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Sunday, October 7, 2012
My Dream Home According to Pinterest
The title says it all- enjoy some awesome pictures!
Master Bath anyone?
guest house? sweet staircase? yes, please
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Yes....I do want an awesome treehouse in my backyard!
Hobbit garden
The END!
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Friday, July 27, 2012
Goodbye, Mr. Appendix- Part 2
WARNING- Below contains pictures of my insides.....Just thought I'd spoil the ending for you- in case you wanted to be prepared.....
Now let's move on to the story, shall we?
And if you didn't get to read part 1 of this saga- here is the link http://jaredandtabitha.blogspot.com/2012/06/goodbye-mr-appendix-part-1_24.html
Post Surgery Tabitha
Coming out of anesthesia was probably the worst part of the whole let's-remove-your appendix ordeal.
I felt like a big mama bear being awaken from a long winters nap, only to find out the squirrels had eaten my insides and implanted some sort of sickness in my brain and body! In other words- it was like coming back from the dead!
First thing I remember was the nurse removing the tube that went down my throat ouch! As my consciousness drifted into wakefulness I became aware very quickly that I was in pain....and a lot of it. I could hardly speak from that monstrous tube being yanked out of my throat, and when I did speak- well, that hurt too.
And that's when the tears began to fall....and I whimpered like a half ran over puppy...
Needless to say I was a pathetic sight to look upon, I'm sure...
"Are you in pain, honey?" - said the Nurse
I nod my head
"On a scale of 1 to 10, where would you say your pain is?"
"Nine" - I whispered
I looked to my right and there was my handsome Jared holding my hand. He tried to smile the best he could, but he couldn't hide the question mark on his face that seemed to say- "You don't look so good, honey, are you alright?"
No, I wasn't alright- my body had been violated by these a so called Surgeon, who I've never even seen before! (they made me remove my contacts- so technically I had been in the same room with and met him, but I hadn't seen him!)
I was in pain and felt beaten to a pulp- and I realized quickly how stupid I was to think I could recover from this in a day or two.
I was grateful to my family that stopped in to say hi- including my sister Janel and her husband, as well as my cousins Henry, Kate, and Levi. I'm sorry you all had to see me in such a state.....And I'm sorry for ruining the night (they were all suppose to go to a party that night).
Luckily though, I don't think I threw-up until after they left.....I think the morphine made me sick or something...but I threw up alot over the next couple hours. I stayed in the hospital that night and most of the next day and Jared was with me the whole time too (they even wheeled in a cot for him to sleep on- fancy, right?)
After family left, I tried to fall asleep- but every time I would start to drift off I would suddenly gasp for air- according to the nurses I was having a panic attack- and this continued over the next 10 mins or so. I literally thought that if I fell asleep I would stop breathing and die- so I just kept gasping for air! It was terrifying to say the least- the nurse kept telling me that I had 100% oxygen and had nothing to worry about, but I didn't believe her- I honestly thought she was lying to me (I was still kind of loopy from the anesthesia at this point).
I would have to say that after this little episode abated things started to get a little better- at least mentally.
...During the night the nurses would come in and take my vitals and such every so often, but many times I also pressed the button to call the nurse for more morphine- it seemed like they only gave me more if I asked for it, so when I hurt, I asked! And they would ask me the "on a scale of 1 to 10" question every time. I still kept throwing up too, which was so uncool because every time I would purge my stomach fluids- my stomach also felt like it had just ripped in two! Around 1 or 2am my regular nurse and also a male nurse came in to help me use the bathroom- they said if I didn't go pee in the next 1/2 hour they would need to put a catheter in.
I felt so helpless needing help getting up, standing, walking, sitting.....darn it- I even needed help to get myself to pee! The nurse ran the water, and even poured warm water on me in hope that it would help- it took probably 20 minutes until I finally went ( No catheter was going up my urethra!) It continued to be this difficult for another 3 days....yeah, I'm serious- this is a true story, remember?
And I can't tell you how grateful I am to the nurses who took care of me- especially my night nurse. They were so kind and I was so happy they were there and taking care of me, especially since I felt so helpless.
Later the next day they had me get up and walk around the hall.....really it was mostly me holding on to Jared for dear life- after standing up for about a minute- all of the sudden my right shoulder was in a tremendous amount of pain- why in the heck would my shoulder be hurting so bad?! Did I fall to the floor during the surgery or something??! Turns out they filled my insides up with carbon dioxide during the surgery- and it takes a couple days for this to go away, but it tends to not feel so nice inside....during the next week, this was probably the most uncomfortable part to deal with.
They sent me home around 3:00 the next day- it seemed so cruel too, after all- I wasn't even close to feeling better yet!
I felt like such a baby over the next week- Jared literally had to help me do everything. He stayed home all day Friday to take care of me, then Saturday Janel came down to help me so that Jared could help Henry and Kate move.
Over the next week I couldn't help but feel so lucky to have such wonderful family and friends, who made us meals, sent cards and flowers, who sent kind text messages and facebook messages too.
I am one lucky girl to have such great people in my life. Thanks everybody.
Well now, lucky for you- I have pictures!
Top left is a picture of my colon- which the doctor says looks awesome bytheway- which may not seem that exciting to you- but to me and my ulcerative colitis past- this is great news.
Top right is a picture of my appendix- the purple gross infected thing they are about to saw off.
Bottom picture is the cyst they also removed that was on my left Fallopian tube- looks like of like a balloon if you ask me...tomato, toe-mah-toe......cyst, balloon....whatever you want to call it.
But they removed it......who needs a balloon on their fallopian tube anyway?
On a side note- want to know how much it would cost to have you appendix removed without insurance? Our bill came in the mail this week...grand total? $15,951.91..... Lucky for us we have insurance so it was more like $900.
Sorry if you think this is gross....I don't mean to gross you out- I just thought it was cool because they are my insides! And if you had a picture of your insides, you'd probably want to share it too. Or not...
Here are 3 pretty pictures to put in your mind instead
Thanks for the flowers, Stephanie!
.JPG)
And Carolyn and Lon!
.JPG)
And thanks Janel for the beautiful polish pottery bowl- And the Madeline book about when she had her appendix out.
For your musical entertainment I present Madeline's "Ouila, my scar!". This is the song Madeline sings after she gets her appendix out.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e2dRS-fSCYs
Welp- until next time.
Tabitha out!
Now let's move on to the story, shall we?
And if you didn't get to read part 1 of this saga- here is the link http://jaredandtabitha.blogspot.com/2012/06/goodbye-mr-appendix-part-1_24.html
Post Surgery Tabitha
Coming out of anesthesia was probably the worst part of the whole let's-remove-your appendix ordeal.
I felt like a big mama bear being awaken from a long winters nap, only to find out the squirrels had eaten my insides and implanted some sort of sickness in my brain and body! In other words- it was like coming back from the dead!
First thing I remember was the nurse removing the tube that went down my throat ouch! As my consciousness drifted into wakefulness I became aware very quickly that I was in pain....and a lot of it. I could hardly speak from that monstrous tube being yanked out of my throat, and when I did speak- well, that hurt too.
And that's when the tears began to fall....and I whimpered like a half ran over puppy...
Needless to say I was a pathetic sight to look upon, I'm sure...
"Are you in pain, honey?" - said the Nurse
I nod my head
"On a scale of 1 to 10, where would you say your pain is?"
"Nine" - I whispered
I looked to my right and there was my handsome Jared holding my hand. He tried to smile the best he could, but he couldn't hide the question mark on his face that seemed to say- "You don't look so good, honey, are you alright?"
No, I wasn't alright- my body had been violated by these a so called Surgeon, who I've never even seen before! (they made me remove my contacts- so technically I had been in the same room with and met him, but I hadn't seen him!)
I was in pain and felt beaten to a pulp- and I realized quickly how stupid I was to think I could recover from this in a day or two.
I was grateful to my family that stopped in to say hi- including my sister Janel and her husband, as well as my cousins Henry, Kate, and Levi. I'm sorry you all had to see me in such a state.....And I'm sorry for ruining the night (they were all suppose to go to a party that night).
Luckily though, I don't think I threw-up until after they left.....I think the morphine made me sick or something...but I threw up alot over the next couple hours. I stayed in the hospital that night and most of the next day and Jared was with me the whole time too (they even wheeled in a cot for him to sleep on- fancy, right?)
After family left, I tried to fall asleep- but every time I would start to drift off I would suddenly gasp for air- according to the nurses I was having a panic attack- and this continued over the next 10 mins or so. I literally thought that if I fell asleep I would stop breathing and die- so I just kept gasping for air! It was terrifying to say the least- the nurse kept telling me that I had 100% oxygen and had nothing to worry about, but I didn't believe her- I honestly thought she was lying to me (I was still kind of loopy from the anesthesia at this point).
I would have to say that after this little episode abated things started to get a little better- at least mentally.
...During the night the nurses would come in and take my vitals and such every so often, but many times I also pressed the button to call the nurse for more morphine- it seemed like they only gave me more if I asked for it, so when I hurt, I asked! And they would ask me the "on a scale of 1 to 10" question every time. I still kept throwing up too, which was so uncool because every time I would purge my stomach fluids- my stomach also felt like it had just ripped in two! Around 1 or 2am my regular nurse and also a male nurse came in to help me use the bathroom- they said if I didn't go pee in the next 1/2 hour they would need to put a catheter in.
I felt so helpless needing help getting up, standing, walking, sitting.....darn it- I even needed help to get myself to pee! The nurse ran the water, and even poured warm water on me in hope that it would help- it took probably 20 minutes until I finally went ( No catheter was going up my urethra!) It continued to be this difficult for another 3 days....yeah, I'm serious- this is a true story, remember?
And I can't tell you how grateful I am to the nurses who took care of me- especially my night nurse. They were so kind and I was so happy they were there and taking care of me, especially since I felt so helpless.
Later the next day they had me get up and walk around the hall.....really it was mostly me holding on to Jared for dear life- after standing up for about a minute- all of the sudden my right shoulder was in a tremendous amount of pain- why in the heck would my shoulder be hurting so bad?! Did I fall to the floor during the surgery or something??! Turns out they filled my insides up with carbon dioxide during the surgery- and it takes a couple days for this to go away, but it tends to not feel so nice inside....during the next week, this was probably the most uncomfortable part to deal with.
They sent me home around 3:00 the next day- it seemed so cruel too, after all- I wasn't even close to feeling better yet!
I felt like such a baby over the next week- Jared literally had to help me do everything. He stayed home all day Friday to take care of me, then Saturday Janel came down to help me so that Jared could help Henry and Kate move.
Over the next week I couldn't help but feel so lucky to have such wonderful family and friends, who made us meals, sent cards and flowers, who sent kind text messages and facebook messages too.
I am one lucky girl to have such great people in my life. Thanks everybody.
Well now, lucky for you- I have pictures!
Top left is a picture of my colon- which the doctor says looks awesome bytheway- which may not seem that exciting to you- but to me and my ulcerative colitis past- this is great news.
Top right is a picture of my appendix- the purple gross infected thing they are about to saw off.
Bottom picture is the cyst they also removed that was on my left Fallopian tube- looks like of like a balloon if you ask me...tomato, toe-mah-toe......cyst, balloon....whatever you want to call it.
But they removed it......who needs a balloon on their fallopian tube anyway?
Sorry if you think this is gross....I don't mean to gross you out- I just thought it was cool because they are my insides! And if you had a picture of your insides, you'd probably want to share it too. Or not...
Here are 3 pretty pictures to put in your mind instead
.JPG)
.JPG)
For your musical entertainment I present Madeline's "Ouila, my scar!". This is the song Madeline sings after she gets her appendix out.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e2dRS-fSCYs
Welp- until next time.
Tabitha out!
Sunday, June 24, 2012
Goodbye, Mr. Appendix- Part 1
As most of you have probably heard, I lost my dear Mr. Appendix last week.
Why not Miss. or Mrs. or Ms. Appendix? I don't know.
And the story begins.....
It was a hot Tuesday afternoon- June 12th to be exact. I was done babysitting Lizzie for the morning and was down in the courtyard of our apartment complex babysitting for a family in our ward. We were outside playing when I started to notice that my stomach wasn't felling quite right.I thought maybe I had eaten something bad- and later I started to notice some not-so-fun stomach cramps, but honestly- I just thought it was just some ulcer flare-ups so I didn't pay much attention to it.
Well.....5:00 rolled around and my poor abdomen was suffering some sort of hurricane of pain-- but you see- that night was the Marathon Managers' dinner at a fancy restaurant and for all I knew I was probably just having some bad gas- suck it up, Tabitha! So that's what I did- and as much as dinner was delicious, my tummy was hurting something fierce when I walked out of that restaurant.....little did I know then what was in store that night for me.
Jared and I got home around 9:00 or so- and boy was I hurting. It hurt to walk, to bend, to sit, to stand- and by this point in the day my pain was definitely localized to my lower right abdomen. I couldn't call my doctor so I decided to tough out the night.
Note to self and spouses.....if you or your spouse are ever in a significant amount of pain- don't try to sleep it out. Just go to the ER because both of you won't sleep anyway.
To make a long story short, I didn't really sleep- and neither did Jared with all my moaning.
However, Jared DID ask me if I wanted to go to the ER that night- and I said no. Mostly because I honestly thought it was just really bad gas and "how embarrassing would it be to go to the ER for gas....I mean really. And I'm sure my insurance would love that too"......that is what kept me from going all night...
Stupid, Tabitha.
That morning I woke up from what little sleep I had and it actually felt a little better. So I went to work.......Jared had some shadowing to do at the hospital- so he had the car.....so I decided to ride my bike to work that morning....as I rode my bike to work, I realized that the silly gas pain was still there and seemed to be getting worse again. Dang!
So like any wise young lady- I called my momma!
After talking with Momma, I decided it would be very wise to call my doctor/ go to the ER if not. I stayed the whole time with Lizzie though, but I did have to explain why I had to sit the whole time....Walking was not fun. She was a trooper.
I made some more phone calls to my doctor who set me up with a CT scan at 1:30, which worked perfect because I get off at 12:30- and Jared was able to pick me up too, which was awesome (because I did not want to ride that bike all the way home uphill).
1:15pm- I went in and had my blood drawn at the clinic
1:30pm- CT scan procedure begins....which if you didn't know involves drinking this big cup of juicy juice mixed with the contrast fluids which taste like metal....not the funnest but manageable. Oh, and you have to pace yourself over a 45 min time period.
2:20pm-rolls around and they are ready for my scan. They had my take off all metal stuff and wear scrubs. Then some kid tried to put in my IV for literally 5 mins....my veins aren't the easiest to find, but there has to be a point where you should just give up and let me someone else do it instead of continuing to play a fishing game under my skin with a needle. CT scan was quick and painless- the contrast fluids they put in my blood made me feel like I peed my pants!! No really....it totally does feel like it, and it's really weird.
Then I got my IV out and got dressed and waited for the results.
25 minutes or so later- a nurse comes out to talk to us and says that the Radiologist says my appendix is enlarged and it looks like I had an ovarian cyst that ruptured.....news to me. Maybe that was what all that pain was about last night and my appendix is just large? But after a long and annoying attempt to contact insurance and see if we would be covered to see a surgeon for a consultation- we finally went to another hospital in Orem we knew was covered and entered through the Emergency Room with all of my CT scan information.
The ER was surprisingly quiet (i've never been in an ER) except for the lady in the room next to be who was all by herself just weeping- I wanted so bad to go over there and give her a hug and say that everything would be alright. It was so sad.
At this point, I was pretty sure that contrast juice was giving me diarrhea- not so much fun- especially after my second IV was in and I was in my easy breezy hospital gown.
The ER doctor came in and pressed around my abdomen (when he pressed on my lower right side I thought I was going to cry- ouch!) and he told us he believed it was appendicitis and that it would probably be best to remove it as soon as possible. We agreed and it wasn't much longer after that, that they wheeled me back into the Operation Room.
Once in the room they moved me onto the operating table- and the last thing I remember is telling the nurse,
"I'm sorry if I poop while I'm asleep- you see I've been having bad diarrhea the past few hours and...."
Well... then everything went dark.
For your visual enjoyment- here are some pictures Jared took of me in the ER
I look pretty good, right?
This is me right before going into the O.R.- I am a little less sure about this all- can you tell?
Well- here's the proof of the pre-surgery thumbs up, because there sure weren't any thumbs ups post-surgery....but since this post is long enough- that story will have to wait until next time.
Wednesday, May 2, 2012
All this for a piece of paper - eh?
Graduation=
def.1- a big celebration for thousands of students who have worked long and hard to earn a piece of paper that says they are smart
def.2- Halloween for smart people.....especially phDs
Whichever definition you choose- it finally happened for Jared, who has officially graduated with his Bachelor's in Neuroscience! Other VIP grads include my sister Heidi, Jared's sister Carolyn and her husband Lon!
We had a grand ol' fun time. I will, however, make a side note that (myself)having just gotten off finals week with some flippin' hard finals (which I rocked bytheway)....it was sort of stressful having graduation right after finals....like it was on the same day I finished my last final. Family was in town- which was awesome- but I just wanted to crash and sleep for a day or two from all that studying! Lucky for Jared, he actually finished his degree in December (since then he's been working on his master's program).....so he didn't have any finals to stress about- which I was glad for- our house gets messy enough as it is with one of us in the thick of tests. I just- personally- think that Graduation shouldn't be on the last day of finals...that's all. Well, I'll step off of my soap box now (or fish crate....folding chair.....car hood- or whatever you want to picture me standing on, it's up to you).
It really was awesome having so much family in town to celebrate though! Jared's parents and sister and nephew came into town and we had such a wonderful time with them! I wish we could have spent more time- but my dad was also in town! Which was fabulous too! He even got to stay with us a two nights- he was such a trooper, sleeping on our air mattress in our living room :) Well, we may live in a tiny one bedroom apartment that was built in 1961- but we love it- and I was happy to share our humble abode with my papa.
On Saturday morning my dad and I even had some real quality one-on-one time together- which was so great. I don't remember having that kind of quality time with my dad since I was 16! (when he took me out on my first date!). But it was really great just to talk and be together. I wish we could do stuff that like more often.
With the Weeds we had a blast as well- Jared's mom made us some wicked delicious meals (she's a fabulous cook bytheway) and we even had a cookout! We had a lot of fun just talking together and playing games- like speed charades! so funny! For their graduation (Jared, Carolyn, and Lon's) Greg and Dolores (Jared's parents) took everyone out to the most delicious restaurant in Provo - Tucanos. Which, sadly, I missed out on ( I was busy having that one-on-one time with the dad) but that is Jared's very favorite place, so I was glad they all went.
All in all- I am very proud of all the graduates! Great job, everyone! (and a special wink and kiss go out to the handsome man on my right who just so happens to by my husband;-)
Well.....that's the report- now onto the fun stuff- PIcTuReS!
Peace out, homies- until next time.
-Tabitha and Jared
<3
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