health update

I went to the doctor on Tuesday and had a little bloodwork done. I have been on shots for my bloodthinners till I can get regulated - and it appears that the dosage I took before is not the dosage that will work now. I used to take 2 pills a day and I had some thin blood - now I am taking 2 pills a day and am too low. Go figure. So I am still shooting up with Lovenox and have increased my dosage for the blood thinner. I have some UGLY bruises right now and am REALLY ready to go off of the shots.

In other news, I am feeling okay and the thyroid is actually pretty normal. My TSH right now is at 1.3 - which is in the normal range. I did have a little discussion with the doctor about why I am EXHAUSTED every morning around 9:30 and at 2 pm I can barely keep my eyes open. He said that is one of the side effects of lovenox and also my heart meds. He also said that since my thyroid is normal, I don't have to take the heart meds and I can wean off of those. VERY EXCITING.

So, all in all, doing well. just wanted to let you guys know!

its monday...and I am TIRED

You would think that even if you had a GREAT but long weekend, and you got 9 hours of sleep on Sunday night, that you would be fine on Monday. WRONG-O. I am exhausted. I was really thinking at 10 am that I was going to have to go home and take a nap. I don't know if the thyroid is way out of whack or what, but I can barely keep my eyes open. Tomorrow is going to be key to see if I feel any better!

What a weekend. A group of us went to go to Western Oklahoma to our friend LC's wedding. And when I saw western OK, I mean 2 1/2 hours from Oklahoma city in a town of 15,000 (so they say - I'm not so sure) called Woodward. We flew into OKC on Friday afternoon and drove down. A group of us went to the "fancy" restaurant in town - it was a steak house. It was actually fairly good - the steaks were FABULOUS - and the people watching was SO much better than the food!

On Saturday, LM and I got up and went across the street to get our nails done - and when we walked over there was a LINE at the door - and the place wasn't even open yet! We waited for an hour and went back after we were done. It was also VERY interesting people watching....and it was also Prom night, so we totally understood the line at the door! Then I went back to help LC with her makeup. She had gone to go see my favorite make-up guy Isaac and I got to try to re-create his creation. I think I did okay - but seriously, LC would look pretty in a paper sack without makeup! Then we got ready for the wedding!

The wedding was in the town's catholic church and the church was filled with white lily's and candles and looked great. and of course, LC looked AMAZING as she walked down the aisle. Watching her hubby's face as she walked down the aisle didn't let anyone down - you could see the excitement and joy in his face!

Then we ran to the reception which was in a community center next to the town theater...the best part was that they had their name up on the Marquee. It was a great little reception - so good to catch up with people from KPMG I haven't seen in a while. And the cake was the best cake I have ever had. Hands down. Both of them. They were so moist, the icing was SOOOOO good and I had to control my urge to go back for more :)

And then we went out to the "local bar" called the Rooster. What an experience! They have a "permanently banned" list that we wanted to try to get on....we found out you have to fight - so three of the girls discussed, but felt like it wasn't worth a slap or two to get on it. Bummer. It was classic - especially the old man that would look towards our table, lick his lips, and find one of the girls to come ask to dance. GROSS. Some of the girls obliged him a few times and then the boys started asking the girls to dance every time he started walking our way. LOVE those boys. Although, didn't really like that place on Monday - since I felt I was wheezing all day on Monday since the place was not smoke free!

All in all, it was a very good weekend. I had so much fun - just wish I had a computer to upload my picts so I can post them! But I am working on that!

i think I need....

I am just going to say it - I need adaptive Yoga for "bigger" people. Seriously.

This video is great - but it CLEARLY says beginners - and then goes off on this "grab the bottom of your foot and raise your foot above your head, while standing on one leg" -- think of this - what you would expect classically trained ballerinas (or anyone from Cirque de Solei) to be able to do...I am not sure most beginners could do that - much less me.

*sigh*

but i am NOT giving up. I did it again today - today was "hip openers". There was only one pose I really couldn't do at all - we won't even get into that one. The others I could do most of them, but I am going to have to keep working to get better.

I wish I had video of my reaction to some of it....I think I actually talked to the tv today - I think it was "you have got to be kidding me".

Tomorrow I am going back to the standing poses - my favorite so far.

the last day of "house arrest"

on my last day of house arrest, I had a fabulous day. I slept in a bit, and got up and did my back excercises and stretches, then met up with my friend MP to walk....she moved to the neighborhood and had never been on the walking trail through tanglebrook so I decided she needed to learn the ropes. I walked from here and met her on the way and we walked up and down the trail for over an hour. It was fabulous. Except I got a little sunburn...which I am just thankful I got to spend some time outside!

Then ran off for beauty day and got the 'brows waxed and a great little pedicure and came home to make some cookies. I am CRAVING chocolate (what's new) and came home and started baking. I am in heaven...well, almost - I know it will be much better in heaven than eating chocolate chip cookies on the best weather day in houston!

I am SOOOO Excited about going back to work tomorrow and being "in the land of the living". I will have a lot to do, but as my dad always says, it will keep me out of trouble!!!!

i am going to have to go to bed early if I am going to get up to do my 25 minutes in yoga in the morning...did I mention that I am sore from the first day? yes, I said sore. Ironically, in my shoulders....not sure if it was that or the weights I lifted, but still.

its sunday...its beautiful...I'm at work.

this is what I get for sitting around and not being dilligent when I have been home this week. Now I should have gotten some stuff done this past week and I didn't get it all done, so on the ONE day when it is beautiful, I am at work. Punishment for myself for not doing what I should have. At least I have a window in my office and I can enjoy it!

I got out yesterday and went to the breakfast with LM, then we convinced ourselves that since it was raining that we had to make a trip to the outlet mall....yes, we can justify anything....which we ran around and bought a few things, then had a big craving for Chuys (thanks to JH for mentioning that to us) so we stopped in on the way home and had our creamy jalapeno fix for the day. What a great day - I think that is the most I have gotten to hang out with LM since I left my job and it was so good to get to catch up with her! She is riding in the MS 150 today - hopefully she is doing well!!!

When we were at the outlets yesterday, I sat down to try on some shoes, and when I kicked up my leg to tie the nike's I was trying on - I totally did something to my back (go figure) and ever since it has been HURTING (and yes, the all caps mean it is bad). It does this every once in a while but it this time it was really bad...and it hasn't quit. So I decided this morning that was IT and I was going to do my stretches like a good girl. I also decided to get out that Yoga video I bought not too long ago - it is a 5 day 25 minute program for beginners - so I thought I would add that in too. Yoga is stretching, right?

Well, lets just say I always thought I was flexible when I am younger and that is no longer. They said it was beginners, but if all beginners can contort their body like that, then I am impressed. Becuase I cannot. BUT I will say that there are very few things that motivate me - one of them would be that I can't do something well. So, Yoga video, I am taking you on. I WILL conquer...if I don't kill myself first! It did give a good little workout - and I did feel MUCH better after it - so I have told myself every day this week I have to do it. I'll fill you in on if it gets any better. I did the twisting and standing poses today(so that was around 50 minutes)...I kind of liked the standing and the twisting were pretty good too. I'll see what the others were - but I am FOR SURE that the "back bending" poses are going to have to wait a few weeks. I am sure I would collapse if I tried! ha!

Other than that - I am okay. my heart seemed to be going a little fast so I broke out my trusty home blood pressure machine - yes, I know I am a dork for having one. My BP was good - at around 115 / 65 - but the heart rate was almost at 90. I thought it was becuase I had been running around - so I waited 30 minutes and watched TV (another reason for the punishment) and it was still that high. If it is that high tonight, I will go into the doctor Monday. It is totally par for the course - and slightly expected. As your thyroid "dies" pockets of thyroid hormones can be released and when that happens, you have all the symptoms of "hyperthyroidism" - which includes the rapid heart rate. So, not wholly unexpected, I just don't want it to continue much longer becuase that is bad...especially when you are already on heart meds to control it!

So, that is the weekend update. I am going to dinner with a friend tonight - as my friend RH said, you are just dropping little radioactive terds everywhere, aren't you!!! - then one more day at home till I am FREE....well, kind of free. Probably very busy at work since I will be back after a little over a week!

sitting at home...

you know, the idea of spending a few days at home seems amazing....until you have to do it. Day 1 and 2 were okay- as they involved trips to the hospital for tests....Day 3 was fine because it was my first full day at home...I can say now that I am tired of being home - mainly just from being alone and having everyone just being able to call....sometimes, I admit, i just hate talking on the phone - although I DO appreciate all of the calls checking on me! And I have done all my laundry, and cleaned up stuff....now all that is left is re-organizing the closets. Ugh. But I will take one for the team and go ahead and do it. And I can't bake for others, so I just can't bake becuase I don't want to eat it! Although, brownies are sounding really good right now!!

So I am here and hanging out. trying to get some work done but I need to focus and that is really hard right now! so many things to distract me - blogs, facebook, emails, etc.

And at some point, I am going to have to train my body that these 2 hour afternoon naps and sleeping 10 hours a night are not going to be allowed to happen going forward. But for now, I am going to enjoy them!

radioactive....

Today was a long day.

I am fully radioactive now...and hanging out at home. I dropped my mom off at the airport earlier today so she doesn't have to stay around me while I go through all of this, which is for the better. My instructions say if you are under 45 you have to stay 6 feet away, if you are over 45 it is 3 feet away for the next 7 days...it was better for her just to go to Dallas and get back to work.

I went in this morning to finish the scans - which involved basically being in an MRI machine (or something like it) laying still for an hour. And we know I don't lay still for that long. Then I met with the doctor who basically told me I was abnormal. Go figure. We already knew that!

Basically, it appears that my thyroid is functioning normally right now. The uptake from the scan was at around 36%, and the high range of normal would be around 35%. He looked back through my labs and info and thought that maybe I had thyroiditis, which is like a cold in the thyroid, which would explain the high and turning low. But when I asked if that would occur for over 6 months - he said no - and ruled that out. We talked for a while and I gave him the brief history and what all had happened, and he agreed that it would be better for me to kill the thyroid and go on meds to replace the hormone, then trying to regulate something that is high then low, then high again.

So he called my regular doctor and they agreed to do the RAI - so then they told me I had to take a pregnancy test first. I promised them that would be like immaculate conception, but they said they made the nuns do it, so I had to do it too. Don't worry - not prego, so we got to go grab McDonalds (ironic that my hospital is a Heart Hospital - and they have a McDonalds in the lobby) for a little lunch, and then went back up for D-day.

Basically, they take you into this locked room, and sitting on a table are three lead bricks in a triangle, and in the middle this radioactive container that is made of lead with a lid on it, with the radioactive symbol all over it. I swear, it looked like if you opened it smoke would come out of it like in the movies. They made me cover my clothes, wear gloves, and they had to use a special thing to open the lid to the radioactive iodine. They gave me a straw and told me to get after it. It tasted like dirty water (I don't know how else to describe it) and they kept adding water to it (remember those water bottles you used in Chemistry class with the long neck on it to squirt water into a test tube - yes, they had those) so I could make sure I could get it all down.

Then I got to walk out of there (after signing my life away) and go home.

The guy told me all kinds of stories - like you have to be careful about your trash - if you throw a bunch of stuff away and it has the radioactive stuff all over it, it can set off alarms at the dump. (go figure) and if they figure out it is you, then they can fine you thousands of dollars (read: don't throw away anything with your name on it in the trash for a few days! ha!)

I did get a note to be able to fly in a couple of weeks for Leigh's wedding - but I need to make sure those going with me want to be around me that much! supposedly for 30 days after you still have residual radioactive material coming out of your pores. Which also means I will have to stay away from kiddos for a month...just to be extra careful.

Now I am tired and going to take a little nap....and tomorrow I will have to call the doctor and figure out what else I have to do. Just like my friend GG said, you feel it dying....I don't know how to describe it, but it is almost like a tightening in your neck. As long as it gets better from here, I don't care how bad it feels!

only slightly radioactive

I swear, I cannot catch a break when it comes to doctors and lack of communication. Today we (my mom and I ) at the hosptial expecting to do the scan to see the thyroid function and then go ahead and do the radioactive iodine to kill the thyroid. It seems, however, that was not my doctors orders. It appears that my doctors (yes, I will say all of them at this point because a) I am in a foul mood and b) becuase I feel like they have all failed in one way or another) have a communication problem. They just can't do it well. Or at all. take your pick.

Long story short, we checked into the hospital (I wish I had a picture of the snazzy arm band I get to wear all day today and tomorrow), wait for an hour and finally go back behind the "scary" doors (think movies - taking people into surgery). Then the resident comes in (which, we will get to later how I feel about residents) and we go through a bunch of questions (like what meds are you on, when did you last eat, etc). then he says do you have any questions (which, at this point, I should have just said - go get the doctor in here so we don't have to play telephone back and forth - but I was nice and let him try) and I started rattling some off. Basically resident boy ran in and out of the room going to ask the doctor all my questions - and I didn't really like all of the answers.

Basically, after all of that we figured out that she (my doctor) had only set up the scan - and I would have to wait for the results, then go meet her in the office, then go back to the hospital for the radioactive iodine (which, all of that could take WEEKS). WHICH is not what she had told me before, not what the nurse had told me, not what the hospital had told me when I scheduled it.

At this point I think I started crying....

Now - let me mention that I took the whole week off, my mom missed work today to go with me, and I have had to go off ALL my meds to be able to do this -- which is a complete pain in the ____, and if we don't do it, then I have to stay on these crappy shots till we kill the thyroid. (And did I mention the copay is $50 for a 14 day supply? (read: over $1000 for a 14 day supply retail). And I get ugly bruises all over my stomach because of them.) Plus, emotionally, I just need it to be over with.

So, after all that running around, we got to the point where I could do it tomorrow if my scan comes back where my thyroid is processing the small dose of radioactive iodine they gave me today.

I did the first scan sans radioactive pill and then took the pill and got to go home for a few hours. I went back in that afternoon and did another scan - and the guy that was there that afternoon and I had a chat - he wanted to know why I was so upset this morning so I filled him in. He promised me that he would help me out tomorrow and try to get the doctor to read the scan quickly after we were done, and make sure the doctor got the results to my doctor so we could decide what we could do before I left the hospital - so hopefully we could just knock it all out.

The one thing he did say was that if my thyroid was not "uptaking" appropriately (read: my body doesn't process the radioactive iodine appropriately - and it gets "excreted" out in other ways instead of the thyroid processing it) then we can't do the radioactive iodine at all. he said in those cases you just have to go back on meds, which my doctor already told me my meds were bad and I shouldn't stay on them.

So I started crying again. I feel like I just can't have anything go according to plan.

Then I went home and slept for 2 hours....and my mom took me to my favorite restaurant for my favorite salad. Life is much better now.

we'll see what happens tomorrow. say a little prayer that everything turns out okay (which means in Karen's plan - we get to kill the thyroid. I just hope God's plan is something similiar, or he knows way more than I do (which, of course he does!) and that if we can't kill it that hopefully we are over the hosptial visits and racing hearts, and medicine that isn't working.)

I am headed off to bed...back to the hospital in the morning. Hopefully tomorrow is a much better day than today!

some of my favorite HS girls....and their kiddos

What a fabulous day....we had a few of our high school friends we still talk to over for brunch with their husbands and kiddos, and of course, their moms. We all grew up together - AN and Kristen and I were in pre-school together and went to Church our whole lives together; CS and our famlies have been friends for as long as I can remember - we used to go camping and have slumber parties when we were younger - all the way through high school; KE (above) and I met in High School on Lake McQueeney and had LOTS of fun on the lake all of those summers....ah, the good ol days! My mom still remembers the day that AS came home from the hosptial - she was born a few months after us and her parents were SO happy to bring her home - we have been friends since the day she was born! GG and Kris and I were in elementary school together -- I still remember some project where we had to dress up and sing "I've been working on the railroad"....supposedly there is video and if it ever comes out someone may get hurt! We all try to get together at least once a year (sans kids and husbands) in the summer, but we decided since everyone was in town (or close to town) we would all gather for brunch at my parents house with everyone. It was so fun to get to hang out and catch up -- and play with all the kiddos! Especially seeing them hunt easter eggs - so fun! My group pictures of all the girls didn't turn out - so I need to get one from AS - but here are other pictures from the day....

Here is Little JE ( above and below). The greatest thing about her is that she LOVES her Bebe - who is helping her hunt eggs. Bebe would tell her to pick one up - she would get SO focused on it (above) take time to bend down (as toddlers do) to pick them up -- and then she would immediately open it in hopes there was candy inside (as that is not a normal thing in their house). Since we had very little candy in the eggs, there was disappoinment sometimes (see below). I know play dough lasts longer than candy - but we weren't quite as impressed. She was really cute too later when she had one of the big red balloons and was throwing it up in the air and chasing after it all over the yard just as happy as can be.

And although this cute little one AS was too small to hunt easter eggs, we obliged him with one to at least chew on since he didn't get to participate. I LOVE the hair little man. Hopefully it will calm down one day - your mom's did so there is hope for you too!

Here is cute little JAS, who at this moment was playing with eggs....don't be fooled though, she spent most of the morning trying to chew on the sidewalk chalk. it was so cute...she has the hair like my sister, so many colors including red, I just can't wait to see what it will look like when she gets a little older.

After running around and taking the prize for the most eggs, I think his Daddy was trying to steal the change out of his pockets by turning him upside down. What a cheap trick, Dad! CS and her family were just so stinking cute. I couldn't get a lot of pictures becuase they were running around everywhere - so this is the best one while Dad was holding him hostage! ha! And who would have thought those balloons would have been such a hit!

Here is little JS....what you can't see is his daddy to his left saying - J, here are some more eggs....and I mean, a LOT of eggs, hurry! he was contemplating whether the basket was too heavy already, whether the loot was worth it, and if he could make it over there quickly. He was so stinking cute.

Here is little TN....she was totally cracking me up. She LOVES the color Blue, which you wouldn't guess becuase she was head to toe in pink....and she was really going after all the blue eggs. She would totally pass up any of the other color eggs. It was so cute and you can see how excited she was when she picked up those eggs! She also was so cute when she wanted to help out everyone else open up their eggs. She was so calm and patient and saying "I'm just trying to help open your eggs to see what you have". LOVE IT.

My friend KE has twins that are the cutest things ever.....and they are EXACTLY like my sister and I in almost every way. Here is a cute picture of Kristen and her twin A - who was doing GREAT since she takes a while to warm up to her surroundings....my favorite part was when my dad was holding little A and put her on the grass to pick up an easter egg and she gave him a look like "old man, why in the hell did you put me on this prickly little grass. PICK ME BACK UP." It was so great (and I got a picture to memoralize it).

Here is me and my Twin, MC. She is really cute - there is another one with her smiling, but of course I will post this one since I look better in it. ha, ha. KE says they call her chunky monkey and is always so happy. she got passed around to everyone and was so happy the entire time...especially when we put her down - she went after those eggs as fast as she could crawl.

Funny thing is - if I could find some of my baby pictures, you would totally think we look alike at that age! And I wish I could have posted pictures of all the kiddos but I spent too much time talking, and not enough time snapping pictures! what a fun day - spent with great friends and lots of happy kiddos!

bluebonnets....

The Bluebonnet....if you aren't from Texas, you might not be as familiar with these flowers. They are the state flower of Texas, so from an early age most native Texans know these flowers well (I remember making them in pre-school with colored popcorn on construction paper). Especially since you will at least once in your life get dragged out of the car to climb in some random persons field to take pictures in the bluebonnets...it's like a rite of passage for growing up in Texas. The other day I was with two of my friends, SM and PR, driving to Brenham - they were going to a shower and I took it as an opportunity to go see my friend KJ and her cute little kiddos...and on the way, there were bluebonnets everywhere. And the scenery was gorgeous.

We decided to pull off the road with the 1000 other people (and I am almost not exaggerating about that) and take some pictures too. Of course, since I literally woke up, no makeup and ran out the door, we will not post pictures of me - but I will post this cutie one of SM and PR - love these two sisters sitting in the bluebonnets (and the stickers and whatever else was there!) But it was a lot of fun and totally reminded me of my childhood!

Catching up....

I finally have access to a computer where I can upload picts - so it is time to catch up on a few things...and the perfect way to start is to talk about catching up with one of my favorite people in the world - someone that had been such a fabulous mentor and friend to me over the last 8 years. She was one of the first managers I worked for at my first job out of college and took a group of us (RT, on the left in the pict above, JY (who is in NYC right now and not able to hang out with us that night, and me) under her wing. We worked almost soley for her our first few years and she taught us so many things....not only about work but about life. We were SO blessed to have her take us under her wing - ironic that from my start class there were only three of us left before I left this past month and all three of us were the ones that she mentored when we were young. She is one of my most favorite people - she has this bubbly personality, and she is so caring - she totally watched out for us - both in our careers and in our personal lives - and had no problem calling us out when we made mistakes to make sure that we never did it again. I was SO sad when MT moved to NYC - I missed her being in Houston and I missed how much she taught me - there was no one else in the office like her. BUT I also loved getting to see her everytime I went to NYC and every training where she was there...and even more nights like the one we had above when they were in Houston and we got to hang out and catch up. Those nights always remind me how much I loved having her around and how sad I am that she is not in Houston anymore! BUT I am excited for them as they go and do a rotation in London - as soon as they get there I am going to visit!! LOVE having people all over the world to go and play with! You are one of the reasons that leaving the firm was so hard (as was RT and JY - my start class family....with MT as our Mamma Hen). MT - I may have not told you enough how much I appreciated you and all that you have done for me...Thank you...you have truly touched my life.

good news....

I went yesterday to meet with the ENT to discuss my results from the biopsy. Things were good - and it doesn't appear that there are any abnormal (or cancerous) cells in the thyroid. So, we are on for the thyroid killing to occur on Monday. My mom is coming in to go to the hospital with me so I can drink the radiation and then do a few body scans. Hopefully everything will go well and we will be on the road (again) to getting they hormones regulated with new synthetic thyroid medication.

I'll post more later - things have been really busy at the new job and I can't download pictures to my new work computer - so sad. So I will have to steal my sisters computer this weekend to do so so I can add to the blog.

hope everyone has a VERY happy Easter weekend.

happy friday...

I came into the office - this was the first day that I was here to really see the sunrise (promise, it isn't a bad thing - I am trying to teach (okay, trick) my body into waking up earlier - two fold - so I can start working out in the morning and then so I can also start getting to work earlier.

anyway, there is a BEAUTIFUL sunrise. I am so thankful to have a great view of downtown from my office, and with the sun rising, it reminds me of the glory of God - and all of the great things he has provided me with - this great new job, great friends, loving family, and even better the sunrise to see His beauty in everything he created.

I am blessed. I pray for blessings for each of you and that you, too, see the beauty in the wonderful things God has given us - even through all of the hard times.

I hope all of you have a very happy friday!