surgery?

Hmmm a little dèja vu it would seem?  YESSSSS!!!!!!  Thats right, it is. 

Yesterday was the reschedule for the surgery that was supposed to take place June 20th.  Again we made all the arrangements and I was getting ready when the phone rang.  It was Dave so I thought surely, he’s just calling to remind me to bring something… eh…. not so. 

Dave:  “Babe, whats going on?”

( I was agitated and stressed trying to get everything done) 

Me: “Nothing, I’m just trying to get everything ready to go and I’m behind where I need to be.”

Dave: “Well you’re not going to be very happy with me when I tell you that we’ve had a bomb threat and the whole hospital is in lockdown, no one is coming in or going out.”

Me: “ARE YOU SERIOUS!?  YOU’VE GOT TO BE JOKING- A BOMB THREAT????!!!!!!!!” (laced with a few other colorful words…)

Dave: “Yes, I’m serious and no, I’m not joking.  They are probably not going to be able to do the surgery now.  I’d call the office”

So thats about how it went.  I immediately got off the phone and called Dave’s wonderful mom, who had AGAIN, taken off work.  At this point there was no reason to call the surgeons office- they’d been rude the day before and I knew the girl wouldnt know anything… So Rose and I talked.  Poor woman, she’s going to have to tell her boss that again, it didnt happen!  She (hysterically) said, “At least this one will be on the news!”  Her boss must think this is some joke that I just keep not having it!  But like she said, at least this one would be on the news so there was a legitimate reason for it to be cancelled.  Not that I’m some weirdo who likes to tell everyone she’s having surgery and then cancel, twice.

Once again, this is turning out to be a good thing.  Its hard to see that initially when I hear, “there is a bomb threat”.  There’s all the preparation and getting things in order, not to mention the mental and emotional stress.  But, those are all so minute in light of a human life and the way things are supposed to work out.  We have people watching out for us and we know it… Here’s a brief synopsis of the great reasons it didnt happen yesterday.

So, if you’ve read previous posts, I have H. pylori.  I’ve now finished the meds that are supposed to get rid of it and will hopefully be able to take the test to see if its gone before I have surgery.  Obviously if I’d had surgery yesterday this would have not happened.  The test will be a lot easier to take before surgery.  I’ll spare details, but lets just say, either way it wont be pleasant, but if it was after surgery, it would be miserable.

If you have not heard, I had a CT scan and they found 2 other hernias as well as a cyst on my right ovary.  I had an ultrasound done Tuesday on the cyst and will hopefully have the results back by Monday.  If this needs to be removed, they should be able to just get it while they’re in there doing everything else, instead of having to go in and do another procedure later.  They should also be able to hopefully get the hernias. Hallelujah to one surgery/procedure-i.e. twelve birds with one stone.   If we had surgery done yesterday, chances are my surgeon would not have even glanced at the CT scan and done anything about any of the other problems.

 I also will get another two weeks of nursing Charli exclusively.  Her and me.  No bottle.  No formula.  No one else.  One of my favorite things about having a baby is breastfeeding.   Sounds a little whack(or crunchy ;)   ), but its the greatest bonding.  Its a comfort to her, and to me, cause I know NO one else can do what I can.  All this, and its a DANG good excuse to sit and do nothing for a half hour, four or five times a day! 

Probably the best thing about postponing:  I’ve been having a hard time figuring out if all this is the right thing to do.  Its very confusing and very frustrating.  There’ve been naysayers all around and people putting their opinions in without knowing everything.  Its just been really hard.  And not just on me.  Dave and I talk about it all the time, running through every scenario and its REALLY stressful.   I don’t want to put anyone out by needing all this help, I dont want to exhaust my sweet mother in law, who continues to take off work, plan meals for us, and take care of Tori and Charli if we want/need. Nor does my amazing husband need to be exhausted either. (I guess too late on that one!)  Its hard on me.  Its hard on the kids and its not fun or a picnic going through recovery.  After the last cancellation I felt really good like we were doing the right thing, then as the date neared, I just kept getting a nagging feeling it wasnt.  When I finally got the appointment time of the surgery I really felt confused.  I prayed and immediately had insane pain, throbbing in my stomach.  So I knew I still needed to have it done.  But still there was something not right.  Then when Dave called yesterday it was just another confirmation, in a very big way.  Dave said, “Well apparently we’re REALLY not listening cause God has warned us and given you these feelings of confusion and everything else and now he says, ‘Ok, you’re not listening, I’m going to send someone to threaten to blow up the building.  Is that big enough!?’  “  So yes, it was big enough for me this time. 

I figured it out that we need to switch surgeons.  We’ve not been impressed with Dr. Vargo and he’s just the typical “I know everything, I dont have time to listen to your concerns” doctor.  He’s really bothered me a couple times and so for whatever reason, he’s not the right guy for the job.  In retrospect, it seems as though God already told us this when he made the man deathly ill the last time it was scheduled.  Anyway, Dave gave me the number of a doctor’s office and a nice girl named Joanna gave me some great references, in order of who she liked best, then who would have the most open schedule.  I called one of the offices and another girl named Andrea (who knows Dave and apparently thinks he’s great) worked us in to come in Tuesday and then hopefully (3rd times a charm) we’ll have surgery July 17th.  He gets paid 1/5 of what Dr Vargo does, so maybe that will translate into some humility.  He did his residency at Stanford and Andrea said he’s just a great person- drastic change from previously.

So, I’m excited.  Now all we have to do is get Tori to stay out of trouble.  She is such a funny kid, but man she’s faster than lightning, and I swear I need 12 hands and 20 pairs of eyeballs to keep her out of everything. 

Monday, she drank Spray ‘n’ Wash.  I called poison control, and apparently if it has enzymes(YAY, the one we have did) its not *all* that bad to drink it.  I monitered her for an hour and they called back to check and said she should be just fine if she had not vomited.  Well that same day she bit Charli.  I was on the phone with Dave letting him know about the Spray ‘n’ wash incident and turned around to Charli screaming and Tori hiding under the pillow on the bed…    

Tuesday she said a swear word- no doubt from me- and Dave sarcastically said something about washing her mouth out with soap and we laughed cause she’d already done that to herself! 

WELLLLLL…. today, I was on the phone with a friend from Oklahoma.  I probably should not have talked so long, but she’s like a mom to me and I havent spoken to her other than email, since I was 17.  So anyway, Tori came up while I was on the phone and showed me what I thought was chocolate all over her fingers… NOT SO MUCH!  IT WAS POOP!  She had pooped her pants and for some reason needed to taste it.  I thought I was going to hurl!  She herself was near throwing up.  I’m just glad I’m not a midget cause if I had not had the two extra feet above her little fingers we would have been cleaning up puke as well…  So she gagged all the way to the bathroom where we washed her hands thoroughly and her face and then had her drink some water and got the south end of things cleaned up.  It was not fun.  Thankfully poison control did not hear from us for the 2nd time in a week! I knew a girl whose little girl did the same thing and she had called poison control about what to do, and they said that as long as its her own fecal matter, its ok!  GREAT…. lets just not make this a habit.  I’m sure she was just bored.  I’m never on the phone that long and normally we have “us” time, so that was probably it.  None the less eating poop is NOT a great way to get attention.  Tonight she went to bed very early cause she didn’t take a nap and Dave said, “I feel bad, she didnt really eat dinner.”  I retorted, “Dave, she ate her own poop today, what more could she need!?”  Just kidding…

 We hope everyone’s lives are going great.  Happy 4th to everyone.  No matter the ridiculous politics in this country, its still a great place to live and a nation I’m proud to be part of.  Dave and I are especially grateful for the brave people who serve in the military so pansies like us dont have to.  Our neighbor Melissa, my high school friends in Oklahoma, and previously, Dave’s dad, as well as his grandpa, who is a WWII vet.   Amazing people that do it, so we dont have to. 

ALSO- Happy Birthday to Granny(belated) and Grandpa Ralph and both Grandma and Grandpa Payne.  Jesslyn, Aunt YaYa and Uncle Dave miss you- Happy Birthday(be nice to your mom!) :)    Also, Savanna, wooooooo-hoooooo you’re LEGAL NOW!  I love you!  And of course everyone else that we know that has or has had a birthday, it just seems like they’ve come up so fast and there is a slew of them between the end of June and July!

Alright, again, this is why I dont write posts- cause they’re forever long.  I’ll shut up.  Have a good day, and c’mon people… don’t forget to leave us a comment so we can see who actually reads this thing! 

Love,

The Paynes

no subject… read on!

So, for those of you who have not read the past week’s posts- get to it!  Remarkably, I looked back and I think this will be post #5 in a row!  YAY for the Paynes!  Anyway…

Pretty crazy haircut eh?  I’m not quite sure if I really like it yet, but Dave keeps telling me I look cute- I dont know if that’s to convince himself or an attempt to convince me…  It is a LOT lighter as well as cooler for the most part.  Its so short I have a “feather duster” as Dave calls it, for a ponytail!  AND not all of it even fits in the ponytail.  The girl who cut it was really sweet, but she kinda started doing her own thing before asking me what I really needed/wanted.  Once I said, “Well I’d like to be able to still put it up, she STOPPED chopping… which gave me the indication that I was going to be hard pressed to get a ponytail in.  Oh well, my hair will grow back, the people that need my hair, theirs probably won’t grow back, so its ok.  Here’s some more pics…

Me at home with my fabulous braid…

Nine inches became WHAT?!!!!!!!

AND check out this diameter!  Sorry its so blurry.

Crazy that its all gone, but I’m still on all the prenatals, so I’m sure it will come back quick… not as quick as if I was pregnant- BUT- thats not happening anytime soon!

 

Also in the Payne happenings, my GORGEOUS cousin got married!  Billy is a great guy and we’ve come to love him!  Tori and Charli were supposed to be in the wedding in Vegas, but unfortunately that didnt happen.  With all the crap thats gone on with my health, coupled with gas prices, it was not feasible.  Thank you to Savanna for two beautiful dresses and of course, to the best cousin in the world.  I love you!

Tori and “Vanna!”

Savanna, her parents, and our family!

 

Also, we blessed Charli last week in Dave’s parents church.  Things went GREAT.  Charli was a doll during the blessing.  Dave did a great job of speaking up since there was no mic and probably 250 people in the congregation…  TONS of our family came out to support us.  Lots of friends made the trip down to Sandy as well and were much appreciated.  We had a *small* luncheon afterwards, which about 50 people came to.  It was a lot of fun, and as always, my in laws, Dale and Rose are hospitable enough to let us borrow their house!  Saturday morning, the day before the blessing, Dave’s siblings re-did the yard and painted the upstairs and all sorts of home improvement projects.  It looked fabulous and we spent all of Father’s Day at their house.  Thanks to everyone that helped, or came out to support us, it was a lot of fun seeing everyone and the food was great as well.  For those of you who missed it(TAMMY!)  sucks to be you, cause you missed out!  

My parents had come down for Savanna’s wedding and my Granny/Grandpa were in the state for their son in law’s marathon in St George, so my family was able to make it to the blessing- here is FOUR generations of females in my family.  Dang it that my mom and Tori couldnt be look at the camera!

 

So with all of this hoopla, Dave did not really get a Father’s Day.  Earlier this week I told him that I was going to do it today, but he reminded me I have surgery and it would not be possible- well since I was not planning on NOT having surgery, I didnt really have a whole lot planned.  Sucky, but I figured it out last night and hopefully today will be relaxing and pleasant for him.

This morning he got crepes in bed… this was the result!

Vanilla-Cinnamon crepes with a fresh raspberry and honey fruit filling topped with vanilla bean whipped cream, almonds and fresh raspberries!  I must say I’m impressed with myself, but the best was when Dave said, “I think thats the best breakfast I’ve EVER eaten…ahhhh”  it was great.

Tonight we’re having rib-eye steaks(at Dave’s request) with “granny potatoes”, asparagus and I have figured out what else, if anything. 

Aside from the good eats and all thats gone on the past couple months, Dave is still the most amazing Dad.  There are times when I am completely impressed- like the night I went for a drive at 2am cause I was going crazy, and in the 1/2 hour I was gone he managed to get Tori in her bed(we’d been trying for about 6 hours) and Charli asleep.  And then just the day to day stuff that makes me love him more everyday.  He cleans the house for me.  He lets me sleep in on the weekends.  When he gets home he almost always gives me a hug and a kiss and then relieves me from the kiddos.  One of my favorite things to do is watch him with babies- particularly OUR babies.  With Charli he is so funny.  He was the same way with Tori and in suit, he got Charli to laugh the other day for the first time!  It was a terrified/unsure laugh, but a sweet, cute, priceless giggle still the same.  On top of being a wonderful dad he’s the most fantastic husband and I couldn’t ask for more.  He’s been so concerned with my health and how I’m feeling and instead of feeling sorry for himself for all the stress he’s had to go through, he comes to me and says, “Babe, I’ll just do more.  You just need to rest and get better.  Its only temporary and things will get better.”  His courage and willingness to do whatever he can are incredible to me.  The never ending support and love from him are more than I could ever ask for.  Late last year when I wrecked our car, had my hernia surgery and all the other stuff, he made the comment, “well we’ll make sure to get all the crap out of the way in the first 5 years of our marriage and then things will be smooth sailing”  As of late it feels like we are tormented and tried every time we turn around…  HOWEVER, at night when I lay next to him and hear him softly snoring, or on the weekend when we spend our time with just the four of us, I realize how lucky and grateful I am to be a wife to this amazing man and mommy to these gorgeous little girls.  No matter the trials, my Davie will always be next to me and that alone is enough to get me through anything. 

Thanks babe for all your work, your dedication to our family(and your parents, its such an example to me), your love for me and the girls, and everything you do.  You’re the best, Happy Belated Father’s Day!

The best daddy in the world!

 

Just a little haircut

So, Sarah has been talking to me a lot lately about getting her haircut. “I’m just going to trim it” she tells me. Well, today was the day of the big haircut. Nielsen Sio Salon & Spa was doing haircuts for $20 today with all the money going to the Ronald McDonald House Charity. We thought it was a worthy cause.  To me, a bit pricey for a haircut, since Sarah just cuts and/or buzzes mine- but a good donation for a great charity. Here’s what happened:

This is Sarah with 2News anchor Mark Koelbel at the scene of the crime.

Are you surprised that Tori was confused as to who was coming into her house? She sat there looking at Sarah trying to figure out who she was; and then when she figured out who it was, she tried to figure out what had happened to her. It was priceless.

In all seriousness, Sarah has been planning to cut her hair and donate it to Pantene Beautiful Lengths for quite some time. Since the surgery didn’t happen yesterday, today was the day. Keep in mind that the amount of hair she cut off is about 13 inches total, and what she is holding in her hand is braided. I think she looks very cute and sexy with her hair that short. I didn’t think I would, but with her donating it to a very good cause, I couldn’t be happier with or more proud of my sexy, short-haired wife. I love you Baby!

Surgery?

Most of you “knew” that Sarah was going in for surgery today to have her gallbladder removed. Well, we made all the arrangements for it: Tori stayed at my mom and dad’s house last night, my mom took work off for the day, I arranged to have today and Monday off work, we woke up and got to the hospital when they told us to be there. We were all ready to go. When we checked in, they told us that Dr. Vargo had called in sick today and that we were going to have to reschedule the appointment for a later date. They said they called us at 7:09am to let us know, but we didn’t answer or check our messages before we left. WE WERE GETTING READY FOR SARAH TO HAVE A SURGERY!!! It never occurs to me to check my phone for messages at 7:30am anyway. I guess we’re going to have to start making that a regular occurence before I leave for work.

Anyway, after we found out the surgery was not going to happen today, we went and found Dr. Vargo’s secretary, Dellene. We saw her and she said, “What are you guys doing here? You’re supposed to be at the other end.” Apparently, his secretary didn’t even know. So now she’s working on rescheduling it for a different day, at least 2 weeks away. We are not very happy about the whole situation. Since I wasn’t going to be needed at home, I stayed at the hospital to work. It’s not fun working when I didn’t think I would be here at all today or Monday, but now I will be…with bells on I’m sure.

We hope everyone else’s day is better than ours has been/is!

Blessings, diseases, and family

It has been another exciting week at this Payne household. Doug, Lois, and Christopher came to town last weekend (see previous post) so we were able to spend a little time with them. It really was a little bit. They arrived on Friday around 5:00pm and left Sunday around 11:00am. It’s always so sad to see them go (I know, I’ve said that before, but it’s true!). You just never know when you’re going to see them next so it’s sad. And Tori loves her Nana and her Papa and her Uncle Chris. I just wish we were all close so that she could develop a really close connection with all of Sarah’s family, but it’s just hard for her.

The reception for Savanna and Billy on Saturday night was really nice. I was expecting more of a fiesta-type fill to the event, but there was not one piñata or Vicente Fernandez impersonator insight. To be honest, I was a little disappointed: I went expecting a party, but only found a boring old wedding reception. In all seriousness though, it was really nice and it was fun to meet more of Sarah’s family and talk with them. I met Sarah’s Uncle Bill (actually her dad’s cousin) about 2 years ago when we visited Sarah’s Granny in Vegas, but no one else from the family was in town at that time. So I got to meet the rest of the family and talk to them a little bit which was really nice. Originally, we were going to go down to Vegas for the wedding where Tori and Charli were going to be flower girls for the wedding (due to current gas prices, we were unable to make the drive down to Vegas for the event), so Savanna gave them their flower girl dresses on Saturday (we’ll post pictures at a different time). They were so cute in their little white dresses!

Sunday, we blessed Charli in my mom and dad’s home ward and had a little luncheon with all our family at my parents’ house afterwards (their house is a lot better for fitting large numbers of people than ours is). We would like to thank: Doug, Lois and Chris; Dad, Mom, Amber, Bryan, Neal, Riley, Matt, Andrea, Ethan, and Jake; Aunt Darla; Uncle Don and Aunt Leann; Uncle Randy and Aunt Lou and Family; Uncle Garth and Aunt Sharon and family; Uncle Bill and Aunt Lorraine and family; Granny and Grampa; Grandma Poulsen; Grandma and Grandpa Payne; and anyone else that came to support our family. Also, a big thanks to Mom and Dad, Amber and Bryan and the boys, and Matt and Andrea and the boys for all their help cleaning up and beautifying Mom and Dad’s house/yard to allow us to have so many people over. It is always nice to have a get together to see how many people want to and are willing to support you and your family for whatever reason it may be. Thank you to everyone! It was a really special day for all of us, and Charli was so good during her blessing!

Now to the fun news…we found out on Tuesday that Sarah has h. pylori. She is currently on a 14 day antibiotic treatment to hopefully get rid of it. It’s a bacteria that lives in the stomach that is pretty difficult to get rid of. We are hoping that this will take care of all of it. We are trying to figure out if we should get the rest of us tested for it, but we haven’t quite decided on that yet. Also, Sarah is going to have her gallbladder removed and her hernia repaired tomorrow. It had been a fun-filled time this last little bit, but it will all turn around hopefully starting this weekend. I just hope she feels better.

On Saturday, I received my diploma in the mail. As Sarah puts it, I have my $20,000 piece of paper. I guess it’s officially official now. What a relief! I am so glad to be done.

Lastly, I would just like to give a belated Father’s Day to my fathers.

Doug: Thank you for all you do for me and for my family. You are always willing to share your advice and your knowledge with us/me and we appreciate it so much. Thank you for taking care of us and showing us your love.

Dad: The way you have embraced and accepted my family has meant the world to me. Thank you for always being there to help us and offer your support. I know that when you have my girls they are in good hands. Thank you for your willingness to share your knowledge and your advice with us. I appreciate every gesture of love shown to me and my family. There is no one else I would rather have as my DAD. I love you Dad!