Since the last post the girls have already started and completed the first half of the 2012-2013 school year. Hannah is now in the 7th grade and Amelia is in the 4th grade. Hannah is doing well in Middle School (this is the second year there for her), but she misses the more carefree days of elementary school. Amelia loves her teacher this year and is also doing very well. They have both been on the honor roll each time they have gotten report cards this year. I am very proud of both of them! They are growing up so fast, and I can't believe that after next year, Hannah will be in High School!! Although I love watching them grow and seeing the changes in them as they mature, I am also a little sad to see them leaving the innocence of childhood behind. But no matter how old they get, they will always be my babies.
As some of you may know, a few months ago (during the summer), I started having problems with my vision. I was seeing double if I tried to look up or to the side. I was concerned and was planning to call my doctor to schedule a visit. Before I had done that, I realized one night as I was looking in the mirror, that my right eye was not moving with the left eye when I would try to look up/down/side to side. It seemed to stay in one spot. And I also noticed the eyelid was slightly more closed than the left one. This added a bit of urgency to the task of making a doctor's appointment. When I went to see him, he was also concerned but said he wanted to do further testing and told me it could be anything from stress to something "terribly horrific". Well, that was a little disconcerting to say the least. He ordered some tests, one of which was an MRI. Turns out my insurance did not want to cover that test, so it took some time to get that worked out. Before the MRI was scheduled, I returned to the doctor and he was more concerned than before and he called and scheduled me to see a neurologist the next day. From that visit, I got the orders for the MRI. I went for that test, thinking I would have the MRI done and then return to the neurologist in 2 weeks for him to tell me the results. To my surprise they sent me straight from the imaging center to the hospital ER. I was pretty sure this wasn't standard procedure, so at that point I started to become a little alarmed. Thankfully I have a great boss, and she called to see how the test went, and when I told her they were sending me to the ER, she left work and came to stay with me. I told her I would be fine, but I was really thankful to have her there. By they time I got to the ER, I had already opened the envelope they had included for the ER doctors and has read that the MRI showed I had a brain aneurysm. I still thought I was just going to the ER to consult with a neurologist on staff there. However, once I got there, they basically told me they were not equipped to deal with my situation and would be transferring me to Tampa General Hospital. They apparently deal with this type of thing on a much more regular basis, and had a neurosurgeon on staff there that is trained in the procedure I would be needing. So one ambulance ride later, I was sitting in the ER at Tampa General with my boss and my sister, talking to doctors about brain surgery!! That was not how I had expected my day to end. (Thankfully, the girls were already with Steve and he was able to get them home and stay with them the entire time I was in the hospital. That was a huge relief knowing they were taken care of and able to keep a pretty normal schedule through everything.) The neurosurgeon told me the aneurysm was located in my right carotid artery, and on a scale of small-medium-large-huge, mine was large-huge. They did an angiogram the next day, inserting a balloon into that artery and expanding it to cut off the blood flow to see if I could function without that artery. Turns out I couldn't, so the option of just closing off that artery was out. This would have been an option of last resort anyway. Instead, I was a good candidate for a fairly new procedure (performed since 2011) where they go in thru the groin and insert a stent into the artery. This reduced to blood flow into the aneurysm to the point that it would gradually clot off and the aneurysm will shrink and go away. This is a slow process and could take about 6 months or so. Thank the Good Lord above, the procedure went very well and I was home 2 days later. After one brief return to the hospital the following weekend for numbness in my left arm/hand, things have gone pretty well since then. I was back at work within two weeks. Unfortunately, I have had a constant headache since Dec. 17th, and nothing I have taken, including prescription medicines, has been able to make it go away. And for now, my issues with lack of eye movement and the drooping eyelid have gotten a little worse. This was not totally unexpected. The doctor had said it could get worse before it gets better, but only time will tell how much better it will get. The aneurysm pressed on a nerve and the pressure from that paralyzed the nerve and they are not sure how much it will recover. There are surgeries that can be done to improve my vision and open the eyelid more, but we will wait approximately one year from now to see how much it will change on its own before intervening. It is very annoying and kind of strange looking, but things could have been so much worse if this had not been found and corrected.
Aside from that, we have just been dealing with regular every day things. Last week both of the girls came down with the flu. I think they got it from their dad, as he started with his symptoms a day before Hannah started with hers. Thankfully, the worst part of the whole thing was dealing with sore throats and coughing and congestion. They didn't have the body aches or headaches I normally associate with the flu. They both ran fevers for days on end, and missed an entire week of school, but they are on the mend now. Aside from being a little tired they are back to being themselves. Fortunately, they gave me a flu shot while I was in the hospital, and so far it seems to have kept me from getting it. I am still trying to wash my hands frequently and avoiding sharing germs with either of the girls.
Over the Christmas break from school, Tracy and I and all 5 girls made the trip home to Demopolis to visit Daddy Hawk. The girls all love going to his house. They get to play outside all day and run free like you can only do out in the country. Rachel (Tracy's youngest) loves to swing in the swing Daddy Hawk made from a cherry tree he cut down some years ago, and they all love driving the lawnmowers around and taking turns driving. I used to love to do that when I was their age too, so I can understand that. I think by the time our visit is up each time, Daddy Hawk and Grandmama are ready to have their peace and quiet back!! It is a little bit noisy with 5 girls in the house. I just wish it wasn't so far to travel to visit, so we could do it more often. The hard part is trying to visit with everyone you want to see while you are there....there is just never enough time.
Amelia 4th Grade Hannah 7th Grade
So now the holidays are over and we are getting ready for spring. The next big thing is spring break. Hopefully we can all stay healthy and can plan some fun adventures for that week. It seems like it is a long time from now, but I know it will sneak up on me and be here before I realize it!
