Back to School

The girls started school yesterday and because I'm their mom I couldn't let them out the door without taking their pictures.  Sage is starting her senior year and Lindsay will be a sophomore.  The time has gone so fast even though I've trying my best to hold on to each and every moment with them with everything I've got.  They are amazing, talented, smart, kind, and funny kids! I recognize each and every day how lucky I am to be their mother.

Sage with her Kindergarten picture, which may have been taken the summer before she started school.

 

Lindsay rarely wears her hair down but she looks so gorgeous when she does.

Together they are the masters of "The Creep" which they have the uncanny ability to make at the exact same time.

Good News - Bad News

I had my appointment with my rheumatologist this week. My blood work came back with a positive marker for lupus, which was a little scary for me. I have been having the most severe fatigue and a ton of joint and muscle pain lately so I went to the doctor thinking that my ferritin was getting low again. My ferritin is often low from having Celiac disease which sometines requires me to get iron infusions but that wasn't the problem this time. The rheumatologist was awesome and did a very thorough history and exam and all of my blood work is fine - meaning I do not have lupus or RA or any other autoimmune (yes!) but because of the length of time that I've had the joint pain and fatigue for so long and because I had tenderness in 12 out of 18 trigger points I left his office with a diagnosis of fibromyalgia (no!).

The upside is that fibromyalgia is not a fatal disease but it can be literally a pain to deal with and there aren't really any hard and fast treatments either. It's an extremely misunderstood condition that many health care providers don't fully understand or fully accept as being a real condition. It's really frustrating.  I have been doing my best to try to minimize my stress levels this week and really focus on the amount of rest that I get. I have to get the fatigue under control. One day at a time right?

Press Forward

I have been dealing with some health issues lately and the my brain tends to stew on the minute details until I know for sure. I have an appointment with a rheumatologist on Wednesday to further evaluate some goofy blood tests. It's never easy to think about the "what ifs" except the occasional "what if" we took the kids to Disney World or "what if" we ate out tonight. I prefer for those but I'm doing my best to be patient.

Tonight in family scripture time we read:

2 Nephi 31:20

Wherefore, yes must press forward with steadfastness in Christ, having a perfect brightness of hope, and a love of God and of all men. Wherefore, if ye shall press forward, feasting upon the words of Christ, and endure to the end, behold, this saith the Father; Ye shall have eternal life.

What a beautiful promise. Is the gospel of Jesus Christ really that easy?  I believe that Heavenly Father knows us and loves us. He is mindful of our struggles and our fears and as long as we are diligent in enduring we will have eternal life. This life is a test and was never meant to be easy 100% of the time.

So I know that whatever comes my way I just have to hold my head up and always be hopeful for the future and I'll be okay.  So again I repeat, what a beautiful promise.

One more week...

Lindsay has one more week in her cast. I can't believe 5 weeks has past since her surgery and yet at the same time it seems like it's been forever.  She is tired of being one-legged and her left leg is definitely getting squishy, while her right is nice and buff. Poor kid!

So for the backstory, Lindsay has always had flat feet and a significant amount of pain. I've taken her to several podiatrist and she's had several sets of orthotics to try to help her poor little feet to no avail.  When she started marching band the pain because unbearable and on many game days she had such severe pain that she couldn't even walk to the car without tears. We felt so bad for her but didn't fully comprehend the issue with her feet. 

On August 29th the pain became unbearable and I ended up taking her to the ER because I though that maybe she had a stress fracture from marching band.  They did X-rays and of course they were normal and the doctor suggested that we follow up with a podiatrist.  At that point I started researching surgeries for flat feet. This was just becoming something that we could no longer ignore. I took her to another podiatrist that came highly recommended but we ended up not caring much for him so I struck out on my own accord and tried Dr. Roman Burke. He is such a nice man and as I was asking him about a specific surgical option he said the words we've waited so long to hear, "I think I know what's going on here". 

He made the clinical diagnosis of a tarsal coalition and send us for an MRI.  We expected a calcanoenavicular coalition (best case scenario) but she ended up with a diagnosis of having a coalition at the middle facet of the talealcalcanal joint (less than ideal scenario). 

<pictures to follow>  

There are two options to correct such a defect - leave it be or resect the coalition.  We obviously chose option #2 and are really hoping for the best possible result.  He scheduled her for surgery on December 18th to resect the coalition and then to place a hyprocure implant to correct the flat foot deformity.

After speaking with several radiologists about the situation and the type of surgery that would be performed and after much prayer and reflection on the matter we were very prompted to choose a different surgeon.  The pieces all fell together in miraculous fashion and we were able to get her in to see Dr. Jason Robison who is a pediatric orthopedist.  When we met with him he agreed that we had two options but his surgical approach was different.  He wanted to resect the coalition, lengthen the neck of the calcaneous and release her gastroc tendon to help allow her foot to sit in a more normal position.

He was also able to schedule her surgery for December 18th and things went very well.  Her post-op pain was minimal and the popliteal block and saphenous block both worked very well.  She was pain free for the first 23-1/2 hours.  She said the worst part of the whole experience was having to vomit in recovery.  It was gross and embarrassing she said.

So next week we will get our first glimpses as to what actually happened under that pretty purple cast.  I'm hoping to see a more normal looking foot and most importantly a more functional foot that she will be able to use properly with significantly less pain.  We are hopeful that this will be the one and only surgery that she'll have to go thru and that Dr. Robison will have adequately earned that pay check ;) and have worked a miracle on her foot.  She wants to be able to continue in marching band - who would have thought - and we are guardedly optimistic about the prospect!

Discover Boise State

Yesterday was the Discover Boise State college tour that Sage attended.  That's her, just below the girl in the red jacket.  We met up in the Jordan Ball Room with a gazillion other high school kids who are considering Boise State for their college experience.

It was an interesting day for sure.  We were in Group #9 and our tour guide was Rebecca.  That's her in the bottom left corner, holding the phone.  She is a sophomore from Washington State and a really nice girl.  She told the kids about a lot of the perks of being at BSU and...gulp...of living on campus.

The tour was nice.  She showed us some of the most important things, like student information, where to eat, where the library is, how to activate the emergency response beacons on campus, some of the study suites, where to get help with your electronic devices, etc. and then we were on to the dorms.  Up to this point I had really be feeling quite fine about the whole Sage-is-a-big-girl-and-now-needs-to-go-to-college thing but then we entered the dorms.  They are nasty!  The walls are thin, the carpet is threadbare and the whole place was FILTHY!  I'm not sure what the appeal to living in the dorms is, other than the obvious, I'm-now-a-grown-up-and-I'll-make-all-my-own-rules thing.  Sick.  I couldn't sleep on a mattress that was covered in plastic to keep the cooties and bed bugs away.  She would like to stay one semester in the dorms to get the "full experience".   Perhaps I'm a bit too much of a princess but it's her choice and her experience.

Then we had lunch and sat through a couple of workshops dealing with her chosen major, she's currently thinking of pursuing a nursing degree, scholarships/financial aid and we wrapped up the day with a workshop on studying abroad.  I'm not sure why having her leave the country for a semester is an easier pill to swallow than moving into the dorms but for some reason it is.  Perhaps I can see the benefit of studying music for a semester in England or studying healthcare in Costa Rica for 4 months.  I do not see the benefit of living at Boise State when she has a nice, stable, secure home 20 minutes away.

I'm sure I'll warm up to the idea but I'd really  just prefer to keep her my little girl.

TBT - Disney World

I've never posted a Throw Back Thursday - ever.  These little punkin heads (and that one big punkin head) are my whole world.  This picture was taken in 2007 on our first day in Disney World.  We had such a marvelous time that trip and we are taking the kids - and Grandpapa - back for Spring Break this year.  It's not been the best timing with Lindsay's foot surgery but with only a few more years with the girls at home we felt it was in our best interest to take the trip now.  I hope that it won't be too horrible for Lindsay and that she will be recovered enough to withstand all the walking the trip will entail.

When we went to Disney World the first time we had many long days in the park but you know, the girls didn't fight one time from the minute we landed in Orlando until touched down in Salt Lake City on the return trip.  I know it seems impossible but they really enjoyed their time there and enjoyed each other.  Yes, you read that correctly.  Sage and Lindsay.  My Sage.  My Lindsay.  Did not fight with each other for 4 WHOLE days.

I'm really looking forward to going back.  We will have 5 full days in the park - and maybe an evening on the first day we get there, depending on how tired we are.  I'm hopeful for an amazing time and anxious to make more memories with my favorite ladies in the whole world.  They are amazing and even though they fight like every other set of siblings, I couldn't ask for better kids.  They make me a very proud mama and no matter what happens in the world, no matter what successes or failures I may have in this life, I know without a doubt that they know that I love them.

The results are in!

We got Lindsay's test results back and she tested positive for the DQ2 and DQ8 genes, which means that if she doesn't currently have celiac disease then she is at highest risk for developing it. 😐 Not exactly the results that we were hoping for. We are still unsure if we will start exposing her to gluten so that we can do a biopsy or just continue as we have been. Overall she does feel much better on the gluten free diet, but was really looking forward to that daddy-daughter date to Panda Express.