Just say no to drugs!

I am posting a no picture post....whoa! I know it is shocking, but after you read this, you will understand that EVEN ME being the camera obsessed one I am, could not find it in any fiber of my being to have the sense of humor to take a picture of my face at any point in this experience...

Ok, but it is a post and it is a LONG time coming! So, here goes....

3 weeks ago, I found a lump in my armpit. Eep....not something anyone likes to discover, so I headed off the my doctor....who, I'm not real fond of, but it couldn't wait. Fortunately, the doc said it was just an infected cist and gave me a prescripiton for the antibiotic, Bactrim.

After a few days of choking down 4 giant horse pills a day, the cist started breaking up and feeling better. I finished out the 7 day dose and thought all was good.

Two days later, I was at my sister's house and started feeling some wierd stomach and back pains. I thought maybe something I ate didn't agree with me, so I dismissed it. I got home around 10 PM and by 10:30 my throat started feeling really wierd...a little itchy and like I had swollen tonsils. Since my tonsils were removed when I was 3, I knew it wasn't that. My lower jaw started feeling numb and my stomach felt worse. I thought I might just go to bed and sleep it off, but the numbness and throat swelling didn't seem "right".

I called the on-call nurse to see what she thought....she told me to go to the ER ASAP. So, it was now 2 AM and we had a sick little girl at home. I called my friend, who happened to still be up, and she drove me to the hospital. After a bunch of questions, an EKG, and some IV meds, they decided I was having an allergic reaction. I got home about 5 AM with a list of prescriptions to fill, including an Epi-pen.

The next day, my throat swelled a little more, and my stomach bloated. I was in a lot of pain and had the worst heartburn ever! I was miserable... Fortunately, it was Sat. and my hubby was home. I popped the meds and felt okay enought to go with the family to a family baptism(s) and birthday(s). On the way home, I started feeling bad again and by 11 PM I was having so much stomach pain, I could hardly stand it. I also felt really jittery and couldn't even sit still. I ended up staying up all night long until I finally mastered the heart burn, stomach cramps, and arm pain with ibuprofen. I think I got to bed finally at about 7 AM.

I woke up at one point with a swollen eye ball, tongue, and upper lip, and hives on my belly, legs and back. After the Benadry really kicked in, I kept on sleeping, getting up only long enough to take more. I ended up sleeping ALL day Sunday until that night when I staggered out long enough to have a Priesthood blessing. Surprisingly, I was able to sleep again Sunday night after the Ibuprofen helped lesen the sever arm pain that I had developed.

It took me almost two full weeks of taking steroids, antihistamines, and acid reducers to feel better. I went back to the doc and he said he was convinced it was the Bactrim. So, I now officially have a severe allergy to Sulfa based antibiotics and an allergy to Penicillins, discovered when I was a kid. Wheeeee......medicating me will be an adventure!

Good thing I have a lot of spare time to be sick, haha :)

New and improved blog experience...at least for me :)

A wise friend of mine suggested I move forward with life and stop trying to play make up on my blog...so, here goes! I will start posting family events currently happening, then when I have time, I will back date (a cool thing I just realized I can do...helps keep the journal idea going) all the fun we had between Aug and Jan....wow, was I really that far behind? Yikes!

So, here's to moving forward....and looking back, when I can :)

Prayers for my father in law

My father in law, (also named Tom Cameron), was just diagnosed with stage 4 kidney cancer. He is a wonderful man....sweet, compassionate, hard working, forgiving, generous....loves his grandkids. He is going in tomorrow morning for a very dangerous and difficult surgery. They are going to remove a large tumor that has grown on and around one of his kidneys and is wrapped around the renal artery. We are blessed to live in the Seatle area...UW Medical Center, Fred Hutchinson, and Cancer Alliance are all the best in the nation...

We know he is in the best hands...please help pray that everything goes smoothly...

We know that prayer is very powerful. It has and continues to help our family with struggles we are faced with.....

The family....Matt and Jeanette, Tom and Julie, Sue and Dan, Tom and Melanie, Rachel and Walter, and Charles

Tom and Julie with the grandkids ~ Feb. 2010

Bringin' ye ol' Blog up to date!!!

Ok, so enough avoidance right? I have so many months to add here I need to get crackin!
So....I am writing this down knowing there are people out there who will hold me accountable and nag me to blog :) I take motivation in any form I can these days!

Tomorrow Summer goes in for surgery and I will be staying with her at the hospital for at least 2 days....this is the butt sitting, blog catching up, opportunity I have been waiting for! :) Let's hope Summer cooperates with my plan :)

See you tomorrow!