Sunday, March 28, 2010

Kaiser Medical Facility Tour

Alternate post title "Let's give the girl the run around for 8 hours while she is in pain"

It's probably wrong for me to talk badly about the company that I work but....

Yesterday morning I woke up with significant lower abdominal pain. This was about 630am. I kept hoping that it would just go away but no luck. So about 3pm, I had had enough. I called the advise nurse. She asked me a bunch of questions and then suggested that I go to the urgent care in Beaverton, So we dropped Blake off at grandmas and headed over. They did some lab work and I saw the doctor. My CBC was elevated and I had a slight fever. This made the doctor think that maybe it was my appendix . She wanted me to have a CT scan but they didn't have that at the Beaverton Office. So off we went to the Kaiser Interstate campus in Portland. We found the spot and they were ready for me. I had to drink a LOT of nasty stuff and after about an hour, I got an IV and they did a contrast CT. I do have to say that the Radiologist read it fairly quickly and then some doctor wanted to talk to me on the phone.

He said that my appendix was fine but I had enlarged lymph nodes on the right side and a good sized cyst on left ovary. This explained the pain but he wanted me to have a few more tests done. He sent me down to the Urgent Care in the same building. This was close to 8pm and so the urgent care didn't want to take me because they closed at 830pm. I then had to go to Kaiser Sunnyside Urgent care which is in Clackamas. By the time we got there, I had about had it. I was tired and hurting and frustrated that I kept getting the run around.

Luckily, they were ready for me at the ER and they were all very nice and very sorry that I had been put through the ringer. The doctor gave me pain medication. He was surprised that no one had offered me any all day. They then did a "not so fun" ultrasound to make sure that the cyst hadn't cut off the blood supply to my ovary. Finally at about midnight ish, they sent me home with a RX for pain meds. We got home about 1am.

Now I am supposed to take it easy for a few days and control the pain. The cyst will either burst (which I understand will be just delightful) or it will be reabsorbed.

It was a long day but I'm thankful it wasn't something more serious. It's painful but with a little help from my friend Percocet I will survive.

Sunday, March 7, 2010

Sunshine on my shoulder

makes me happy. It has been a truly beautiful weekend and while I know the sun won't last because it's technically still winter, I am enjoying it just the same.

Well, the laptop is working again. Sort of. We got it back and just a few days later, Internet explorer stopped working. I have literally spent hours working with the help people but it's still not working. I was able to download Mozilla on the desktop computer and then upload it here and voila, we have Internet access again. The computer still has major issues but it's limping along.

It's been awhile since I posted. I'm trying to remember all the things that have happened. Pretty much, we just going to work or school and then doing our thing at night and then was and repeat.

We painted and redecorated Blake's bedroom which took a few Saturdays but I love the way it turned. I don't have the pictures downloaded on here but will do that and post pictures soon.

We have been in a tough stage with Blake lately. He's been having trouble telling the truth which is so frustrating. It's been no fun for any of us as we have to take privileges away and institute punishments. We just keep hoping that if we stick to our guns he'll figure it out that he gets in WAY more trouble when he lies then when he tells the truth.

We also started seeing a counselor mostly for Blake but we think it will benefit the whole family. He is a very smart kid but has a LOT of trouble sitting still and focusing in school. It's also an issue at church and if we don't try to get some help, we are worried that his smarts will only take him so far and he'll start to fall behind. He also has issues with impulse control and respecting the "space bubble" that people have and sometimes need.

On the flip side, he is a funny, loving and outgoing kid that tries his best to cooperate. No-one thinks that he's doing anything wrong on purpose or out of malice.

Here is one example of the lying and sneakiness. He got a "paw pause" in school. He has gotten these before. They get them when they do something that isn't' safe, responsible or respectful. They are supposed to bring home the paper for the parent to see and we sign it and he takes it back in. Well, Blake decided he would just sign his dads name and turn it back in. Of course the teacher could tell right away and called us. This child is only 7 years old and it's just amazes me that he even thought of this. I think I should be afraid, very afraid. We have to get a handle on this before he gets to the teens years.

That's all that I can think of for now. I will get some pics downloaded and get some on here soon.

**Sidenote: It's been a struggle but I have lost 14 pounds since starting my new lifestyle change. Just need to keep it up and someday I will get where I'm going.