Photo Scavenger Hunt #104 will be due on Sunday, March 4, at 11:00 PM EST.
Our subject this week will be: BLUE
Please put your full entry URL in the comments section by the deadline. I am excited to see everybody's submissions!
Monday, February 26, 2007
Photo Scavenger Hunt #105 subject...
monday morning question
Are you tired of this winter weather? Also, what is your favorite season?
My answer:
Yes, I am very tired of it. We have been having snow and windchills of 20 below zero.
My favorite season is Spring!
What is your answer? Krissy :)
it's been crazy
It's been about a week since I've written. I hope I haven't concerned you all too much. It has just been too crazy around here to write.
This past weekend John and I went on our Marriage Encounter Weekend. Let me say that if you haven't done it, you should consider it! Want to find out more about it? To get to the American site click here. To view the UK site click here. I won't say much about it, because I don't want to spoil it for anybody, but it was so beautiful. You learn a communication technique, and you continue it after you leave the weekend, so it is definitely not a waste of time to go.
Okay, continuing on with the topic of why I haven't been on the computer much. I got myself a mean case of bronchitis. I feel I am kicking it though. I am on the Z-pack and am no longer contagious.
Which is a very good thing. Because John has almost no immune system. His WBC has fallen to 0.8 and his ANC is 0.2. This is as low as it has been since after his transplant. Dr. Claxton is trying to figure out why. We are going to have to go back to Hershey on Wednesday (instead of in March, like originally planned). We may stay for a day or two, or we may stay for two months. It is too early to tell.
This recent problem with the immune system presents two problems. Without the immune system, you can get infections that can kill you. Then the other problem is that the medical professionals have to figure out what is causing the immune system problem in the first place and treat it.
How am I doing? Tired, tired, tired. Trying to clean the house in case we have to stay in Hershey for awhile. While at the same time trying to remember to do the most important things - which are spending time with John, having time for myself, and spending time praying to God.
How am I doing emotionally? Well, at first I was panicky, but after talking to certain friends and family members (you know who you are!) I got perspective on certain things, and I am ok now. Thanks for the help. you all are great. :)
Well, I had better go for now. Love you all, Krissy :)
Monday, February 19, 2007
monday morning question
If you were invited to a dinner party, and could choose who you were going to sit next to, which one of the following persons would you choose, knowing that you would have a chance to talk about their occupation with them? A general in the army, a dentist, a phlebotomist, a medical social worker, a campaign manager, a doctor, a nurse, a teacher, an astronaut, a daycare owner, a garbage collector, an engineer, a pilot, or a priest.
If there is somebody that you would really rather choose that is not on the list, feel free to make your own choice. Or pick two answers. Anything goes! Have fun, Krissy :)
My answer: Okay, I am picking two answers. I am picking the priest because I want to know what he has to say about the things of God. Actually, I had breakfast with a priest yesterday (he was from Nigeria) and he was absolutely fascinating. The table of people and I listened to him intently as he spoke about the things of God and about his country.
The next person I would want to sit next to would be a medical social worker. I love the field of medicine, and the field of social work. I have had medical social workers help me over this past year and I am grateful for them. I would be interested in learning more about their job.
Your turn! Krissy :)
Friday, February 16, 2007
We are home
Just a quick entry to let everybody know that John and I got home safe and sound. John is such a good winter driver!
This entry will be short because John and I will be leaving soon to do something fun for the weekend. We are going to a Marriage Encounter Weekend. It is something that the church puts on. My sister Valerie told me it was fun. I am looking forward to it. It is something nice for John and me. We haven't gotten to do something for ourselves in over a year.
It is going to be held at a local hotel. Thank goodness, because I don't want to be doing any traveling! Some people are coming from as far away as New York to our part of Pennsylvania, but we fortunately only have to travel five minutes! It is a really beautiful hotel, and we will have all our meals served to us. I am excited to be getting away and doing something just for us.
One last thing. Remember I mentioned my sleep study test? It was cancelled due to the snow storm. So I have to reschedule it. I am wondering now if I have sleep apnea. People are telling me I gasp for breath in my sleep. Ugghhh, I might have to wear one of those CPAP machines. But if it is what I need I will do it. Okay, I've got to run and make supper before we go.
Love you all, and have a great weekend! Krissy :)
spleenectomy is scheduled
Here I sit at Hope Lodge. It's Thursday night. Well, I guess it's really Friday morning now, it's 12:30 AM. As I sit here I think back about this crazy week.
Monday was spent getting ready to come to Hershey. Tuesday was spent driving through a snowstorm to get here. Fortunately we beat the worst of the storm and got in. It snowed heavily all day and night. We awoke to snow on Wednesday morning so treacherous that we couldn't drive to the hospital, even though it was only a few minutes away. So we called the hospital and they sent a four wheel vehicle to come and pick us up.
John had three appointments on Wednesday. First he met with the spleen surgeon. Next he got three immunizations for when he will have his spleenectomy. Finally he met with the anesthesiologist.
The spleen surgeon decided that John would have his spleen removed in three and a half weeks. John is going to see Dr. Claxton in two and a half weeks, and then have the spleenectomy the week after that.
The spleen surgeon (I think his name is Dr. Hallock) told John that he was a "low risk patient", undergoing "medium risk surgery". To be honest with you, I don't like the sound of medium risk part. I was excited to find that John was low risk patient. It is because his heart is in good condition, he was physically active before his transplant, and because he is young.
So gee, how am I feeling about all this? I'm not sure. I'm just tired I guess. I am just a little nervous. I am waiting for the other shoe to fall. This is silly, I know. This is a simple procedure, and God has everything under control. And whatever He wants to happen will happen anyway. It is just that I am a little nervous is all. When the surgeon was explaining the complications he said there was a 5% chance of puncturing a bowel or the stomach. I asked about the death rate of that, and he told me that out of all his patients that hehas punctured, none have died! Yikes! Sheesh. He has punctured! He also said that there is a chance of dying because you don't have your spleen, but it is very, very small. I am not worried about that.
So anyway, on Wednesday when the appointments were over, we had to use the hospital service again to catch a ride back to Hope Lodge. The roads were so bad I was wondering if we would make it. But we did. Needless to say, we didn't leave for home on Wednesday like we had originally planned. Nor Thursday (today). We are going to try to make it for tomorrow (Friday). We shall see. The TV said this was the worst storm in 15 years.
If you are the praying type, please pray for safe travel home for us, and for John's upcoming spleenectomy. Thanks.
love you all, Krissy :)
Monday, February 12, 2007
Photo Scavenger Hunt will be over at Val's journal
Just wanted to let you all know that we will have a Photo Scavenger Hunt this week.
will be hosting it, so please go to her journal to participate. The subject this week will be My Pet or Pets. This one will be fun. Please go to her journal to participate. This is a chance to show off your animal family members! Krissy :)
Tags: Photo Scavenger Hunt, Photo Scavenger Hunt With Krissy, photo shoot, photography, pets
monday morning question
Are there any TV shows you still watch now that you watched as a child?
My answer: Little House On The Prarie, The Waltons
Your turn. Put your answer in the comment section below, or write up your answer in your journal, and come back and leave the link to the entry in the comment section here below. Krissy :)
Tags: Monday Morning Question
gas leaks
Nothing like a gas leak in my apartment to keep me off line for a couple of days. Well, really two gas leaks.
John and I got home from Hershey on Thursday afternoon and walked into the apartment. We thought we smelled gas, but then we thought it was our imagination. So we set everything down, and lay down for a nap. Five hours later we were kind of overcome and stupid and just laying there. We kept telling each other we smelled gas, but weren't doing anything about it. Finally I got with it and said, "John get the phone number of the landlord and bring me the phone! We have to call." So the landlord and his brother came over. They were bowled over by the amount of gas in the apartment. They turned off a valve and we left the apartment. I am glad we didn't wait any longer or we would have been overcome.
We scooped up the cat, shoved him into his carrier, and went to my parents to spend the night. At about 5 AM I called our general practitioner, who told us to go to the ER because our symptoms were getting worse. We were told that we didn't have anything in our bloodstream, but we did in our tissue. I had a bad headache, sore throat, and was so parched and thirsty. I still have all of those things, but am a lot better. John had a headache and was so thirsty.
I have the days mixed up, because it is all one big blur, but at some point we packed everything up and went back to the apartment (Friday?) and we instantly ran out again. Even though the landlord said he had fixed the gas leak, the place obviously had a leak. So we grabbed Kitty again and ran out. Back to my kind parents we went. We called up the landlord and told him he would have to fix the problem quick.
The landlord's workman called on John's cell the next morning while we were at my parent's. He told him that the leak was now fixed, and that we had a new stove/oven. Whoopdedoo. Anyway, we are now back at the apartment. We aired it out and it is quite fresh in here. Fresher than it has been in days.
Which makes me think. I think we have been slowly gassed for weeks. John has had this cough and headache for a month. I have had bad headaches for a month. John has been parched and drinking huge amounts of bottled water that whole time. My sister Valerie used to live in these apartments. She was being slowly gassed for about three weeks before they realized it and gave her a new stove. This morning was the first morning John said that he woke up without his cough. Just wondering...
Anyway, switching subjects for a minute... on Wednesday after the transfusion Mitzi called John. He has to see the spleen surgeon on Wednesday of this week! Mitzi wants us to come back to Hershey on Tuesday and Wednesday (yes, that soon). So it is another trip down on Tuesday. John is going to talk to the spleen surgeon and find out when he will have his spleenectomy.
Later on in the week when I get back from Hershey I am going to have my sleep study test for Sleep Apnea and Narcolepsy. It starts on one night, and goes through the whole next day. I am exhausted just thinking about it!
Then I am going to be out of town this weekend, so entries from me will be light this week.
Please don't expect a Photo Scavenger Hunt this weekend. Sorry, John and I are going to be out of town.
Okay, I guess that is enough for now. Sorry if this was too long.
Love you all, Krissy :)
Tags: gas leaks, scoop up the cat, at least I got a stove out of the deal, spleenectomy, Sleep Apnea, Narcolepsy, Photo Scavenger Hunt With Krissy
Wednesday, February 7, 2007
Update - Visit to Hershey
It's one something in the morning. John and I woke up at one to get ready for the day, LOL. The alarm clock said six. He set it wrong. I awoke in the middle of the night, and awoke John and we came out to the living room here at Hope Lodge. John started the coffee, then finished a cup. I took my diabetes medicine so I could eat breakfast. Then John asked, "Krissy, what time is it?" I looked at the time on the computer. Strange, it said one thirty. Then I looked at my cell phone. One thirty. He looked at his watch again and the wall clock. One thirty. Then I said, "It looks like the electricity went out." This is funny to me now. How could the electrity go out on a cell phone and watch, LOL. At any rate, it finally dawned on me that John had set the bedroom clock wrong and that we had gotten up at one in the morning instead of six, LOL. And we had been talking kind of loud for about a half an hour also, LOL. Well, we are up now, we may be too awake to go back to bed.
Looks like it is going to be one of those days, LOL.
It has been an interesting stay here at Hershey so far. On Monday Dr. Claxton told John he would have to have the spleenectomy. Not exactly immediately, but he wants him to meet with the surgeon soon, so that the surgeon can become familiar with him. But then Dr. Claxton decided it could wait a little longer because he wants to see John in four weeks first. He wants John to go to four more weeks of chemo (at least) to see what happens to the Hemolytic Anemia. I am concerned about his brain now, and short term memory loss, having over 50 treatments of chemo.
Anyway, Dr. Claxton also said he was going to do a bone marrow biopsy on John (major major ouchie) to check out his bone marrow. I understood him to say that he was doing this to check to see if his cancer(s) had come back, John took it as something else. So yesterday we called Mitzi, John's nurse coordinator, and she said that it is a possibility, but she was not sure how likely, and that she would ask Dr. Claxton, and call John immediately on his cell. I hate the waiting. I read on the net that two causes for Hemolytic Anemia are Lymphoma and Leukemia. John of course has had Non Hodgkin's Lymphoma and bone marrow cancer that was about to turn into Leukemia. So I am a little nervous. And NO, I am not jumping to conclusions, but am not too happy. I won't be rested until after they get the bone marrow biopsy done and Dr. Claxton reads the results.
Yesterday John had an appointment with the opthomologist. He has Graft Vs. Host Disease that affects his eyes. But it is getting a lot better. After we went to the opthomologist, it was off to the lab, because we got a message that Mitzi wanted John to get a test. We of course were wondering what was going on the whole time. When we got to the lab we found out what the test was. And then John called Mitzi for something, and she told John that the test was to check for antigens in John's blood. Antigens are sometimes in blood that the transfused person can pick up from a donor who gives blood to be used for a blood transfusion. Mitzi told John that the Hemolytic Anemia could be caused by an antigen. So they are NOT just looking at cancer as a cause for John's Hemolytic Anemia. That is so good to know.
Well, that is about all on John, except to say he is getting transfused today. His hemoglobin has dropped pretty low, and he is pale, and lightheaded when he stands up. But at the transfusion he will be fine. He always is. Until he drops again before transfusion time.
Okay, well that is about it. I'm doing okay. Krissy :)
Monday, February 5, 2007
Monday Morning Question
Did your team win the Super Bowl last night? If you didn't watch the game, what so important that you were doing instead?
My answer: Yes, the Colts won!
Your turn. Put your answer in the comments section below or put the answer in your journal and leave a link below. Krissy :)
Update on Photo Scav Hunt
I hope you all will forgive me. I didn't have time to post the entries for the Photo Scavenger Hunt, nor put up a new subject for this week either. I have been packing for the trip to Hershey, which is this morning. I hope you all understand. Hey, maybe my sister Val of There is a Season will post the links and a new subject, I will call her on my cell this morning in route to John's oncology appointment in Hershey and ask her, if I remember. Check out her journal later today to see if there is a photo hunt subject.
Ok, I am going to post a Monday Morning Question real quick, and then it is off to Hershey for several days. I am not sure exactly how many days we will be gone. It depends if John will need to be transfused with red blood cell packs when he is done with his couple days of appointments.
Saturday, February 3, 2007
I'm back to journaling again!
Hello you all! I am so excited. Yesterday my Physical Therapist gave me permission to type again! Ugghh, I was suffering not doing journals, LOL.
My shoulder and arm still hurt. I have to keep them in a sling part of the time. And I still have to go to physical therapy. I am not sure how long. The Physical Therapist said we would play it by ear. I can't believe falling down the steps could cause all of this. It was two weeks ago that I fell. I thought I would be better by now!
Okay, enough on that subject. Let's see, what has been new since I last talked to you? I got 1 gig of RAM for my computer, which i am SO excited about, but I can't figure out how to instal it, LOL. You think I would be able to do this. I installed my own DSL, so you think I would be a more clever girl. Oh well. Anyway, I am going to see if my friend Jen will come over and put it in for me. :)
What else is new? I am losing weight. It is a very novel approach. I am also going to be doing a weight loss journal. If you are interested in finding out the address of the journal, and want to be included, please leave a comment in the comments section. I will include you.
Hmm, what else is new? I still need to get those pics I promised you, LOL. I have not been able to do much with one arm, LOL.
This weekend Val and I are going to have a Superbowl Party. That should be fun!
On Monday John and I are going to Hershey again. We will be there Monday through Wednesday for appointments. On Monday his oncologist will probably tell him whether or not his spleen will be removed, to stop his Hemolytic Anemia, so that he will no longer need blood transfusions. I thought I was fine, but I am somewhat anxious. I watched a spleenectomy on a video on the web. Well, in one sense it is a simple procedure. In another sense they have to do some cutting. So I am scared.
Please, I know I need to have faith, so no positive platitudes are necessary, LOL. I just wanted to say I am scared. I think it is normal to be scared. When he is safe at home, I won't be scared anymore. We were told that the recovery time is six weeks at home to completely recover. All I know is this. He almost died so many times, and now I am a little flippy. Sorry, LOL.
Okay, that is all for now. I am SO glad to be back. Now I can start commenting in your journals now. If I don't get to you, sorry, I may have to erase some of my alerts, LOL, I have 184 emails! I may have to start afresh!
Love you all, Krissy :)
PS. Hello to my new friends Dee and Gundog!
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