Gentry's New Toys

You never know what my guys are gonna come home with next. Here are the latest additions to our animal farm!!

Just another typical day living life with a three year old. It's been one of those days with Gentry where one minute I feel like I'm about to pull my hair out, and then the next minute he's got me laughing hysterically. Since we've been back home, Gentry has taken on the role of terrorizing the dogs. He think they LOVE the fact that he drags them around the house by their two front legs, or puts them in a laundry basket and scoots them around the house, or chases them around with his remote control truck or tricycle. He thinks it's hysterical when they run for cover and can't imagine in his wildest dreams that they might not be enjoying the playtime as much as he is.

But, when the food comes out, they are his best friends and he feeds them any & everything that's on his plate.

Today we were making carrot cake cupcakes, and Gentry always loves licking the beaters. So, while I was putting those paper things in the muffin tins, I hear him spitting. I turn around and he said, "I got a carrot..." and he was spitting it back into the batter!! I look down into the bowl, and sure enough, there was Gentry's "carrot" spit! So, what's a girl to do? I just stirred it all up and thought, maybe the heat from the oven will burn away all the germs!! Nasty, I know, but I promise not to serve them to company!

Then he decided he wanted to take me down to the basement to see the baby chicks. Dale had told me earlier in the week that he had a couple of baby chicks down there, so you can imagine my surprise when Gentry took me downstairs and there is about 40 baby chicks down there! Dale is so busted! Gentry just reached right down into the box and pulled one out and held him. I thought he'd be scared, but he wasn't. It's funny how "a couple" in terms of numerical value can mean different totals to different people. I don't care one bit about the chicks being down there, I just think it's funny that Dale said he only had a couple down there and then Gentry takes me down there and I see dozens of chickens in a little box.

Well, I need to get dinner going. We're having filet mignon with a bearnaise sauce, loaded mashed potatoes & a vegetable (haven't decided on that one yet). And of course, our carrot cake cupcakes! Can't wait! Gentry's out for his nap, so I think I'm gonna rest a bit with him before I finish dinner.

I have to see another doctor tomorrow and have some more labwork done. My anemia is my biggest battle right now. I am SO PALE...more than usual...and have NO energy. Dale gave me a shot of Procrit today, so I'm hoping that will help my counts to come up. It takes about 3-4 weeks for the Procrit to start working, so I may end up having to be transfused in the interim, but I know in time everything will work out. Pastor Blake preached the most awesome sermon last night about God either carrying you "through" a difficult situation, or carrying you "over" a situation. So, whether God allows you to go "through" a trial, or He allows the trial to be removed from your life...either way, when you come out on the other side of it, you will ALWAYS have a testimony.

So, no matter how God chooses to work my health situation out, I feel confident once I'm on the other side of it, I'll be able to say with confidence that:

Through It All...He's Been Faithful!

Good News!

Just wanted to share my good news from one of my doctors today. It seems for the past 3 months my life has revolved around home health care, hospitals & a LONG list of doctors to follow-up with. I went to see my nephrologist (kidney specialist) today and the lab results I had done to see how active my lupus was in my kidneys were back & MUCH improved from when I was in the hospital. My potassium level was normal which had been too high several times over the past months and it required another overnight stay in the hospital to get it corrected. They worry about high potassium with kidney patients because if your K+ gets too high...well your heart just stops. So, I was thankful that was in normal range.
She told me since I had a good report with my labs having to do with my kidney function that I could start the tapering of my steroids and she hopes to have me COMPLETELY off of them by May!! OMG!!! I am more happy about that than anything because that means I won't have a "puffy steroid face" by the summertime! I have never been able to successfully be off of the steroids for any length of time in the past, but I'm really hoping that this time will work and I can stay off of the steroids.
You have to be slowly tapered down on this medication, so that's why it's going to be over a period of about 2 months to get off of it. But, I'm so happy about that and I'm really hoping I will continue to do well as I taper down.
The other good news is my surgeon called me today and is going to take my non-working port-a-cath out tomorrow. He's worried with my history of blood clots that leaving it in and it not working and me not on a blood thinner that I may develop clots again in my chest & neck (where I had them when I was in the hospital). So, I am going outpatient tomorrow to have that removed & we'll talk at that point to see if we will put another in at some point down the road...OR just hold our breath and hope I don't have to have IV access anytime soon! :)
I had more labs done today at my primary care doc's office, have another appointment with my GI specialist on Tuesday to check out the pancreas with more extensive testing, so we'll see what he has to say about all this. It's been a hard two years since moving back to Illinois to find the right team of doctors, but the ones I have now I really trust & feel that I've finally got the right combination of docs to treat me.
So.........now that I've got all the health issues out of the way...I'll fill you in on other "stuff". Last night was my first night to cook dinner for Dale & Gentry and myself since November when I went into the hospital. It felt good to be back in my kitchen...one of my favorite places in my home to be. I fixed Chicken Piccata & Sagaponack Corn Pudding & the old standby crescent rolls. It was SO yummy and Dale loved it too. We've been SO sick of eating fast food or ordering from sitdown restaurants, or frozen dinners.
After my appt this morning I went and got a pedicure...I've been sorely lacking in "that" department since my "house arrest" too. It was nice to relax there for an hour. Then I went to a local specialty food market and picked up a few more things to cook with. When I got home I was greeted by my blonde-haired darling with those big blue eyes & a big smile...arms outstretched & Gentry running to hug me saying, "Mama! Mama! I missed you!" He truly does color my day...so he helped me put the groceries away & we rinsed off all of our produce together & then we made chocolate cupcakes. I was afraid I'd have to make mini "cake-cups" as Gentry calls them because we were eating so much of the batter!! He got up on his bar stool and helped crack the eggs and put the sugar & flour in & the chocolate. We had a blast!
I've got MaDonna's "Dego Chicken" in the oven & eggplant gratin to go with it for dinner tonight. The timer's beeping at me, so I need to run for now.
Thanks, as always for stopping by! I'll be back soon!
Thankful - Melanie

Progress

Okay, so I've probably got a little TOO much time on my hands these days that I've had to spend in the bed recovering. It hit me tonight when I got on here to blog and thought..."What exactly is the purpose of a "blog"? Am I even doing it right? Am I even qualified?" Again...too much time to think! Anyway, I went to the trusty "wikipedia" site and typed in the word "blog". After reading what they had to say in describing a personal blog I thought, "Well, I guess I'm not THAT off track!" I've always loved writing my thoughts down on paper whether in prose & poems or just random thoughts. I have countless notebooks and journals filled with things I've written over the years that I'll probably take to the grave with me without anyone else ever reading them. But it was therapeutic for me at that particular moment in time to capture what I was feeling and experiencing. I still "handwrite", but since I was turned on to blogging by my awesome sister-in-law, Crystal, it's been a little easier to keep a journal of my life this way. I love going back through my old things I've written and them transporting me back in time to that specific season of my life. Some things I read and I'm so thankful that season of my life is over, and others I read and lament the days of youth & innocence that so fleetingly slip through our fingers. But mostly, I experience smiles & thankfulness for all I've been blessed to experience in my life. So, for all you readers out there that DON'T blog yet, I've copied & pasted a paragraph from what I read on blogging so maybe you'll consider taking it up yourself. :)

Personal Blogs
The personal blog, an ongoing diary or commentary by an individual, is the traditional, most common blog. Personal bloggers usually take pride in their blog posts, even if their blog is never read by anyone but them. Blogs often become more than a way to just communicate; they become a way to reflect on life or works of art. Blogging can have a sentimental quality. Few personal blogs rise to fame and the mainstream, but some personal blogs quickly garner an extensive following.

As for what's on my mind today to talk about...well it's probably not really earthshattering to anyone but myself. BUT...drumroll...I was able to go the WHOLE DAY without having to take a nap...PLUS...are you ready for this one?...I was able to take a shower, wash my hair AND shave my legs all in one shower!
Now I know that is TOTALLY laughable, but since coming home from the hospital I've only been able to perform ONE of those tasks at a time without fizzling out and having to go straight back to bed. So, let me tell you, I was SO excited when I tried this paramount activity and succeeded...mostly! I was so out of breath and shaking by the time I got done with it all that I had to head back to bed, but let me tell you, after two months of having to divide my personal hygiene routines up into manageable timetables, I feel like I've just conquered the world! :)
It is AMAZING how debilitating being in the hospital for 28 days can be. But this makes me feel like maybe, just maybe, there may be an end in sight to my "house arrest".
Dale even got worried about me because I was in the bathroom for so long. He comes to the door and says, "Are you ok, babe?" And I was so proud to announce that I was doing GREAT!
Anyway, just had to share that because that was my "yahoo" activity for the day! :)
My niece, Courtney got to stay with us yesterday and today because she was off from school for President's Day. There is 10 years difference between her and my little guy, but they are like best friends. She makes him laugh and he makes her laugh hysterically. They are good for each other since they are both "only children". It's always such a treat when she comes to stay with us.
Dale is here with me this week and then he's going to have to go back to work. He works for his dad, and they have been SO understanding of our situation, but you can't live on love alone, so he's going to have to go back to work. He usually leaves early on Mondays and then comes back home on Thursday nights. It will be hard for him to be gone, but I think Gentry and I will probably go back and stay with my mom and dad during the week.
Well, I'm gonna sign off for now. My sweetie just made Gentry & me a fried egg sandwich...YUM!! My appetite is coming back and I crave the stragest things...at the strangest times...thankfully Dale cooks eggs better than I do, so he was sweet enough to fix me one. I'm gonna run & enjoy my midnight snack!

I'm Engaged...PLUS 14 years!

WOW! That's the only way to start this blog off! With the Valentine's Weekend wrapping up, I've been taking a trip down memory lane of my own Valentine's story over the past 14 years. And what a ride it's been! I got engaged on the 13th of February in 1995. Dale and I were both in college at the time and the tradition at the college we attended was instead of a traditional Valentine's Banquet, we had a "Sadie Hawkins" Banquet...which is basically just the girl getting to ask a guy out instead of vice-versa. Dale and I had been dating since October of '94 and had talked about getting married. He had already asked my dad for my hand in marriage over the Christmas holidays, so I knew a proposal was coming, but I didn't know exactly 'when'.

We went to the banquet that night and when it was over, we drove out to our "special place" to "chat"...and...well, kiss and stuff!! :) We had nicknamed the place we always went to "The Lane". I could take you to the place today, except instead of a quiet, secluded, romantic quiet place, it's been replaced by big hotel complex. Maybe we'll go back there one day and stay for old times sake.

Anyway, I digress...we had gone to "The Lane" and were listening to our favorite "tape" of a country group called "Shenandoah", and he just started talking to me telling me he didn't know of anyone else he wanted to spend the rest of his life with than me and he opened the door to his truck, got down on his knee beside the truck and proposed to me. It was so sweet and we were both just sobbing and of course I said, "YES!"

We had 5 months to prepare and plan the wedding of my dreams and on the 29th of July, we made it official and I became Mrs. Dale Rutland, for better or for worse.

I look back over the years we've shared together and especially those early years and think, "My God, we were such BABIES!" We knew NOTHING about life and how to delve into carving out a life for ourselves as a family unit, but dive we did headlong into the journey of a lifetime.

Sometimes I look back at those young pictures of the two of us and see two kids who were fearless and unintimidated by the challenges of creating a life together. We should have been scared to death, but we had each other and we knew that was all we needed. We were uncertain of what we would face, but we felt that together we could make our dreams come true.

Over the years, we've had triumph & tragedy, but no matter what season we found ourselves in, at the end of the day we always had each other's back. Our love has deepened through it all and I have to say, I'm still glad I said "I DO" some 14 years ago to that blue-eyed country boy from Jayess, Mississippi.

Home Again!

Well, it's been quite a week! Dale and I finally moved back to our home and I've just gotten settled back into bed with my new laptop. Just after I had posted my last blog earlier this week my computer screen went blank and crashed. My brother, Ryan, offered to take my laptop in for his IT guy at work to take a look at it, but he said it was not salvageable. Luckily he was able to recover all of my pictures and documents and put them on CD's for me so it wasn't a complete loss.
Dale got me a new HP today and I'm loving it so far. It feels good to be back home, but I left mom and dad's this evening misty-eyed. It has been such a blessing to be able to recuperate with the loving care that only a mama can provide.
I could never thank them enough for all of the support they've offered over the past few months to us. I will certainly miss spending time there.
Dale has completely rearranged our living areas here so that I won't have to use the stairs right now. We've moved our "bedroom" into our formal dining room area and moved our dining room table into our kitchen. It's cozy and will be so much easier on me to not have to tackle stair climbing several times a day.
I got my results back from my gallbladder study and everything looked normal on the test, however the surgeon still thinks I might benefit from having my gallbladder removed and wants me to see a GI specialist for another opinion on it. My labs came back that I had pancreatitis again and they're all puzzled by that as well since pancreatitis is usually only caused from excess drinking of alcoholic beverages! So...I'm supposed to be on a clear liquid diet until the stomach pain clears up and my labs start improving.
Sometimes I feel like it's one step forward and two steps back...and I do get discouraged from time to time, but I'm just taking things a day at a time and trying not to stress out too much. I will see my GI doc next week and see what his recommendations are.
Well, I don't have much to say and I'm tired and in a lot of pain, but wanted to post about getting to move back home after 2 1/2 months of being gone.
Happy Valentine's Weekend to you all!

Health Update

Here is a diagram of a port-a-cath. It is located right beneath my clavicle (collar bone) and is about the size of a quarter. The line tunnels down into the main vessel of my heart. In an ideal world, this is a GREAT invention for people with lousy veins and can ideally stay in for life. Hopefully the new one I have placed will be successful. I'm a visual learner, so I thought the diagrams might be helpful! :)

Okay...one more post for today and I'll leave it be for awhile! I just happened to have a window of time where Gentry is taking a LONG nap, and I have a little "quiet time" alone. As you know from one of my older posts, I've been in limbo for several weeks on what to do with my non-working port-a-cath in my chest and the gallbladder issues.

Well, today I went to a NEW, different surgeon that was recommended to me by my primary care doc. We discussed all that had happened and what had gone wrong in the hospital and tried to form a revised game plan from that point. He told me if it wasn't for bad luck, I'd have no luck at all...sounds like an old country song, huh? I never thought of it that way, but I guess he's right! :) Anyway, Dale and I REALLY liked this surgeon and felt VERY comfortable with his recommendations.

I had more bloodwork done today and will go in the morning to an outpatient clinic and have a more "intensive" scan done of my gallbladder and once the results come back from that (should be this week sometime), he will schedule me for surgery to have both my gallbladder AND the defunct port removed at the same time. We will decided post-op what the best options are as far as vascular accesses for the future.

I still am having terrible issues with continuous nausea and inability to eat anything more than 2-3 bites of food. Do you know how disappointing that is for a gal who LIVES to eat!!?? I mean, I LOVE LOVE LOVE food and just the smell of it turns my stomach sour! I'm really hoping that if it indeed is my gallbladder causing all of these GI problems that surgery will correct my eating habits. I've lost 15 pounds over the past 10 days!!

So...I should know more once the test results are back later on this week. In the meantime, I'm taking anti-nausea medication and trying not to get too dehydrated. I'm out of here for now. Thanks for checking in and I'll write more soon.

My In-Laws

I just wanted to share something sweet that occurred over the holidays that really touched my heart. Since I was hospitalized for 28 days right around the holidays, I was unable to go to Mississippi to visit Dale's family for Thanksgiving, Christmas OR New Year's. Dale and Gentry went down for a few days right before Christmas, but they didn't get to spend much time down with his family over the holidays either.
But, right after Christmas Pam and Kennith and their three girls, drove all the way up here just to get to see me and visit with me for a little while. They were only able to stay for less than 24 hours and had to turn right back around and go back to Mississippi, but I was so touched that they sacrificed that time and came up here for the sole purpose of seeing me. Pam is Dale's sister and she's always been such a sweetheart. I knew they loved me, but to demonstrate it in such a way was just really heartwarming.
Then, on New Year's Day around 6:00 p.m. that evening, we saw a vehicle pull up in the driveway and us girls were sitting in the living room visiting and all of a sudden I see Dale's mom and dad walking up to the house. We had NO IDEA they were coming up. I was SO shocked that they drove all that way...again...just to see me and visit for a little while. They are so busy with their business and family down there that I knew it was a big sacrifice for them to come up as well. They were only able to stay for a few hours and had to turn right back around and go back home that night which made the visit that much more special to me. Again, I've always known that they love me...but an act of kindness such as that just really makes you feel special.
I'm grateful to be surrounded by those kinds of caring individuals. I am glad to say I've never had one cross word with my mother OR father-in-law and after 14 years of being in the family, I'd say that's a pretty cool accomplishment! :)
When I was in the hospital, Dale's mom told him to go and buy me $100.00 worth of nightgowns and pajamas so I'd have something comfortable to relax in while I was in the hospital and once I got home! Boy, have I sure taken advantage of those gifts over the past few months!
BUT...the greatest gift they've ever given me is my sweetie. Our vows about the "for better or worse and in sickness and in health"...have certainly been put to the test over the past three months. I'm thankful that Dale has taken on the unwanted role of caregiver without complaining ONE TIME (at least to me anyway!). I know it's a burden on him to have to deal with a sick wife, but he seems to take it all in stride and always is my encourager and keeps things light even when the tears flow like a river.
So, thank you to my in-laws for giving me such a cool guy to share my unpredictable, roller coaster ride of life with!

Gentry's New Year's Day "Prayer"

This is backtracking a bit, but I wanted to post it so I wouldn't forget about it. On New Year's Day, all of us kids got together over at mom and dad's house for a big New Year's Dinner...and NO...it did not include a pot of beans that's supposed to bring you good luck for the rest of the year! Instead we dined on Poppy Seed Chicken with all the fixin's. That dish has been a family favorite for well over ten years now and it's something we all enjoy - including the picky brothers of ours!!

Anyway, mom and dad had flown the coop for warmer weather in Florida, so we crashed their pad while they were gone and enjoyed the New Year's Day festivities at their home. Once we all got seated around the table and ready to say the blessing over the food, Gentry pipes up and says, "I wanna pray for the food!". So, of course, we obliged him (train up a child...). And as serious as he could be he bowed his head and looked down at his plate (with food I had already served up for him to be cooling) and said, "Jesus...cheese on my plate...cheese on my plate...Jesus... and then a triumphant AMEN!!"

We about rolled out of our chairs laughing at him. I had dipped him out some broccoli rice casserole and I guess that was the first thing that flew through his mind. It was hilarious and sweet all at the same time. Of course, he loves being the absolute center of attention, so he was soaking up all of the spontaneous laughter that he inadvertently provided us with.

What a character he is!

Gentry's First Visit To The Dentist

So...instead of apologizing for my lack of continuity in blogging, I'll just dive right in and start updating y'all on what's been going on in our lives the past few weeks. Gentry had his first appointment with the dentist this past week. I am still not able to get out and about, so Dale had to take him. I hated that I had to miss out on that milestone, but I had Dale take a few pictures so I could at least enjoy that. I was SO PROUD when he came home and told me Gentry had NO cavities, no tartar or plaque buildup on his teeth and his teeth were in perfect alignment! I guess since this parenting thing is still relatively new to me, the little things like that seem paramount to me.

I felt a sense of accomplishment, that I had done at least one thing right in sticking to my guns about Gentry's limitation of soda and sugar-overloaded beverages.

He came in the house with a big grin on his face showing me his new Winnie the Pooh toothbrush and toothpaste and his little bag of toys and stickers he got from the dentist. Dale said he wasn't scared at all and was such a trooper while they did the exam. Enjoy the pictures!