolphins which was a rare site because it was in the afternoon. They were jumping and playing and squealing! We went snorkeling off the coast and then ate dinner on the boat while enjoying the sunset. Perfect ending to the trip. The next morning we packed up. Ate one more set of banana pancakes and took one last look at the shore. We ended up seeing 2 turtles eating the kelp and we sat and watched them for about 30 minutes before we had to drive back to the airport. It was an amazing trip to say the least. It was Jamie's way of saying "thank you" for all the things I had done and helped him through. Best present ever!

Jamie returned to work on his motorcycle. I was nervous to say the least. After all he was barely learning how to walk again and had a pretty bad limp. It takes a lot of faith to watch the man you love get back on the same machine that almost took his life. God has bigger plans for him and for me too!

I started back to school with a bang. This semester is my FAVORITE! Pediatric and OB. All about the babies! I watched my first live birth and didn't pass out. It was the craziest thing to observe! It's fun because my peds clinicals are at my very own hospital where I work. I feel at home there.

Health wise for me things got a little crazy around Easter. I began to have these HORRIBLE head aches. I mean debilitating and horrible. I would cry and shake and vomit. The final straw was when my arm began to be numb followed by my hand and then my leg. We went to the ER for me (which was awkward because Jamie had to wheeled in because he couldn't even walk yet) where they did blood work and a ct. They gave me meds which just made me sleep. I went home and slept, felt better for the morning and by afternoon the head ache had returned. I went to my primary Dr who had me get an MRI and sent me off to see a neurologist. He diagnosed me with migraines with aura. Well apparently with these migraines you're at a higher risk for stroke. Since I was on birth control I was also at higher risk. It was like a double whammy! Luckily I'm young and don't smoke so at least I have that going for me. I went to my obgyn and unfortunately had to see a different Dr than my usual Dr M. She told me that the neuro dr was wrong and that there is no risk with my birth control and so on. She suggested a 2nd opinion. I came off my birth control because I was scared and knew that there was correlation. The neuro gave me injections to block the nerves which actually helped for some amount of time. The injections were crazy scary to get and made a weird cracking and popping noise as it was being injected into my head! I finally went and got a second opinion. They explained the same thing, but were a little nicer than the last guy so I stayed with them. They did a bunch of blood work and started me on some meds to try and get the migraines under control. Nothing has worked yet. They too are doing injections for me which help the nerve pain, but not the migraines. I say I have 2 types of head aches... the migraines are a burring type in my eye and then the nerve type that feels like I got hit in the back of the head with a bat.
A few weeks ago they told me they had sent me a letter about my blood results. I hadn't received the letter because I had been so busy with school. Turns out I have low vitamin D (duh I already knew that), but these were a shock... a positive ANA (positive for an auto immune disease) and a low white blood cell count. WTF!!!!! The ANA test I honestly wasn't too worried about because it could be a false positive. Meaning many people test positive with nothing being wrong and no indication of any auto immune problems. However the low WBC made me cry. I know what that means. Cancer. Okay not always, but usually the big ol mother trucking C word. She said they would continue to monitor it and wanted me to go see a rheumatologist  for the ANA. So back to my primary Dr. for the referral and off to see a rheumatologist. They did say they could sent me to a hematologist/oncologist, but I got a little nervous when they said they would probably want to do a bone marrow biopsy. Yeah no thanks. That crap hurts I've been told! This is where past meets present. I haven't gone to see the new Dr yet because I'm waiting for my referral. In the mean time I'm just being healthy and happy and trying not to get overwhelmed with my health. It seems like every year there is something new with my health that I have to get through. God is great and is on my team. I don't know what I've been missing in my past learning experiences with health problems, but apparently there is more to learn. Jamie of course has been by my side through it all. When I called him after my neuro appointment where I found out the crappy results he was so taken back and shocked. He just wanted to fix me and for me to be better.

There are so many things in my life that I love that I don't even have time to be sad. I love my family! There are all back in Arizona! That means everyone is closer for me to go see. I love being an aunt. Best calling in life! God has been so good to me this year. He saved Jamie and continues to save me.

Oh yeah... Jamie and I bought a house!!!!!!!! We just moved in a few weeks ago and have been getting everything set up. It's beautiful and everything I have ever dreamed of. Much bigger than his last house and prettier. I love playing house... It's just like being a kid. I feel like the Princess I am in my heart. I'm telling you the tub is huge! I made a bath and sank into it while watching grey's anatomy on my lap top. How does life get any better?!

I think that's about all for me. All in all I'm doing amazing and can't wait to finish nursing school May 2014. I'm going to be one hell of a pediatric emergency room nurse! And someday pediatric trauma nurse!!!!