The hell wasn't so hellish.....

so for those that care - thanks for thinking of me and sending good vibes my way for Monday. Everything went very well. I won't write too much about bowels and bowel prep here for the squemish, but my prep was excellent (yeah - I'm so proud :). I think the two day prep and eating lighter in the days leading up really helped. I thought the GoLytely tasted much better than the Halflytely, less thick and salt. Someone else on the net said it tasted like old swamp water that sat in a rusty pipe and I tend to agree. It did NOT come with any flavoring, so I mixed the glasses with some lemon honey green tea crystal light I had around. I only had to drink half the gallon before things started coming out clear, so I was like, "I'm done". That was good because I was nauseous, even though I only drank one glass per 30 minutes instead of one every 15 minutes. I had no stomach cramping or vomiting like last time which was a HUGE relief.

Monday morning I was a bit thirsty. I don't remind the colonoscopy or the endoscopy and felt quite drugged afterwards. It did look like Celiac dx on the scope. However - my biopsies came back are negative for Celiac. Now what?

Thanks to everyone for all the prayers and good wishes.

the hell begins.......

I am scheduled for a colonoscopy and endoscopy on Monday. Ugh. I've been eating low residue foods since Thursday (ie: no fiber) and yesterday I drank a 10 oz bottle of Magnesium Citrate which of course, induces bowel movements. I drank it at four instead of six like the instructions said because I know better and I know it takes a while to work. Nevertheless, I was still up every two hours in the night to "go". At 6 tonight I am supposed to drink my GoLytely - which is four gallons of the most vile, thick, salty tasting substance I have ever had. Last time I had the HalfLytley which came with a choice of flavors. This time there is no flavor. I've read on the net that you can flavor it with lemon-lime crystal lite and I have some green tea/lemon lime packets that I may add to the cups. You have to chug a cup every 10-15 minutes until the entire 4 Liters is gone. Yes, 4 liters. I'm starting at 1:00 p.m., because I'm no fool! I've been a liquid diet too, which means gatorade and chicken broth. This is so, so not fun. Keep me in your thoughts and prayers.

Vi is feeling a bit better and the MD gave me something for her severe cradle cap. I think we both have a cold because my throat hurts on top of this.

fever

Oh no! I just went to pick up Vi from daycare earlier and she looked terrible. Last night she was quite flushed and her cheeks were bright red. They said she had a fever of 102. When I got her home it was 101.5 rectally (how fun) and I called the nurse. I am taking her in tomorrow at 8:15. I gave her Tylenol which Daddy picked up and she seems to be better. She ate just great today. She's asleep and I am sleepy.

I had my last supper tonight..... no food except clear liquids until my colonoscopy and endoscopy on Monday.

new hats

Vi received several new hats as modeled below.....





Great Grandma Smith knitted the bonnet & mittens, Grandma Dean made the purple hat, and mama bought the cat hat.

Ate gluten containing foods for dinner

...... and feeling so ill. Ugh. Trying to eat gluten prior to my test next Monday..

Last week was a fairly trying week. It was my first week back to work full time. Vi was crabby and cried most of the evenings as soon as I got her home. I felt terrible with diarrhea, and my horrible stiffness and pains. Frankly, I'm glad its over. I find leaving VI at daycare trying, they don't feed her enough and she ends up so tired and starving at the end of the day. Right now she is napping while I actually get to type this. P and I were going to hang out and play games today (since it is this horrible sleety, rainy, snowy mix) but I went down to the basement to throw a load of laundry in and found two inches of water, a bunch of wet laundry I had dumped, and some wet boxes. Sigh. P just got back from Lowe's buying a new sump pump to install so we don't get taken by a plumber

Things are going good today though! I had a great workout, my cake smells great and Vi has been napping for 2 hours and 45 minutes.

:)

snooopy

P's mom and Grandma are visiting on their way to Florida. P's mom went through Vi's closet and all her dresser drawers??? She said it was to look at "all her clothes". Okay then. Then P's grandma spent five minutes looking through all our spices - and then -- she came down in our basement to look around. She's 86 and doesn't need to be going down the stairs. What the hell???

Election Day Thoughts

So yesterday was Election Day (really - I didn't know, duh). Many of you don't know but I used to be a big time political activist/campaign worker/party lackey/paid field organizer/organization president etc. My life was politics. The first big election I worked on was Clinton/Gore '92. I still remember the energy, the excitement, the fact that we were changing the world. I saw a lot of that this election with the Barak Obama campaign. Everyone was excited about voting, everyone was excited about Barak. Yesterday, I did not vote for Barak Obama. Yes, I'm surprised too.

I've been a democrat for as long as I can even remember. I remember going to vote with my dad in 1980 and asked if he was going to vote for Reagan. He said that Reagan was a republican and republicans were not for the common working man. I always tended to agree and took that to heart. All my past work on campaigns and in politics was in Democratic Politics. As I grew older and worked hard and made more money, I became more and more concerned about paying so many taxes and having social security when I am older. Also, I've become more pro-military after living overseas and learning about the world. I've always been fairly socially liberal. So that's why I voted for McCain yesterday.

I honestly don't think any of my old democratic colleagues would believe it because I was the most die hard young Democratic there was.

The fact is that I don't dislike Barak Obama at all. I like and respect Joe Biden. Hopefully he can get some good people behind him and do some really good things for the country that don't involve restricting my rights nor increasing my taxes just because I have a job and make money.

my two favorite people

Daddy is his new suit (I picked the tie) and VI in her cute outfit.

Do I need anything else????

For the past three weeks I've been in such severe pain with stiffness and soreness in my body I can barely walk without hobbling around. My hands are so stiff and sore in the mornings I have trouble holding a pen. Ibuprofen is my best friend. I see the Rheumatologist on Thursday..... let's hope it's not rheumatoid arthritis.