Burro Creek

I told myself I'd go to the gym this morning, but who wants to go through that torture after being lazy for 6 weeks? Alas, here I sit...blogging.

This past weekend we went with Jared's den on a weekend campout to Burro Creek. It was actually quite a beautiful drive out there. And, oh how wonderful it was to be able to fit EVERYTHING in one vehicle! We did all the regular camp stuff, roasting hot dogs, s'mores, foil dinners, campfire songs. Everyone had a great time. Saturday we woke up, and Marcus, the den leader, decided we needed to go on a hike. So we literally hiked 2 miles on a dry creek bed FULL of river rocks. Jared collected quartz after quartz (which I ended up carrying back of course). Doug found a really cool HUGE Apache tear, otherwise known as obsidian. After the hike, Marcus decided it was time to swim, or rather, wade - in a very questionable pool of water. It was large enough, but it was pretty algae-ridden, and it was sort of stagnant. Against my better judgement and caving under pressure, I let them play in the filth. Hey, I wasn't the only parent! I was a little worried last night when Jade had some pretty intense stomach cramps. I found myself Googling Giardia and other parasitic lifeforms found in standing water, and of course all that reading scared the crud out of me. But this morning, all seems to be well. She bounced out of bed, happy as ever. So, hopefully the crisis is averted.

Today's Lesson

Be mindful of the underware you choose to put on when you're going to the dermatologist. They just might want to to a full body check, especially if you have family history of melanoma. They'll likely ask you to wear one of those gowns that opens in the back, after you take off everything but your under garments. They might even find a suspicious mole ON your back they want to biopsy - which means they'll have you lie on your stomach to do the biopsy. The dermatologist might even bring in a young student doctor who's eyes have yet to see the horrors all doctors live to see, like buttcracks. So for today's lesson... don't wear see-thru underware to the dermatologist. Don't ask me how I know this.

My new ride

Our little Saturn Vue was such a cute, good little car. Unfortunately, we just outgrew it. Where we live now offers so much more outdoor activity than where we were in CA. We camp, we hike, we take long trips, and there is even the possibility of a boat in our future (yikes!). So, we decided it was time for an upgrade. And boy did we get one.

I love, love, love our new Tahoe. It's awesome. Seriously awesome. My favorite thing about it is the remote start. That means when it's 115 degrees outside and I'm in the checkout line at Walmart, I can start my car and let the air run for 10 minutes so I don't climb into a furnace. It has an anti-theft device, so even though the engine is running, no one can put it in gear or take off with it without the key. Fuel wise it's not too bad either. It's got the flex fuel feature, which allows it to operate on the cylinders needed. So, even though it's a V8, around town it'll drop to 4 or 6 cylinders.

Plus it has a backup camera so I won't hit any kids while backing out of Jade's school. That's a MAJOR plus!!

The kids love it, I love it, Doug loves it. Yay!!! He doesn't love the way I park it in the garage though. I keep telling him to do the tennis ball hanging thing, but for some reason he thinks yelling at me will work better.

I love the desert.

There's been a lot going on around here.

First, I broke my tail bone 4 weeks ago, and that's completely thrown me off my work-out regimen. No more cycle class, no crunches, no squats, lunges, nothing. I can't tell you how bummed I was about that. I've been sitting on a blow up donut for the past 4 weeks, and I'm embarrassed to say that poor thing never stood a chance. The power of my bottom did the poor inflatable butt pad in. Sadly, it now deflates within minutes of inflating it, despite Doug's efforts (twice) to seal it with crazy glue. Luckily, since it's been 4 weeks, I'm so much better and can handle sitting in my computer chair unaided. Good thing, because I really didn't want to spend another 14 bucks on a piece of plastic my butt will destroy anyway. Doug never ceases to be amazed by the power of my booty.

So, I'm very slowly getting into the swing of things, workout wise. I went to the gym 3 days ago and did some work on the elliptical. That was really hard for me because I absolutely DETEST machines. I'd much rather get my butt kicked in a class where everyone else is dying too. I seem to push myself harder when there's pressure. I just end up getting so bored when I rely on myself. There's only so much wall space you can look at on an elliptical, know what I mean? So, it shouldn't surprise you that I only lasted about 15 minutes.

This morning I decided I needed to really get my butt in gear, and if I couldn't cycle, I'd walk. It's such a beautiful time to live here, and the desert is blooming such beautiful flowers. I saw bunnies, lizards, quail, and a ton of other birds. I had no idea our lake also stocked turtles. So cute to see them sunbathe in the morning! You'd all see them too, if my camera didn't crap out. I brought it along this morning to take pictures of my lovely walk - I really wanted to capture our cactus flowers, and for some reason it simply will NOT take pictures. So I decided to cheat, and because I care about all of you, I stole these pictures off the internet.

This is what I do all day.

This may or may not interest you. Most of you know I type dictated medical reports day after day in hopes of becoming good enough at it to earn some money from home. It's not easy. In fact, it's pretty difficult a lot of the time to understand what the doctor is saying. Some of them are brainless and dictate with food in their mouthes, or let the phone ring right in the recorder without bothering to stop talking. I can only guess at what they are saying when they do this. Some of them talk at the speed of an auctioneer, and others like to cut off the ends of their words. Anyway, I copied and pasted one of the reports I did so you can all see the stuff I do. This was actually a fairly easy one. I'm sure you've never seen a medical report, so maybe this is interesting. Or maybe not. It's a slow blog day. The blanks are names or dates and are left confidentiality purposes.



Rheumatology progress note.

LIST OF PROBLEMS:
1. Rheumatoid arthritis.
2. Emphysema.

MEDICATIONS: Methotrexate 10 mg per week on Monday, prednisone 5 mg daily, Nasacort, Zantac 150 mg b.i.d., Tylenol p.r.n., Paxil 20 mg per day.

LABORABORY DATA:___: Creatinine 1.4, albumin 4.2, AST 25, ALT 15, CBC unremarkable, sedimentation rates 51.

Chest x-ray shows moderate diffuse emphysema. Today’s patient has no complaints in regard to his arthritis. When he saw me 6 weeks ago he had a flare of his RA. His methotrexate was increased from 7.5 to 10 mg per week. His prednisone was increased from 3 mg to 10 mg per day for 5 days. The patient today states that his RA is doing well. He has no complaints of swelling. He denies any shortness of breath, chest pain, fevers, or chills while on methotrexate.

Starting yesterday he has developed a dry cough along with myalgias and congestion-type symptoms of his head and nose. He took his methotrexate Monday. He denies any nausea, vomiting, or diarrhea.

PHYSICAL EXAMINATION: There are no oral ulcers. The lungs are clear with no wheezing or crackles. Heart: Regular rate and rhythm. There is essentially no synovitis on examination today. There are no vasculitic lesions or rashes.

IMPRESSION:
1. Rheumatoid arthritis. He is stable on his current medications.
2. Because methotrexate can induce a cough and even a pneumonitis, I told him not to take methotrexate next week. It told him I will give him Sudafed for his postnasal drip and congestion symptoms. I told him if his symptoms should worsen or if he gets short of breath, cough worsens, or should he develops a fever, see his closest physician as soon as possible.
3. I will obtain a CBC panel and a liver panel today to monitor methotrexate toxicity.
4. Because of his chronic obstructive pulmonary disease by history, I will obtain baseline pulmonary function tests as well. He will follow up in two weeks for reevaluation.

Vent

How is it that eating healthier = higher grocery bill? I can't win.

Jade's gift to me.

She LOVED this part! (It IS the best!)

The color she picked is called "baby pink".

My turn!

She is the best. She wanted me to have an authentic pedi, so she insisted on rubbing my feet.

All done! She really wanted to paint my toes too, but the carpet was too light and the paint too red, so I did it myself. Not nearly as good as the professionals, oh well.

When Jade heard all about Jared's tea party, her little heart was broken. She didn't have anything to give me or sing to me, and it just devastated her - so of course that devastated me! I promised her we'd get pedicures on Mother's Day together, and that can be her gift to me (she doesn't know any better, really). I decided to fore go the trip to the salon and save the $40. I have a foot soaker here, and I thought it would be fun to do it at home instead. We took a little trip to Walmart and we each picked out a polish. She was so excited she dragged the foot bath out of my closet and found a sponge under the sink and cleaned all the dust out for us. She's such a sweetheart! We had such a great time with out pedicures. What a great Mother's Day I had!

P.S. Happy Mother's Day to my grandmothers! I'm sorry I didn't call, time snuck up on me and it's already after 9pm! Calls tomorrow.