"that girl"

Hi friends!

Fun things have been happening since I last posted!  First of all, one of my dear friends, Kristi, got married!!  It was awesome seeing true love celebrated like that.  And it was awesome getting to hang out with some wonderful people.

Three-fourths of the girl junior/senior roomies and their husbands! (Well, at the time this picture was taken, the bride and groom were just that, but now they're officially wedded!)

Julie, Kristi, and me.  I love these ladies!

I'm generally pretty frugal, so I opted not to get my hair professionally styled.  Instead, I used this wonderful creation called Pinterest and found a hair tutorial for Elsa's Coronation Bun from Frozen!  First of all, I freaking love that movie.  I don't really like loving such mainstream things and somewhat overdone things, but I can't help it.  I first saw it with my sister, which was perfection, and I have loved it ever since.  I got the soundtrack as a going-away gift because everyone knows how much I love it.  Anyway, it worked out really well, in my opinion.  When I'm in weddings, I normally have to put my hair up because when I bust a move, I get my sweat on, and hair down doesn't function well when damp.  Anyway, when I saw Julie's sister, one of the first things she said to me was, "Your hair looks like Elsa's!"  Mission accomplished.

This wedding was the tenth wedding I've been in (not including my own), and every one of them has been unique and precious in their own way.  I'm planning on writing a blog on how to be a jam-up bridesmaid, so get excited.

Then, I got all my hair chopped off.  Not super exciting, but it was a big change in my daily life.

Then, it was birthday time and July 4th!

Hunter's birthday dinner! (His family was there, too.)

My birthday dinner!  (Hunter, my family, and Anna's boyfriend were there, too.  Check out my awesome pocketbook back there on the hood of the car.  I love that thing.)

Happy 4th of July!

Earlier in May, I started doing CrossFit.  I have never particularly enjoyed exercising or working out, but I do it to keep my health somewhat in check.  It keeps my blood sugars so much more consistently normal.  I also love to eat, particularly junk food, so exercising is pretty essential.  And while I don't enjoy traditional exercise routines, CrossFit is so much fun for me.  The box where I go is wonderful.  The sense of community is so encouraging, the trainers are big on using correct form and keep you going at a pace where you're comfortable.  I could feel myself getting stronger and more toned.  I tried to avoid measuring my success by the scale, because muscle weighs a lot more than fat.  I don't want to be "that girl" who talks about CrossFit all the time, but it is such a worthwhile thing for me, and I really recommend trying it if you think you're interested.

The Monday after July 4th, I hurt my lower back REEEEEALLY badly while doing a complicated lift at CrossFit.  Like tears-when-trying-to-stand-up hurt.  (Just so we know, I wasn't engaging my core like I had been told to and my back was too straight instead of leaning over like I was supposed to, and the trainer corrected my form as soon as she saw what I was doing wrong, so it wasn't CrossFit's fault for those of you who would try to blame CrossFit.  But the damage was already done by that point.)  I went to the chiropractor that afternoon and next morning and was feeling much better by Wednesday.  Then, much to my displeasure, on Thursday morning when Hunter's alarm went off, in my half-sleep state I sat up and twisted a way that did not mesh with my back.  It almost felt worse than it had when I initially hurt it.  It took a good few weeks to feel normal.  Back pain is honestly no joke.  I have such a new appreciation for people suffering from back pain, and I feel so bad for people who have it chronically.  I have always appreciated Chiropractic, seeing as how I've been adjusted my entire life by my dad (he is a miracle worker - and it's amazing), but now that it has corrected such a horrible issue, I appreciate it that much more.

Anyway, I'm feeling SO much better and was able to start CrossFit again last week, and foolishly went 3 mornings in a row, ending with 150 sit-ups.  My abs were sore for literally 5 days.  But that's something I would probably never do on my own, and I felt such a sense of accomplishment once it was over, which is why CrossFit works well for me.

So once I'm super ripped, if anyone wants to buy me this shirt from Etsy, it would be much appreciated:

***ADDENDUM***

After reading this post, Hunter turned to me and said, "You didn't say anything about me being in the hospital..."  I said, "I completely forgot about that!"  Hunter was also in the hospital during June.  His abdomen had been cramping worse and worse.  I was still working day shift and he texted me that he was thinking of going to the ER because he felt really lousy.  Being the nurse that I am, in my head, I was thinking, "Yeah yeah, whatever.  He's fine."  (This is coming from the guy who, when he was 20 years old, was convinced that his abdominal pain was pancreatic cancer.  It turned out to be "gall sludge" which required no intervention whatsoever.  So sue me for being skeptical.)  So then he texted me right before my shift was supposed to be over and said something to the effect of, "I vomited a lot.  I'm definitely going to the ER.  I think I have an intestinal blockage."  And I'm still like, "Uh huh, it's nothing.  But let's go rack up a huge ER bill anyway..."  

Long story short, I had to eat some humble pie as the ER nurse told Hunter that he would be admitted due to a bowel obstruction.  Turns out Hunter has Crohn's disease.  So fun times.  His symptoms aren't severe, but he has to be on a restricted diet as to not aggravate the stricture he has in his small intestines.  The week-long hospital stay may be a whole separate post, as it was a huge learning experience as a person and as a nurse.

All I can say is, thank God for medical insurance!

Ch-ch-changes

So, I was alerted the other day that it has been 11 weeks since my last post.  My bad.  But a WHOLE LOT has happened in those weeks.  This post is gonna get a little picture-heavy in a bit, so gear up.  First really big thing is that we moved!  Not just like across town but from the Lowcountry to the Upstate.  It was not really planned, but we feel like God opened all the appropriate doors and that the timing was perfect.  First, Hunter got a new job, and our lease was up in the next few weeks after Hunter found out about the job opportunity so we didn't have to pay bookoos of money to break the lease.  Then I got a job and moved out literally the day before our lease ended.  Oh, and Hunter was already in the upstate for the last like 5-6 weeks before I moved, so we had a mini long-distance thing going on.  The decision was not an easy one, by any means.  I had massive anxiety about the thought of moving away from all of my friends I've come to know and love over the past almost 3 years.  I cried and cried at the thought of telling my work wife.  And I cried some more after that.  And then some more later.  And had some emotional breakdowns while I was packing up almost all of our stuff by myself and trying to figure out the logistics of how we were going to move.  It was tons of fun.

Thankfully, my new employer offered a moving allotment, and we were able to have a company come and pack up the remainder of our belongings and move all of our crap at no cost to us (up to a certain amount - which we didn't go over - Hallelujah!!).  Mainly they just had to pack up the kitchen.  I had packed up mostly everything else, but I was NOT looking forward to packing up the kitchen.  I don't know how we came to accumulate so much stuff, especially in the kitchen department.  But somehow we did.  We are, for the time being, living with my in-laws while we save up a good downpayment and are hopefully going to be buying a house in the near future.

I have just finished Nursing Orientation at my new job.  I am SO happy to be going back to my 12-hour shifts.  Kudos to those of you who do the whole getting-up-early-5-days-a-week-and-probably-Sundays-to-go-to-church-too thing, because that junk is for the BIRDS.  I absolutely cannot stand being up early and being out when everybody else is out.  I miss my 12-hour shifts so bad.  My body was not built for going to sleep early and getting up early - just ask my classmates who watched me come in borderline late every morning senior year of high school and put on my make-up during the first half of Mrs. Dunlap's class.

A few weekends before I moved, I attended the March of Dimes.  It was a lot of fun, even if I do look glow-in-the-dark in the pic below.  I generally have fun when these two are involved.

Before leaving the lowcountry, my coworkers threw me a surprise going-away party.  So here comes the picture portion of your blog experience:

The cry-fest officially began within the first few minutes.

My Carolina fan friends actually picked out this shirt!  I was probably eyeing my work wife in this picture, who is a die-hard Gamecock.

And then I got hugs and cried.

And more hugs and cried.

And more hugs and cried more.

And even more hugs and cried some more.

And guess what else happened?  I got hugs and cried.

This is my work wife's "I am not amused by this" face.  She actually was in denial for a few weeks after I told her I was leaving.  But never fear, our relationship is back on track now.  We also FaceTimed Erica for a little bit.

My friend in this pic was the photographer for the partay.  I learned that I do not like candid photos of myself.  There are approximately 100 pictures and I look like a blubbering, double-chinned fool in the majority.  But I love candids of other people.  Go figure.

My friends at work bought me a mustache balloon and he hung out with me until he had to go in the trash can RIGHT before I moved.  Literally, he was one of the last things to go.  And only because I couldn't have safely fit him into this packed to the brim vehicle you see below.

And then I packed up the Escahpay and rolled out.  And cried some more.

So while I'm missing all of my Lowcountry friends TERRIBLY, Facebook, FaceTime, and picture messages are wonderful for keeping in touch.  I'm excited to see what the future has in store!

I have a funny story to share that is completely unrelated to the topics in this post, but I giggle thinking about it and I have to share.  There are probably going to be repercussions to this, but it's worth it.  Relevant background - 1) I absolutely love corny jokes and 2) Hunter and I were sitting on the couch.

Hunter:  "I thought up a really funny joke the other day."

Me:  "Oh!  What is it??"

Hunter:  "What do you get when you cross an elephant with a rhino?"
Me:  "Elephino."  (Pronounced like "[h]Ell-if-I-know")

Hunter:  "How did you know that?"

Me:  "I heard that joke about 20 years ago.  Have you never heard that one?"
Hunter:  "No!  I just made it up a few days ago!  You stole my thunder."
Me:  "Then what DO you get when you cross an elephant with a rhino?"
Hunter:  "NOTHING!"

Post-op

Hi Friends!!

My surgery on Friday went well!  Approximately 48 hours ago I was in the OR.  It was a pretty crazy experience for me, especially since I'm a nurse.  I tried to be a good patient, and I think for the most part, I was.  Pre-op wasn't bad.  Everyone I spoke to was really nice and the nurse used lidocaine before my IV so it didn't hurt at all.  The doctors (2 of them were residents, I think...) came in and asked me if I was willing to participate in a study to figure out why some people like me get nasal polyps and some people don't.  I said, "Sure!  Why not?"  They said that the only thing they'd do differently was get some extra blood work while I was asleep and take a few strands of my hair to check for nicotine.  I told them, "You won't find any, but knock yourself out anyway..."  The nurse gave me some Versed before Hunter got kicked out and I wheeled back to the OR.  I remember them placing some foam things under my arms and strapping me down with something - it wasn't uncomfortable at all.  I actually enjoyed it... I love to be snugged in.  And that's pretty much all I remember until voices I didn't recognize were waking me up after surgery.

Apparently I have a stent up there somewhere, some sutures, and some dissolvable packing.  But that's all he-said-she-said, because I wasn't conscious for all that.

When they tried to get me out of bed for the first time, I was not having it.  All I wanted to do was lie there.  I kept saying "no" but I was doing what they wanted me to anyway.  I felt sick to my stomach when I stood up, but I took some deep breaths and they gave me an IV anti-nausea medicine and I was all better.  It was horrible trying to keep my eyes open.  The recovery nurse was like, "Leah, we need you to keep your eyes open, it'll be easier for you to move with your eyes open."  I kept trying to tell her that I was doing my best to keep my eyes open, but then my eyes would immediately close.  I hate the way anesthesia makes me feel.  But I didn't puke and I wasn't itchy or anything like that.  I was just suuuuuper tired and really wanted to drink water.  So once they got me into the chair, I just sat there with my eyes closed and sipped water.  Hunter asked me yesterday if I remembered what I told the nurses my pain was, and I said "Nope..."  I was apparently at a 4/10, which I don't think is too shabby for someone just having screwed around in my sinuses for close to 4 hours.  And then they somehow loaded me into the car (I have no recollection of that...) and Hunter drove me home.  I vaguely remember that he tried to stop at a fast-food place for dinner for him but I feel like the speaker box wasn't working, so he drove away.

When we got home, Hunter somehow got me up the stairs and onto the couch.  I made some phone calls letting people know I was alive, had a little nosebleed, and slept on and off for a while.  Oh!  And I have to wear this little "drip-pad" for 3 days after surgery...

It's actually quite brilliant.  It's 2 rubberbands for the ear holes, a piece of tape that's been taped back on itself except for a little piece with which to attach the gauze.  It keeps any random dripping from going everywhere.  It makes it a little difficult to breathe through my nose, but that's nothing new.  Anna said I should draw a mustache on it, which I might.  (Please excuse the hair, I'm performing a Pinterest experiment.  This Little House on the Prairie hair do is supposed to make my hair curly.)

So there are a few things I've learned about myself and about life through this situation.  And I will share them with you.

1.  If you ever needed to torture me for information, here is what I imagine would be very effective:  making me itch yet unable to scratch anything, depriving me of food and water, and making me cold.  Not being able to eat or drink after midnight of the day of surgery was zero fun.  I had to get allergy tested during this whole ordeal and I am not sure how I went without scratching as a child.  Here are the photos of my torture sessions:

This two-step process entailed placing the little tray of prickers on my forearms and then after 10 minutes of staring at my red and irritated and itching arms, having 27 small subdermal injections on my upper arm and letting them get red and itchy for 10 additional minutes to measure my body's response.  It was not enjoyable.  I am pretty allergic to almost everything.  Yay for me.

2.  Having a breathing tube down your throat does not feel good for the rest of the day.  That was actually what was causing me the most discomfort after surgery.  So when people that have surgery that involves having a breathing tube, take them throat lozenges.  You'll have a new best friend.

3.  I have the most amazing friends and family in the world (I already knew this, but it was confirmed this week).  I cannot begin to count the number of people who reached out in some way to me or to Hunter to just show support and let us know they were praying for us.  In the face of such a potentially scary situation, it was so wonderful knowing that we have so many people who are there for us.

4.  I open things incredibly close to my face.  Examples:  Cabinets, doors, refrigerator.  (Mostly things in the kitchen...coincidence??)  Like I know a safe distance and open it to where it comes veeeery close to whamming me in the nose.  Which is now scary.

4.  My husband is entirely awesome (but I already knew this, too...).  He has been taking such good care of me without a single grumble.  I like to think that I don't ask for much, but when I do ask for stuff, it's like all in a row.  "Can you get me some more water?  Can you turn the fan on?  Can you turn that light off, please?"  Even though he forgot to turn his alarm on the day of surgery and he got up late, he's been amazing through this whole situation!

5.  Whoever invented steroid nasal washes is a sadist.  I have to do them twice a day and I hate them.  That is all.

I will end with a quote that I thought was funny, but unless you're a Harry Potter fan, you won't think it's funny.  My work wife came by this morning after she got off work to check on me, and as she was leaving, she got to the bottom of the stairs and stopped and looked around before proceeding.  I said, "What are you doing?"  She said, "Just looking for nargles..."

Medical Nonsense

Hi again, friends!

I'm not even going to apologize for not posting lately.  Holidays are always crazy and I've had a pretty full month since December 19th.

Christmas was so wonderful!  It was jam-packed full of people and fun!  I admit, I was not good at taking pictures, mainly because I get picture-taking-shy when other people with cameras are around, because I feel like they've got it covered and who wants another random family member with a camera in their face, right?  Well, maybe not, but that's how I feel.  I'm sure that attitude will change once we have children.  Anyway, Christmas was great and I didn't even have to work New Year's Eve this year!  However, I was still exhausted and fell asleep on the couch at like 10:30 p.m.  Hunter was playing video games right next to me on the couch and I happened to wake up at midnight and I said, "Well, Happy New Year, I guess..."  He gave me a quick smooch and I went and got in the bed.  Apparently he had lost track of time and so my first married New Year's Eve when I was at home, we didn't even watch the ball drop or anything.  Life fail.  But at least I slept.

Now, onto more pressing matters.  I have had what I thought was just allergies and serious nasal congestion for over a year.  Right after we got married and moved into our current apartment, I was very sneezy and congested and just felt awful for several weeks, so Hunter finally coerced me into going to the doctor in November of 2011, who told me to take over-the-counter Allegra for my allergies.  So I did and the problem seemed to get a little better.  Well, my congestion was pretty bad until like April, and then for several months it was cured!  Then again around October-November-ish, it popped back up, but mainly in my left nostril.  And it has been fairly non-stop since then.  My co-workers can attest to the nights that it was really bad and I'd bring my own tissue box with "CRUMLEY" written all over it.  Real tissues are hard to come by in a hospital setting, and I had to mark my territory.

Long story short, it got really bad one night while I was at work and so I went to good ole Wally World the next morning and got a Neti Pot, which some of my coworkers swear by.  So I tried it.  When I put the Neti Pot to my right nostril, the saline solution simply flew out the back of my throat.  When I put it to my left nostril, literally nothing happened.  I thought, "Maybe the congestion is just so thick that it needs some time to loosen up..."  So I tried it again.  And again.  And again.  So after several failed attempts at clearing out my sinuses, I used that miraculous wonder named "Google" and looked up something to the tune of "what could be wrong if the Neti Pot doesn't work?"  So this one guy who posted on a forum or something said he went to the doctor and had a bone spur on one side and nasal polyps on the other side.  

Soooooo I made an appointment with an ENT.  On December 19th (hence the busy month), the doctor listened to my saga, looked up my nostrils, and told me I have nasal polyps.  I went and got a CT scan later that morning and went back to the ENT the next day to have the results read.  Turns out, this girl has a pretty intense case of nasal polyps.

So looking at this right now, the left side is the right side and vice versa.  The right side of my face is perfectly normal - the picture of sinus health.  Black = air = what it's supposed to look like.  The left side of my face, however, is clearly a different story.  From what I understand, the polyps are just from a little above the curl of my nose down there, curving around my eye, and up to where the gray meets the black.  The lower gray is probably just fluid and mucous built up with no way to escape because of the polyps.

I was actually a little bit relieved to know what was actually wrong, but more stressed out at the fact that I have to have surgery to get them removed.  Usually the doctor would pump me full of steroids and see if they shrank, but since I'm diabetic, that's out.  The polyps extend back into my sphenoid sinus, which is right next to my brain (which is the main reason I called Hunter immediately after my appointment crying - when someone says brain, it seems like a really bad thing), and the local ENT didn't feel comfortable doing the surgery himself.  Praise the Lord for doctors who know their limitations (for real...I was really impressed).  So he sent me to a specialist at MUSC.  He performed an endoscopy (put a tube up my nostrils with a little camera on the end), and I got to see the freaky things that look like huge gray boogers that have apparently been blocking my breathing for quite some time.  Both doctors think the polyps are caused by what's called Allergic Fungal Sinusitis, feel free to google that if you want.  It's pretty crazy.

(Okay, so I haven't really made this long story short at all.  But I feel like I have to give it justice.)

My surgery is scheduled for February 14 (Happy Valentine's Day to me).  I won't know the exact time until a few days before the surgery.  Hopefully it'll be outpatient, unless the bone between my sphenoid sinus and my brain gets cracked and causes a fluid leak, in which case I'll have to stay in the hospital a couple days for observation.  It should take around 3 hours and I'll be under general anesthesia with a breathing tube and all that fun stuff.

Up until the past week or so, my condition has caused me no pain, just annoyance and a lot of mouth-breathing while sleeping.  Last Sunday after church, I had killer sinus pressure.  I'm fairly realistic about pain.  On the pain scale, my opinion of a 10 is being on fire, bouncing off of boulders while falling off of a cliff, with someone actively sawing my limbs off with no anesthesia, falling onto sharp jagged rocks at the bottom of the cliff into a pool of sharks who proceed to rip me apart.  I was at a solid 6/10, 7/10 when I moved my head too fast and what not.  I am on antibiotics for the superimposed sinus infection.  I've had good days and bad days with my sinus pressures.  Unfortunately more bad than good.  On Saturday, I was completely out of commission for 3 hours, laying on my back in the dark with my sweet gel mask warmed up on my face as well as my corn bag on top of that to add pressure because it felt better.  So prayer warriors, if you wanna lift up my sinus pressure, I would greatly appreciate it.  And if anyone has any non-pharmacological things they do that helps their sinus pressure, I would LOVE to hear them!

My sweet gel mask.  Hunter laughs at me and calls me it my superhero mask.  But it feels amazing.  This is NOT the day my pain was 7/10.  It was probably a 4/10 on this day.

So I'm the lucky one with diabetes, high cholesterol, borderline high blood pressure, and now the random case of nasal polyps which are very likely to return in the next 4-5 years.  It's medical nonsense!  But God has provided for me every step of the way, and He will continue to bless us beyond all measure.  I will keep you posted closer to the surgery as to what time it's going to be.  Prayers will be very much appreciated!