This fall has been busy so far

 

We bought a new car, or should I say "new to us" car.  It's an Excursion that seats 8 along with fitting just about anything our hearts desire to transport.  We took it camping in September and it was so nice to not have to worry about fitting all the things we needed to take with us.  It's a Deisel so it gets tons of miles to the gallon and fortunately our garage is about 2 feet deeper than most so it just barely fits lengwise in there along with Cory's Mazda.  Cory built this awesome shelf so we have storage while being able to park in the garage.  Yay!!!

 

The kids are back in school of course.  This year Alyssa is in Fifth grade, Wyatt in 4th, and Darion started Kindergarden.  Audelia will be staying home with me for another 3 years since she has a September birthday.  I told Cory the other day that if I had to pick someone to hang out with everyday for 3 years she's at the top of the list.

 

 

 

On the first day of school Audelia and I rushed to get to her allergist for an appointment at 9A.M. to do a Soy challenge.  They gave her a Tablespoon of Soy milk with 20minutes between doses.  They proceeded to watch her to make sure she didn't have any allergice reactions and Luckily she didn't.  After her last allergy testing her Doctor thought that she would be able to reintroduce atleast a few things.  So, we originally did a challenge in June with Milk but despite her levels being as low as they were she failed the test miserably and started to go into anaphalaxis.  After seeing her reaction the Doctor only proceeded with the Soy challenge because she never had an anaphalaxis reaction with Soy, she just had gastrointestinal reactions.  Her blood levels that show the likelyhood of a reaction never were very high where as the levels of her other allergens had been high but dropped dramatically.  For now we are going back to our old plan and testing her blood every year but as it is the doctor isn't willing to take anymore chances with challenges based on the results of the Milk challenge.

 

We had a lot of fun camping and boating with Brandt and Sarah Litton for my birthday weekend.  It was so relaxing and just what we all need.  Because of my surgery we didn't get to take any vacations this Summer so this little 4 day weekend in September

was our belated Summer trip.

 

We got there a day before the Litton's and played in the water most of the day after got set up.  I layed like this for hours.

 

Cory and the kids playing in the water. 

This is the view from our camp site.

 

The view of our camp site from the water.  We were right next the boat dock which turned out to be really convenient.

 

This was our first trip in the Excursion.  The kids and all our stuff is ready to go camping.

 

 Cory and I had a little smooch and the kids went crazy begging us to stop.  This is us having a good laugh at their reaction before getting up on the knee boards.

 

Audelia turned 3 on September 29th. She is getting so big and she knows it.

 

 This was the first cake Audelia had since her 1st birthday when we didn't know about all of her allergies and she reacted because of it.  Now that she can have Soy I was able to make her a cake using Betty Crockers Gluten Free cake mix which is also free of everything else she is allergic to.  I added Sprite as a substitute for all the other ingredients and

it turned out great!

 

 

 

 

MVD Recovery, 8 weeks

 I've been surprised at how many people want to see pictures primarily of my head and scar since my surgery.  So here's some pics along with an overdue blog post. 

The above pictures are the before and after pictures of my hair.  I had started growing it out this year and was enjoying it but when I told my hair dresser about how much they were shaving she felt like it would look funny and thin on that side and the fact that the other side would look normal would make the shaved side look even weirder.  I told her to cut it how she thought it would look best considering, and this is what she came up with.  I thought it was really cute and she did a great job.

Above- May 25, 2012, I'm ready as I'll ever be for surgery so I made Cory take a picture to start the collection of terrible pictures that will someday be distant but important memories.

Above-A few hours after surgery and as you can see, I'm all dolled up and ready for my geriatric bedtime of 3P.M.  I was truly a mess and just starting to realize how painful and difficult this was going to be.  The Band aid on my forehead is from where one of the nails was in my head from the Vice they had me in during surgery.  I have a lovely scar from that spot now.  The big bandage on my neck/head is obviously covering the big incision which they didn't even peak at until I went home. 

At this point and for the next few days I was hooked up to the following- Oxygen, 2 IV's, a Catheter, a Blood Pressure cuff, a finger pulse monitor, sticker things all over my chest with tubes coming out of them, and leg wraps that were constantly inflating to prevent blood clots.

Above-Cory briefly brought the kids to see me the day after surgery.  They didn't stay long since hospital rooms aren't that fun, I wasn't much either, and for the most part they were afraid to even be around me since I looked a little scary to them.

Below-The car ride home was painful every time we hit a bump mostly because they had cut into my neck muscle which turned out to be the most painful part of recovery.  It was nice to be back home and away from nurses waking me up all the time.  Cory was way better at managing my pain and taking care of me anyway.

Above-This is the first look that either I or Cory got of the incision.  This is day 3 just after I got home.  I counted about 18 staples in all.  Undernieth the incision there are screws and plates holding the piece of skull in place that they cut out to get to the Nerve and Arteries.

The doctor had taken the bandage off just before he discharged me which was very painful.  A nurse bandaged it again to send me home.  Apparently the nurse didn't see the entire area around that had been shaved for the sole purpose of bandaging because she managed to get plenty of the longer hair that was inches away stuck in the adhesive.  That was another thing Cory did better.  From that point on Cory did the bandaging and there was no hair getting caught in it.

 Right-One of my kids took this of me as I looked most of the time for a few weeks after surgery.  I layed in bed while switching between being bored, watching episodes of "Medium" and "Flash point", and trying to sleep.  I don't usually watch TV much so it took really finding shows that kept my interest.  Cory kept walking in the room and begging me to watch some TV.  He enjoys it way more than I do and I think it pained him to not see me take advantage of my down time the way he thought I should.



 


Right- This was kind of the second phase of
 recovery.  I had about enough energy to sit on
 the couch to eat and then would resume laying down.  I didn't leave my bedroom until about 9days post-op other than a couple of times.  My energy was so low and I was so nauseous that walking myself anywhere, let alone bathing my self was a huge task and enough to wipe me out for the rest of the day.  My food had to be made, brought to me, and cleaned up by someone other than myself.  I not only couldn't help with the kids or the house but I required an amount of assistance for myself that I didn't expect.  This lasted for about 5 weeks.

11 days post-op-I went to the doctor for a check up and to get the staples out.  I was nervous that it would hurt but it didn't since most of the right side of my head was and still is numb from nerve damage  which is a normal result from the surgery.  Some of the nerve sensation has started to come back and might fully at some point but either way it's not bad it just takes getting used to.  I do feel like I have a little fuzzy on my upper and lower lip mainly when I talk and eat that started coming about 5 weeks post-op.  It's more annoying than anything and I'm getting used to it.

Upper Right- This is my girl Haley.  She's one of my Young Women in my ward and on top of coming to visit me at the hospital she came and hung our with me twice at home.  She's a Super sweet gem and tons of fun!  We even did a craft with my Mom.

It's been a little over 8 weeks since my surgery and aside from some minor things I'm pretty much back to normal.  I even started riding my bike and have made it through my work out video twice.  There will always be things that I can't do or have to modify because of this like... anything that could cause a jolt to my body such as very physical sports because it could knock the Teflon pillow in my brain out of place, I'll always have to be put to sleep for dental work, I have to try to keep my breathing steady and more.  I'll say it again, it's worth it!!!  I'll live with the few restrictions so that I can be out of pain.

This whole process including the surgery has been one of the most difficult things I've ever gone through.  They say with some things that it gets worse before it gets better, I think that whoever said that was going through exactly what I was.  I was amazed at how bad it was and I'm so grateful that it's over. 

So many people did so many things to help me and my family.  We feel truly blessed to have such great friends and family.  Our Moms especially saved our lives!  We really wouldn't have made it without them!!!

I have to give a shout out to my Heavenly Father: )  He knows me and loves me and I don't doubt for a second that this was a necessary trial for my progression on this Earth.  I have learned more while struggling with this over this short time than in any other phase of life and I'm better for it.  I have a renewed appreciation for what I have, the Priesthood on the Earth, my amazing family, my health, and so much more!  I don't know how I would have gone through this and so many other trials in my life without my faith, and I'm grateful for it.

(June 4, 2012) 10 days Post-op-At this point I think I'm going backwards.  Instead of feeling better I'm feeling worse.  There are so many factors in my recovery when considering the medication, detoxing off of the Lyrica, and just the healing itself that it's hard to tell why but I definitely don't feel any better than I did a few days ago.  My doctor stressed over and over to do nonstrenuous walking during my recovery.  I don't think he meant to and from the restroom, but that's about all I'm doing.  I'm dealing with lack of sleep because of coming off the Lyrica so that can't help but there isn't much I can do to change that other than to take the sleep aid every night that the doctor sent me home with.  I feel the way I always did when I had pregnancy morning sickness, like I would never feel normal again.  I'm sure just like it was with that that I will feel better again, it's just a vision I can't see at the moment.  I don't regret the surgery at all.  I'd take this recovery over the pain if TN for sure but it's just not fun. 


Cory is doing an amazing job of taking care of me!  For a minute I thought that he would make a good nurse but then I realized that it's just that he loves me to pieces and that as far as everyone else is concerned he should probably stick with Engineering.

(Written June 17, 2012) 3 weeks 1 day Post-op-The last couple of weeks have been a struggle to say the least. There were a few times that I attempted to get on the computer and blog but simply didn't have the strength or energy it took to sit partly upright while typing long enough to complete a post. Not to mention that until a few days ago I had nothing nice to say. For the first 2 weeks I didn't improve much at all. I could hardly stay out of bed for long and when I did get up I ended up on the couch very quickly. I have never felt so drained of energy in my life. My doctor says that's normal and not to expect the energy to come back for 6-8weeks post-op. It's difficult to sit back and watch everyone work and take care of me and my kids but it's been necessary. My Mom has been here for almost 2 weeks and leaves in a few days. She has been extrememly helpfull and we have loved having her here. My house is clean and we have all been fed thanks to her and Cory.


My innability to even take care of myself has been a major shock to me. I guess when I envisioned myself and the need for help after surgery the help was mostly for the kids and so the house wouldn't fall apart. I didn't expect to feel horribly nauseas for 2 full weeks preventing me from even being able to get out of bed for long. That combined with the lack of energy and horrible headaches has been a huge shock and very difficult.

Microvascular Decompression, the good, the bad, the first few days.

I have to preface this with the fact that I am on pain killers and Muscle relaxers so please forgive any typos, or ramblings, I'll do my best. 

Day 1-I checked into the hospital at 5:15A.M.  After changing into my flattering hospital gown I laid in a bed a Cory and I proceeded to talk to a nurse about Trigeminal Neuralgia for about an hour while waiting for surgery.  You could tell by her questions that they don't see a lot of it in the hospital.  Then everyone that would be assisting in the surgery came, introduced themselves, and explained what they would be doing in the OR.  A few things I wasn't expecting... There was a woman in the OR just to monitor my nerves.  I guess during the surgery she would check them throughout to make sure they continued to function.  The Anesthesiologist also surprised me with the fact that he would be adding a second IV to more accurately monitor my vitals.  After a few panicy wonderings of what I was about to let these people do to me, and visions of my head in the vice that I knew it would shortly be in it was time to go.  The Anesthesiologist gave me something in my IV that seemed to have me out before we even got to the OR.

Waking up-As I had predicted they woke me up sober.  No pain meds until I answered a series of questions which took me a while because I didn't wake up enough to speak for over an hour.  I would come in and out, in pain of course.  At some point during this I asked how it went.  Before I knew it, the doctor was standing over me saying that they found a whole bunch of arteries pushing on the nerve (a slight exageration but a welcome one).  This was such a big deal because until getting into the surgery he didn't know for sure what he would find and ofcourse that makes anyone nervous because the worst would have been waking to find out that I had A-tpical Trigeminal Neuralgia where in the problem lies within the actual nerve itself and they can't fix that.  Finally I answered the questions, What's your full name?  Where are you and why?  What year is it?  How bad is the pain?  As soon as I was done answering, Pain management began and I was off for the ICU.  I don't remember when Cory got there but we were both elated about the results of the surgery.  We did have something going into the surgery that the Neuroseurgeon didn't, the promise that I had recieved in two priesthood blessings.  The first came before I had even been diagnosed 2 days after I had my tooth pulled in March, and we realized that we were dealing with something more than a difficult tooth problem.  Our Home Teacher and Elders Quorum president came over and our home teacher gave me a great blessing.  The blessing said that doctors would accurately diagnose me and be able to cure me.  Within 11 days a big part of that happened.  I found my neurologist who diagnosed me and then my Neuroseurgeon who confirmed the diagnosis and offered the hope of having the surgery.  From there it was a matter of faith on our part.  The night before the surgery our elders quarum president came over to help Cory give me a blessing that said very straight forwardly that the surgery would be a success and that my recovery would go well.  From that moment on We both felt much more relaxed and comfortable with less anxiety that I would wake up with bad news. 

The doctor gave Cory pictures of the before and after as he had hoped to be able to.  I had not just one artery running alongside and pushing on the nerve but another wrapped around it as well.  The doctor was able to pull the arteries away and pad in between them to keep them off of the nerve.  Those pictures were a sight to see after all that grief and pain.  It was proof and it was fixed, done and done! 

That first day I felt alright and after keeping ice chips and water down the ICU nurses let me eat.  Luckily since it was past luch time at the hospital Cory was able to get me Gluten Free Subway at the Subway in the hospital.  I scarfed that down with a GF brownie, a fruit leather, and some chips.  I managed to eat all that without any nausea and took a little nap.  Our bishopp stopped by for a visit then after Cory and he had gone I took one bite of something that the hospital called dinner that I'm sure came from a can and got nausious for the first time.  Long story short is that the hospital food a was terrible!  Every hour for the first night the nurses were in doing neurological tests on me.  Push with your feet, pull with your feet, squeeze my hand, smile, stick your tongue out, what's your name, who's the president?  They also woke me up at 3A.M. to draw blood, at 4A.M for a sponge bath, and wheeled me off for a CT scan at 4:30A.M.  This is not my idea of a relaxing and restfull night condusive to recovery from surgery.

The 2nd day-After making it through the CT They took me back to my room.  At that point I hadn't even sat up straight but the nurses insisted that I sit in a chair to eat my powdered eggs, fake bacon, and rolled up corn tortilla.  I ate a strip of bacon a bite of eggs and almost threw up.  The combination of sitting up and eating fake disgusting food was to much.  I called the nurse and went back to bed.  That afternoon I got to go to a regular room on the Neurosurgical ward.  They took out my cathedar and several other things I was hooked up to and wheeled me off.  I was greeted when I arrived by two great friends/Yougn Women's leaders Joy and Sarah and 4 Young Women, Katie, Hannah, Haley and Isabelle and some beautiful flowers, lets not forget the Angel bear with wings: )  It was great to see them!  Cory and the kids came shortly afterward for a bit and then 2 friends from the ward Valerie, and Jen stopped by as well.  Having visitors was a nice distraction and wore me out enough to get some good sleep.  At 3A.M. I called the nurse to help me to the restroom and for the first time realized that even though the white board in my room said that the goal for the day was to manage my pain it really meant "Haley needs to ask for meds on her own."  Why they were letting the meds lapse I don't know but I din't get them until I asked.  Once they pain meds lapse it is harder to control the pain which I learned form going through the TN pain and am now being reminded of. 

The 3rd and final day at the hospital- Going home 3 days after brain surgery seems drastic but as the doctor said while discharging me "we don't want to keep your here and get you sick now, do we."  Very good point!  Plus, they only thing they had that I don't at home that is to be missed is the up and down bed.  Since they cut into my neck muscle it is very hard to move my body period without aggrevating that muscle especially while trying to sit up and lay down.  Other than that home is better than being in the hospital by far.  Cory and Darion came to pick me up at about 12:30P.M. and we were off.  The car ride wasn't fun since the bumps hurt my head/neck and walking into the house felt close to a marathon after only standing a few times in the past few days but once in bed it felt great!  My first night home our friends Lexi and Troy came by to bring dinner, flowers and visit for a bit.  Not only was the meal amazing but it was so nice to see them.  Later our friends Jeff and Kelly came by for a visit with flowers and a balloon. 

Night 3, my first night home- The doctor now has me cutting down on my Lyrica which I will hopefully be off of soon.  I'm supposed to take it at night since it makes me drowsy but the nurses gave it to me in the morning before I left the hopital so I didn't want to take it again in the same day.  Thanks to that little mess up I spent my first night home in cold sweats and shakes from detoxing off the Lyrica.  I experienced this before while experimenting with the doses so I knew it would be like this but the hope was that the pain meds would help, I don't think they are.  Cory broke a pill open this morning to give me a small dose after he woke up to help with the detoxing symptoms.

Day 4- I don't know what I thought I would feel like but I know I didn't predict this.  Until you go through it I guess you can't really understand.  I'm tired, sore, and it hurts to move.  I know it's all worth it and is getting a little better everyday.  I'm not used to staying in bed.  As a Mom usually no matter how sick you feel something pulls you out, but not with this.  Cory is here to take care of me and the kids, then my Mom, then his Mom, take turns flying in to help out.  I now understand how necessary that will be.  I can't even take care of myself let alone 4 kids.  It's hard to sleep with the kids in the house but I'm going to have to try harder to do that.  I'm like an old lady that doses off when I'm not busy talking or doing something but I need to try harder to get real sleep since I know it will help with recovery. 

Life is like a box of Chocolates... unfortunately, some have nuts.

This picture was taken before Easter.  The wonderful Mia Maids in my ward did a surprise Easter Egg hunt in our front yard for our kids.  The kids loved it!

Life is like a box of chocolates...  unfortunately some have nuts.  But I guess that's part of life, biting into the chocolates with nuts and having to learn to appreciate the chocolate flavor even if it is a little tainted.  Did I mention that I'm not a fan of nuts, gross! 
  Cory looked at me the other night and said "I can't believe you are having brain surgery."  To hear him put it that way was a little off putting.  When I go to the doctors and they talk about it ofcourse they use the technical term for it "Microvascualr Decompression" but in a nutshell it's a type of brain surgery.
  We've known this was coming but didn't think it would come so soon after diagnosis.  My Neurosurgeon gave me the steps to follow, #1-Take the medication to see if it works which will help confirm the diagnosis if it does. #2-Stay on the medication until the side effects become to much to handle.  #3-take another medication until the side effects become too much to handle or the medication stops working.
  I gave steps 1 and 2 a go and can't imagine continuing on this medicine let alone starting a new one.  It's a blessing that the medicine has taken away the pain but it has come at a huge price.  the side effects started fairly mildly compared to how they have evolved with exhaustion and weight gain.  I now lack motivation, feel depressed, am confused and forgetful all the time, and have acne worse than ever.  That is on top of the already existing exhaustion and weight gain of 8 pounds that luckily stopped at 8pounds but apparently won't go away until I'm done with these meds. 
  I went to my Neurosurgeon last week, explained the situation and he gave me 2 options.  #1-Switch to the second medicine that will cause the same side effects and possibly blood diseases.  #2-Have the surgery now.  I chose option #2.  It wasn't a difficult decision knowing that I would have the surgery sometime this year anyway.  Taking the meds was just prolonging the inevitable and I am miserable taking these meds.
  I go in for surgery May 25th.  For now I am trying to prepare in all the aspects of my life for a major 6 week recovery.  My surgeon says that I'm not allowed to lift, bend, or raise my heart rate during the recovery.  For the first 6 weeks I'm limited to non strenuous walking.
  I feel like I'm nesting as if I were having a baby, but without that wonderful surge of energy that is so necessary for the cleaning and organizing that I wish I could do. 
  I feel down a lot lately but I keep reminding myself as to how lucky I am to live in a time and to be in good enough health to undergo this surgery that will take the most horrible pain in the world away.  If this were the year 1912, I would likely be laying in bed in agony like I did in January and February of this year, but with no hope of a cure.
  I am longing for the day that I don't have to take any more medicine and I can go on with life pain free.  I know it's coming and I just have to be patient.

Cory and I got to go to a Nascar race at the Texas Motor Speedway. 

It was tons of fun but what was really hilarious was watching the guys oogle over the cars.  It's definitely an experience I'd recommend regaurdless of whether you are into Nascar or not.  Hearing, seeing, and feeling the power of those cars in person was impressive.

The kids after one of Alyssa's dance performances. 

Man, they are getting so big but continue to be adorable.

Trigeminal Neuralgia

I guess I should start at what I now know was the beginning of Trigeminal Neuralgia for me. In early August of 2008 I started experiencing what I thought was the worst tooth pain I had ever felt. After my very sympathetic dentist examined me with exray after exray her diagnosis was that I had healthy teeth. She sent me home with Vicodin and a referral to an endodontist. The Endodontist couldn't see me until the next week so I continued in horrible pain even with taking 2 Vicodin every 4 hours. After almost a week of this, with Cory having to take off of work most of the time to help me out, the pain suddenly subsided. I canceled my appointment with the Endodontist and went on with life only remembering that weird experience once in a while.

Fast forward to January 2012, I had been practically living at the Dentist and Endodontist since September 2011. I had to have work done on several teeth and since I have complicated teeth with extra and curved roots it made things difficult and even more expensive than normal. In January we started work on the last 2 of 6 teeth hoping that these would give us no complications. To sum this part up, after numerous visits sometimes in the middle of the night and on weekends to the dentist, my Molar on the bottom very back of the right side of my mouth continued to cause me the most excruciating pain I had ever felt, even worse than natural child birth. On March 2nd, against my dentists wishes I insisted that he pull the tooth instead of me going to an Endodontist and having to spend more money on this. I was horrified when the morning after the Extraction I woke up in the same pain I'd been in before the Extraction. Cory insisted that afternoon that we go to the hospital to get tests done thinking that the only cause of the pain could be and infection in my jaw. While I was at the hospital they gave me a miracle drug in my IV that took the pain away. It was glorious! I had taken my share of pain killers throughout this process but nothing compared to the pain relief that I felt at that moment. After a CT scan and some blood work the doctor delivered the news that everything looked fine and there was no infection in my body at all.

After he left the room I cried not knowing what was wrong and feeling terrified that the pain would come back without any help other than to take more drugs that would merely dull it a little. I went home and continued to feel horrible having this severe pain off and on. I followed up with my doctor Tuesday who agreed with the ER doctor that I needed to see a Neurologist. I called and begged for an appointment with one of the 3 Neurologists that my doctor referred me to and managed to get an appointment the next day.

The Neurologist, who could use a lesson or two in bedside manner, mostly went over my medical history and examined me quickly. He then delivered the diagnosis of Trigeminal Neuralgia and sent me home with a medication called Lyrica and told me to follow up with him in 3 weeks. He refused to talk about long term care and didn't really give me any information about this misterious new diagnosis. He did however inform me that we pulled a healthy tooth for no reason.

I wasn't confident that any medicine would take this horrible pain away or that this guy had my diagnosis correct. I was desperate to know if he knew what he was talking about. So Cory found me a Neurosurgeon located down the street who is covered by our insurance that specializes in Trigeminal Neuralgia. His office even had an appointment the next week. Cory went to this appointment with me and we both agree that we are in love with Dr. Weiner. He was helpfull, answered all our questions, and gave us hope. What more could you ask for from your doctor. He confirmed the diagnosis of TN and after hearing about my experience in 2008 felt very confident that the diagnosis was correct. Dr, Weiner suggested staying on the Lyrica until it no longer worked or the side effects were too much to handle. At that point he wants me to go on an anticonvulsant until either of those two things happen again. At that point (within the next year) he will perform a proceedure called MVD which should fix me, maybe not for forever but for a long time.

Trimgeminal Neuralgia for me, simply put- each side of the face has a Trigeminal nerve which branches into 3 sections of nerves that cover that side of the face. The Trigeminal nerve on the right side
of my head is being pressed on by an artery. This causes sharp, electric feeling shooting pains mostly in my lower jaw, a little in my upper jaw and up the side of my face. I've never experienced pain like this in my life! This pain easily beats natural birth and incapacitates me like nothing else.


The weird news-I'm really young for having this. It's
uncommon to be diagnosed with this under the age of 50 and is more often
diagnosed in people in their 70s.

The good news-This is not life threatening!
Also, because I'm so young I will be able to have a procedure called MVD. It is
a semi risky procedure (because of it's proximity to the brain) where they drill
a whole in the skull and separate the artery from the nerve with a little pillow
like thing. They don't attempt this procedure in older people. When done
successfully the pain subsides in most people.

The bad news-This is a progressive disorder which means that
the pain will only get worse and the attacks of pain will happen more frequently
if we don't take care of it. There is also risk of recurrence sometime after
having the MVD procedure done. If that happens and I'm not a candidate for the
MVD again I would likely choose to sever the Trigeminal nerve all together,
causing some paralysis in that part of my face. I know that sounds drastic but even
after this short time that I've experienced the pain I'd be willing to do that
in a heart beat if it were my only option.

http://wwwmayfieldclinic.com/PE-TRIN.htm This is a link that I found very helpful when researching the disorder and the MVD procedure that I will be having.

As of right now I'm feeling alot of different emotions. I'm so thankful that the medication that I'm on is working. The thought of being in that pain again causes me extreme anxiety because it is that bad. Everything comes at a price with medications as I am learning and the side affects are no fun. It's really difficult knowing that I will have the surgery but that I still have to deal with things like exhaustion, weight gain, dizziness, and more due to the medication. Cory and I are at a sooner is better than later point with this surgery. Don't get me wrong, I'm not thrilled with the fact that someone is going to shave part of my hair and drill a hole in my head, let alone all the recovery time, but I know that this is inevitable and that it will mean no more meds so I'm kinda completely on board with doing it ASAP!

I know I'm going through this for a reason and that my Heavenly Father has a plan for me. This is part of my life and I know that I will be a stronger, better person for it. Right now I feel week and at the mercy of everyone but my hope is that one day I will feel strong again.

It's Been a While...

Wow, it's been a while! So much has happened since my last blog post. I guess a little update is in order. One of the main things that has happened in our family has been major changes in diet. After a struggle with what we thought was Fibromyalgia I was diagnosed with Celiacs disease which was difficult but such a blessing since it cured me of all my aches, pains, and fatigue that were affecting me daily. Then when Audelia was about 10 months she had her first allergic reaction to Milk. Since then we have found that she is allergic to Milk, Beef, Pork, Wheat, Egg, Soy, and Peanuts. The reactions that she has had are scary and cause her to go into aniphilactic shock. So we cary an Epi Pen everywhere we go and are very causious about any food she touches. Our whole family has been on a mostly Whole Foods Diet for the past couple of months as a way to stay healthy and make it easier to cook so that everyone can eat the same Meals. This has helped with so many other health issues that is has been a real blessing.

Cory graduated with his MBA at the University of Texas at Dallas last May and we are all very proud of the hard work that he put into that great accomplishment. He then crashed his car 3 days later and bought a Mazda 3 as a graduation present to himself. It's his first nice car and is well deserved.

Alyssa is in 4th grade and is really enjoying and blossoming in dance. She performed in the Nutcracker this last December and did an amazing job. The poor thing suffered from Mono and Pneumonia at the same time through November and part of December 2011. She missed about 4 weeks of school and felt pretty crummy and tired for most of that time. We are so glad that she is doing better. We think that we have found the source of the migrains that she has had her whole life. Can you guess... yep, Gluten and Sugar. She feels so much better when she avoids those things and eats a healthy Whole Foods Diet.

Wyatt continues to amaze us as he has been on the Honor role at school the entire year so far. He is very smart and is learning more and more to sit and concemtrate. Wyatt started cub Scouts when he turned 8 and LOVES it. He recently turned 9 and completed his first year of Scouts earning his "Wolf" and moved on to Bears. Wyatt is learning important skills that come more naturally to most kids but that take him a little longer to comprehend due to his Autism. Just today he was learning how to empty the dishwasher. He struggles with things still but has truely come so far thanks in part to amazing teachers that he has had along the way.

Darion turned 5 last month. That sneaky age of 5 snuck up on me as now the countdown has begun to Kindergarden. I can't believe how time has flown! It seems like just yesterday he had me pulling out my hair as the Terrible Two's, Three's, and Four's seemed to never end. Then one day they did and now my sweet boy is going to go off into the world soon and I will miss him so much! For now our rough and tumble yet cuddly boy is enjoying being Wyatt's best friend and Audelia's big brother. He takes such good care of Audelia and they are so cute together. He loves Power Rangers, Buzz lightyear, and pretty much any boy thing you throw in front of him.

Audelia is definitely the baby of the family and she knows it. Cory and I are doing our best to help her to not be spoiled and snotty like youngest kids can be. She is sweet but knows how to manipulate, so we have our work cut out for us. She is all girl and loves to dress like one, yet she gets out a plays along side the big kids. She takes after her Mama and talks a lot! Her voacabualary is great just like Alyssa's was at a young age. She amazed us all when shortly after her 2nd birthday she decided it was time to potty train. I had been sitting her on the potty since she was about 1 year but didn't expect her to get so into it on her ouwn like that. One day she woke up and said "I go Poopoo Mommy" I thought she meant in her diaper, so when I attempted to change her and the diaper was clean she said "No, poopoo on the Potty Mommy!" So on the potty she went, and she has been doing it ever since. She has had her share of accidents and it took a bit to get used to panties and to lose that sense of security she had when she wore them but when all was said and done she was my easiest to Potty Trainer for sure! When people get jealous I tell them that after the boys I deserved a break.

As for me I'm learning that life seems to go something like this... You go through a challenge, get mad, sad, and down about it. Then you learn the lesson that the challenge was meant to teach you and before you know it another challenge is waiting for you to teach you yet another valuable lesson.

I've been enjoying life since my diagnosis of Celiacs Disease. Health and feeling good are not things that I take for granted anymore. I have even been able to serve as the Young Women's president in our ward since August 2011 and have loved the experience and all it has to offer so much! I've been struggling with teeth issues since September which has been painfull hand expensive! I thought that was the challenge but had no idea what was really in store for me. What we thought was just another tooth problem turned out to be something much more. I was diagnosed with Trigeminal Neuralgia a couple of weeks ago and had the diagnosis confirmed by another doctor last week. This is a rare and very painful disorder that is more painful than even natural child birth. For now I'm on medication that really helps but has unfortunate side affects and am awaiting a major surgery that will likely happen sometime in the next year. The surgery called MVD, should fix the problem and offer relief without medication. I've been blessed with great doctors that have quickly gotten me a diagnosis and game plan, which when your in as much pain as I have been are very important things to have. I know that Heavenly Father has a plan for me and I know that things like this are all part of life. I do look forward to figuring out the reason and lesson behind this so I can move on though.

I will do my best to keep this updated better. For now I hope that all of our family and friends are doing well.