Since the New Year, it feels like things have been crazy! There hasn't been much time to relax, much less blog. Here's a little recap of a few things that we were up to in January along with a few pics from my phone.
The first weekend of the year, we got together with the Smithsons on Friday night at Red Lobster for a little late Christmas since Tim and Renee couldn't be there when we got together earlier in December. I sported one of my many new scarves. I think I developed a little bit of a scarf obession this past winter!
We also went to the first free WOD of the year, and here are some pics that were posted on Facebook. Sad to say that this hasn't been a preview of my schedule for working out. I've probably only managed to go about twice a week. We did max out a week or two ago though and even though I haven't been consistent, my maxes have either went up a little or stayed about the same.
That Saturday we also had to go and replace the screen on my phone. Colt dropped and broke his screen the week before. I made the comment that I have dropped mine a ton of times and never broke it! Shouldn't have said that because a few days later I did! We got three phone screens replaced within about a week!
Now on to my dad... Evidently my dad had been hurting for about two years and never said anything! He had also gotten to the point where he couldn't walk very far at all without having to stop and take a break. He mentioned it to someone that my brother knows who informed my brother. My dad hasn't been to a doctor in about 20 years so in November/December we all finally convinced him to go. The doctor referred him to a cardiologist. They did an EKG/Stress Test and he ended up having a heart cath done on January 6th. During the heart cath, they ended up finding major blockage in three of his major arteries and said that surgery was necessary. My dad had been sick the week or two leading up to his heart cath. If it hadn't been for that, they would've probably just held him and did the surgery immediately. Instead, they sent him home and scheduled the surgery for that Friday at ETMC in Tyler. I was a little freaked out when my mom first called to tell me that the doctor said he needed to have a heart bypass. My dad was definitely scared and nervous. He was being stubborn at first too and said he wasn't going to have it done because of work and other things, but it wasn't an option. I had already been scheduled to be off work that Wednesday through Friday to go to Alabama with Colt for his last residency interview so instead of flying out with him, Colt cancelled my flight and I went and stayed a few nights with my parents instead. The doctor ended up calling and talking to my dad on Thursday and because he had been so sick, they ended up cancelling the surgery for that Friday and rescheduled it for Monday, the 13th.
If any of you know my dad, you know that he's always had a flip-top to cover his bald head, and he would NEVER get rid of it, not even for my wedding! The weekend before the surgery, he went and got it all cut off! No more flip-top falling out form underneath his hat :)
I ended up going home over the weekend, and I met Heath and my parents bright and early before the surgery on Monday morning. A ton of people came to the hospital to be there for my dad that day and even a ton more called and text. They ended up finishing the surgery around lunch. During the surgery, they kept calling to give us updates. Everything went smoothly, although during one of the updates, Heath had a not so good reaction that scared everyone! They ended up doing a triple bypass. Once we got the good news that he was out of surgery and in a room in ICU, all of us went and grabbed some lunch. Then we went back to the hospital and waited until we could see him. They started waking him up that afternoon around 4. Since he was in ICU, we had to take turns and go see him in pairs. It took them a little longer than normal to get him off the ventilator. They weren't able to do that until after visiting hours on Monday night so he couldn't communicate with us. By the time the last visiting hours rolled around on Monday night though, he was trying to communicate with me by spelling out things on pillows. He would get so mad and frustrated at me if I coudn't figure out what he was trying to say!! My mom wanted to stay in Tyler so I ended up deciding to stay with her. Colt got us a room at LaQuinta, and mom and I ran to Target when we left the hospital to grab me a couple of necessities and get me something to wear the next day. My mom's a little paranoid. She was afraid our room door didn't lock correctly so she had chairs propped against the door during the night! Tuesday morning we didn't get to see my dad until 10 but when we did, he was sitting up in a chair eating a popsicle. He ended up getting out of ICU and moved into a regular room on Tuesday afternoon. I went back to work on Wednesday so I left the hospital on Tuesday night pretty late. Then as soon as I got off on Wednesday, I drove back down to Tyler. My dad was quite comical after he got in the regular room! He had no filter. He was definitely giving the nurses and my mom a hard time. When he was moved to a regular room, he made the request for a young, cute, and white nurse. A tech came in that didn't meet those specifications, and he made the comment that that wasn't what he ordered! This was just one of the MANY things he said! He was in a lot of pain those first few days though and it was hard to see him that way. He made the comment that if he would've known how bad it hurt, he wouldn't have agreed to have it done. It's now been three weeks since the surgery and he's getting better and better every time I see him. He is frustrated and bored since he can't drive yet and he's been having to sit at home everyday so that's making him grumpy, but other than that he seems good. He got his stitches out this past week, and he starts physical therapy tomorrow.
His first big outting was to Tenison's birthday party the weekend before last. My dad wears nothing besides blue jeans, pearl snap western shirts and boots. Due to the surgery, my mom bought him some sweat pants, t-shirts and a pair of tennis shoes (no, he didn't own a pair of tennis shoes or a t-shirt!). I snapped a picture of him while at Tenison's birthday party because he looks so funny wearing anything but his normal attire.
When I snapped a picture of him, he raised his shirt up to show me his battle wounds!
He's lost 20 something pounds in the last few weeks, and of course he's frustrated that nothing taste good yet! This may not fix his breathing issue but hopefully it will help him start feeling better once he gets over the surgery.
The week of my dad's surgery was a busy week with lots of driving. On top of that, we had dinner on Thursday night at Grimaldi's with Colt's small group from medical school. It was good to catch up with them and here about everyone's hopes and plans for residency programs. That Friday night we also went to dinner with Gerald and Allison at Chili's here in Forney. We came back to the house and attempted to watch a movie but we all fell asleep! My dad ended up getting to go home from the hospital on Friday. That Saturday after taking the dogs to get groomed, we grabbed lunch and headed to my parents to check on my dad.
The week before my dad's surgery, I also had a doctor's appointment on Tuesday. Due to a few issues that I've been having, my doctor ran general bloodwork. One of the things that she tested, my TSH level, came back high. She referred me to an endocronologist and due to a cancellation, I was able to get in on the 21st. The endocronologist reran all my blood work, plus ran some additional ones to test a few more things. My TSH level came back high again and my antibodies were off so that means I have low thyroid levels and the doctor said I have something called Hashimoto's disease. She prescribed a thyroid medication that I started taking a week or so ago. Colt doesn't seem to be concerned so I guess it isn't too big of a deal. I have to go back in March and get blood work done again to see how the medication is working.
After a busy week at work the week of the 20th through the 26th, Colt and I went to Cowboy Chicken on Friday night and then stopped by our new Kroger to check it out. Kroger had just opened on Friday, the 24th so it was packed! It's nice though. I went back today to get groceries and it was still a mad house. I have a feeling it will be for a WHILE!
That Sunday, the 26th, we went to my parents and then on to Heath and Jennifer's to celebrate Tenison's 2nd birthday that was on the 21st! I took quite a few pics so I will do a seperate post on that!
This past week, we started overtime at work. It was hard to even work 45 hours this week so that's not a good sign of what's to come! I joked to Colt that maybe the reason I'm so dang tired all the time is because of my low-thyroid! Probably not though :) Saturday I had Mallory's shower in Pattonville that morning to celebrate baby Hudson. I rushed around Saturday morning and went and picked up my mom to go with me. Then I also had my nephew, Logan's, 4th birthday party that afternoon at my parent's house. Unfortunately I didn't get any pics at Mal's shower, but I will post some pics of Logan's party in a seperate post. Colt was on call Saturday so he didn't get to go. I made it back home in time Saturday night to spend a couple hours with Colt before calling it a night.
One other thing that happened this month is that we decided to go ahead and put a for sale sign in our yard. We aren't too anxious to sale it immediately because of timing of the match/move so right now we just have it for sale by owner. When we get really serious about selling it, we'll do a little more. Right now we're mainly just seeing if we get any really good offers. We have been in contact again with the realtor where we're thinking his top residency choice is. We're supposed to meet up with her in a few weekends to look around some more, and if we find something we might just make an offer contingent upon match. Match Day is March 21st, and that is the day we officially find out where we'll be living the next 3 years!
I hope February slows down a tiny bit but I don't see it happening!
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