Easter 2011 Goings On

I know, I know . . . another Easter post on "August Eve." Just want to keep a record of all of our happenings even if they are super late.

Charlie and his cousin Lyric cruising in Lyric's sweet Jeep. He even let Charlie drive!

Aunt Sarah was sweet enough to put together an Easter hunt for the two boys.

Charlie hunting eggs at my parents' house.

Yes, Charlie is wearing a monkey blanket around his neck like a cape. This is his daily attire.

Easter Pictures 2011

The summer is almost gone! I can't believe I let an entire month go by without updating this blog. I'm horrible. Oh, well. So here's a nice catching up post about Easter . . . and it's August tomorrow. Here are some pictures after church on Easter Sunday. I think they provide a full range of Charlie's personality at the moment (i.e., overly dramatic, irrational toddler). He's lucky he's cute.

Now this . . . this is Charlie for sure!

Surgery Results

The pathology is in, America. And the results are:

I do have endometriosis.

Today I had my check-up for my surgery. It was 3 weeks ago yesterday that I had it. I have noticed a few small things changing for the better already, despite the fact I'm still in a lot of pain. I have a pretty extreme of IBS and any sort of change in my body make my colon contract and I have horrible cramps that can last, literally, for months. Despite having this all my life, I initially believed my doctor when he said I'd be normal after 2 weeks. I totally disregarded my own body and so it's been frustrating because I'm basically an idiot. It took me 2 weeks to realize, oh yeah. Maybe it'll take me longer to heal since I have a chronic condition. Genius. So I am still in pain but it's gotten much better. The incision in my belly button got infected during week 2 and I highly recommend avoiding an infected belly button at all costs. It's super painful and just gross. But now it's healed.

So what happens now? The surgery I had was initially ruled as diagnostic but while they were in there, they found lots of scar tissue (endometrial tissue) and they removed it. (They found a few lesions on my colon so that could've been adding to my IBS pain) They kind of did everything all at once. We just had to wait for the pathology to come back to make sure it was endometrial tissue. I should see some improvement with all of my symptoms. But that doesn't mean this is the end of it. Endometriosis is notoriously hard to get rid of. Some women get hysterectomies and it still persists. I wouldn't be surprised if I have to have more laparoscopies in my lifetime. At least now I know what to expect!

I'm so grateful to all the family and friends that helped me during this time. I couldn't have done it without you! I'm relieved it's over and I'm hoping for better health soon.

Surgery: Part 2

As most of you know, I had laparoscopic surgery yesterday. So today my mind is a little more focused but I'm in more pain. Overall, though, it's really not as bad as I thought it would be. The hardest part is not being able to do things like pick up Charlie or work on purses. When I have to work, I just want to rest. When I have to rest, all I want to do is work. Sigh.

During my procedure, my doctor found tissue, especially on my intestines that he suspects to be endometrial tissue, which would mean I have endometriosis. He sent the tissue to a pathologist just to make sure. At this point, it does really matter since he burned and scraped away any of that tissue he could see. If it is, in fact, endometrial tissue, that doesn't mean I'm cured. It can always come back, even if you have a full hysterectomy. It's just yet another problem to deal with. Though, my doctor did say I had lesions on my intestines he closed and that could possibly help my IBS some. I'm thinking that the procedure will reduce my pain greatly. Again, it's not a cure and I could quite possibly have to have another one of these or surgery on my intestine if the tissue comes back and eats all the way through.

Right now, I'm just very sore and looking, as my friend Emily (who's been through the same surgery and tons more) puts it, "awesomely pregnant." I'm nice and puffy. Hopefully that will go down in a few days, though the bruising is NASTY! My outside hurts more than my inside. Anyway, it's all for the good and I'm going to TRY to rest as much as I can. John has taken a few days off of work to help and so many family members have taken care of Charlie. I'm very blessed to have a great family to take care of me and Charlie.

Recently, my friend Rochelle and I discovered that we both write song parodies for fun. No, seriously. We're like young female Weird Als. Weird minds think alike, I guess! So, in celebration of my successful surgery, here's the chorus to "Laparoscopy" to the tune of Lady Gaga's "Paparazzi."

My belly’s hurtin’ bad

I sleep with my heating pad nightly

Lapa-Laparoscopy

Ultrasounds give fuzzy views, won’t do

Can’t see my ovaries

Lapa-Laparoscopy

Doctor, please be kind

Don’t stop scoping my belly ’til you find

Endometrial tissue

Burn it out so it can’t hurt me

Lapa-Laparoscopy!

Surgery

I've been having lots of extreme pain for awhile and other symptoms that have lead my doctor to believe I have endometriosis. I had an ultrasound today and they saw lots of excess fluid . . . my doctor guesses (you really can't tell a lot from an ultrasound) that I had a uterine cyst that ruptured.

The only way you can diagnose endometriosis is by laparoscopy, which I'm scheduled to have next Tuesday. My doctor will make three small incisions in my abdomen, pump it full of air (gross, I know) and with a scope, check inside my abdomen for endometrial tissue. If he finds any, he will burn it off with a laser. It's an outpatient surgery so I get to go home the same day. I'm extremely happy about that--I'll actually get to sleep! The recovery time is usually 1-2 weeks. It's a minor surgery though it doesn't sound much fun. Even though I am nervous and not looking forward to the pain, I actually feel really good about it. I think it's the right step in getting better. I don't believe it's THE answer to everything but I feel like I'm going in the right direction.

John and I are so lucky to live in our hometown where we are surrounded by family and friends who can help with Charlie and my recovery. Sometimes we wonder why we have to be in the situation we're in but it's times like these that we are very grateful to be living with family!

Wish me luck and keep me in your prayers Tuesday if you can!

ATL Zoo

After the Temple Open House and some lunch, Charlie and I were ready to zonk out. We had originally planned on going to the Atlanta Zoo that day but we were exhausted. Not to be discouraged by my incessant whining and protests, John made us go anyway and we had a good time. I was surprised Charlie behaved so well considering he got hardly any sleep the night before and only a 30 minute nap in the car.

John watching the silver back apes. He was seriously freaking out over these apes. He thought they were the coolest thing ever. That's how he was the entire time: like a little kid. He was practically skipping as he dragged me along.

Daddy and Charlie watching the monkeys. Charlie LOVES monkeys. That's the only thing he wanted to see.

Some hideous orangutans that reminded me of Paul Giamatti in that awful 2001 "Planet of the Apes" movie. My sis-in-law Mari says every time she sees Paul Giamatti she thinks of orangutans. Makes sense.

Now, this . . . this is my guy. I know this is weird but the reptile house is always my favorite part of the zoo. I know it's weird but I really like snakes and lizards. I would never own one as a pet because I think keeping animals in your house in general is gross (even though I grew up with inside dogs, cats and rabbits!) but I like reptiles a heck of a lot better than cats. Anyway, this guy was so huge! I thought it was so amazing. As you can tell from the look on his scaly face, the feeling was mutual. Seriously, if I started to walk away, he would watch me. I think we had a "moment." I was tempted to throw a saddle on that guy and ride him off into the sunset . . . that is, if I didn't think he'd take a bite out of my leg the first chance he got. Still, we'll always have the zoo . . . sigh.

My second favorite part of the zoo--pandas! So adorable.

Charlie watching the mama panda indoors with her new baby.

There's a little stamp machine around the panda area where you can get a panda stamp on your hand. Well, I took it a little far.

Yup, that is one hot panda tat on my foot. The people watching were cracking up but John was embarrassed (even though he gave himself a panda "Dark Mark" inside his forearm) so I stopped playing with the machine. If it hadn't been for that, I would've totally given myself a panda tramp stamp.

Amazing lion! Who does his hair?
Charlie the lion.

After the zoo, we asked Charlie what his favorite part was. He said his new truck (we got him a $4.50 souvenir truck). Wow. We could've saved $75 had we known that . . .

Atlanta Temple Open House

Back in April, John took a Friday off so we could attend the Atlanta Temple Open House. It's been closed for 2 years for renovations and they were having an open house for the public. That meant that Charlie could go inside. Originally, we were not planning on going. I was having (as usual) health issues and really didn't want to drag a 3 year old through an hour tour where he had to be quiet. At church one Sunday, John felt really strongly we needed to go. The day we had to leave, I got really sick. I felt miserable and really didn't feel like going. I decided to take one for the team and just go. If we really needed to go, it'd work out.

We got a nice hotel just a mile from the temple . . . John has a lot of points since he travels so much so we got the room for free! Charlie was very excited to stay in a hotel (he was too little to remember the last time he did). John got one with a living room, thinking Charlie could sleep in the fold out bed. Um, yeah. That didn't work. In the end, all 3 of us wound up in the (thankfully) king size bed. For a few moments (and a know this sounds strange), it really felt like heaven to me. We still live with my parents and so it's hard sometimes for the three of us to feel like our own family. I felt so happy to just be with my boys. Of course, Charlie didn't fall asleep until 2 a.m. and proceeded to wake up several times in the night screaming nonsense. He's a horrible sleeper at home and I guess the change of scenery really messed him up. Oh well, moving forward . . .

We made it to the open house! It seemed like a miracle to me since I was feeling so sick. To protect the new flooring, everyone had to wear plastic "booties" on their feet. Charlie refused to wear them. I have yet to decide if this was a fashion decision (he really loves his saddle shoes) or just a toddler's predisposition to be difficult for no reason. (Ironically, when I asked him the other day what he liked best about the temple, he said, "Everyone wearing those white bodies." He meant booties. I hope.) So, we had to carry the boy through the whole thing. I never thought I'd say this but that kid has gotten heavy! We had to take turns hauling him through the temple. He was pretty good at being quiet and whispering.

I personally was struck at the feeling walking through the temple. The prophet had not dedicated the temple for the use of ordinances yet so I expected it to seem just like a pretty building inside. I was overwhelmed by the feeling of the Spirit walking through the temple, especially with Charlie. I just had the undeniable feeling that this was the Lord's house and that families truly are forever.

After the tour, there was a reception with cookies. Whoever made the decision to serve cookies obviously doesn't have a toddler or hasn't had one in a long time. This is the result of said cookie: sugar rush in the temple courtyard.

Our little family!