Say Goodbye, Appendix

So the last 42 hours have been quite a whirlwind.  I had been meaning to blog about many other things, but it seems like my appendix just had to take precedent. 

It all started on Tuesday morning.  I woke up at 3:30 a.m. and felt like some one was stabbing my stomach.  I wasn't sure if it was just indigestion or what was going on.  I took some pills to help me digest what we had eaten the night before.  I tried going back to sleep with little luck.  I ended up rescheduling most of my day and tried to sleep it off.  Through out the day the pain would range from dull and twisting to sharp and would take my breath away.  I knew the pain wasn't normal, but since I wasn't throwing up I didn't think it was food poisoning.  I really hadn't eaten much on Tuesday and then when D came home I had him warm me up some chicken noodle soup.  That is the cure for all ills isn't it?  I wish. D actually took Bella for a walk after dinner, because she loves to be hyper at night.  While we was gone, the worst stabbing pain came back.  I went online to see what our local clinics after hours were and decided to venture on webmd.com.  I put in my symptoms, and since it is the stomach area, there are about 10 different things that I could have self diagnosed.  Of course appendicitis was one of the first ones.  By the time he was walking in the door, I had tears in my eyes and asked him if I should go to the doctor.  I was able get an appointment at 8:10 p.m. and we headed to the clinic right by our house. That's when the fun began. 

When it was my turn to go in, D and I went through the normal size,weight, etc.  They had me do a urine test and head back to the room.  When I got back in, D said that they were doing that to see if I was pregnant.  I was like, what?  Would having an appendix removed be better than being pregnant?  We both just laughed.  We know we are not ready for that ordeal.  Urine results were negative and no UTI. Woo! We were so graciously lucky enough to be in the room next to a person that was trying to puke her guts out - very loudly!  Good thing I do not have a weak stomach!!  Then of course the doctor came in, felt around, and asked about my symptoms.  Not a ton can be figured out just by them poking around.  He wanted me to get some blood drawn before I left, because it could tell way more than the urine test.  We actually left the clinic, and the doctor said he would call us with the results.  

I went home and of course still in pain, I decided to take 3 advil and get in the bath.  The worst part was that it stressed out my muscles and my back was killing me.  The bath helped a TON and finally let me relax.  Mid-bath, the doctor called and said that my white blood cell count was 15K when normal levels are 10K or lower.  Basically this means that I had some sort of bacteria in my body.  He said he would call in the morning, and I needed to go get a CT scan.  I found myself a comfortable spot on the couch and tried to get some sleep that night.  I actually slept pretty well and even woke up with hardly any pain.  I was thinking to myself that maybe I just jumped the gun.  Maybe it was just something I ate or indigestion.  

At 7 a.m. the doctor called me and discussed my symptoms.  Although he said since I was feeling better he felt reassured, he still wanted to do the scan.  My white blood cell count was still way high for comfort.  I ended up not being able to get the scan done until the afternoon.  I actually had to meet with a bride that came in from S. Carolina, and I couldn't reschedule.  We met, and I also met at a lunch meeting as well, although I couldn't eat because I had to abstain for 4 hours prior to the scan.  I had felt better most of the day.  I didn't have any sharp pains and the only discomfort was that my stomach muscles were sore.  Walking around though, I still felt like something was off.  

At 2:15 I got to go drink, what I call, the chalky shit from the office.  I was able to pick from 4 delicious flavors: Strawberry, Vanilla, Banana and Mocha.  I ventured for the Mocha.  Ugh, it wasn't the best thing ever, but I guess it could have been worse.  I went home for the 1 hour and a half wait and headed back around 4 p.m.  The scan only took about 8 minutes, but was a surreal experience.  I watch Grey's and Scrubs, and was asking myself how did I get here... I got to drink another cup of chalk shit and then got an IV put in.  Another new for me, one of many of the day.  Since they were checking for appendicitis, I had to wait until they sent my scans to the doctors office.  The nurse I was working with came out and let me know I did have a small case of appendicitis and that my doctor would be calling me soon, but I could leave. 

I drove home knowing that I would have to get surgery and figured it would be either this weekend or early next week.  When I got home around 4:20 p.m. D was home and the doctor called.  She basically said that I did have appendicitis and that if I didn't mind driving to central Austin, that she would call up and get the whole surgery set up that night.  Surprise!!  Yes, I didn't have an option and I had to go get it removed ASAP.  I walked into the living room with tears in my eyes and told D the news.  I was pretty much just shocked that it was so soon.  I told him I had to get myself together and we needed to head that way.  I called and shocked my mom with the news and away we went.  

Of course with Austin traffic it took us a little longer to get up there. I met the doctor in the ER and he walked us up to the room.  Basically we were not wasting any time.  We were walking up talking about the symptoms and what I had eaten or drank in the last day, and I mentioned that I really hadn't had much of an appetite.  It was interesting to find out that before they had all the fancy machinery, that my stomach pain and loss of appetite was the only way they would diagnosis appendicitis.  

We got up to the room and changed, filled out a handful of papers, and then it was just a waiting game. Of course since it was a hospital, as people came in that were worse than me, they got moved up.  My friend Jess came up and saw me in the waiting room and brought me a pretty plant prior to me getting moved over to another wing.  We were all supposed to go participate in Austin Restaurant Week that evening.  Obviously, my body had other plans for me.  At around 8:30 p.m. it was my turn in the OR.  

 D and Jess decided that they had to document what I would look like going into surgery. Lovely!

 Darrell thought that I needed to wear this all the time.  He thought it was comical. :o)

I was a little nervous about being put under since I'd never had before.  They wheeled me in the OR, and they gave me some of the anesthesia through my IV, but I was wake in the OR.  It wasn't until after 4-5 breathes that I was out.  While I was in surgery, D had to run home and check on the pup.  She quickly ate before we left, but needed to be let out at least one more time that evening.  He just got home and took her out when he got called that I was out of surgery.  I woke up in the recovery wing, and then they wheeled me to my room where I would be staying over night.  D showed up about 5 minutes later.  I had some pretty annoying pain where my incision was over the belly button, and it was causing that annoying back pain that was even worse.  I finally got the nurse to get me some apple juice and crackers so I could take some pills, since the IV medicine wasn't helping.  I remember talking with D for a little bit, but then I was pretty much out.  

I woke up around 3:30 a.m. and was wide awake.  I tried to find stuff on the TV, but there is not much on at that hour.  Of course there is always SportsCenter.  I left it on there, and then pretty much played on my phone for 2 hours. Late night Facebooking is always fun. :o)  I went back to sleep from around 6 to 7:30 a.m. when the nurse had to check my vitals.  I also got to wear these crazy things on my legs that compressed one leg and then the other to keep the blood flowing.  I actually really enjoyed them.  It was almost like having someone massage your legs.  The doctor came in around 8 a.m. to see how I was doing.  He showed me the different pictures he took of my appendix before and after it was removed.  I also got a picture of my liver and my ovary, just because he needed to fill up the 4 picture space on the page.  I really enjoyed my surgeon, he was a hoot.  

 These were the fun leg compressors and the socks that I so graciously got to wear!

Here are my beautiful battle scars.  The two smaller ones were for the cameras and the large one above my belly button was where the appendix came out of.

Around 10 a.m. I finally got through all the discharge stuff and got wheeled out of the hospital.  It was nice to get some fresh air.  So far today I have just been taking advil and I feel pretty decent for it not even being 24 hours since it happened.  They doc said I could walk around and eat what I wanted, but to just take it slow.  So strange to think that Monday I had no problems and today I have 3 little incisions from the laparoscopic surgery.  So much fun.  Damn you appendix.  Although, if it was going to happen, this was a good time.  I don't have a wedding until the 16th, and I fly to see my bestie over our bday weekend at the end of October.  I'm just glad I got it taken care of and will still be able to enjoy my favorite month out of the year!!! 

 Top Right: That is my appendix all swollen and pissed off

Bottom Left: Is an image of the appendix removed

Top Left: Is a picture of my right ovary that was hidden in the CT scan

Bottom Right: Is my liver and my gallbladder (I think)

I wanted to say thank you for all the love and support I got over this short period of time.  I really enjoyed all the remarks on FB, the texts and phone calls.  You all are amazing and I love you all!  B

 The beautiful surprise I found at my door today!  Thanks Kate, Kyle and NG!!!!!

PS- I hope the pictures don't gross you out, but I find them fascinating so I had to share!!  

Training

Bella had her first basic training class today.  I should really say that Darrell and I had our first class on how to train our pup.  :o)  After doing some research, we found Training By Tara.  Coincidentally,  one of my good friends had done the same thing and liked her as well.  We both signed up and are now in the same class together!  Although the 4 dogs that are there are not supposed to greet each other, it is still nice to have someone else there we know.  

The first session dealt with introductions, attention on you, watch me, food control {wait and take}, sit, and down.  Tara is all about using both verbal and hand commands, which I love.  Bella was so funny during class. She was either laying down and sleeping or sniffing the wall the whole time.  Darrell and I have done a good job teaching her sit, down, shake and stay at home.  Bella does pretty well with our commands, but tweaking them a bit and adjusting them to her technique will take a little bit of time. 

The two things I loved this week at our training were our emergency signal, which we are using a clicker, and food control.  Basically, it is a signal for if she is running off or if she is frightened, that will make her come to me and I can ask her to watch me.  If trained right, she won't even know that she is doing a command.  

After our class today, we went to the pet store to get her a new harness.  Bella also got her fancy new collar in the mail and is rocking out the adorable fuchsia, black and gray.  

Love it and HER! 
B
 

Happy Labor Day Weekend

I hope everyone is out enjoying the extended holiday weekend. Us Walkers have had a fairly relaxing weekend.  I did however, have a wedding on Saturday, so most of Sunday was spent on the couch.  In fact, I am typing this while on that same couch!  Today we are planning on meeting some friends down at the river for one last adventure before it starts semi-cooling down.  We get to take Bella down and see how much she likes playing in the water.  Here are a few pictures from our last trip down there that I meant to post sooner. 

  She is really starting to like riding in the car.  This was her first long trip down to New Braunfels.

 Here she is wishing she could get in the water.

Our poor baby girl has been experiences continuous UTIs since late July.  When we first found out, we immediately took her to the doctor and got her on an antibiotic.  We first just tried a normal antibiotic, but after it came back the second time, we had her urine checked.  We wanted to find out the exact bacteria that was in her bladder and then get a specific antibiotic to kill it off.  Even after all of that, it came back again.  We were (and are still) stumped to what exactly is causing these stupid UTIs.  They are not pleasant for her or us.  She has to go ALL the time and with the first round, we had to get these lovely things to put on her!  

She hated them and tried to tear them off almost immediately.  Her expression is like, "Mom seriously, I look like an idiot"  Poor girl. 

Well, the more we thought about it and have had some people tell us that maybe it had to do with her food, we came to a conclusion.  We had gotten her these chicken training treats that are kept in the refrigerator, and it has to be them.  I went back and looked at the receipt and we got those treats on July 23-24th approximately. The first UTI prescription was for July 27th.  It made perfect sense and would go with the whole e coli in her bladder. IF this really is what is the problem, it will be such a relief to get B back to 100%!  We love taking her out and the UTIs have made that kind of difficult.  

Yesterday, after I threw out out all those treats, we ventured out with B to the store.  We had a busy morning with her.  We went to get coffee at Coffee Bean (my favorite!) and then hit up two pet stores.  She was SO good.  She impresses me every time we take her out with how well behaved she is. We went into Pet Smart and got a few new treats and a new ball and frisbee.  In the past, she has been pretty timid going new places, but we have been trying to get her to have more confidence.   We then went to my favorite pet store in Austin called Bark and Purr.  They have the best selection of quality dog and cat food. We are trying out a new food  called Oreijen.  I have heard from numerous people that it is the best food out there, so we got a small bag.  We are also going to try rotating bags between 4-5 different quality brands.  I'll keep you updated with how it goes and how B reacts.  

Darrell and I have been trying to really get a move on with the bathroom, but we are so busy that it just hasn't gotten too far.  We were so lucky to have Darrell's dad come down and visit a few weeks ago.  We kindly put him to work while he was here.  He helped D realign the pipes for the new bathroom vanity.  We also had a demo day last Sunday and we ripped out all the sheet rock and unneeded studs from the room.  Here are some pictures of our process.

Check out Big D's handiwork! 

They had fun tearing down some of the walls. 

We finally got to take down the ugly 'box' that was above the toilet. 

This is a good one!  When we were taking down the box, D pulled down a board and it slipped out of his hand.  It hit the toilet just right that broke off the back of the tank.  Needless to say water started going EVERYWHERE!!  He immediately shut off the water, but it still got all over the sheet rock and the insulation that was on the floor.  Nothing like picking up soggy insulation.  Gross.  D was on a roll.  He also managed to cut himself like three times that day.  

This is what I got to do. I basically took down the sheet rock that I could get off and then it gets really exciting...

I then had to take off all the nails in the wall.  Hours of fun! 

This is my impressive work all on the floor.

We also piled all the sheet rock in one spot and it was kind of ridiculous.  We used the wheel barrow to get it out of the bathroom.  Luckily, we have a neighbor that will hall our trash to the dump, for a fee of course, but it is much cheaper than the bagster thing we were planning on doing. 

Now I get to show you the most exciting part about the bathroom that we have done so far.  I picked out a tub!  I have always liked cast iron tubs, but I knew that they could get a little expensive.  Let me just say that ALL bathroom items are expensive.  Anyways, Scotty did some research and found out that there are places in town that actually will resurface an old tub for a descent price.  After doing some research on Craigslist, we found one that was a reasonable price!  Mom and I went to check them out (he actually had 2) and we ended up getting it!  I can't wait to see what the end result looks like. 

Our tub was made in the early 1900's.  LOVE IT! 

It has the legs and all.  We'll probably get them replaced, but I was impressed by its current condition! 

As for the rest of the house, there really hasn't been much progress.  I really need to start decorating, but I feel like I need other things done first.  Our walls are so big and tall it's a little intimidating.  I did however, put a few frames up by our fireplace.  I went and found these frames/mirror/shelf at a few different stores in town and then spray painted them all black.  I might add a few more items, or at least put some eclectic items on the fireplace mantel.  

Sorry, it's not the best picture because I took it with my iPhone.  

So I know these last two posts have been super long, but I really am going to make more of an effort to post more often.  I don't have another wedding until October, so I'll have a little more free time.  Well, kind of.  I'll leave you with Kjr's latest hiding place from the Bella Bear.

 Hope everyone enjoys the rest of the holiday!  

Love B

Running Shoes

I decided this last week that I really needed to get back into shape, thus I bought some new shoes.  Check them out...

They have little fingers!! They are called Vibram Five Fingers and are AWESOME!  I totally look like a goof in them, but I think they make all the difference.  I have only ran in them for 2 days, but I can barely walk on my legs today.  I feel like my posture is so much straighter and I'm getting a better leg workout when I run.  So far, I love them! 

Here is to getting in shape! B

Home Renovations

It has been way too long since I have posted about home renovations, so get ready for a long post!  Lately it seems that we have been doing a handful of different projects, but have not quite finished with any of them... The hardest part is that we always seem to need certain 'thing's before we can complete the project, so while waiting, we start on the next project.  Here are some of the many things we have been doing... 

{Garage}

One thing we knew we wanted to do since we moved in was finish the garage.  For one thing, the shelves that they had hung on the unfinished garage were not straight.  Yeah, that's right, we had some talented people who lived here before us.  Last week when my parents were down, we decided to buy all the items we would need and bust out the garage.  The day mostly consisted of the boys working in the garage and my mom and I playing with Bella bear.  Initially we had hoped to get the majority of it done in a few days, but we still need to mud the walls, sand everything down and then paint over it all.  I was excited that I found a decent color in the return section of Lowe's.  The kicker was that they had 2 cans of it.  So 2 cans for $12, definitely a deal I couldn't pass up.  Here are some pictures of the progress in there. 

First thing the boys did was add insulation to the walls. 

 They love working with fiber glass - full wall done! 

Next step was to add the dry wall

 D and Dad held it up looking pretty while Scotty drilled in all the screws

{Attic}

After moving into the house, we realized that our storage space was lacking.  I loathe cardboard boxes, so all of my random stuff from growing up and such is in plastic tubs.  Obviously with the reduction of storage space we had to look elsewhere to store them. This last Sunday, we took the boards that were 'shelves' in the garage and placed them in the attic.  D about passed out working up there, but we tried to get everything done prior to it hitting 100+ degrees.  After about 2 hours, we had all the insulation back in the spots it should be.  There must have been a pack rat (or something of the sort) up there because they had taken all the insulation and piled it up in one area.  D screwed down the boards in place and we piled half of our tubs up there.  We are planning on installing ceiling shelves in the garage for the remaining tubs.  I sadly don't have images of the attic because it was way to dark.  I assure you it was not very pretty though!  

{Kitchen Island}

This was something I was really excited to get!  I have so much space in my kitchen that even before we moved in, I knew I wanted to put in an island.  After looking online, I really thought about making one (with the help of my brother, of course).  However, after talking about it and looking some more, I realized it would in the end be more expensive than I wanted to spend.  I've had my eye on a few at a lovely store called Ikea, and a few weeks ago, I finally got to bring one home!  I'm still finding things to put on it, but here are some shots from initially bringing it home.  Yay! 

 Taking the sides out for the initial set up - Scotty is just as excited as I am

He can't put the darn thing up fast enough!  

 See it looks like Scotty is doing all the hard work, but you see I have to hold down the crazy loose animals that I have running around my house! 

 Almost done!  

 Tadaaa!! I love it, just need to fill it up now. Oh, and replace the floors and the counter tops.  A girl can dream right!?! 

{Master Bathroom}

Oh demolitions.  We have had fun with this project.  We are basically renovating our entire master bath.  We tore out a wall and the shower, are removing the bathtub, and spending the majority of our money in this space.  I've taken a ton of pictures of the process so far.

Here is the 'before' look of the master bathroom cabinets.  Ugh. I was so happy to get those out!

D tried to get them out carefully.  We are going to try and garage sale them. 

Yay!  Finally getting them out.

Check out the 100 rollie pollies that were under the cabinet. Gross.

Now it was time for them to get the mirrors off.  However, little did they know they were attached by tar.  Who ever built this house didn't ever want anything removed.

Broke! What is that like 7 years of bad luck.  Silly boys.

That's right, they broke the other side as well.  14 years and counting. Ha.

They were tired of being nice and wanted to tear down the wall

The unneeded wall mostly tore down.

We have some amazing pipes as well.  Their location makes it a little tricky to remove that wall, but we are getting creative. 

Removing the tile!! 

What a mess!

Here is the shower with walls removed, but the shower pan still intact.  We were not up to tackling that beast quite yet.

Ugh, so pretty.  I am so glad we are remodeling this!!

  Not the best picture, but you can see we also took out a small wall right as you walk into the bathroom.

This last Sunday, D and I decided to get that shower pan out of there.  It really was a pain in the butt.  

We had to use a sledge hammer to break the tile and cement up into little pieces.  The drain really didn't want to come loose, so it was a mess.  Not to mention that it probably weighed 500 lbs. 

D attempting to lift it up by himself. Ha. 

After about 2 hours, this is the shower floor with everything removed and cleaned up.

We barely got all the bottom lifted up into the wheel barrow.  Such a mess.  Now we are just waiting to have D's dad come down and help with the plumbing and order all the tile we have picked out for the bathroom.

{Bella Bear}

So I had to leave you with some pictures of how big my little girl is getting!  

 She was not quite sure about the pool, but she sure looks little by it!

She got her toy so she was out! 

After a long day playing in the yard, the best treat = ice cube! 

I'll try to be better about posting more updates!  B