The Tooth

On Sunday morning, the day after Halloween, Vilate woke up with a swollen cheek. Not just a little swollen, mind you, but it was massive. She looked on the left side as if she was Jay Leno with a square jaw and chubby cheeks. It was also pink, so we headed to Kaiser so the doctor could check it out. The doc said it was dental but an infection nonetheless. So they gave us some antibiotics and sent us on our way. ****side note: the doc we saw was my doc when I was a kid - she wasn't with Kaiser then****

We called a member of the Stake Presidency who is a dentist and he said we had done all we could for now and on Monday to call our dentist or him. I got Vilate a new dentist on Monday and we went in. They said it was a real emergency because it wasn't dental and under her chin was starting to swell. The dentist was concerned about her airway and the office staff spent 30 - 45 minutes trying to find us an oral surgeon because they were so concerned about the swelling spreading. Of course at 4:00 it's a little hard to get a same day appointment!!! We came home and I spent the next hour on the phone with the insurance company and an oral surgeon who could fit us in the next day.

So, Tuesday we go to the oral surgeon and they say it is the tooth and we don't need to be concerned about the airway it will be fine. Dumb dentist totally freaked me out for no reason!!!! Oh well. The surgeon says they have to pull the tooth but then the insurance company won't authorize treatment on the same day as a consultation. What?!?!?! The doc has Wednesday off so it looks like Thursday we are heading back. Then they tell me that the insurance won't cover the anesthesia for kids over 6 - Vilate is 7. So I have to pay $225 to get her to sleep - but if I don't I will regret it - Vilate is TERRIFIED of the dentist!! At least she got a note for missing school out of the gig - that was free!!

Thursday we went to the oral surgeon's office as scheduled and they went to look for a vein to put in the IV, but guess what, Vilate's veins are too small! Instead they used an oral cocktail to put her out-of-it. She wasn't sleeping, just dizzy and totally out-of-it. I waited in the lobby and then a few minutes later they came and got me. I spent the next 2.5 hours with Vilate in the room trying to wake up. She cried so much and was so uncomfortable it was ridiculous. Apparently the oral cocktail is harder to wake up from than the IV. No kidding. At one point Vilate was hallucinating that the blinds were attacking her. She was so scared of them. It was the one point of comic relief in the midst of this whole mess.

Now we are back to normal - well as normal as we can be. The swelling has gone, the toothfairy came, and we are finishing up our antibiotics. All is good.

Halloween

We had a great Halloween. The kids dressed up on Thursday for their school party. They had a great time in the all school parade and I don't think that they even missed me! On Saturday Faith was invited to go to a friend's house for their festivities. We sure missed her. It's amazing that one child gone made the whole family seem so much smaller. We decided that next year she is required to stay with us...I know it won't last forever, but really I like having them all there!

Faith was the pirate chick; Hyrum and Vilate were wizards; Helaman was a scary scarecrow; Gloria a princess and Nephi was the jedi. Just a few sidenotes about their costumes:

The Jedi costume was made 6 or 7 years ago by my very talented sister-in-law, Robin. All three boys have worn it - Nephi has worn it twice. Gloria insisted on the Barbie costume. I warned her that she had to wear a shirt under it and that it would possibly be itchy - she hates itchy costumes. But we got it anyway, she put it on wore it for 30 minutes then decided it was too itchy - UGH!! I got a shirt for her to put on and her response to the brand new white long-sleeved t-shirt that I bought her was, "Barbie's don't wear those!" She was a real pain in the neck about it! We finally agreed to a short sleeved shirt and it even helped with the itching - imagine that: Mom knows what she's talking about!!!! Vilate and Hyrum were both wizards and were willing to wear costumes we already had if they could have wizard wands - $5 a piece and they were done!!! Helaman's costume was my favorite and, I think, the most creative. He had seen these scary scarecrows with pumpkin faces on Scooby Doo and thought they were cool. He determined that if was a scary scarecrow he could scare all the girls on the playground at school and they wouldn't chase him and try to kiss him - really they were kissing on the playground in Kindergarten! He loved being orange and having a scary painted face and he was convinced that his costume worked - I think the kissing stopping might have a little more to do with the principal coming in and mentioning that the next kissing culprits would have to visit her in her office - but what do I know?!?!?!

We went to Trunk-or-Treat at the church, the kids got loads of candy and then we went over to Grandma and Grandpa Morgans to show off our cool costumes! The best part of the night for me was the Big Hunk candy bars that Grandma and Grandpa had at their house. I had forgotten how wonderful they are! We saw lots of friends at the Trunk-or-Treat and had a great evening! I hope you all had a great Halloween!!!

Good Days

I have really enjoyed these last few weeks of no chemo. Actually this last week has been the best. I was able to go with David and the kids Halloween shopping and we got everyone costumed out!

Today was the school Halloween parade and I had to miss it because I had class and a major test that I just couldn't get out of. I was bummed. The kids' school has a fantastic set-up. They start in the kindergarten classroom and snake through the school showing off their costumes and then the class that just saw the costumes gets in the back of the line. It is really fun. I was sorry that I had to miss it today, but the kids all came home with great reports of a fun parade and wonderful parties.

Gloria had a hard time this morning because her and Nephi were the only two that didn't get to wear their costumes. We told her she could wear her's on Saturday to trunk-or-treat and she seemed okay with that. Nephi wanted to put his costume on also, but he was much more easily distracted.

I woke up yesterday morning and felt almost back to normal. I was not looking forward to yesterday's chemo, but I went. When I got their the nurses handed me a stack of 3 quilts and told me I could choose one to keep. Apparently some wonderful ladies had been making quilts and donated them to the oncology department at Kaiser to be handed out to the patients. They are beautiful. I'm not sure how many were made, but I was lucky that I got one of them.

So, I had chemo yesterday, today and I go back for an hour tomorrow. So far I'm doing good. I have blocked out what it was like the first few days on chemo the last few times, but I feel really good right now - almost like I haven't had any chemo. This new drug is supposed to be less toxic and "easier" than the last one. We shall see if that really is the case within the next week.

All of my assignments are in for now and I am waiting to hear about 2 tests that I have taken. Overall I am feeling really good about school and I am glad that I am going. Although I do wish I had energy for my school and to work at the kids school, but I don't feel well consistently enough to do much at their school. Hopefully with this new drug I will have more consistent days.

I am looking forward to Saturday's trunk-or-treating. I love taking the kids, as crazy and chaotic as it turns out to be in the dark with hundreds of people around and no stroller for Nephi this year, I am really excited to take them. They are counting down the days! What kid doesn't?!?! After Saturday I am planning to focus full force on Christmas. I have no idea what to get any of the kids, they haven't really said what they want yet.

We will be going to Apple Hill (hopefully) in the next few weeks and then it's Thanksgiving and then we have our own little Christmas Kick-off Party the day after Thanksgiving. Then onto December. I love this time of year, but I feel like things are flying by way too fast! We are busy, busy, busy!! We are enjoying the colors of the trees, the cooler weather and all the activities that come in the fall!! Have a safe and happy Halloween!!!

Just Random

I just finished taking a test in psychology and there is no one home here but me and I felt the need to just get my thoughts down...so here you go. Read at your own risk!

I have lost a lot of weight. 40 pounds since the end of May. I now weigh about what I did when we got married - in fact my wedding ring is now worn on the 3rd finger and I can fit my mom's wedding ring on my ring finger. That says a lot - she had the tiniest fingers! David poked my back and shoulder the other day and said that he likes me more squishy. I totally agree. So I am working hard at eating a lot. A lot for me is like half a sandwich. David has been awesome and he gets me whatever I want - whatever sounds good - whenever I want it. Now if I could just shake this terrible cough that I have!

Last Saturday we took the kids to the school carnival. We were there for 2 hours, spent too much money, won some yummy brownies in the cake walk, managed to only lose Nephi - and only one time, ate a bunch of junk, played a bunch of games and got to visit with friends. It was a fun time!!! The kids had a really good time. I was beat when we got home, but I am so glad that we took the kids.

The kids have had a lot of fieldtrips lately. Faith went to the Chabot Space & Science Museum in San Francisco and had a marvelous time. Hyrum went on a 2-night fieldtrip to Mount Lassen and had a great time walking up a volcano and exploring other things. Vilate went to Apple Hill for the first time and loved getting her carmel apple. Helaman went to the pumpkin patch and they also had a rice farmer come to their school. As you see the kids have been kept very busy. While their school requires a lot, I love it and all the opportunities that they are given. The teachers do a great job!!

Today I feel good. I wouldn't say great, but good is a huge improvement over yesterday. I am tired and my house is a disaster, the laundry needs to be folded and I really should go and clean the bathrooms, the kids rooms are frightening and the mouse's cage needs to be cleaned, but all things considered we are doing well. The important things get done. The kids are learning to contribute more. I am learning to care a little less how well folded the laundry is and how their drawers look. If they can find clean clothes in the morning for school, I am satisfied. My priorities have changed.

My new goal is to not yell. I am terrible. Everyone says, "oh your so patient," or "you never raise your voice." So not true! I am a yeller and I really hate it. So, my goal is no yelling. I love my kids and would hate it if they thought otherwise. I hoping if I make my goal public it will be easier to achieve!!!

As for the next few weeks...we are swamped. I have a mid-term on Friday afternoon. I have a paper due on Oct 30th. I really have to study my phonetics stuff and learn an entirely new alphabet. We still need to get costumes for Halloween. Then there is Halloween and trunk-or-treat. I have a bone scan and Chemo starts up again next week. This is all before November!!! Things are crazy busy around here, but it's a good busy and I don't think I would change it if I could - except maybe the chemo part.

Life is good!

A Quick Update

Sorry that I haven't been on my game where this blog is concerned. I have been really tired lately and it has been hard to get up the inspiration to blog. I just wanted to give everyone a quick update on what's happening around here. I met with my doctor on Tuesday and he said that the scans show that there is some change - not as much as he had hoped for though. We were okay with it because even slowly killing the cancer cells is still killing them. It would be okay if we could just keep killing them slowly - although faster is better. They are going to give me a few weeks off of chemo - I must say that I was thrilled about that one!! Then when I start up again they will be giving me a new drug - Carboplatin. Carbo is a sister drug to the one I was taking but it is not as strong and shouldn't destroy my magnesium levels and hearing anymore. I am hopeful that the cancer will respond to Carbo similarly as it did with Cisplatin and we will continue to see slow progress - maybe even faster progress - it's just a wait and see kinda thing.

Vilate came up to me the other day and said, "Mom, I don't want to offend anybody, so no offense to you, but it really sucks to have a Mom with cancer." I gave her hug and replied, "You're absolutely right. It does suck to have a Mom with cancer. Ya know it sucks also to be a Mom with cancer." To which she replied, "You're right." Out of the mouth of babes. It does suck to be a Mom with cancer and have a Mom with cancer, but I think that we are doing a pretty good job all things considered.

The kids are growing like weeds and I am not sure I am ready for them to grow up. They are getting more and more independent and occasionally they are even helpful! :) Faith has become quite the kitchen cleaner - I think it is mostly so that she can stay up late after everyone else has gone to bed, but I don't think I will complain. One less thing for David and I to have to do.

Today Hyrum was voted as the candidate for his class to run for Commissioner of Publicity. He will be running against one other 4th grader, 2 5th graders and 2 6th graders. He was so excited that he won the class election. I am so proud of him for wanting to be involved in the Student Council and having the courage to run. He said, "I got 3 more votes than the other girl and she is really popular!" He was so happy!!!

We are keeping busy with fieldtrips (at least one a week), schoolwork, housework, and life. Things never seem to slow down around here. But I think that's a good thing. Our lives are full - full of good stuff!!!