Well, it would seem my last hospitalization was a blessing in disguise.

Sometimes God works like that, even though at the time you feel like you are kinda at the end of your rope with the whole situation.

When I was ready to go home, the doctor that came to discharge me got started talking about my diabetes. Turns out he was the director of a medical clinic called Hope Medical Institute and Diabetes Center. He didn't seem to be trying to recruit patients or anything, but the more he talked, the more I was impressed with his apparent knowledge on the subject.

So I have switched to having him for my PCP, and I continue to be amazed. He is one of the few doctors who gives you real answers rather than just giving you more meds until you become a walking medicine cabinet. He goes into great depth explaining how the physiological processes work in your body, and then he goes on to explain the program he has developed and exactly why it helps.

The program he has put together is based on taking in lots of fiber, most of it from whole foods. It makes perfect sense when he explains exactly what they do for you. And best of all, he doesn't just tell you to go home and eat fiber...he tells you exactly what types of things to eat and when to eat them. Bingo! Just what I have wanted for a long time. I can do it if someone tells me how, in detail.

His program is based on "appetizers". If you eat the things he says at the beginning of a meal, he says you can eat anything you want  after that if you are still hungry....those last words being key. I have found that you aren't too hungry after that!

So this whole thing has been refreshing for me. It's nice to see someone in the medical field who doesn't treat you with the same blanket approach that all the other doctors do...ie, go home, stay away from sweets and fats as much as possible, watch your blood sugar, if it's high take more insulin. And prepare to be losing your vision, your limbs, and  having heart attacks...because unfortunately it just happens. Although you may be able to delay it if you take care. End of subject.

Nope, at this clinic they do give you HOPE, as their name implies (although they have changed the name recently, I like the first one better. Hope Medical Institute).

So...Paul is going on the program with me, even though he is not diagnosed as diabetic. It's good for anyone. We are currently in stage 1, which lasts three weeks. And so far we are happily impressed.

Maybe I will finally have a better success story to tell one day about my adventures with surgery, etc, this summer too. :( Unfortunately at the moment I am still battling with some problems. Too bad others in the medical field are restricted from telling what they know about certain surgeons, before they are allowed to wreak havok with your body. Too bad CT techs who tell you that 95% of a certain pair of surgeons' patients end up in CT later , being scanned for abscesses and such....can't tell you that BEFORE you allow said surgeons to touch you!  Yikes, that's not a good track record! So I am still having boatloads of pain sometimes, from the mesh that the guy attached inside my abdomen, and apparently he did something wrong. I've had another CT scan, and am being referred to a different surgeon because I will not allow that one to touch me again. Ya THINK?  I dread it, if it comes to another surgery, but this pain is unacceptable if something can be done about it.

So anyway....the news beyond that is that school starts on Monday! The boys are actually excited about going back, and of course, so is Mom! Gotta pick up some last mminute supplies today. And go to a baby shower this morning. So I'm out of here........

Two eventful weeks have passed, and may I say they are two weeks that I'm  glad are behind us! I figured I'd give a bit more detailed run-down of it for some of you that were wondering what was going on.

I've known for a while that I had an abdominal "ventral" hernia ...something that happened because of my last c-section. I got a referral to a surgeon, and figured oh well, I'll tell people about it if necessary after I find out what they are going to do about it. They usually give you plenty of time, by the time they get you scheduled and get their act together.

So a little over two weeks ago I saw the surgeon, and they surprised me by saying "We can do the surgery tomorrow"! I wasn't very well prepared for that, but I figured it was as good a time as any, might as well get it over with! After all, they were hoping to just do the laparoscopic method, and if that was the case I should be fine in a few days, right?

Uh.... nice logic, anyway! When they got their camara inside, they saw that method was not going to work (there were also 2 hernias rather than 1) so they had to make a big incision.  And then they had to put a drainage tube in, in a different spot. So I wake up with no less than five incisions, and the worst pain I have ever experienced, including with c-sections. Groan. Great-looking next six weeks.

So they kept me there for two days, and then came mistake number one... Sending me home without antibiotics. Very stupid move for a diabetic, and I wasn't well enough to catch it and insist. I thought I was healing pretty decently there for a while, even though with an awful lot of pain....And then mistake number two...they told me to leave the bandages off. And remember, no antibiotics. Man isn't hindsight 20/20?

So 9 days after surgery, I noticed a small amount of redness/infection around the drainage tube. Being the weekend, I called the on-call doctor almost immediately. I do NOT mess around with stuff like that. Guess what...unhelpful doctor. Of course, it's Memorial Day weekend. He calls in a prescription and says if you feel like you should go to the ER, go to the ER.    DUH. My 13 year old could have told me that! But by that time pharmacy is closed, we have to wait till morning.

Anyway, story is getting long....but that night I started throwing up, busted some of my staples out, etc. Mild fever. Automatic trip to ER Sunday morning. They were fast for a change, but they said it will heal shut by itself, gave me a prescription, and said If your fever goes up over 100.4, come back. Waste of time. Of course I was back several hours later, now sick as a dog.

Thus started another 4-day stay at the hospital with a staph infection. We were all hoping and praying it wasn't the more resistant one, MRSA...and thank God it wasn't. But they still ended up placing a pic line in my arm and sending me home on IV antibiotics for another week. A little scary, cuz I sure don't want anything to go wrong with that thing! I think I'm starting to have a real empathy for cancer patients, and thanking God that this will hopefully be a lot more temporary situation than that would be! And aside from the infection part, I think it was probably a good thing for me to have several more days of complete rest, to help me heal better from the inside out. I am now feeling so much better, though of course quite weak and a little sore still.

So that was the story about myself. The other side to that is when you have a "large" family depending on you, things become a bit more complicated. The children have to be taken care of, everyday stuff still needs to be done, and I want it to be known how very much we appreciated my family and Paul's family for stepping in and making sure it happened. Maybe we shall be able to repay you some day, but in the meantime I pray that God will bless all of you abundantly!

This is one happy girl that Mommy came home. She sat beside me as I got instructions about the pic line, but she was SO tired. Hopefully we can soon change her perception that Mommy is "always sick"!

I feel like an invalid. But at least I can be home, and mostly up and around.

Oh yeah, and one more thing....our 4th wedding anniversary was spent at the hospital this week too. That kinda sucked. But Paul came in and sat with me, and believe me, just the memories of that day 4 years ago were a bright spot in my day! We will be celebrating it one day soon, and maybe I will have some pictures. I love you , my Prince Charming, and believe me I'd do it over again in a heartbeat! Just think where we were 4 years ago today....Juneau, Alaska!

 Let's end this post on that note....

 A few pics from Easter...

Barbeque and Easter egg hunt at John and Ruth's house

 I suppose it's high time I got this thing caught up. The boys had spring break from school the week before last, and we went camping from Monday to Saturday...and then when we got home there was loads of laundry, science projects due that week, and other things to catch up with....so xanga had to wait its turn!

We went to Williams AZ, which is up on the mountain between Flagstaff and the Grand Canyon. There is a KOA there that has been a favorite spot for my family for a long time. This time we went with Paul's family, and it was a hit with everyone. I think we will be back!

Here Paul and the boys are setting up camp. That pop-up has been wonderful for us. However, we are out-growing it! Anyone have a class C motor home they want to get rid of?  It worked out ok for this time, along with the regular tent and the truck for added sleeping space. It was AWFULLY cold at night though...even the heater couldn't keep it very warm when it was 20-some degrees outside! Ok for the adults, but the babies had to sleep with quite the layers of clothing (another story!).

Jeff cooking some hamburgers. The cooking duties were shared, although Paul did a large portion of it on our campstove (weird, no pics of that), and Lorraine and Holly did some in Warren and Lorraine's camper.

Chelsea in the snowsuit that she was bundled in usually from about sundown till midmorning. After that , during the day it was gorgeous weather. Many of us even got sunburns.

Bundled-up moment for Jayna

My sister Marcia was there some of the time. Here she is with Baby Onna.

There was a gameroom in the main building. Most of us didn't spend much time there because it took money . But Daniel enjoyed being Uncle Ron's best friend, so he would take him over and play pool with him!

And Marcia and I (and some of the boys) played some air hockey. What fun! I get to do that stuff seldom enough that I kinda amazed my boys.  This wasn't a game where we actually stand still and be quiet! One of them remarked "Wow, Mom...I didn't know you were like that. I thought you were ...um...calm and stuff ". Hehe, I got a kick out of that. Guess my volleyball days were before he was around!  Don't like to think how old I'm getting, and I for sure won't say how many bruises and sore muscles I came home with!

Tim picked up Baby Onna and tried to keep her happy while we played. She fell asleep, and I thought it was cute.

And then there were the pedal cars....

They had this area with several kinds of pedal cars, and we decided to check how much it would be to use the big one. It was 10 bucks, and normally the other ones are 5 dollars each, for a half hour. But we were there at the perfect time, with not that many other people there...so on two of the days they allowed us to use as many of them as we wanted, for as long as we wanted, for a flat rate of ten bucks. What a deal!    

The case of the uncooperative helmets. Oh, and yes, if one wants to multi-task, there's always the option of talking on the cell phone while giving the kids a ride!

All three little girls having a ride together. Chelsea's opinion...love the ride, but oh please hang the helmet!  

I guess I'm not big enough to ride it by myself. Whatever.

Jayna desperately wants to ride it by herself, but it's a bit too clunky. Auntie Holly to the rescue.

Marcia with Matthew, Isaac, and Jayna

Donny did pretty well on this kind. The only way to steer the thing was by leaning your body to one side or the other.

Whew! not so easy for Dad...

Even Grandma gave one a try!

Jeff, Holly, and some of the others had fun with the horse shoe games too.                     

Other recreation....some of the kids spent many hours playing in the little plaground that was right by our campsite. Kept them quite busy.

Jayna and Isaac  were best buds...

Daniel with Uncle Ron and Aunt Marilyn's dog Jezebel. The name doesn't actually fit too well...she's a sweet little doggie.

Jayna enjoying her bowl of cereal

One way to nap...

And another way....

Paul playing his guitar for Chelsea

She wants to help.

I thought this was a cool pic of Grandpa A. with most of the grandkids. They were watching a movie there in that little outdoor theater.

Another thing we greatly enjoyed (and sadly don't have any pics of because it was dark)...was singing around the campfire a couple of the evenings. Uncle Ron and Aunt Marilyn knew many campfire songs from camping days gone by, and helped us sing a bunch of them. There were many that were new to the kids (and to some of us adults too)...so the singing and laughing was lots of fun!

So now we're home and kinda back in the groove again. Always something going on, keeping life interesting.

This week my baby turns one year old. A bit nostalgic, especially since she will probably be my last baby. Am I really finished with the infant carseats, exersaucers, battery operated swings, and all those other infant things that were a part of most of my adult life? Weird....but we move on. Birthday post up next I suppose.

Good day, everybody. 

 Happy  Birthday, sweet Princess!

Three  Years  Ago.....

One of my fondest dreams had just come true.

4 months old

1 year old

16 months

2 years old

Three years old, and absolutely adores being a princess.

Even though you wouldn't want to know the unlady-like  things she was saying as I was taking some of these pics! (future blackmail material )

We had her LONG-awaited party at the park last Saturday. Here she's having fun with Auntie Holly on the tire swing as cousins Zachary and Isaac are pushing them.

Lil Sis hangin' out with Auntie Heather

She HAD to have a Dora cake again, so it was Princess Dora this time. Compliments of Auntie Holly.

A three year old's princess party is just too much to ask a teenager to deal with! Well, particularly if they were at a slumber(less) party the night before!

Actually, it's all good for some of them, as long as there's electronics available!

And when that get's boring...oh well, said princess got some pretty interesting toys to play with!

PRESENTS!  I finally get my presents!!

In all her princess glory...

The babies had fun too.

Maybe that tongue can help keep the glasses on, it's worth a try.

Jayna, you have added immeasurable happiness to our lives. It is a joy to watch you growing up, constantly learning new things, trying out your ever-expanding vocabulary, and in general becoming quite the young lady.

We Love You!!