Gift Shopping

I've been doing some shopping online since I can't leave my house with this damn pneumonia :(  I really wanted to check out some local thrift stores, especially ARC (because I like supporting them).  Wyatt really needs jeans... and you can barely find retail jeans for less than $15/each for a growing boy.  So, I went to Stagestores.com and bought him a couple of pairs, bought Jeremy two pairs of jeans, and bought Calista a winter coat :D  They had a special... and I got 40% off the whole purchase!!!  woohoo!  Awesome deal!
PLUS, put it on the Stage card :D

We also bought a mini bike off of eBay for Ursula :)  It'll be her both her birthday and Christmas present and she's fine with that :D  It should be in tomorrow!
We bought Calista a sewing machine :D  She'll be so thrilled!
Bought Wyatt the Batman 2 game for XBox360; its what he wanted.
Bought both girls a new mp3 player and headphones.
Not quite finished buying... but, glad we have what we do so far :)
And Oh!!!  I bought 2 new bras off of eBay yesterday!!!  I'm soooo excited!!! LOL  I HOPE THEY FIT!!! LOL  They're both 32 G's.

As for as gifting family members... not sure what's going on there... Jeremy's talking about not doing anything with his bc of the seemingly total disregard for us... of course, it could all be a great misunderstanding... I'm still perusing possible gifts... with if it comes down to last minute decision to go, then $25 cash to the kids... I don't think they've ever liked our gifts anyways... for either birthdays or Christmas.  Doesn't seem like they did, anyways... But, who doesn't like cash?  I just wish I'd know for sure what the plans are so I can buy; I'm seeing so many cute gifts for good prices right now and there's time to be delivered right now...


On a different note:

I'm not quite sure if its the medicine, illness, me not drinking anything but water and juice, or what... but, I'm down to 136lbs!!!  woohoo!  LOVE that!!!  I hope I can either stay this weight or go down; that would be AWESOME! :D

I have a few days left on my antibiotics... and no family practice doctor.  The Port Barre Family Practice is full... or so they told me.  I think its because I don't have insurance.  But, f*ck them!  There's not many family doctors in the area... I did see that the doctor that attended me in the ER is a family doctor but I think he may be in Washington... I have no idea about that little town.. I think I went there once with a past neighbor, Julie; but that was it.  I guess I'll just go back to Urgent Care for a follow-up and x-ray.

Pneumonia

So, after taking a 5 day round of Zpac as well as the cough/cold med, I was no longer throwing up and no fever... which may have been because I was alternating Tylenol and Motrin.  However, it was NOT masking the pain in my right side!
I was in such pain!  I was taking hot steam baths daily... even getting up in the middle of the night to soak... to help relieve the pain.  The pain wasn't just in one spot... it was in my ribs... from top to bottom with the bottom hurting more when I'd cough or anything like that.  I was putting Icy-Hot stuff on it and it reacted and got really hot and helped somewhat.
We really had no idea what was going on.  Jeremy thought I may have pulled a muscle in my chest from coughing or perhaps even fractured a rib.  I had no idea.  I couldn't bend over; pain.  Laying down wasn't helping.  No position was without pain.  And shortness of breath.

On Nov. 21st, Jeremy came home from work bc he was worried about me and we went to Urgent Care again.  This time, the wait wasn't so long.  I cried on the way there... I guess I was afraid of what I'd hear.  You have to understand, I don't get this kind of sick.  My kind of sickness is colds, allergies, and a handful of flu or flu-like symptoms; Mostly colds and sore throats.

I cried in the waiting room... and again, for those that don't know me, I'm not one of those girly girls that cry. I cry more now since having children... but, still not a crier... I guess we waited for an hour to be called in.

The Dr. recognized me (I had been there Nov. 9th) and I told him what was going on.  I told him of the pain and he tried pinpointing it but, there's multiple areas where it hurts; I guess the worse spot was on my lower ribs.  He got a nurse to come in and give me a shot in my upper butt for pain.  This time he sent me to get a X-ray.  The lady who took them (2 of them, front and side) took the slide out, put it in this machine which began to show it on a large screen.  It was reading the x-ray from right to left.  She asked me if I had taken a deep breath and held it.  I told her I did as much as I could... and she's thinking we may have to take another one bc I didn't inhale.  But, as it goes to my left side, you can see black space; which meant there was air there.  She says that it looks like I did inhale now and perhaps I have pneumonia.  She calls the Dr. in and he starts asking her if it looks like I have nemo or something like that.. she nods... so, he tells me that I may have this nemocromosis or however its said/spelled.  So, of course, I have NO idea what he's talking about and he tells me that means a collapsed lung!!!  I immediately start crying... which is awful because of the excruciating pain on my right side.  So, we walks me back to the little exam room Jeremy's waiting for me in and tells him.  He says for us to wait a minute while he consults someone else.  Well, not much time passes before he opens the door and tells Jeremy to bring me immediately to the emergency room at Opelousas General!!!  I cry again.  He tells Jeremy that he's calling ahead and they'll take us once we get there.

It's not a long drive, so, we're there in a few minutes.  And yes, I was taken in within a couple of minutes to pre-admit.  The lady there asks me a few questions, takes blood pressure and temperature and gets a wheelchair for me to get wheeled into an exam room (#5).

A nurse, Sara, comes in and starts getting my blood pressure, oxygen levels, and temperature.  Of course, questions are asked.  Doctor Patrick Gillespie comes in and asks questions as well.  While I'm talking to him, Sara is putting a hemp-lock on me.  She draws blood and forgets to close it off and blood's pouring out of my left arm... LOL  I had no idea until Jeremy said something.  It was kind of funny.  Big area of blood on the gurney and drops of my blood on the floor.  She closes it off, rushes to the sink to clean herself up and clean my arm up.  She didn't even have gloves on... good thing I'm clean, huh?

So, they get my blood and urine as well as vitals.  Order another set of x-rays because they said their machine is much better than Urgent Care because it needs to be... since they're a hospital and all.  I have no problem with that.  So, I walk to the x-ray area with 2 nurses and I'm feeling better, not so much pain because of that shot I was given at Urgent Care.  I think I'm able to take a deeper breath.  They take the 2 x-rays and walk me back to my room.

While waiting for them to examine the x-rays, they're telling us that I'm going to have to get admitted!  And get a tube stuck in my back to drain the fluids and hope my lung expands again!  Again, more crying... this is the day before Thanksgiving!!!  Jeremy had already planned on cooking!  Cherie was coming up; her youngest two girls (8 & 10) were already at our house.  Not to mention the fact that I have no insurance.  The ER will cost us enough... imagine a few days' stay at the hospital!!!  I couldn't stop crying.

Meanwhile, I'm given a breathing treatment.  Afterwards, Sara comes back and opens the hemp-lock and gives me a steroid shot, antibiotic shot, and hooks me up to an antibiotic drip that lasts an 1½ hours!  She said it has to go slow because of how potent it is.

I'm actually feeling much better by then... my pain has decreased so much!

We're in the ER for like 6 hrs!  In that time, both of our phones have died.  Jeremy had been texting my family about what was going on with me... they were all on pins & needles.  Some, who had no plans to come up, would have changed their plans to be with me if I required hospital stay.

Thankfully, after the drip was over, the Dr. comes in and says that their x-ray was much better and it looks like pneumonia.  WHEW!!!  NOT a collapsed lung!  OMG, I was so relieved!  He said there's fluid around my lung and that's causing the pain and shortness of breath because my lung can't expand.  I think he said its consolidated fluid... and that he's going to prescribe some stuff to help me manage it at HOME!!! Yay!!!

So, I get to go home!!!  Hip hip hooray!!!

From the ER, we drive to Wal-Mart.  I stay in the van while he puts in my prescriptions.  They say it'll be about half an hour... which isn't bad at all!  The 'scripts say "no substitutions".  Then we drive home; finally!  Oh, yeah, Calista was at home with not only Wyatt & Ursula, but, also Sophia and Olivia as well as our neighbor's son, Kameron (he's a year younger than Calista).  We didn't think we'd be gone for so long... But,  Jeremy texted our neighbor and told him what was up and if he could go and check in on them until we got home.  My kids are told to stay in the house and no cooking if they're left with Calista (who's almost 14 yrs old).  They listen.  They played MineCraft the whole time we were gone! LOL

We get home, everyone's fine :)  Happy to see us... wondering why we took so long!

My meds:  Levaquin (levofloxacin) - Oral 500 mg tablet  1 a day 10 tablets ($100!!!)
                 theophylline anhydrous (Theo-24) - oral 300 mg capsule, extended release 24hr  1/day for 28 days. ($75!!!)
                 Mucinex (guaifenesin) - oral 600 mg tablet extended release  1 tablet every 12 hrs for 30 days
                 Albuterol Sulfate - via nebulizer every 4 hrs   7 boxes!  That's 525 little vials!
                 Motrin as needed (regular otc) 200 mg

So, as of today, everything seems to be going well!  My pain levels went from 10 (max) to about a 2!  I need to stay inside.  Yes, I tested it out and ended up coughing 20 minutes (which still hurts) both times! :-(  I can't do much activity at all or I end up being short breathed.  It really sucks because I have shopping to do for both Christmas and two of my kids!!!  I guess it'll be online shopping for all!  Oh, while I sit here typing, I've got a heating pad on my back... helps a good bit.

Follow up... Dr. would like me to do a check-up after the antibiotics run out... for another x-ray to see if I'm good.  I need to find a doctor... ha ha  I'm trying to get in with the Port Barre Family Practice place since its so close and I've already brought Wyatt & Calista there before.  Figured it would be good for us, as a family, to go to the same place, right?

Oh, and what also sucks?  Is that I finally was able to go red (been wanting to since the summer) and bought some cool, black leather riding boots and haven't been able to really enjoy neither!!!  argh! lol

Being sick isn't fun.  Life lesson though.

Thanksgiving

Jeremy took it upon himself to make a Thanksgiving Feast all by himself :)

He succeeded!  He did an excellent job!

How did this come about?

Well, ever since I was a child, we did Thanksgiving with my paternal grandmother.  It was great!  My uncles and aunts and cousins would all usually be there... which was significant because even though we all lived within an hour of each, we barely ever saw them :(  We lived a mile down the road from my grandmother, so, we saw her practically daily.  Its the only holiday we somewhat celebrated.  We were brought up Jehovah's Witnesses.  We couldn't do any other holiday or birthdays.  But, with this one, not only did everyone have off work and school, but, it was ok to do, kwim?  No pagan origins.

Well, she passed away in April of 2005 (I wasn't aware I was pregnant at the time of her death) from pulmonary fibrosis.  Ever since then, there's been no family Thanksgiving lunch/dinner.

Jeremy & I got together Dec. 31st, 1996.
I'm not sure if that first Thanksgiving together we went to his parents' house or not, but, more than likely, we did.  And so, from then on, we'd arrange it (until my grandma's passing) so that we were able to be with both sides of the family during this holiday.  It worked out well and great to be able to see relatives you don't get to see very often.

Jeremy's father passed away in January 2010.

There was no Thanksgiving Dinner.

This year, no notification or indication of any upcoming dinner; from either side.

Its no surprise from my side.  Like I said, we were brought up without holidays (although, only 2 continue to attend JW meetings out of 7).  And we have a sister that lives in Georgia with her children (minus her oldest bc she just got married in August and is currently living in California).  Though, if plans were made, I'm sure she'd come down.  And then I have another sister who's husband's family all live in Mississippi.  So, they always go there... he gets to hunt while there too.  And I'm sure that even with them, if plans were made, they'd be there too... like if it was on the Wednesday before.

However, the major thing, is that there's really nowhere to host a Thanksgiving Dinner.  Our house is tiny.  Cherie and her 3 girls live with our dad.  Angele & Shane live with our mom until they get their home set up.  I guess Montegut would be the only place to hold anything, but, its not exactly a neutral zone; being that our parents are divorced and other tenions...  Although, I hope that since this past summer, things are ok and everyone would attend such a dinner if one was planned for there.  So, really, that would be our only option.

So, that's why its no surprise my side had no plans.

Except that Cherie and her girls usually do come to our house for that week; or at least she brings her kids and goes to work until Thursday.

And Jeremy's side.  Nothing.  No email.  No phone call.  No text messages.  Nothing.

I remembered one year, we were in GA for Thanksgiving and we went to a restaurant with Aimee & her family.  So, I asked Jeremy what were we going to do for Thanksgiving since we didn't hear from anyone.  I had asked at the beginning of November.  He said he didn't know, but he was going to cook a turkey.  Well, the month continues to go by and still no word from anyone.  All I know is that Cherie & her kids will be here because they usually are :)

As Thanksgiving gets closer, Jeremy brings home two turkeys along with sides and things to make desserts.  He's going to have his Thanksgiving Dinner regardless of anything else.  And if we would have gotten a call to have dinner somewhere else, he could have just brought his food...  

Well, Wednesday, I go into the ER... you can read about that in another blog entry... ha ha ha

So, we wouldn't have been able to attend anyone else's dinner, anyways... but, no one knew that until Wednesday night when I posted it in my facebook status.

Below are the finished results of Jeremy waking up at 7:30 am and having it all together by 12:00 pm!

He loves to cook and takes great pride in his work :)

Master Chef, Jeremy!

 Everyone else that was here to eat (Jeremy took pic on workout bench)

 Everyone being silly :D

Bronchitis

I thought October wasn't very kind to me... looks like November is trying to beat that...
What started out as a wet cough got progressively worse.
After having fever throughout the day for a week as well as throwing up every morning (mucous), I finally asked Jeremy to bring me to Urgent Care in Opelousas.   This was a Friday evening and there were quite a few people there.  We sat in the waiting room for 3 hrs!  Calista 'babysat' her siblings.  I kept in touch with her via text messaging using an app called iGotChat that they can use with our older Android phones via wi-fi since we no longer have a land line.
I finally get called in and tell them what I'm experiencing, the doctor says I have bronchitis.  I'm having a sharp pain in my right side every time I cough.  I was thinking they may do an X-Ray on my chest but they didn't and I didn't suggest because I figure they know what they're doing.
The Dr. prescribed a 5 day round of Zpacs (Azithromycin) as well as Deconex DMX (decongestant, cough suppressant, and expectorant).

Halloween

Well, after my severe Poison Ivy/Oak/Sumac, I was feeling ok, went to 3 stores to pick up stuff that was needed or wanted... About 2 days after healing up, I start coughing.  This wet cough.  Great.  Because, you know, I'd been coughing (those popping coughs) from June until September!  That started from right before we left Montegut after being there for 2 weeks so the kids could do swimming lessons there.

So, now, its Halloween, and I'm not bringing the kids to Trick-or-Treat :(  Jeremy's bringing them because I know I'm not feeling good enough to go.  I'm coughing a lot.  And it really sucks, because this year, we have new costumes.  Jeremy would have been the Wicked Mad Hatter. I would have been the Red Queen and Calista was Alice.  Ursula was Abby Bominable (Monster High).  Wyatt was a Dementor (Harry Potter).

I wasn't feeling well enough to even do their make-up :((

Severe Reaction To Poison Ivy/Oak/Sumac

Alright... this really sucked...

It got really bad!  The rash spread to places that the plant never touched, like my belly!  The left side of my face was swollen!  The right side of my face was starting to swell but not even close to how much the left side did!  Awful and UGLY!!!  Wow!  And then, before the swelling was over, I had to go get a package from the mail lady!  I put on some sunglasses and held my head down as much as possible! lol  And my face didn't itch at all.  However, it was feverish and red.  And after the swelling went down (took about 4 days altogether - from start of swelling to ending of it), it was like I had a sunburn and a thin layer of skin had to be exfoliated off... not bad though.

I definitely stayed inside as much as possible!  I looked up info, of course.  And for those that think you can catch Poison Ivy from someone... its ONLY if they haven't bathed yet or washed their clothes because the plant's oil will still be on them.  When you have the fluid filled blisters, THAT'S NOT CONTAGIOUS!  Your body doesn't start becoming a plant and producing the poison!!!  Think about it!  Even if you scratch them, you can't give it to someone else!  And oh, let's talk about scratching... OMG!!!  It was ecstasy to itch!  Wow!  I could have scratched my skin off and it would have felt AWESOME! lol  Thankfully, my logical brain overruled my sensory organs... Jeremy hooked me up with pretty much any and all (almost) things relating to Poison Ivy.  Some worked better than others.  I really liked the Calamine spray.  It has a numbing substance in it as well as anti-itch thing.  The clear Caladryl... I didn't like too much... when it dries, it peels off... good ole Calamine works well still :)

So, I had the rash on both forearms, small blisters on backs of my fingers, near the lowest knuckle, my knees, and up the top of my thighs, my neck and chest had some, and my belly... even some discoloring on my breasts but no itching, and my face was affected but no itching there either.

I'm sooo glad its almost ended!  Yay!  Yes, huge lesson learned!  I will be using weed killer from now on!!! LOL

Poison Reaction

Well, so much for me not having reactions to Poison Ivy/Oak/Sumac!  Honestly, I have no idea which one is making me itch now... but, definitely having a reaction :(  I checked out pics online, and I'm pretty certain that not only was ivy there (which I totally recognized) but, I'm quite certain oak too... and I'm think even some Sumac... Right now, its mostly on my arms, which is ok...

Pulling Poison Weeds

Well, I pulled weeds today.  Or more to exactly, poison ivy, oak, and perhaps even sumac... Why?  Because, now that the first rent house on Midway Lane was sold, they redrew the boundaries and now I have more land to mow, weed, and keep up... including another Holly bush/tree.  So, being that I've never gotten the poison weeds out from under that new tree and my daughter, Calista, is very allergic to it, I got to work.  I've never had any reaction to them... or to just perhaps just the Poison Ivy... I was pulling out all kinds of weeds... some I recognized, others I didn't... I took no chances and pulled them.  I put them in a plastic store bag and then put them in the garbage can outside.  I hope to have taken care of all dangers around that tree!  Guess we'll see!

On a side note, I also met our new neighbors behind us (facing HWY 743).  Kristi and Mark.  They have 2 children: Chase (5 yrs old) and Gracie (4 mths old, I think).  They're like us in that they've been together for years, have children and aren't married! lol