Life, Lemons, The Good, The Bad, Then and Now…

It has been a very long time since I have posted on here, but I am back! There has been a lot going on in the world and in my life since the last post. Where do I start. The last post was about getting into jeans that were much smaller than I thought I could get into. That was about a month before we went to see family down in Kansas City.

You see, we were invited to my Uncle’s 50th wedding anniversary celebration. This was an amazing thing in and of itself, considering I had not seen many of these people since I was a teen ( a million years ago). It was also going to be the first time my brother Shane, and my Sister and I had been in the same space in 30 years.

Aunt Sue, Sister and Me

This trip was not without its troubling spots, but I refuse to dwell on the negative. I have pictures of my family. I got to play with my niece and nephew, and spend time with my super talented sister in-law, and I reconnected with parts of the family that I had lost touch with like my Cousin Terri and her three girls and two grand babies, as well as my Aunt Sue. There are many other family members that I saw, but these are the ones that I spend time talking to regularly. I gained a few lbs during this visit as well.

The day we left KC I seemed to come down with some kind of an upper respiratory problem, a head cold or serious allergies or all three. It took about 10 days before I started feeling better. I thought all was well, and we started looking forward to my son Brent’s wedding to Emily, and seeing family.

Right about two weeks to the date before the wedding I felt an intense pain in my low back. I thought at first that it was just back pain. But it got worse and off we went to the ER. I was admitted at nine pm that Saturday with a serious blood infection and a kidney stone. At 9 am Sunday I was in surgery to place a stent to drain the fluid and placed on heavy duty antibiotics because my white blood cell count was 29,000 (the normal is between 5 and 10 thousand). I was in the hospital for six days, on heavy antibiotics. I was hoping to have the stone and stent removed before the wedding. My Doctor, along with his charming (insert sarcasm here) bedside manor said and I quote “you are one sick chick”. So on day 6, I went home, still on antibiotics (total of 3 weeks worth),stent, and pain meds.

My Daughter in-law and Me

I was still on pain meds and antibiotics on the day of the wedding. But it went off without a hitch, thanks to an awesome make up girl and pain medications. I actually was able to dance at my son’s wedding.

The whole thing was wonderful, My Daughter in-law is wonderful and we love her dearly.

Last Thursday, I had surgery to remove the stent and stone. I go back to work for the first time in 4 weeks on Friday.

Bruce, Me, and Timothy

This past Monday I had another surprise. My Aunt Becky’s son Timothy was going to be in town. This is a cousin I had never met. Bruce and I were able to meet my cousin for dinner. It was really exciting because I had never met him before. The waitress at HuHot was kind enough to take a picture of the three of us. I so love this picture! It has been a long time since I have thought I looked good in photographs! But I think and feel really really good.

II want you all to know that the man above in the white shirt, is the most wonderful man in the world, who has taken care of me the entire time I was sick. He stayed with me every night in the hospital. He loves me and I am a lucky lucky woman.

Now it is time to get back on track. I have lost about ten pounds since the beginning of my illness. It is time to get the eating back on track, and get back to the gym. I am scared a little about going back to work and the gym. It isn’t going to be easy, but I am going to succeed with my friends and family at my side.

In just about a month, we are off to Bruce’s Family reunion and then to Imaginarium, a writers convention in Louisville KY. I can’t wait to see old friends, and make new ones. This one will be easier. I have a lot less pain and can walk for much longer periods of time. But until then, I need to stick to a healthy eating plan.

Well now you know what has been going on with me. Even though there were some sucky things happening, there were some awesome things that happened too. I am also feeling healthier than I have in years.

Thanks For Listening or Reading as the case may be….