Thursday July 7

Colin brought my meds in at 6.  I took them and lounged in bed for a little bit.  Once I got motivated I got up and showered.   My driver's license photo was expired so Colin and I went to the DMV so I could get my picture taken.  We were in and out in about 15 minutes.  They have a pretty good system going.

We headed back home and I put my pjs back on and laid down because I wasn't feeling well.   As the day went on, the crappier i felt.  I got up and we went to uno because we had coupons.  I got a cheeseburger and Colin got ribs bc they were all you can eat and half price.  We ate and went back to the apartment.  I made some tea, took my medicine and went to bed.   

As I was laying there I started to get pressure in my chest.   The pressure started to turn into pain.  I called for Colin and told him what was going on.  He got up and dressed and took me to the ER.   We were taken straight back to a room.   They did a chest X-ray and everything looked good.  The small bowel doc came in and said they were going to do a ct scan in the morning.   They moved me to a room.   I didn't sleep well at all.   As the night went on the pain was getting worse.   The deeper I would breathe in the more it hurts.  

We waited for the docs to make their rounds.  The good news is that it's nothing mechanically wrong. They think it's a side effect to the kepra.  They are going to look into things a little more tomorrow.   I'll post more later.   Have a good night.

Wednesday July 6

Woke up bright and early and went in to clinic.  I woke up feeling pretty shaky, weak and in pain.  

On our way to clinic we stopped at dunkin donuts to feed the nurses.  I got a bagel for myself and one for Colin.  We headed in to the hospital. 

they did the standard bloodwork when we got there and we waited for the doctors to make their rounds.   They came around 9.  Everything looked good on my bloodwork.  They are just trying to figure out why I'm having the pain, fatigue, achiness, shakes and weakness.   They think it couple be medicine related from the Kepra which they put me on for the seizures.  They are going to have the renal doctor and the neurologist clear me but they didn't have time to stop and see me.  They are hoping to be able to schedule them to stop next clinic appointment.

When we were discharged from clinic we stopped at Panera for lunch.  It was terrible and it wasn't cheap either.   It was close to $30 and Colin got a bowl of soup and a half sandwich.   I got a bowl of soup and tuna salad.   The soup was cold and the sandwich was bland.   No taste to it whatsoever.

We went home and watched tv for a while.  Colin got up and made chicken for dinner.   We ate, watched tv and I went in to lay down around 7:30.  He brought my 8:00 meds in to me and I went to bed.   

Tuesday July 5

We got up bright and early.  Had to be in clinic at 6 for my scope/biopsy.  Before the biopsy they did my bloodwork.  I only needed one replacement.  The whole time I was feeling like crap.  I had a lot of abdominal pain, nausea, anxiety, lightheaded, uneasy and dizzy.  Just all around not feeling well.

Bill came in to check on me before the scope and gave me iv Ativan as well as pain meds.  The nurse got everything together and gave me the meds.  I got up to empty my bag so they wouldn't have issues while they were doing the scope.  

The doctor came in and started.  It was extremely painful.  Probably the worst one I had so far.  I cried the entire time he was doing it.  There is a kink of some sort in my intestine which makes it hard for them to get to where they need to go.  In order to get through the link they blow it up with air.  Not a comfortable feeling.   They also blast it with water to try and open it up.   After what felt like hours (even though it was only a half hour), he was able to cut out the biopsy pieces.  

Good news is....everything in the intestine looks great. We just have to wait on the biopsy results which won't be back until tomorrow.

They had to change a couple of meds around.  I'm back on iv steroids because the oral doesn't seem to be processing through my body like they should be.  We go back tomorrow for more bloodwork. And an iv med to prevent CMV.  It's a four hour infusion.  I'm going to take the laptop and work on some of the golf event stuff.  I'm going to try and make that a priority because we are running out of time.  Well....wish me luck tomorrow.  Have a good night!

Monday July 4

HAPPY FOURTH OF JULY!!!💥🔥🎉🇱🇷🇲🇾

We got up.  Had breakfast.  Colin was on his way home so Mom started packing up her stuff and loading up her car.  I had a good time with her.  It was nice to just spend time togethet her and I.  Even if we didn't run a marathon or shop all day/night.  She left around 9:30.  Colin got home at a little after 10.  He unpacked and we watched tv.  I was feeling really shaky and dizzy.  My blood pressure was really high again so that could be contributing to my symptoms.  They gave us off clinic on Monday because of the holiday so I have a scope and biopsy tomorrow.

Colin was hungry and we had a gift card so we went to Friday's for lunch/dinner.  It was raining so we didn't venture out to look for fireworks.  You could hear them but not see them. We played Boggle and watched tv.  I went in to bed around 7 because I wasn't feeling well and wanted to conserve some energy.  I hope that I'll be feeling better tomorrow!   Have a good night. I'll post more tomorrow!

Sunday July 3

Pretty uninteresting day.  Got up, took my meds.   Showered.  Mom woke up and we went to IHOP for breakfast.  I had hot chocolate and a cheesecake pancake.  It was yummy and just a perfect portion.  

After breakfast I took mom to Oakmont bakery so she could experience how amazing it is.  We got two mini pineapple upside down cakes, a small coconut cream pie because it's mom's favorite.  And we couldn't forget dad so we got a dozen cookies for mom to take home to him.  

We went back to the apartment and just hung out for the rest of the day.  I took a nap in bed and I'm pretty sure mom fell asleep on the couch for a little bit.  I was really sore most of the time there.  It was probably all the concert excitement from the night before.  

We were debating on dinner so we decided to order subs.  We actually found someone who would deliver.  We were able to stay in our pjs and watch movies that we rented.  Mom ordered a turkey sub and I had a cheesesteak sub.  We also got a fried basket with mushrooms, mozzarella sticks, chicken tenders and French fries.  The delivery driver was there in a half hour.  It was all really good.  The rolls for the subs were fresh baked at the restaurant.   They were amazing!  We will definitely order from there again.  We started another movie and then went to bed.  As the day progressed I slowly started to feel worse.  I took my meds and went to bed.  Hope you had a good night!  

Saturday July 2

Today is the day for the big concert!!!  I'm super excited.  

I took my blood pressure and it was through the roof so I took my bp meds to tried to chill and see if it would go down.  We straightened up the house and watched a movie.  I laid down for a little bit just to conserve my energy and kept an eye on my bp.  It slowly started to go down.  

I got up around 1:30 and started to get ready.  Had my face not been so puffy and fat from the steroids I may have actually looked cute 😓

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The crappy lighting in our bedroom doesn't give you a clear pic but that's my outfit in a nutshell.

We left around 2:30 to head to the concert.  The gates opened at 8.  When we bought the concert tickets we also bought a parking pass.  Well....thank goodness mom brought the transporter.  We had to walk a mile and a half to get to the stadium.  Well...I rode and mom pushed.   It was a horribly long walk.  People are rude, there were a lot of tailgaters who were completely trashed and running in to us everywhere.  After about an hour walk due to crowds etc we finally made it to Heinz Field.  We got there about 15 mins before the gates opened.  A gentleman was nice enough to put us at a separate gate for handicap persons so we didn't have to wait in line.  Once the gates opened, we found our seats.  Mom dropped the chair off at customer service which was right behind where we were sitting. We also lucked out because the restroom was right behind us as well.  

 

The concert lineup was Old Dominion (I knew a couple of their songs but not all of them), Sam Hunt - he was awesome!  He really amped up the crowd.  He put on a great show.  I would definitely go see him again.   

My absolute favorite was next....Miranda Lambert!!!!  I love her!!  She's got an amazing voice and puts on a great show.  She really engaged the crowd and sang old songs and new.  I had so much fun watching her!!!

Then of course you can't forget Kenny Chesney.   As always....awesome show.  Engages himself with the crowd really well.   Hardly stops in between songs.  He just keeps going and going.  I started to get tired after about his 5th song so we decided to head out.  We still had an hour walk back to the car.   (Well mom did anyway 😜.  I ran to the bathroom and mom went and grabbed the transporter.  After several wrong turns and asking police officers for directions we finally made it back to the car.  Needless to say it was a long evening!!!

Thank you Mom for taking me to the concert.  I had a blast and it really made my weekend.   I know it was torture for you because of how much you love country music!!   I love you for all you do!!   

Friday July 1

I'm slacking the past couple of days and I'm sorry.  I've had a pretty crappy set of days.  

Mom is here visiting and Colin went home to take care of the dogs because Cyndee is going on vacation.  Mom and I had breakfast, ran a couple of errands and went to the grocery store.  

Mom talked to Dr Cruz on Thursday at my appointment and asked if she could take me to the Kenny Chesney concert.  He said we could go as long as I didn't push myself too hard.  

After he gave approval we spent Friday getting an outfit to wear.  I was super excited !!!  We went to Marshalls and bought small purses.  They have stipulations on what kinds of bags and sizes you can take in and I had to take my meds with us so I had to be particular on what I bought.   Mom got me a really cute Michael Kors clutch and she bought one for herself too just a different color.  

Oh....let me tell you this too.  I didn't walk while we were doing the errands.  She brought a transport chair with her.  Kind of a mix between a wheelchair and a stroller.   She pushed me the whole time.   

After Marshalls we went to DSW just to see how expensive cowgirl boots were and if they had any.  They ranged in price from 69-199 a pair.  The sales lady said to check the clearance because they just moved some back there.  Boy did i score on that one.  I got the cutest cowgirl boots- brown w/teal throughout. They were gorgeous and fit perfect!!  They were originally $179.  Marked down to $79 and then there was another 25% off that.  We paid under $30.00!!!

We went in to old navy bc they were having a $2 tank top sale so mom got a few tank tops.  I bought a cute jean jacket for $15 and a cute navy and white plaid shirt to wear over my American flag tshirt so I could be patriotic.  I was super stoked and excited for my adventure.  

We went home, had dinner and chilled out until bed so that I wouldn't be too exhausted and so that I could prepare myself for a long evening.

I had a hard time sleeping because I was so excited!!!