New local

Sorry for the lack of posts this week, but we moved this past weekend. Needless to say it's been rough and everything is disheveled. The move and the adjustment into our new home has not been easy. Even after getting rid of, (what I thought), was a lot of stuff during our garage sale, it still wasn't enough. Our new house is totally packed....I mean packed.
Here is our guest room AKA the 'staging' room. What do you do when your staging room is filled? Well you put stuff where ever you can find space. I swear if the producers of Hoarders came in our house right now we would qualify for their show! Small pathways have been made around our stuff.

I actually got the kitchen unpacked tonight, but I have no idea where I put anything. At least now maybe we will be able to make some meals at home. After 5 days of eating out every meal I'm already sick of it. That actually shocks me since we ate out for 4 weeks when we remodeling our kitchen. It took 3 weeks for me to get sick of it then.

We are also still working on our house on Yarrow which is a major reason we haven't had time to unpack our stuff. However we just found out that escrow will not be closing on Friday so that gives us the weekend to finish up and clean Yarrow. I am praying that escrow will close in a couple of weeks. It kills me to think that we could have moved this weekend instead of last. Oh well. There are a lot of things that are out of your control.

**Sorry for any type-os, I'm too tired to proof this.

Good or Bad Cancer?

This past weekend the following secret was posted on postsecret.com:I thought this was very interesting as the person was referring to thyroid cancer. (The three colors on the ribbon are the awareness colors for thyroid cancer). I don’t think anyone invalidates what a person has gone through when they say that thyroid cancer is the ‘good’ cancer. To me that means THANK YOUR LUCKY STARS you do not have a terminal cancer, have to go through Chemo, loose your hair, or lose a major part of your body (from surgery).

Why does this person feel guilty for not suffering more? No one chooses what kind of cancer they get. I’m wondering if they have a family member or friend who is suffering from terminal cancer, which is making their cancer seem less important

I also agree that no cancer is good, but it’s all about perspective. You aren’t given a choice with what cancer you get diagnosed with. Do you think if someone had the choice to have thyroid cancer or breast they would pick breast? Even if they really wanted a boob job, I doubt they would choose breast. Why? Because thyroid is better than breast…right? Less risks?

Why is it that some people can’t even say the word ‘cancer’? Because it’s bad, right? I agree that it’s all bad. Like I said before…it’s all about what perspective you put the cancer in to deem it ‘good’ or ‘bad.’

The same day I viewed that secret, I also read an entry on the blog Dear Thyroid called ‘Myth-Busting: The Good Cancer. We’re Talking About Thyroid Cancer.'

This entry gives a great detailed explanation of what someone goes through when diagnosed with thyroid cancer. It also supports the thoughts on the secret.

A few days later they posted part 2 of the first blog entry, which states the ‘good’ points about the cancer.

Like I said before, it’s all about perspective. I was surprised at how many angry commenters there were on the first post, saying they were tired of peeps saying thyroid was the ‘good’ cancer. I guess I should be thankful that I’ve had a positive outlook for most of my diagnosis.

Medical Drama Part 2,094

You know what is worse then being told you have a lump in your breast? Having to tell your husband you have a lump in your breast. Trust me…I know.

A few weeks ago I had a routine check up and the nurse practitioner found a lump. The only good thing was that she told me it had all the characteristics of being a cyst. It was mobile, firm (but not rock hard), and fairly large. She also told me that 80% of lumps are cysts. Next step was getting an ultra sound. She told me that if it is a cyst, it would appear as a large black circle on the ultrasound because liquid shows up as black. I also knew that ultra sound technicians are not allowed to tell you anything, so I felt ahead of the game knowing that black was good.

I was lucky I only had to wait 2 days until the ultra sound, and I cannot tell you how happy I was when I saw a black circle!! It was pitch black, similar to this image (thanks Google).The technician did come back and tell me it was a cyst. Yeah! I wanted to go out and celebrate, but I still felt a little uneasy knowing that the lump could have been cancer. I didn’t really let myself think that it was cancer. I honestly don’t know what I would have done if it was. I thought that the ultra sound wasn’t going to be 100% clear and because of my medical history they would have required more testing, but in the end it would be a cyst. I am so thankful it was a cyst. Thyroid cancer sucks, but breast is a whole new level. Even though I only had to wait 2 days, it was tough.

Like I said before…telling John was one of the worst things I’ve had to do. I know that if the situation was reversed I would have been a lot more worried. I feel guilty that I put him through so much more stress/worry. I should take the brunt of it right? I’m the one with the illness. It doesn’t seem fair.

M.I.A.

John misses our couches.

What is that Sound?

As some of you know, bad table manners is one of my BIGGEST pet peeves, and I know exactly who to blame for it…my dear ole mother. As a kid she trained us early on to not smack our food (or gum), chew with your mouth closed, slurp any substance, and to not scrape your teeth on your utensils.

Once she whipped my sister and I into shape I’m sure she was very thankful. However it didn’t matter when we had friends over to eat with us. I will never forget this one time when our friend Erin Vader was scraping her teeth on her fork. My mom politely asked her stop, but then she did it again. Poor Erin didn’t even know what she was doing! I wonder if Erin scrapes her teeth now.

Flash forward to 2010…my mom and I just became friends (again) with an old friend via Facebook. She sent my mom the following message:

‘Hey Judy I remember when I was a part of a different co-op that you were in! LOL Hey I was in Spanish last week, smacking my gum, and Seniora Padilla made sure I the whole class understood that it is annoying! HA HA! Guess you're not the only one annoyed by that terrible habit! Gum is a great stress reliever and thinking tool...but I really do need to not smack it...sometimes I get really focused especially in Spanish! I thought you'd get a kick out of that!’

As you can see my mom’s influence is still remembered to this day! I’m wondering if any of my other friends have memories of her iron fisted eating rules.

I normally bite my tongue with I’m around a noisy eater, but all I have to do is look at John and he knows that I’m dieing inside. Ahhh the joys of becoming your parents as you get older.

Final Decision

It’s official! We have a place to live! We will not be homeless on the streets of SLO. Granted that was never a real concern of mine, but I can’t say the same for my parents.

We actually didn’t get the place on Leff Street that we wanted, which was a TOTAL SHOCKER! By the time we applied for that place we had already been approved for two other places! I have no idea why the dude didn’t pick us…apparently the other coulpe made a better impression. His loss right? Well maybe it’s our loss…of a garage that is.

If you can believe it…we continually saw rentals that kept topping our first choices. On the day where we had made up our mind to rent the house on Ward Street (2 car garage), we decided to see one more house. This house was on Pismo Street, which is a block closer to downtown than the other house that was also close to downtown (Buchon Street, which we had already applied for and gotten accepted).

Once again I entered the house thinking that there was no way this place would be better than the one with the 2-car garage, but I was wrong…for the 3,596th time. Big surprise. This place had a DISHWASHER!!! OMG!!! I could not believe it! It also had a decent size yard and a decent size kitchen with ample cabinets. However it only had one closet. Ummmm have you seen the amount of clothes that I own? That wasn’t going to cut it. John on the other hand was ready to sign the lease that day. Was he serious? Hadn’t we just deicded to take the house on Ward?

We had some decision makin’ to do.

We liked the house on Pimso better than Ward…BUT did we like the house on Pismo better than the house on Buchon? That was the tricky question.

Once again we wrote out another pros and con list, which included all three houses. The main difference between Buchon and Pismo was that Buchon had a cheaper rent. The advantage of Ward over the other two homes, was that it had the 2-car garage. It basically came down to whether or not we would be willing to pay $2400 for the use of a 2-car garage for a year.

Remember…we have a lot of stuff…a lot.

Knowing we could get a storage unit (for a year) for less than $2400, we knew it wasn’t worth it. We decided to go with the house on Buchon…the one we had been approved for over a week ago and luckily it hadn’t been rented to anyone else. In fact the rent actually reduced $50 a month by the time we signed the lease…score!
I am worried that we didn’t get our ‘ideal’ house, but I’m also worried about being a renter again. Last night John told me he had a dream where he was walking to Firestone Grill, (one of our fave restaurants in town, that we will be able to walk to). My dream on the other hand was a bit different For some reason there was a bunch of random people in our house and they kept leaving the front door open. So in rides this kid on a bike. Right into the living room. I yelled at him and told him to get out of here. He acted all innocent because the door was open…like duh! Of course I’m going to ride my bike inside! Well apparently someone else was leaving the back door open, and then I was having issues with the windows/blinds. (I don’t think I could open/close them). Overall it was a very stressful situation/dream.

Needless to say I think our dreams pretty much sum up how we are both feeling about the rental. I do believe that Buchon is the right choice because it is cheaper, has big closets, and has a great location. One of the main reasons of us renting is to save money, and that totally got lost in the process…especially when I saw the 2-car garage.

Don’t worry too much for the MINI…I’m going to get her a MINI car cover. Too bad I couldn’t charge the landlord for that.

We get the keys next week and will start making some trips over there with our gear. That leaves us about 2 weeks from now until the big move, and about 3 weeks left until we hand over our keys. How is that realty almost here when I’ve been avoiding it for the last 2 months? Doesn’t avoidance = stopping of time? Dang. I think my time is up.

DDD #21

Before we left LA we decided to head out to Glendale to eat at Mambo’s Cafe, our 21st DDD. We showed up and they had this awesome Cuban band rocking the house…however it was a bit too loud for us old fogies, so we decided to eat outside. We remembered a few things that Guy tried, and our super nice waitress helped us figure out the other dishes to order.

We started with the Tostones and Shrimp. Let me tell you that these shrimp were some of the BEST shrimp I have ever had.
After the shrimp I was mad that I didn’t order a main dish with shrimp. I got the half of chicken, John got the Cuban sando, Michael got the Cajun chicken, and Molly got the halibut, but they served her the wrong fish.Overall the meal was good, but John and I both agree that the Cuban food at Sol Food in San Rafael is better.

Sci Fi Medicine

Sometime last year John Googled 'Achilles Tendon Injuries' and came across an article on PRP Therapy. The more research he did on it, the more it sounded like it could help my Achilles. If it was good enough for professional athletes like Tiger Woods and Troy Polamalu, then is has to be good enough for the Booers right?

I asked a few of the orthopedists that I saw what they thought of the therapy and they were all neigh sayers. Only one dr. wasn't very skeptical, he didn't know enough about it to know if it would help me ore not.

Since I didn't hear what I wanted, I decided to use Google to find a dr. that did the administered the therapy. In my research I found Othrohealing located in LA. Everything I read on the site sounded awesome, so I made an appointment for the first holiday I had this year, which was Good Friday. (Gotta save that PTO for Paris).

I was pretty worried because I felt that this was my last hope. If the dr. didn't think my case was worthy of the therapy I don't know what my next option would be. Lucky for me, after a general evaluation, and ultra sound, the dr. thought I could benefit from the treatment!! AWESOME!

First step was getting blood withdrawn...6 vials...piece of cake compared to the 12 I had done the week before. Here I am snacking on the granola bar they gave me after the withdrawal:
Next step was to wait 25 mins while the blood was put in the centrafuse.

Next step = prep for injection! First the dr. poked me with a plastic tool to designate the worst areas. He told me that this part is the most painful for some patients. ‘Whatever,’ I thought. How bad can a plastic tool hurt, right? OMG! It totally hurt, and he didn't even draw any blood!

Then it was time for the numbing shot. Let me paint a picture for you. Imagine having a really sore muscle/tendon...now imagine sticking a needle into that EXTREMELY sore muscle/tendon. Sounds a bit painful, right? Let me tell you it hurt SO bad! Luckily I only had to get one numbing shot. They even used some freezing spray (before the injection), which might have caused no pain to the skin, but the tendon pain was so intense that the spray was useless.

Luckily I didn't feel any of the injections, and it really didn't take that long. Look on the left side of the video, and you will see the needle entering the tendon. The dr. targets the black areas, which are the pockets of liquid. The white blood cells are supposed to speed up the healing process.

After the injection I got iced by GAME READY.
This thing was AWESOME! The brace filled up with ice-cold water and it had a timer, so after 10 minutes I was done! I can't imagine all the other cool equipment that professional athletes have access too.

I was pleasantly surprised that my foot didn't hurt afterwards. The dr. said that some patients need crutches or get a prescription for vicodin. Seriously? My foot didn't hurt at all.

FLASH FORWARD to 4 hours later and I am in A LOT of pain. The numbing juice wore off and I could barely walk. The drive home was extremely difficult because I could not find a comfortable position for my food, and the ride was also really bumpy. I just knew once I got home, and out of the car, that my foot would feel better. I was wrong. I was still in a huge amount of pain. Luckily I had some left over vicodin from my surgery and was able to take one. I don't think I would have been able to sleep through the night if I didn't have those meds. (The dr. gave me 500 mg of Tylenol but that didn't do a thing for me.)

The next day it was a little better, but still really sensitive. The dr. also said to treat my foot like it is a new injury. Take it really easy for the first 5 days and then start up physical therapy again. I head back down in a month for another injection, and then possibly one more. I might see an improvement after 14 days, or I might see an improvement after the second injection.

Overall I am SO thankful I got the PRP treatment. Other wise I would have always had the 'what if' hanging over my head. Dr. Sampson and his team were AWESOME. I can't believe how lucky I was to find such a great practice from Google. So keep your fingers crossed for me that this will do the trick and I will be able to run and jump in a few months.

Is that a Fungus?

A couple of months ago I finally went and saw a dermatologist for the bizarre rash on my foot, (the same one as the bad Achilles). It appeared last July once I started wearing a boot while I slept. In November I started wearing a sock with the boot thinking that would make it go away, but it didn’t.

Are you wondering why it took me 7 months to go to the doctor? Well it doesn’t itch, it’s not spreading, and it doesn’t bother me. I also really didn’t want to go to another dr. appointment, but obviously it’s being caused by something other than the boot.

The dermatologist I saw is good, however he had no idea what the rash was. He called in reinforcements, (the other dr.), and he too had no idea what it was.

Next step = biopsy. Yes, you read that right. I had to have a biopsy ON MY FOOT! You know there are some things you just aren’t prepared for when you go see a dr. for a rash. I’ll just take some cream thanks, and be on my way. What are you doing with that needle?

Of course the first numbing shot didn’t take deep enough so as he started digging I started feeling the pain.

Shot #2 = awesome! NOT! At least that one worked. He put one stitch in and I had to come back in 2 weeks.Two weeks later…the biopsy didn’t tell him anything and the rash continued to mystify them.

Next step = Blood and urine tests.

Results = I’m healthy as a horse.

Next step = see a rheumatologist. (I personally didn’t think this was necessary, but the rash had stumped him…what else was he to do? He also wanted to prescribe me a steroid cream, but not before I saw the rheumatologist.

Month later = rheumatologist visit where I stump him AND some other dermo that worked in his office. They kept saying how ‘interesting’ the rash was. AKA they had no idea what was causing it.

Next step = MORE blood and urine tests. They took 12 vials of blood. 12!!!!! The dr. said they were going to test me for everything, and I guess that meant they needed a pint.

So now I’m waiting to hear from him. I asked him if he could recommend a good local podiatrist for me, and he said he didn’t think I needed to see one. I disagree, so I’m seeing one this week.

We will see if the rash stumps any more doctors. I finally got the prescription for the steroid cream, however I don't think it is helping.