My Stitches are Out!

Well, on Tuesday I got my stitches removed along with the steri-strips that were covering my stitches. I was so happy to have those removed. Now I don't have anything on me causing me allergic reactions on my neck. Yeah!!

Being allergic to all adhesives (like band-aids) really bites! This is a newer allergy for me - I only found out about it maybe a few months ago when I was giving blood at the Red Cross and they put a latex-free band-aid on me. When I removed it - voila! A rash just where the adhesive was.

The scar on my neck is pretty small and I think he placed it in one of my creases on my neck, so I think the scar is going to meld in there nicely. I'll have Robert take a picture of my "new and improved" self at some point soon and post it.

Things are Normalizing

Well, today, I'm feeling a bit better than yesterday (as I'm sure I will be feeling a bit better daily now). My fingers and toes aren't as tingly (a sign of low calcium) as they were and my leg cramp, while still here, is a bit better. My magnesium levels that they took yesterday were all normal, so they're not sure why my body was reacting as it was, they think that probably my body just needs to get used to this new lower calcium level and all will be well. Time will tell.

Hope this doesn't gross you out too much, but here is what my "Frankenstein" neck looks like now. The stitches come out on Tuesday afternoon. I am allergic to all adhesives, so that is why my neck is a bit rashy - I have to keep the stitches area dry for the next 2 weeks and when I cover the area up with this special tape, I break out. NOT FUN!!

I'm Back!

Well, the surgery is over and done with! I have a one-inch scar on my neck. My neck is swollen and it feels like I have a huge lump in it. My actual pain is pretty minimal, but I feel lots of stretching and pulling in my neck muscles. You also don't realize how much you use your neck muscles until something is actually done to them. I can't drive right now, since I am unable to turn my neck enough for me to drive safely. Right now I'm having some residual side effects from the surgery - my fingers and toes are all "tingly" and I woke up this morning with a serious muscle cramp in my left leg. They are still working on why that's happening. They are going to do another blood test to see if maybe it's my magnesium level?? I'll find that out this afternoon. My calcium and parathyroid hormones are all back to normal, though. So, that at least, is good. I should be fully recovered in a few weeks. Yeah!!

I will be home now just hanging out the next few days, since I can't do anything - no driving, no lifting, no nothing... Can we say "BORED!!"

Also, a big "Thank You" to my mom for taking care of me the past few days. It was such a huge help to have you around - especially for that last-minute run to the hospital last night. I love you!

Parathyroid Surgery is tomorrow

Well, tomorrow I go under the knife to have my parathyroid gland removed. I'm a bit nervous - just not knowing how I'm going to feel afterwards. During my pre-op appointment, the nurse went over the procedure and told me all the possible things that can go wrong. It's a bit scary.

I will have about a 1 inch scar on my neck. My voice to begin with is going to be very hoarse. I may feel like I have a huge lump in my throat - kind of like having strep throat. I won't be able to turn my neck - so I can't see to drive. They don't want me lifting more than 10 pounds - I probably won't have the strength anyways. My calcium level may drop causing me to get a tingling sensation in my lips, toes, fingers where I will need to take a Tums to bring my level up again.

I have to be at the hospital at 10:45 am. At 11:45 am, I go in for nuclear medicine where they inject me with a radioactive dye. Then, at 1:30 pm, I go in for surgery. The surgery is about 1.5 hours and I'll be in recovery about 1.5 hours. Then, when I'm strong enough to walk again, I can finally go home!

Robert and I went grocery shopping so we at least have food for tonight and tomorrow. My mom is coming in on Tuesday morning to take over for Robert in taking care of me. It's going to be great to have her here helping out.

Happy Moon Festival!

Today marks the Mid-Autumn Moon Festival in China. The Mid-Autumn Festival is one of the two most important holidays in the Chinese calendar (the other being the Chinese Lunar New Year). Farmers celebrate the end of the summer harvesting season on this date. Traditionally, on this day, Chinese family members and friends will gather to admire the bright mid-autumn harvest moon, and eat moon cakes and pomeloes together. Accompanying the celebration, there are additional cultural or regional customs, such as:
* Eating moon cakes outside under the moon
* Putting pomelo rinds on one's head
* Carrying brightly lit lanterns, lighting lanterns on towers, floating sky lanterns
* Burning incense in reverence to deities including Chang'e
* Planting Mid-Autumn trees
* Collecting dandelion leaves and distributing them evenly among family members
* Fire Dragon Dances

Referrals Came Out While We Were Away...

Here's the latest happenings while we were away enjoying ourselves in Yellowstone National Park and the Grand Teton National Park. I'll post about our trip later after we've settled in, done laundry, gone grocery shopping and uploaded photos.

Looks like the CCAA placed children from February 1 - 9, 2006. Getting ever closer, but not quite close enough... Only 155 days worth of LIDs to go...

Love Without Boundaries

This month's donation from my CafePress stores went to Love Without Boundaries - a wonderful charity that helps the lives of thousands of Chinese children in orpahnages through foster care, medical, education, and nutrition programs.

I also learned another valuable tip - if you enter Amazon.com through the Love Without Boundaries website, they receive 4% of the sale! If only I had known about that earlier...

Happy Birthday Robert!

I cannot tell a lie - it's Robert's birthday today. He spent the morning with his mom going to a scale model fly-in airshow and then the three of us went out for burgers for lunch. Here's a nice photo of my sweetie with one of the planes he takes his flying lessons on.

Milwaukee Zoo outing

This past Thursday I went into Milwaukee for the day to see my sister, brother-in-law and my 2 nephews who were in town from Minneapolis to visit my parents (grandma and grandpa). Highlights for me were seeing Tommy and Billy (of course!) and watching Tommy overcome his fear of animals to actually take a pony ride at the Milwaukee Zoo - and he had a great time!! Look how proud he looks on the pony. He is such a love!!


Here's the whole gang - minus me, of course, the photographer.

Sun Prairie Corn Festival

Well, I'm a bit behind these days on my posting, so I'm going to try to play a game of catch-up now. Last weekend we had our friends Eric, Susan and future son-in-law Evan in town to go to the Sun Prairie Corn Festival. They've been wanting to come up and see it for years and now finally were able to. We had a great time with them and ate LOTS of corn. You pay $6 for all the corn you can pile into the tote. Afterwards, we bought some corn to take home. Here's a few pix from the day.