Surgery Update

No pictures of my nose as of yet. For 1 they wouldn't let me take anything back with me. My phone had to stay with Travis. For 2 I'm starting to swell up, and don't look the best. I should have taken a picture this morning; it didn't look so swollen then.

My nose is straight now. My nostrils aren't the same, but that's not why I had surgery. Most importantly I can see just fine, and I don't have meningitis. The surgery took about 2 1/2 hours. I guess my septum was really crooked back there. My polyps were bad.

It was an outpatient surgery. I got there at 10:30, had surgery pretty much on time 12:35 or so, and stayed until about 8:30. They were hesitant to let me go because I couldn't go to the bathroom a lot. Did you know under anesthesia that your bladder is the last thing to wake up? I made up for it last night. I drank so much in the hospital to try and go. Ha!

My nose is more sore today than yesterday. The really good drugs have worn off. Travis went to pick up my meds: Antibiotic, Nasal Spray, and Pain Meds. He quickly found out that the pain meds needed a written script. Well the hospital didn't have it on file, and it's Saturday. So I called the doctor on call. He delivered a script to the ER for Travis to pick up. That was a pain, but I'm thankful I got it.

Three things that annoyed me in the hospital:

1. I had to get stuck a few times for the IV. I have such small veins that tend to roll. I have a pretty good bruise on my arm. 


2. They don't carry those little cups of sorbet anymore. God I love those things! I could only eat soft stuff. My top jaw hurts. JELL-O, applesauce, and ice cream was it. 


3. I couldn't wear my Edvard Munch Scream socks. Apparently compression socks win. We wouldn't want any blood clots. I thought the doctors and nurses would get a kick out of my socks if they saw them.

The saline spray helps my nose from getting dried out. It also makes me bleed constantly just a little bit.

The boys spent the night at my sisters last night. They looked at me this morning and said, "Well you don't look that bad." Then when I put the gauze under my nose Isaak said, "That's weird."

I'll be off work for 2 weeks. It's supposed to take a few months to recover.

Random Tid Bits

1. I have one summer school make up class done! Basically the girl that took my Portfolio class didn't show up enough to finish the course out. Instead of taking it all over, she took 5 days to make up some credit hours to get her to pass. We have a system that seems to work. I don't mind summer make up courses for the most part.
   
   It just stinks that students who don't care about their education are in them. College isn't cheap. Utilize your time people! These tend to be the same people that complain about student loan payments. 


2. I'm pre writing this, so right now I'm getting ready for surgery. Yikes!


3. I love to do what I can to help with my health on my own, but sometimes medical people need to step in to help. Recently I joined in a discussion group on facebook. It was with a company I've liked from the get go. I like them so much, that I'm not even going to mention their name.
   
   They had a guest speaker on there that is a meditation and healing councilor: Mas Sajady. Now I'm all for meditation in a relax, let things go kind of a way. But he was pretending to know people. I mentioned my nasal problems. He said, "The girl with the nasal problems has a struggle relationship with her Father." I'm like, Wow he couldn't be more full of bullshit than he is right now. I get along with my Dad great! What I really said on facebook was, "I'm the one with the nasal problems, and I get along with my Dad great."
   
   Of course I was the one that won a special reading with this man. I'm not even going to partake. Has there ever been a person where you're like, They are so full of shi*!?


4. My Brother-in-law Eric was so nice - he buffed my car lights. 12 years of stuff was on them that clouded them all up. He put on some rubbing compound, and buffed it. Now my car can see. :)







5. I've been cleaning up a storm. Just so you know artists are pack rats - most of them any way. I shredded 2 bags of papers, and still have a stack that's overwhelming.  

Happy First Day of Summer!

I like today because it's the first day of summer, it's my birthday, and it's sometimes the day that Father's Day lands on. I like when people say, "Happy Birthday!" and I can say, "Happy First Day of Summer!" right back.

I'm not really doing too much today. We celebrated June birthdays a few weeks ago with my bigger family, and went out for pizza on Father's Day celebrating both on that one day.

I did get this from my Mom:

She got the Succulent Necklace here. 

She also got me some ice packs for my nose, which sort of surprised me. When I asked for them she said, "Just use a bag a peas Alissa. It works better than anything else." The ice packs are nice because they can freeze or heat up. 

Travis gave me a gift card to Dunkin' Donuts. It's newish here, right up the street from work, and I happen to like it. He said, "Whatever you do don't spend it on us. Spend it on you." 

I got myself some bee earrings. 

It kind of came out of the money my Mom gave to me. They were on clearance + 25% off and I liked them. They're hook earrings. They really aren't as big as the picture shows. Earrings are hard to photograph I think. I tried many shots of my ear, but kept cropping them on accident. 

I'm on the cusp. 

Some sources say I'm a Gemini, while others say I'm a Cancer. I never put stock into signs. I think I didn't get into it because I grew frustrated when one source would say I'm one thing, and another source would say I'm something else. I looked it up last night, and I read articles about how being on the cusp is magical. Ha! I'm not so sure I'm magical:

• Strengths: Fun, flirty, curious, intellectual, affectionate, caring, devoted, sensitive and inspirational I guess I'm those things.

• Weaknesses: Moody, overly emotional, scatterbrained, selfish, depressive and self-destructive I've become more scatterbrained in the last few months. I thought it was because of my surgery coming up. Usually I have it together. My husband is more scattered brained than I am. He'd even admit that. I'm sensitive to other's emotions. Like if someone else cries, I might cry too.

• How Gemini-Cancer Work Together: Gemini's speedy and breezy energy combines with Cancer's slower and more thoughtful nature to create people who are both light and bright. Gemini's restlessness is nicely balanced by Cancer's sensitivity, resulting in a well-rounded soul. I like to think of myself as well rounded. When I take a color personality test I get all the colors. 

• What They Love: Great big books about history and philosophy, trying out new recipes, hosting dinner parties and playing with children (after all, they are kids at heart). Yes, yes and yes. Travis makes fun of me for trying new recipes. I love kids overall.

• What They Need: Sensitive and affectionate Gemini-Cancer cuspers need someone to love! Without a special someone to nurture, they can become moody or depressed. I may get depressed when Travis is away a lot. He has this residency right now. While I'm proud of him, I miss him too. I'm odd though because I also enjoy my alone time. 

• Advice: Thicken your skin! I do tend to take things personally. If someone drops off I think it's something I said, or did. In fact I've been known to confront them, and sometimes they just won't respond back. I've apologized before when I didn't know what I did wrong just to open a line of communication. I hate when people don't say, "Goodbye". 

Travis says I seem more like a Cancer. 

What's your sign? Do you believe in signs?

WW: Father's Day and Birthday {Linky}

For Father's Day and my early birthday celebration we went out to a place called Sgt. Peffer's Italian Cafe. It's a little hole in the wall place. They have some Beatles stuff, and play music from that time period.

Their pizza is pretty good!

Then for dinner Travis had Isaak help him in the kitchen.

They made Varna-Style Chicken with rice, and a garden picked kale salad.

#SaveMedicaid #NoCutsNoCaps

I worry about our countries healthcare. Those that need it, aren't getting it. We pay for our own because our works are so small. 

I worry about people like my nephew Emerson that may loose Medicaid. They have helped him with hearing aids, a walker, a wheelchair, therapies and more. 

Trisomy 18 is considered Incompatable With Life in hospitals. My sister did nothing to help him in the beginning. Once he hit 2 months, and was still growing she chose to fight for him. He is showing us that he is Compatible With Life. He's potty trained, can understand yes and no, is happy most of the time, walks, and more. 

I've been emailing and calling my senators to help save Medicaid. There is a list of Senators, and how to get ahold of them here: http://contact411.blogspot.com/2017/05/us-senators-115th-congress.html

You can use my nephew Emerson's story, or a story of someone you know to make them understand how Medicaid has helped. 

Their phones should be ringing off the hook, but people just aren't standing up for those that need it the most. 

If you don't know what to say there are helpful scripts here: https://medicaid.publicrep.org/feature/call/

Thank you so much!

Emerson thanks you too!

Omaha Community Playhouse - Camp 1

The boys are in quite a few camps throughout the summer: 

• Omaha Community Playhouse (theater camp)
• UNO Aim for the Stars (science camp)
• UNO Basketball Camp 
• Hummel Day Camp (outdoor rough and tumble camp)

Some camps around here are less expensive than daycare + more fun. Camps can be written off on taxes like daycare can be.

Last week they started their first camp at Omaha Community Playhouse. 

I don't mean to sound negative, but...

• In the past they had a performance up on stage. They didn't do that this year. A lot of parents didn't know what they were doing, or where to go. 

• Mica said he didn't know what his group was doing at all. 

• My Mom was unable to go down the steps to see Isaak preform. She had Polio, so her legs don't work the best. 

• The boys performed in different spots, so I had to run back and forth from downstairs to upstairs. 

• It seemed like a scattered mess - unfortunately. It's really too bad because the boys actually do have fun at that camp. I've always had great things to say about it. 

Where there's a negative there's a positive, so...

• Isaak's class did seem to have it together. I don't know if his teacher has been there longer, or what the deal was.

• Isaak learned about puppets, which I love. He made a cardboard mask, and worked with shadow puppets.

• Mica's performance was more like a bunch of games. He did learn to project his voice. My parents said that he was easy to hear, and moved around well, which is what they were supposed to do. 

• They enjoyed each day. The camp seemed to wear them out pretty well. They were tired around 8. For summer that's a great thing.

• I think this is the first year they have gotten t-shirts.

I can't say we'll do it again. It's sad because my kids loved it in the past. Isaak's teacher did do well. It just seemed too all over the place this year; with no solid plans.

Isaak's class acted out the story from the book, The Jolly Postman or Other People's Letters.

Isaak was the bear in the story. He was all excited about it! He got this mask:

Then his class made shadow puppets. They acted out fairytales. This was The Gingerbread Man. They did the voices behind the puppets as well.

I went up some steps to peek in on Mica's group. They were just playing acting games, but didn't really perform anything. 

This is really the best photo I could get, since I had 2 kids in different spots. I didn't get a good seat.

My parents did say that Mica acted out his exercise really well. I was hoping for more. I think all of us were.

I took photos of the boys with their theater shirts on at The KANEKO Museum that night.

Have you ever been disappointed in something you were once happy with?