The Beach~Sunday

Sunday we got up and headed into Gulf Shores for church. After church we had brunch at the Louisiana Lagniappe, it was soo good! We had a great view of SanRoc Cay Harbour and Stratton liked looking at all the huge boats. It was actually really clear and sunny when we left for church but by the time we got done eating it was getting cloudy and rainy again. So we decided that we might as well hit the outlets. Unfortunately, that didn't go any better! I always find some really good deals, but for some reason it just wasn't my day!

We got back to the condo about 4pm and were going to have dinner at the Beach Club's restaurant. In the meantime, some teenager decided to get in the water and got out too far which caused a major rescue operation. A rescue swimmer saved 2 (one of the teens and the mom that tried to go out after them) of them, but they never found the 3rd. We discovered later that he was a 16 year old. It was really sad to watch.

 

The Beach~ Saturday

A little beach time in the morning was again spoiled by rain!

So we decided it would be a good day to spend indoors at the National Aviation Museum. We also took Stratton to his first IMAX movie  . .. and he loved it!

It was POURING rain when we left but we decided to eat at the Hangout anyway. Poor Jarrod was absolutely soaking wet after dropping us off and picking us up! After dinner we needed more milk so they guys ran into a Walgreens and got drenched! I have NEVER seen it rain that hard anytime anywhere! It was an interesting ride back to Fort Morgan with all the rain! But we got back safe and sound.

The Beach~ Friday

We decided {really} last minute to take advantage of the time Jarrod would be off for Labor day and make a quick trip to the beach. If you know me, you know I can't go a whole year without some beach time! Mom and Dad were planning on taking some time off that weekend as well so we asked them to go with us. It worked out really well, with the exception of Stratton not even caring that Jarrod and I were around! haha!

We left Thursday afternoon around 1:30pm and only made 2 stops! We made it all the way to Jackson before making the first stop! Stratton slept most of the way! we made it to Fort Morgan, where mom and dad were already, about 11pm. The best day was Friday. The skies were really cloudy and it rained on and off, but the wind wasn't that bad and we actually got to play on the beach a little.

Building a sand castle

The 1st sand castle got destroyed by an incoming wave!

Ominous looking clouds

Chasing seagulls!

We went to Lulu's for supper

Isabella's 10th Bday

Where have the last 10 years gone?? This girl should not be 10!? Jarrod and I had been dating for about 6 months when she was born! That makes me feel old! We had her family birthday party tonight and had a great time. It's fun to watch the little ones play. It wasn't that long ago that Isabella and Alexandra were the only kids, now there are 3 more and they keep us entertained.

Here she is opening her iphone!

Stratton and Laney

Stratton pushing his "baby-Brod-er" around in a stroller.

Surgery is such a downer.

It’s been a while since I posted an update about what’s going on with me. . . .

I had a colonoscopy in June, so that my new (and super awesome) surgeon could see the lipoma (mass/growth) in my colon for himself. He got some good pictures of it and they even gave me a tattoo! They put an ink mark that they will be able to see from the outside of the colon so it will be easy to locate during surgery- pretty cool, huh?

Then I had an appointment with an OB/Gyn at UAMS to discuss the cyst that was found on my left ovary back in the spring during my last CT scan. My doctor’s thought was since I am already having surgery in that general area why not take a look at the ovary when they are in there and see what it looks like, right? If the cyst looked like it might be growing, or had attributes that were unfavorable they might have to take my left ovary out. They said this would be the worst case scenario. So, I had to go see one of the OB/GYNs at UAMS. She did an ultrasound and in her opinion it doesn’t look anything to be worried about. She said that she would be available for surgery if she was needed, but didn’t anticipate it being an issue.

So now we know. . .gallbladder-out, right side of colon- out, left ovary- STAYS! Yay! I mean why not celebrate getting to keep as many parts as possible!

My surgery is scheduled for September 27th. It’s such a downer to know that this is just a little over a month away.  I wasn’t nervous until we set the date! But, I’m not really nervous because I think something will go wrong- I’m just nervous because I don’t know what to expect, there are so many “unknown” factors. Like they don’t know if they will be able to do the surgery laproscopically or not. They will try but because I have so much scar tissue from previous surgeries it will make it more difficult. And they don’t know about what my recovery time will be. Since they do this surgery more on older people who are already sick, I am hoping to bounce back quickly- but we just don’t know. I shouldn’t be worried. . .I have said this a lot and I truly believe it. I just really feel like with everything that has happened in the past year, that the Lord has finally lead me to the right place and the right people. I really like the Dr that will be doing the surgery, His name is Dr. Mizell. He has done this procedure at least 150 times, so I know he is experienced. He is very personable, seems to have a good sense of humor (which is a plus when dealing with me!) and he really seems to care. He could be faking it, but if he is, he is good at it!! We have been emailing back and forth since my last appointment. He has answered any and all my questions and super nice, too. He has just made us feel at ease about the procedure. I have never felt like a doctor was really listening the way he seemed to. And his staff has been awesome too. His nurse has called and emailed me both. He has several residents under him (it is UAMS after all) the guys I have met from his office and the colonoscopy were really nice and they are passionate about their job! Even though my surgeon has done the colon re-section surgery many times before, I think I am the first that has ever had a “lypoma” in the colon. ( Haha. . Imagine that?? Me? An odd case?? No??!!) He usually preforms this particular surgery on those with colon cancer removing tumors.  So he and all his students are "pumped" to see it (that's actually what one of the residents told me!).  I think I'm going to be a very popular girl in the OR?! There were 4 guys (yep, 4 young, cute, guys) that are residents under my surgeon that were there for (and seriously excited about?!) my colonoscopy, so who knows. . . I may have an audience! I keep thinking about Grey's Anatomy when all the residents watch from the "viewing room" above the OR, I wonder if UAMS has those??

 

My Doc!

Dr. Jason Mizell

I have another appointment with Dr. M on Sept. 21st, the Wednesday before my surgery to do all the blood work and pre-op stuff. . .I am not looking forward to that. I feel like it’s going to be a rude awakening. He has told me a lot of things, but I am afraid they are saving the awful and scary stuff for then, so it’s too late to back out!! We will see.

So my recovery time is kinda hard to guess. He said that most people have to stay in the hospital 5-7 days or until “things” start working right again. He said that 4 days would be the minimum and that was if I was a super-over achiever, ha! Lucky for him I AM!! Which will work out since my surgery is on Tuesday, I should be heading home on Friday, right?? I sure hope so!! I don’t know how often I will have to go back for a check-up yet? I am kinda assuming at one week and then 6 weeks? I keep thinking about my C-section recovery.  . .I had S on Sunday and was released from the hospital on Weds, we didn’t go home till Monday and I don’t remember much of anything till about Thursday (but that was partially b/c I got that infection and was so sick) which was the day we had our first company come over. . .but that is  11 days. That is when I quit taking pain meds and started keep S on my own, and if I was ok enough to keep a 2 week old then I think that’s pretty good. My point is that this surgery can’t be any worse. So hopefully the rebound time will be about the same. So even if I can’t drive and go into work I am hoping that I can do some stuff from home and not be a total slacker! haha! But who knows!!

Anyway that’s about it. I think. If you have some extra time in your prayers please keep me (and Jarrod) in them! I know the Lord is going to take care of me and everything is going to be fine and in 6 months this will all be a distant memory! But, boy am I ready for that day to come!!

Random pictures

^ Playing with Sadey!

^ Sitting on the front porch in the eveing

^ Can you find the cat?

^ haha! Mimicking Mom~He looks just like me!

 

^ Mimicking Dad. He did this all on his own, he was so proud!

He found Jarrod's suitcase left open so everything in it was fair game! As you can see he knows where the items of clothing go. . .just not how to wear them correctly!

 

^ Yep. That's Jarrod's undies he's got on!!

 

^ His whole body fit in one leg!

Exhausting week!

This past week has been just one thing after another, when it rains it pours, right??

Last weekend was the Kirksey famliy reunion, so we stayed in HR Saturday night and most of the day Sunday. Monday Aunt Brandye was off work so she picked Stratton up from daycare early and she and Uncle Dillon got to spend the whole afternoon with S. Then we met them for dinner at Lazzari. (Brandye thinks he was saying he wanted "pasta" for supper!) Jarrod's Aunt Kathleen passed away Sunday night and her visitation was Tuesday night and funeral Wednesday in Bald Knob. So Tuesday I ran errands at lunch (Stratton needed new khakis since his last growth spurt last week!) and left work early to pick up Stratton and get him bathed and cleaned up. We decided to stay the night in Searcy since the funeral was at 2pm and Jarrod was a pallbearer, it would just be less of a hassle. . .so we were all packed, dressed and ready to go by 5:45pm- Major accomplishment! We actually fed Stratton chicken nuggets on the way. . . not a shining moment for me, but you do what you gotta!

The visitation was crazy packed! Aunt Kathleen was such a wonderful person and you could tell just how many lives she impacted by the showing at the visitation. It was sad, but we got to see and visit with lots of Jarrod's family that we don't get to see often. Wednesday I thought Stratton felt warm, but since we really couldn't do anything about it, and it was so warm Wednesday we didn't think much about it. He did have a runny nose so we had been giving him some medicine from the dr to treat that. Well by Wednesday evening he looked and sounded awful! When we got back to Jonesboro around 6pm he was running almost a 102 temp and so we took a bath and got ready for bed early. I decided that I would take him to the dr Thursday morning.

Thursday morning comes and guess what?? It's pouring rain. Normally I would be overjoyed, but it's not so much fun when your hauling a sick two year old around!  Luckily the rain prevented others from getting out, too! The clinic was not busy at all!! We got right in! The Dr said he probably just had a viral infection (it's going around) and should be better in a day or two. He told us to keep treating the fever to keep it down and try to keep him drinking and eating (he'd lost almost 4 pounds since his 2 yr visit!). After we left I asked Stratton if he wanted anything to eat. . .after volunteering two options that weren't on my list of appropriate for breakfast (Chucky E Cheese and chicken nuggets) I decided we'd just run through the McDonalds on our way home. We pull in and there are about 6 cars in front of us. Stratton being impatient and a little grumpy said "MOVE!!" I told him we had to wait a minute and it would be our turn soon. After we'd moved up a few cars he said "MOVE! My Turn!!" hahaha. . .The rest of the day we laid around and watched movies, then when Jarrod got home we loaded our stuff up again and headed to Hickory Ridge to drop S off before making our way back to Searcy to spend the night (I think I know what it feels like to be a nomad. . .) We decided to stay in Searcy so we wouldn't have to get up so early for my Dr. appt at UAMS on Friday morning. I had another Ultrasound done on my left ovary to see what if anything had changed on the cyst that was found and I had an appointment with the OB/GYN that would be in on my surgery. She didn't seem to think the cyst was anything to worry about. She let us know that she would be available to remove it if during the surgery they determined it needed to come out, but she didn't foresee this being an issue! The ultrasound was at 9am and the Dr appt was at 1:45 so we did some shopping .  . .Stratton and I got some new TOMS at Gene Lockwood's. . .that place has TOMS stacked to the ceiling- literally!! Then we ate lunch at Loca Luna (so yummy!!) and also hit up a few more places. After my dr appt we went to the mall before heading back. It was a good day! I got some god news from the Dr and got to go shopping! haha! Stratton is staying at my mom and dad's tonight as well, so I am excited about getting to sleep in!! WooHoo! Then laundry and I'm sure a trip to the grocery store is in order since our cupboards are bare! This weekend ASU students will be coming back, so we have that to look forward to. . .ugh.

Hopefully, this week will be slightly less busy. However, I'm sure I will pay for missing 3 days of work. I shuttered to think of what lies in my inbox come Monday morning. . .