Gift Ideas

So, I have an anniversary fast approaching.  I'm in real need of gift ideas.  I've already done things like a scrapbook, Xbox 360, BluRay, bread club, and a couple of other things.  I'm kind of stumped.  I can't think of anything that he "needs" so I'm trying to think of something that he'll like.

Love, Heather

xo

Operation Stay Out of ER: failed.

As I previously mentioned, I went to the ER a couple of weeks ago and was diagnosed with pancreatitis.  The following week I had the honor of being poked and prodded to figure out what caused it.  No results yet.  I went straight from Houston to Ft. Hood to spend the four-day weekend with Zack and celebrate Independence Day.  I had so much fun being a lazy butt with him!  We are also in a random little pocket of space where the street before us says, "Leaving Copperas Cove" and the street after us says "Entering Copperas Cove".  So technically we decided we were allowed to shoot off fireworks.  It didn't really matter, everyone in the area was shooting them off and it was AWESOME!  Where I grew up, fireworks were banned in '99 so it had been a long time since I had seen a neighborhood all out enjoying fireworks.

Literally right after we come inside I start feeling a little off.  A little upper abdomen cramping and slightly nauseous.  I decided to eat a peanut butter sandwich because I'm hypoglycemic so I get sick when my blood sugar levels get low.  It got a little worse.  I went to look for my perscription meds from when I was in the ER and I had left them in College Station.  Stupid stupid stupid.  I had Zack drive me from Ft. Hood to College Station at 11 pm (it's a two hour drive and Zack is not a night person so this was like torture).  We had to pull over three times and by the time we got to College Station, I was in unbearable pain.  I took my nausea medication and hydrocodone and it did nothing.

So then I had Zack drive me to the ER.  I had to wait a long time to get an IV and then went through an awful 5 minutes of the ER nurse digging in my hand to get blood.  Zack could barely watch him, he said it hurt him just to look.  Finally the nurse tried another spot and the blood finally flowed.  TORTURE ISN'T NECESSARY!  Just try another spot!  They gave me nausea mediciation and morphine.  The morphine did nothing for the immense pain so they double the dose to bring it down to a manageable pain.  I was drugged out of my mind.  I wasn't coherent, I couldn't keep my eyes open, and I couldn't so much as roll over.  For the weak-stomached, I'll say I "lost my dinner" at least 8 times that morning.

Here's the kicker: my lipase levels were normal.  They had no reason to believe that it was pancreatitis.  The doctor thinks it may have been an unrelated stomach bug!  How can one girl be so lucky?

Operation Stay Out of ER: failed.

Love, Heather

xo

(Almost) MilSpouse Friday Fill-In

1. Tell us about your dream job… one that you could do regardless of pay.

Nurse.  I'm attending nursing school in the fall and I can honestly say from volunteering at hospitals and being around them that it is truly what I want to do.  I'm actually dying to start my classes!

2. What is your most prized material possession (kids and pets don’t count!)?

I would have said Madison (my dog) because I still think she's the best gift I've ever gotten even though I got my dream car (that I would have never bought for myself, EVER) for graduation.  With her excluded then I would say my engagement ring.  There's nothing better than a symbol of eternal love from your soul mate.

3. What has been your favorite duty station and why?

I'm going to obviously have to say Ft. Hood because that's the only place he's been stationed.  Granted, I went to Ft. Lee twice while he was there for 4 months and I definitely like Ft. Hood better.  However, I liked Ft. Lee for temporary because we got to go to D.C. and Hershey, PA!  I like Ft. Hood because we're both from Texas so it's close to our families, I still attend nursing school in College Station, and Tex-Mex (duh).

4. What is your least favorite household chore?

Laundry!  Uugghh!  I hate hate hate folding clothes.  I'm notorious for leaving clothes in the dryer and resetting the timer for 10 minutes before grabbing one shirt out and doing it again the next day.  I don't mind doing anything other than laundry.

5. If you could give one piece of advice to a teenager today (not specifically a MilTeen), what would it be?

If I had to give advice to any teenager then without a doubt it would be my old best friend's little sister.  She committed suicide 2 weeks after turning 15 in late 2007 and I would give anything to go back and tell her that everything gets better and falls into place.  I would give anything.

 

Love, Heather

xo

Satan's Mistress

Aanndd...I'm back!  I have a good excuse for not posting in a while.  Last Tuesday, June 22nd, I had the honor of driving myself to the ER for the first time.  I spent four hours Monday night losing my dinner and feeling this awful pain in my upper abdomen.  The ER doctor claimed it was my gall bladder from poking and prodding to see where the pain was coming from.  I would describe it as a severe pain that feels like your gall bladder (and maybe pancreas) is twisting up while being doused in acid.  Sharp pain + almost a severe cramping feeling + burning = Heather in the ER.  Well turns out it was pancreatitis and by 5:30am, someone finally gave me morphine and nausea medication to put me out of my misery.

There have been few occasions in my life where I've had to have blood drawn.  I've never donated blood (I know, I seem like an awful person) but it's not because I'm afraid of needles.  Shots are no biggie.  You can give me shots all day long.  Drawing blood? No way.  Genetics blessed me with very small veins that don't bleed easily.  I literally stop bleeding right after the needle is pulled out and sometimes while the needle is still in!  The ER nurse originally dug around in my arm because she could get IV fluids through but couldn't get blood out.  That hurt.  I mean, I was moaning and tossing in pain but I still noticed what she was doing.  She told me she needed to stick me again and drew blood from my hand.   I didn't even notice that one (given the other pain).  I wish she had just done that and not dug around because I ended up with a huge black bruise.  The hand bruised a little.

That Thursday, I went to my primary physician in Houston and was stuck two more times to draw blood (my doctor's nurse is the BEST at drawing blood but let's face it, it's hard to get me to bleed).  Fast forward to this past Tuesday and I went to see a gastrointestinal specialist to see what caused the pancreatitis.  He decided to order an array of tests so he could confidently tell me that he had no idea what caused my pancreatitis.  He sent me down the hall to have blood drawn to check my triglyceride levels.  Please note the picture at the top of the page.  This woman was Satan's mistress.  She was worse than the ER nurse.  She got 3/4 of the vile of blood and then started stabbing around to try to get me to bleed more.  SO. MUCH. PAIN.  My mom was in the doorway cringing.  Finally, she stabbed so hard that I actually flinched away and ripped the needle out of my arm and managed to get blood all over my arm, the chair, and her glove (but not the vile).  She then stabbed around in the second hole and couldn't get anything so she told me I needed to be referred to their main location to try again.  I decided to go home instead.

Wednesday, I went across Houston to another office for a CAT scan.  No one mentioned the IV.  Thankfully, this guy knew what he was doing and managed to find an unbruised spot on one of my two arms and insert the needle with ease.

So, the summary of my two weeks is this:  I was in the worst pain and had to go to the ER at 4:30am for 3 hours.  I lived off of water and sprite for 3 days.  I then had to deal with slowly easing the awful tightness of my empty stomach with bland food.  I was stuck 7 times, with 7 needles, within 7 days.  I've been walking around looking like a heroin addict with bruises all over my arms.

Love, Heather

xo