Notes From The Hospital Bed

Hello!

Yes, I am still here!

Before I explain the reason in greater detail, I would like to mention that I finally set up the link to serious.life magazine on my link bar to the right. Check it out! The little girl on this month's cover is fighting Leukemia...she is 4 and is just the sweetest thing. We are praying for her to get through a frightful round of chemo...she is suffering, but hanging on.

And here I am...in the hospital for something not so serious (or it would seem). Yes, it could be serious....but the worse result would be to lost my wrist joint. And I doubt that will happen since I am getting injected with two very strong antibiotics.

Let me go back to the beginning of this adventure! At approximately 4 a.m. on Sunday, I woke up from a sound sleep to an excruciating pain. I've never felt this type of pain before. It was in my right wrist. Now, for a few years now, my RA (Rheumatoid Arthritis) has been aggressive in attacking my wrists, so I do have pain and swelling...but nothing like this! After trying to fend it off with steroids and a pain pill, it was obvious that it wasn't going to go away. Somehow, Mark got me into the car (apparently, I passed out twice on the way!), we left Alex in charge of the kids (all 7 were home!) and were on our way. I cannot explain this pain. I would rather have given birth to 10 babies in one day that endure that again---I mean it!

The ER Dr. took a biopsy of my swollen wrist (again, excruciating!) and sent it off to the lab. In the meantime, I was admitted and given pain meds and antibiotics. By 7 p.m. that evening, I was feeling MUCH better. Not perfect, but good! I didn't need pain medicine. I thought..."Oh, I bet I will only have to stay here one night". Didn't happen! See, my white blood cell count was 23000 (or 23) when I arrived to the ER. The next morning, it was at 19. Now, it is around 16.3. A 'normal' count is anywhere from 4-10. I am not in the normal range, so they are making me stay.

The biopsy is still negative....so there doesn't appear to be an infection. So, why is my white blood cell count still high? Is that 'normal' for me? Because of the RA? Because I haven't had my injections in almost a month? These are all questions that we do not know the answer.

Basically, I am doing okay. I am just waiting! I will miss 3 days of work. I miss being home. I miss the kids. I have too much to do to be here! BUT, I do not want pain like that again. How can I prevent this?

What will likely happen is that I will have to start taking an infusion-type drug instead of the injections. These infusions take about a 1/2 hour and I think I have to start off going to the hospital every two weeks. There are worse side-effects with these types of drugs, so I will have to be careful.

I was never sick until this hit! Oh well. Poor little Abby....think of all the children that fight life threatening diseases every day....how can I complain??

I'll keep ya posted.

Blessings!

~Bethany :)

*P.S. My roomie is gone. I'll have to tell you about her on another post!

Scenes From Our World...

It's official. I can't sleep here at the hospital. My neighbor had an...well, let's say an accident. And the nurses turned on ALL the bright lights. I started to cough when I finally got comfy again...I tried the earplugs. I tried the ipod. I just can't sleep. This IV thingy is stinging.



Anyhoo...I decided that I would try to post this again.

1. (above) Mark and the kids (minus Alex) at one of my favorite parks down the road. I cannot WAIT until the weather is like this again!!



2. There is an actual 'Sled Hill' a few miles from our home. It's a park that made a hill just for sledding...can you imagine?? There is even a 'warming house' at the bottom. Here are 5 of the crew making their way back to the top.






3. Christmas at Uncle Bob's (minus dad). Included are my cousin Matt, his wife DiAnn and their sweet new baby Amelia!




4. I had to include this picture of Buttercup...our house cat. She is a good kitty :)

5. Dad and I this past December at a Christmas party. I brought Gabe and Jordan to the American Legion (where Dad is the Commander) and they talked to Santa and got a present...pretty good deal!

6. Oops...half of the group isn't looking at the camera! Oh well :) Here we are in Kentucky, visiting Mark's dad and his wife (minus Alex and Sam...and me-I am taking the picture!)

Last Spring....Gabe was a 'star' in his class performance.

*NOTE--I am listening to the iPod right this very moment and a Toby Mac song is playing...not exactly sleepy music!! lol

Here I am in Holland...no, not the one far away! Mark and I were able to take a short trip to celebrate our 1st Anniversary last year. Behind me is a lighthouse and Lake Michigan.

I just like this picture! This was taken right after Christmas, 2007. Mark, Gabe and Alex (and myself) are standing on the frozen lake across the road from our home.

Someone (aka me) had this brilliant idea to have all the kids get hermit crabs. So, last January, we did just that. And now, I feed them! Sure, they were exciting for a few weeks....anyone want a hermit crab? Or two?? We only have 4 left!!

I suppose that is all for now! I don't know how I will sleep. The snoring has begun again. The nurses are talking in the hall. You know, this is an expensive place to be...you would think it would be a little more comfortable! Maybe I am missing something....

God Bless You All!

~Bethany :)

The Drama!!

Okay...so I worked for a whole hour posting something and I had to scrap the whole deal! What a drag!

Then, I am at the hospital (long story...I'll tell ya about it asap) and my IV started to leak. So, the nurse had to transfer it from my arm to my hand (that was a bit painful). Now I am watching it to make sure that it doesn't 'back up' if you know what I mean. Last time I had one of those, the vein in my hand grew to a scary size...it was not good. It's been 5 minutes and nothing bad has happened so far!

I should probably try to sleep....my neighbor here is a snore-er. And she sleeps with the TV on. Mark brought me the iPod to listen to. And I have ear plugs. But what if my hand explodes after I fall asleep?? The drama....

I will post what I had planned tomorrow!

Good night/Good morning!

Blessings!

~Bethany :)

This Is Sad!!

I got this picture in an email yesterday....

It said, "Summer's almost here in Michigan ...we can now see the deer moving around.

Yep, won't be long!".

That is just plain depressing!!!

Blessings!

~Bethany :)

I Wish...My Blog Was More Pretty!

I have been playing around with the different templates on here...I just can't seem to find one I like! I mean, they are pretty nice and all...and free even. But they aren't exactly 'pretty'.

I guess I should look at how my other blogger friends decorate their pages.

Guess what? This blog was on a list of blogs in a magazine! Here is the link -

http://www.seriouslifemagazine.com/

I haven't read this month's whole issue yet, but I plan to. There is a lot of good info in there! I need to post a fastlink on my sidebar but that will have to wait until I am at home. I am not permitted do such things on my work computer :)

So, who is sick of winter?? Me!!! Anyone else?? I don't know....but it seems that every year becomes more cold. What happened to all the talk of 'global warming'? I don't get it.

I remember when I was young and I would make fun of people that talked about the weather all the time. Now, I'm that kind of people! Ha :)

We still need a 12 passenger van...or a small bus. We have $1000--that's it. We've been praying earnestly for quite some time. I SO pray that we can find a passenger van that all 9 of us can ride in. Course, I would be thankful for any dependable vehicle, but taking 2 cars everywhere can get tiresome.

Apparently, all is good to go concerning my student teaching placement! I had NO idea that my application was officially accepted. Then, on Monday, one of my counselors called and said that I was scheduled for my 1st seminar class on March 10th (I think). For her to be able to schedule my classes means that the application has been approved, thus causing the financial aid to be processed....everything should be ready! I still don't know how we are going to physically do this student teaching thing for 3 months! We will see :)

Most of us in the family are fighting a cold. It's been irritating but no one has had anything too serious.

Have a great day!
Blessings!

~Bethany :)

My Scarf!

Well, I decided to start knitting a few weeks ago and I finally completed my 1st scarf!!

Hopefully, I will stick with it enough to get beyond scarf-making :)

Have a wonderful day!

Blessings!

~Bethany :)

Random Pics

Hello!

I thought I would post a few pictures....

These are from 2006 and also our wedding in 2007. We are soon to be celebrating our 2nd year Anniversary! Well, not until April 7th, but it will soon be upon us!

The first picture here is from our wedding day. As you can see, everyone looks cheerful (although tired)...all except for Josh, who wasn't real happy that his parents were not getting back together. So, he didn't smile. He looked quite pitiful actually. I felt bad...but you know, each of us is different. I remember wanting to have my parents back together...even if they didn't like eachother, it's really a feeling we sometimes cannot control. He's fine now :) I don't think there has been another family picture taken that he looks this miserable...thank the Lord!

The girls and I got ready in the church nursery....Gabe and Jordan had a blast playing while we waited :)

Mark and I standing on a beach in Port Huron (Lake Huron is behind up)...we spent the last night of our honeymoon there.



I love this picture of Mark and the girls!!

The day we got engaged :)

It was October 2nd...which is my brother's birthday. He had died earlier that year and Mark wasn't sure if it was appropriate to pop the question on his b-day. I was okay with it...he would have been happy for us! Plus, I will never forget that date :)

This is the view from the spot that Mark asked me to marry him. It was a beautiful evening and we were the only people in the park at the time (that we knew of!). This was also the spot were we had our first kiss :) It's a special bench!

More random pictures another time! Gotta hit the hay!

Blessings!!

~Bethany :)