Graduation followed by Dr visit

Well we made it through graduation. Ian and I had our cry moment after it was over and we took our post cry picture. Every time I look at him I am in aw of the young man before me. I wish nothing but the best for him and I hope he lives life to the fullest.

Friday I went to see Dr. Worsey. I drove all the way to SD for nothing basically. He couldn't scope me because my stoma is too small for the scope in the office. He again told me to keep an eye on the air release and if anything else comes with it to call in and schedule to be seen at the hospital (of course that's where all the smaller scopes are). I really wish he could have made accomodations for me while I was there...it's not like it's around the corner.

Sunday I walked 10 miles and then went to breakfast with the team, on my way home here came the air and a little extra with it. I'm hoping it won't happen again. I'm starting to learn the signs of when it's going to happen. Nothing worse than being around other people when it does. So on with life and my upcoming 5k on the 4th of July.

Surprise Gift

My son Ian is graduating on Thursday and today we are celebrating with his great grandmother Juanita since she will not be here on that day. She is giving Ian a big gift and we've kept it a surprise for months now. Last November their great grandfather Jack passed away. He was an incredible man and we miss him dearly. It was just his birthday...unfortunately I can't remember if it's the 18th or 19th because Jack & Juanita's birthday's were back to back. So just before he passed away he told grandma that he wanted Ian to have his truck. Today Ian is getting his first car and funny enough he doesn't have his drivers license yet, but I can't wait to see the look on his face. He has no clue! I'm sure I will cry from the joy on his face. I've been crying for weeks now thinking about my son graduating from high school and becoming a man (crying now just typing this out). I even started crying when I read through all the graduation cards...having found the perfect one that says everything I feel.

How do they grow up so fast? It feels like he was just born yesterday. My first child is graduating high school...still blows my mind. Now he'll be starting college and living an adult life soon. Fortunately he's not leaving the nest just yet, but when he does I don't know what I will do. For now I will keep guiding him through life as best as I can and hope that he will make the right decisions for himself. I'm truly blessed to have such an incredible son. I LOVE YOU IAN!

Happy Father's Day to all the great fathers in my life. To my husband, thank you for being a great dad to the boys. I'm so grateful you are in their life and that you have helped make them who they are today. Your guidance and faith in their dreams has been a true blessing.

****update from the event: Ian opened the box and at first he had this look of confusion...then he started to cry when he realized what he just got and who it came from. He was so overwhelmed with emotion and we all started to cry. Here's a picture of him after the tears wore off and the excitement set in****

Special Day

Happy Birthday to Kaleb who turned 2 today. He was so cute opening his presents and blowing out his candles. Can't believe how much he says and how open he is to learning new things. He can actually say ZiZi which is really hard to say for most people. When he tells me love you ZiZi and give me a big hug I just melt.

13 yrs ago we lost my grandfather...we called him Pepe...to pancreatic cancer, it would have been his 87 yrs old today. When Kaleb was born 2 yrs ago we all cried because it was such a special day for him to be born. He was 3 weeks early and we kept saying he was going to be born on Pepe's birthday and sure enough he came on his own that very day. So every year we have a lot to celebrate.

Love you & miss you terribly Pepe. See you in my dreams.

Walk & Pool Time

Sunday I walked 9.3 miles in 2 hrs & 40 minutes. Team Challenge participated in the Brentwood 5 & 10k. Myself and teammate Kelley were the only 2 walkers to do all 9.3 miles. We came in after the stop clock was shut down, but we didn't care, we were just happy to have done it and now we know what it will be like to do the half marathon in July. My legs were numb by the time I finished, but I felt great and could have kept on going. This is definitely one of the best experiences of my life and I'm so glad I have someone that walks at the same pace I do to keep pushing eachother along. I can't wait for the race in Napa!!!

Yesterday was the first day I spent time in a pool & laying in the sun. Hung out at one of my favorite spots in Palm Springs. The massive bandaide I had one didn't do the trick the 1st attempt in the water, but held out on the 2nd attempt after changing it. Things definitely felt different in the water and my stoma moved more than ever. Either I was having a bad day or water impacts me in a different way. All in all I'm happy I was able to partake in something I enjoy doing.

World IBD Day

It's so exciting to have a day for us finally. I never realized there wasn't one. My pouch didn't quite behave today and of course it had to be the day that all my senior management was in my office and we had meetings back to back. Needless to say I made it through the day with no damage, but not the kind of days I like. Well the best part of the day, aside from it being IBD day & wearing blue (my favorite color)...one of the offices participating in my fundraising efforts announced they raised $500 by selling tamales.

I've got an office challenge going on right now and it's basically called a "dime" drive. Filling a 16oz bottle full of dimes = $100. So the challenge is to collect as many bottles of dimes as they can and the winning office gets to keep a bottle to spend. Now most of our offices are split up in to teams so it's really by the team. Now who wouldn't like $100? So out of the blue I get this email announcing this and I was so overwhelmed I almost started to cry. I was hoping that each office would collect at least 1 bottle...maybe 2 at the most, but for 2 teams (who joined forces) raised that much money I was at a loss for words and we still have another few weeks to go. That inspired my office to do something similar and one of my Loan Officers said he would buy the tamales and let us keep the profit on it. How cool is that? And to top it all off, the company I work for matches the donations. So I am going to definitely exceed my goal which is fantastic news!!!!!

I'm one lucky girl to have a great support team around me. I took this day to not only make everyone aware, but to thank my office for all their support while I've gone through all of my trials and tribulations these last few years. Soon I will be stepping down, but I know the support will always be there. Thanks Woodland Hills Team B02 & B06 for your incredible fundraising efforts :)

great day ended with a leak

So my day started out fantastic...got up, got dressed and out the door I went on my usual Saturday morning walk. Only today was absolutely gorgeous out. People were down at the already at 8:30am beach playing volleyball, walking, riding bikes, roller blading, jogging...even setting up camp for a day at the beach. I love mornings like that! and it was even warm...now I really love that! Brodee was off to a Jazz band competition with school and Ian was hanging out with his friends. So I went into the office for a bit, got some things done and the hubby text to see if I wanted to go on a hike. We met up around 2pm and off we went to PV. I've lived all over that hill and had never been to this area. We went on a beautiful hike down this trail and settled up on a knoll with trees. There was a little sitting area overlooking the coast and we sat there for a few hours while he serenaded me with his mini Martin guitar. I love when he does that and we sat and soaked up the sun, got to pet a few dogs as they came around with their owners and watched a few lizards scamper through the brush.

Heading back up the hill to the car we watched a man unicycle the same hill...I seriously don't know how the heck he did that. Near the top my stoma started to twitch and all of the sudden I felt air and more. I was hoping the more part was a figment of my imagination, but it wasn't. It poured out and the pad was covered. So we walked a little faster and a more came out. Got to the car and cleaned it off...still stuff coming out. I thought it was under control and here came more air bubbles and that not so good feeling. My husband was worried and I was too, but I was trying to be calm and rationalize why this could be happening. Of course apologizing for the smell and he said "don't worry hon, it's like a wet fart" I enjoyed the laugh and we headed to the nearest Starbucks so I could get my catheter in. I had no trouble getting it in. My thought is that my valve didn't shut all the way after my last intubation or something got caught in the valve causing it to stay open slightly which would make the most sense to me seeing that I haven't had another incident since and my pouch was pretty full when I emptied it. I typically take it out slowly and I was in a hurry to leave and took it out quicker than normal. Maybe a darn piece of lettuce got stuck...who knows, but I'm hoping it will never happen again! I'm just glad i was with my husband when it happened.

Helping Others

I walked 5 miles today with Team Challenge and even jogged a little. I was surprised that I felt really good and I didn't feel my pouch jiggle around like I thought it would. So I plan on trying it again next week for a little longer and see how I do. After our team breakfast I went to Huntington Hospital to visit to step 1 jpouch patients. Dr. Kaufman performed thier surgeries on Wednesday & both of them were doing really well. I got to see both of their ileostomies and I even help Claudia change hers. It's really weird doing it for someone else, but she was a trooper and I really enjoyed helping her out and making her feel a little more comfortable about it. Michael was a hoot and he had the perfect looking stoma. I can't tell you how much I enjoy helping other patients, whether it's with an ostomy, cancer, jpouch or koch pouch. I feel very fortunate with all my surgeries and I am grateful to be given the opportunity to help others. Life is good!