The Life of a Busy Mommy: July 2009

Tuesday, July 28, 2009

Busy week but not much to report

So things have been going well. My breathing seems to be acting up a bit but I truly think that it is the heat. I am down to 30mg of prednisone. So on the health side not much to report.

My sister Chelsie and Ben got married this last Sunday 7/26/09! Congratulations Chelsie and Ben!

The frame for everyone to sign

The whole Family

The siblings only

Just the parents and the siblings

Parents and Grandparents

Bridesmaids – Me (matron of honor) Megan (friend of Chelsie’s), Nakiva (friend of Chelsie’s), Marissa (friend of Chelsie’s), and Elisabeth (sister)

Dad and Matt

Ben the groom!

Bridesmaids again

Us looking out the balcony

Dad

Vince managing the girls without me! He did great!

Dad walking Chelsie down the aisle

Chelsie and Ben, yes that is Elisabeth crying in the background… she got us all going…

Mr. and Mrs. Ben S.

Dad and Chelsie during the father daughter dance

Yes she is crying again! We have decided that her and dad are not allowed to dance at her wedding when she gets married. They are the 2 most emotional people in our family, not that it is a bad thing.

Melanie and Grandma

Melanie and Grandma Making faces

Me and my twin Marissa!

Allison and Mommy!

Us yet again!

Awhile back I posted about a friend of mine Andi who was battling cancer. Andi passed away Tuesday last week with one of her sons and husband by her side. Thank you all for your prayers. She will be greatly missed and forever in my heart.

Wednesday, July 22, 2009

You know you love the Seattle Mariners!!!

Do you love the Mariners? In need of a date night? Love to help support a good cause? Here is how you can experiance all 3!

To get your name in the drawing and help raise money for our team - Go to our team fundraising page http://pages.lightthenight.org/wa/SeattleL09/MelissaPowell and make a donation or contact me, Vince, Tom or Valerie. For every $5 you donate we will put in 1 ticket towards the drawing. Once you have made the donation email us @ mcjenms@msn.com and let us know. We will need your name and phone number to fill in on the ticket.

You can also help us raise funds by asking your friends and family members to donate, you collect the donations from them, send us the list of names (and phone numbers) and how much each person donated and we will enter each person accordingly. You can either send a check or money order made out to “Light the Night - Team Melissa Powell” along with the list of names and phone number and amount donated. Or email us a list of names and phone number and amount donated. Go to our fundraising page and post the donation, using a credit card. Email mcjenms@msn.com for the mailing address if needed.

Monday, July 20, 2009

Nothing new to report

Well nothing new going on here. Vince and I just got back from camping with some friends and with no kids! Nice to get away but we missed them, Melanie is still at Grandma and Grandpa J's house I will be going down to get her on Thursday before Chelsie and Ben's wedding.

My next appointments are
8/10/09 - Dr. M
8/18/09 - Dr. C and a CT

So far I am down to 40mg of prednisone things are going well for the most part, except when it is hot it gets a little harder to walk and do things without getting short of breath.

Answer to the poll question – there were 2 possible answers!
A league of their own
And
Beauty and the Beast

Monday, July 13, 2009

Given 2 more pills...

We went and saw Dr. M today and I was given 2 more pills take. I don’t see Dr. M again for another 4 weeks. He is very pleased with how I am doing. Here hoping it continues! I have been feeling great and feel that I can do a lot more than before.

New Meds:
Acyclovir 800mg - 2 times a day until I am off the Prednisone - because of the Prednisone I am at high risk for get shingles.. not something that I want!
Triamterene - 1 time a day for a couple of days and if I don't start to see my weight dropping then I am to go to 2 times a day - not sure what the mg are on this one. - This one is a diuretic to help with the water that I am retaining

Other Meds that I am on:
Trimeth/Sulfa - 3 times weekly- every other day until I am off the Prednisone - this is a preventive measure since Prednisone makes you prone to more infections
Doxycycline 100mg - 1time everyday for 10 days for acne
Prednisone 55mg - 1 time a day
Omeprazole 20mg - 1 time a day
Clindamycin face cream- 3 times daily

Side effects: all the side effects that I am having are side effects from the Prednisone
Heartburn
Weight gain (water retention)
Acne

Friday, July 10, 2009

All pill kind of day...

So today I had to take all meds so I took a picture!

1 dark orange is the Antibiotic for the acne

2 Light orange are 20mg each of Prednisone

3 Small white ones are 5mg each of Prednisone

1 big white one is the Trimeth/Sulfa

1 the cream colored soft pill is the Omeprazole 20mg

The only thing that is missing is the face cream but that isn't as exciting! Tomorrow I drop another 5mg of the Prednisone, I will be down to 50mg per day.

Last night was the "Light the Night" Kick off event at Safeco. It was fun! Thanks to everyone that was able to make it!

Here are some, well a ton of pictures (thanks mom!)

Allison having her first cotton candy

Uncle Nick and Allison taking a nap during the game

Tuesday, July 7, 2009

Got some good news today!

Vince and I went to see Dr. C today and go over the CT that I had this afternoon. According to the CT it looks as if my lung is FINALLY starting to improve! There is still some "fuzz" in the CT but it is looks as if it is getting better.

I am to drop by prednisone to 55mg for 3 days and every 3 days after that I am to drop another 5mg. I am to call a check in when I get to 45mg.

So we left with good news and 2 more prescriptions. Here is a list of all that I am taking now..... I think I am going to need a pill box to keep them all straight- pink are the new ones

Trimeth/Sulfa - 3 times weekly- every other day until I am off the prednisone - this is a preventive measure since prednisone makes you prone to more infections
Doxycycline 100mg - 1time everyday for 10 days for acne
Prednisone 55mg - 1 time a day
Omeprazole 20mg - 1 time a day
Clindamycin face cream- 3 times daily

Side affects
Weight gain
Acne

Poll answer - apparently I don't know how many siblings I have! I have 3 sisters and 3 brothers. There are 4 girls and 3 boys in my family.

Monday, July 6, 2009

Home from camping!

We had a great time camping with the family. There are a lot of pictures and I hope that you enjoy!

Our campsite

Everyone playing games-- well most everyone

Allison and Auntie Beth

Swimming!

Playing with my camera settings!

Ok that is it for now! I will check in tomorrow after my appointment! Hope you all enjoyed the pictures!

Meet the family

Vince and I have been married since August 8th, 2004. We met when I was 18 and he was 23.

Melanie is our beautiful feisty 7 year old. She definitely speaks her mind. Reminders me a lot of myself.

Allison is our sweet, loving and opinionated almost 6 year old. She loves working on puzzles and often enjoys playing alone.

Sophie is our loving 3 year old that is very full of energy.

Landon is our sweet, active, loving, daddy's boy.

Charlotte is such a sweet baby. She is mellow and likes to sleep (for mommy at least) When she is awake she often has a very big smile on her face. When her siblings are around she watches their every move.

Things kids say....

In the car on the way home Allison took her shoes off and Melanie tried to help her get her socks and shoes but then Allison started to scream at her and Melanie said “ALLISON YOU ARE DELIBERATELY DISOBEYING ME!” AND Allison said “I’M A GIRL, I’M ALLISON!”
Daddy: Wanna see a picture of Jessica’s baby? Melanie: Yes Daddy: That’s baby Lilly Ann H. Melanie: Who? Daddy: That’s Lilly H., that’s Erik H, and that’s Jessica H (pointing out the faces). Melanie: Why Lilly? Daddy: Because that’s what they named her. Melanie: But they already have a dog named Lilly. Daddy: No silly, that’s Grandma Janas. Melanie: Oh—can mommy have a Sophia?
Vince walked in to Melanie’s room holding a thing of Vicks for her chest, Melanie said “what are you going to do with that?!?”
“Mommy, Uncle Ben is one luck man!” Melanie’s said to me when I made it to the front with the rest of the bridesmaids.
Mommy and the girls at McDonalds—Mommy “Can I get a Cheese Burger with no Ketchup and no pickles, just meat and cheese.” Finished my order and pulling forward. Melanie “Mommy did you tell that man no, no?” Mommy “well sort of, I said no ketchup and no pickles” Melanie “mommy don’t tell him no, no, he is not in trouble, he is a nice man”
Daddy—“Alright, get in bed, Dear.” Melanie—“Deer? I’m not a deer!” Daddy—“No, not a deer, I mean dear. Dear means I love you, like when I say I love you baby.” “I’m not a baby deer, I’m a big deer!.... (Long pause). Daddy, I’m a black deer.” Daddy—“Ok, then I’m a white deer.” Melanie—“Ok baby deer, goodnight.”
Melanie "mommy, I say oh my goodness, you say what" mommy a little confused says "what?" Melanie says "oh my goodness"
"Daddy how do you spell carrot" daddy "C-A-R-R-O-T" "daddy how do you spell C.J." daddy "C-J" "No daddy how do you spell C.J." repeated about 4 times than Melanie "NO DADDY I AM TRYING TO ASK YOU HOW YOU SPELL CJ?"
Melanie "daddy you're all dirty" daddy "yeah I was putting the cabinets up, see the cabinet" Melanie "oh good! Now grandpa will be happy!"
"Mom stop you are making me nervous" while I have my hand on her back
I can’t clean it up my legs are broken!”
"I just love them! And they want to snuggle with me!" About her fake fish in her fish take. And also "OOPS! They don’t have a headache!" after she dropped the box her fake fish came in.
"NICK!!! Stop playing the picano (piano) it's rude, I’m watching Word World"
Melanie “Dad, do you like blue cheese??” Vince “no” Melanie “Dad, do you like pink cheese??”
Mommy and Melanie at Kay’s Jewelers-- Melanie “mom can you take your teeth out like Grandpa?” Mommy “no” Melanie “like this mom” pulling on her front teeth…. Than to the lady behind the counter “can you take your teeth out like grandpa?”
“Mommy what’s that?” Pointing to my head… “My hair” I say….. “No mommy you don’t have any hair” says Melanie
Melanie "I lick toilets" Mommy "gross no you don't, Meyer licks toilets" Melanie "no" mommy “yes" Melanie "GROSS"

What's that mean? - Frequently used medical terms

ABVD: Chemotherapy drug regimen
Alopecia: Hair loss
Biopsy: a procedure used to remove cells or tissues in order to look at them under a microscope to check for signs of disease
Blood-cell count: the number of red blood cells, white blood cells, and platelets in a sample of blood
Bone marrow: the inner, spongy tissue of bones where blood cells are made
Computed tomography (CT): a series of detailed pictures of areas inside the body; the pictures are created by a computer linked to an X-ray machine
Fertility: the ability to produce children
Inflammation: a process by which the body's white blood cells and chemicals protect our bodies from infection by foreign substances, such as bacteria and viruses.
Lymph node: a rounded mass of lymphatic tissue that is surrounded by a capsule of connective tissues
Lymphatic system: the tissues and organs that produce, store and carry white blood cells that fight infection and other diseases
MUGA scan: a scan that measures an important property of your heart: how well your heart pumps blood and when it beats
PET (Positron Emission Tomography): a scan to detect tumors using a radionuclide chemical
Platelets: blood cells that help stop bleeding
Port: A small plastic or metal container surgically placed under the skin and attached to a central venous catheter inside the body. Blood and fluids can enter or leave the body through the port using a special needle
Prednisone: is a corticosteroid hormone (glucocorticoid). It decreases your immune system's response to various diseases to reduce symptoms such as swelling and allergic-type reactions. It is used to treat conditions such as arthritis, blood disorders, breathing problems, certain cancers, eye problems, immune system diseases, and skin diseases
Radiation therapy: the use of high-energy radiation from X-rays, neutrons and other sources to kill cancer and shrink tumors
Red blood cells: cells that supply oxygen to tissues throughout the body
Remission: the partial or complete disappearance of signs and symptoms of cancer
Stage: the extent of a cancer within the body, including whether the disease has spread from the original site to other parts of the body. Staging refers to the determination of the extent of cancer
Stomatitis: sores on the lining of the mouth
Uric acid: breakdown product of purines in foods. Uric acid forms crystals in the tissues of the body to cause the inflammation of gout. Elevated blood uric acid levels can also cause kidney disease and stones.
White blood cells: a type of cell in the immune system that helps the body fight infection and disease