Insanity is often the logic of an accurate mind overtaxed.

Insanity is often the logic of an accurate mind overtaxed.
- Oliver Wendell Holmes

Well, its been so “insane” that I wasn’t able to get an actual newsletter out the past two weeks. So, this one may be a little long.

Marisa: Holy Cow! This is one very busy girl!
· She started getting sick Wednesday and got progressively worse. She had a high fever, cough, aches, chills, running nose, sore throat, and no appetite. She missed 5 tests (including a final), the French club outing, the All-state dinner today, and the stake Halloween dance that she had been looking forward to for months! She is on the mend and the fever finally broke today. I REALLY hope I don’t get this thing!
· She is busy in several clubs. She has VOICE every week, which is a club with all the foreign exchange students and she loves it. She is also in T.R.Y (teens reaching youth) and they will be traveling to the elementary schools and middle schools to talk to the kids about staying off drugs and talk about anti-bullying stuff.
· We found out Monday that Marisa will need to get glasses. They should be in next week and we will take a picture. The ones she picked are so cool!
· Marisa is starting AP World History this week. Her book is HUGE and has to read and take notes on the first several chapters before class even starts.
· She has a VERY busy week ahead of her. She has an orchestra concert on Tuesday at Coe College. She has a symphony orchestra concert at UNI on Friday. Then she has All State auditions all day on Saturday. Our fingers are crossed for her. She is a little worried that she has lost practice time since she has been so sick, but I know she will do great. Then she has ANOTHER concert the next Tuesday. Keep her in your prayers so she can survive the next couple of weeks.

Kayla: I think we have found what Kayla loves to do!
· She has found a love of sewing and cake decorating. In her FCS class she made a pillow for her bed. She loved it so much, she came home and rummaged through my material to find stuff to make another one. She had Bob take her to Hancock this weekend to get even more material and stuffing. She is excited about making dresses too.
· She is also extremely excited about learning how to decorate cakes. I may need to look into classes for her. Maybe I can talk her into doing Tyler’s
· She was in a volleyball tournament with a friend of hers. They decorated their t-shirts for it. It was a huge competition that lasted several hours. Kayla and her team played 12 games and they got 1st place!! We were so proud of her!

Tyler: Guess who woke up with a high fever today? I hope he doesn’t end up as sick as Marisa has been and misses all week of school.
· Tyler has been involved in a lot of extra-curricular activities at school: chess club, intramural golf (was a 3 weeks session), fantasy book club, quiz bowl, and he starts basketball this month with the parks and rec.
· Tyler had his first vocal concert this week and it went really well. They have a big group this year.
· Tyler’s eye prescription changed so he had to go to school without his glasses which did NOT work well. He couldn’t see and got a huge headache.

Alayna:
· Alayna has been enjoying gymnastics. She won a backbend contest on who could stay up the longest. I should get a picture, because she is really good.
· She got a GLOWING report at her parent conference. She is one of the top readers in her class, is well behaved, and just had some wonderful things said about her.

Other Stuff and Happenin’s:
· I finished up Parent Conferences this week. We do two nights at 5 hours each. It made for one very long week.
· We LOVE the new series “FlashForward”. Its like the new Lost. Are any of you watching it?
· I got a clear bill of health from my doctor. I have healed really well and am back to my normal routine.
· The lettuce and cilantro are still doing well in our garden despite the frost. We have it covered with a pink sheet. Yesterday, Bob and I made 3 lasagnas (using the tomatoes we canned this summer), 2 pans of enchiladas, and 2 tortilla soups (again using the stuff from our garden) We are trying to get a jump on the week.
· HAPPY BIRTHDAY GRANDMA CUNNINGHAM!

Top 10 things I learned from getting my gallbladder out

Top 10 things I learned from getting my gallbladder out

10. You don’t really NEED your gallbladder. Whew! What a relief! Apparently the liver will take on any task that the gallbladder was assigned.

9. Don’t EVER, and mean EVER, have Tyler around if you have GB surgery. That boy fell down a flight of stairs, bonked his head, stubbed his toe, BUT saved the ICE CREAM!! He was so proud. I laughed so hard that it literally hurt and made me cry.

8. Hospital food has REALLY improved since I gave birth to Marisa. No, I mean REALLY improved. They had a menu, I could call and order ANYTHING on that menu and they would bring it to me any time of day 24/7. Makes me sad I wasn’t in the hospital longer!

7. Bikini’s are definitely out for me. Not that I was actually considering a bikini photo shoot, but, well…you know.

6. Having a private room in the hospital is the best! TV, remote control bed, huge tiled bathroom with shower, wireless internet, peace and quiet…

5. Guess how many things you use your stomach for? Coughing, breathing (trust me),, laughing, sneezing, getting out of bed, getting into and out of a tub, walking sitting in a chair, lifting your legs, lifting a milk jug, etc.

4. Joke: What’s the gallbladder’s favorite band? The Rolling Stones.

3. There is nothing better than the excuse to only wear pajamas, no makeup, and very scary hair for 2 weeks!

2. Whoever said “laughter is the best medicine” never had GB surgery. Trust me, the VERY last thing you want to do is laugh!

1. Pain medication makes me very happy…

Funny Pics of Alayna

Blanket Kayla made

Happy 5th anniv. at Rockwell!

His work got him a cake, a certificate and a gift. Happy 5th Anniversary Bob!

A Tale of The Life and Death of my…gallbladder?

A Tale of The Life and Death of my…gallbladder?

Last week, on Saturday, I had a sudden onset of pretty severe stomach pain which radiated through my back, up over my shoulders and into my head. It knocked me flat…literally! Bob found me laying on the floor and helped me move to the bed. After about an hour or so, the pain stopped. Very weird! All I could think of was that the olives I had with dinner had been in the fridge longer than I thought!

Fast-forward to this Thursday night. I had been working on stuff for work for hours at the kitchen table. That pain started again. I got myself to the bathroom where I collapsed onto the floor in pain.. Bob and the kids were already in bed. I almost woke bob up to take me to the ER. I was worried it could be a heart attack, or something bad (had massive shortness of breath). Something was definitely wrong. I finally got myself into bed around 12 and tossed and turned literally all night because my stomach hurt so bad. By morning I was feeling better overall, but my stomach hurt. I still did my workout, went to work, etc. That night I still had massive stomach pain and by morning the pain was radiating up my back. I also had very dark urine (I KNOW…TMI!)

So, early Saturday morning I went to the walk-in clinic thinking they would tell me I had the flu and to go home (you KNOW I was hurting if I was up early on a Saturday morning!!) The doctor said it sounded like my gallbladder and that I needed to get an ultrasound and blood work. I asked when she wanted me to go and she said “You are going immediately! So, I drove down to the hospital and they did some tests. They found out that my gallbladder was definitely the culprit and I was so glad they found out what was casing the pain. It had many several stones in it, had thickened its walls and was starting to get a blockage. My liver levels from the blood test were 3 times what they were supposed to be. So, the doctor had me drive back up to her clinic so she could give me a prescription to manage the pain. As I drove home, she called the surgeon on call to explain what was going on and see when he wanted to see me.

I was only home for about 30 minutes when she called and said the surgeon wanted me in the ER immediately. So I drove down to the hospital AGAIN where they checked me in and put me in a room. I was in there about 45 minutes and partially fell asleep, but was hurting. Then a nurse came in and told me they were taking me to the OR. I must have looked COMPLETELY stunned because she said “Oh! Is this news to you?” Um...yes!!! She told me the doctor said it was bad enough that they needed to book an OR right away. So, they took me up and did all the pre-op while my head was spinning. Am I SERIOUSLY going in for a surgery right now?? Mind you, I have only had one major surgery when I got my tonsils at 18 years old and that was very long ago. The dr came in, explained the procedure and took time to answer all my frantic questions. I am sure I appeared a stressed out mess!! He said if they didn’t get it out that the stones would block it and I would end up with major problems.

When he left, they put in my IV and said they would give me some medicine to relax. I woke up, in what seemed only seconds later, in recovery. The surgery went well and I didn’t die (which, believe me, was a MAJOR fear!!! I know…I have issues…) He did it lapiroscopially (sp?) so the recovery will be quicker. I was thrilled that when I woke up, Bob was there!

They kept me over night. I was walking with some help within a few hours of surgery. I was doing so well that by 11:00 I had scrambled eggs and French toast which was HEAVENLY since I hadn’t eaten in over 24 hours. I did ok pain wise til they took me off the morphine through the IV and gave me oral pain meds. So, here it is, 4:30 AM, and I cant sleep cause I hurt. They will discharge me in the morning and I can recoup at home. The doctor said to give myself about 10-14 days to recoup, but to “feel like myself” again could take up to 6 weeks!! I’m sure that’s also one reason I am not sleeping right now. I need to find a sub, do sub plans, and I have a list about a mile long of stuff to do. Good thing all the new shows are on. It will make me hunker down and recoup.

A HUGE thanks to Bob, who I really think is Superman is disguise! I don’t know what I would ever do without him! He was up early and “held down the fort”. He and the kids cleaned the house and mopped the kitchen floor, he made homemade ketchup, did the grocery shopping, planned meals for the next 2 weeks, and made it to the hospital in time to be with me during recovery. A HUGE thanks to Angela who took Alayna to the Playstation with her kids for the afternoon and then to her house for the evening. Thank you!!! Thanks to Marisa and Kayla who sacrificed a day planned with friends to keep an eye on the younger guys and “hold down the fort” while Bob was with me at the hospital. And another giant thank you to Hal and Corey for dropping everything and driving out right away to help our family make it through this unexpected trial. Thank you!

No Braces (on top)