7.2-- CD...Scottie; PICC, Yogies, Lamborn/Bonin

Altoona Regional Hospital
Friday, July 2, 2010.

Woke up this a.m. to spend some quality friend time with Scottie, one o' the guards that I work with at the prison. It was nice just to be able to sit and talk to him. He's got the cutest li'l baby girl and we looked at pictures o' her. Boy, she sure is getting big!! (: I can always count on a picture o' the baby to make me feel better!

Scottie & ME.


Silly face...this one makes me smile!


Thanks Scottie for stopping by to cheer me up.

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PICC LINE
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In the a.m. one o' the nurses stopped by to clean my PICC Line. It was all covered with blood and bruised badly. So the nurse stopped by to fix up the dressing. This also means covering it with alcohol and ointment that cleans the wound, or should I say burn like mad!

All Bloody and Messy.

PICC Line, with the stitches.

Pretty Stitches, right? They give it some color.

Can you see the incision where they cut into me?

Teresa proud o' a job well done.

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Nurses & Doctors
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Some more o' my nurses that have dealt with my case and gotten to know me. It's been great to continue to see the Lord put many different nurses and doctors in my life. They will never know how much some o' them have made an impact on my life and how encouraging they have been.

Me & Nurse Kathy.

Gotta love my pain shot, right?

My Favorite PA, Rich Richard.
NOTE: He didn't break my camera!

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Visitors
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The Ybarra Family stopped by to cheer me up!
Boy, and cheer me up they did. They are such a sweet family!

Jasmine, my best buddy! (:

The Sweetest Family...The Yogi's.
All J's---Jill, Jasmine, Jess, & Li'l Jess.

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Ambulance Trip to UPMC
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Michelle and her mother stopped by around 4:00 p.m. to drop off some smell goods (lotion). When They arrived, my things weren't packed and the A-Med Team had arrived. So needless to say it was crazy trying to get all my stuff together, figuring out what we needed, seeing what was not needed, trying to condense it into as few bags as possible, all this while only being able to move so far because o' the lovely IV leash! Thank the Lord Michelle and Mama Lamborn were there at that time. They helped me finish packing, then they also took some o' my extra stuff home from the hospital (in Altoona) to my house (in Huntingdon) so that I wouldn't have as much to take to Pittsburgh (UPMC)! Again, Praise The Lord for such wonderful friends who are such a great support to me during this time.

Michelle, Me, & Mama Lamborn.

Ready to Leave in the Ambulance. YAY!
4:15 p.m. ---leaving Altoona.

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Arriving at UPMC, Montefiore
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I arrived in Pittsburgh around 5:40 p.m. Then I ended up waiting for them to give me my pain shot. It took them FOREVER!! Eventually around 9:15 p.m. I was able to get my pain shot. Because it had taken so long to receive the medication, by the time I had received the injection the pain was so bad that it didn't even touch the extreme pain that I was in. Dr. Rizvix (Internal Medicine) was on call and is my attending physician. She was able to see how much pain I was in and was able to batta-boom, batta bing get me coverage. So that was all good! She was very compassionate and even tried to get my medicine in me before she started poking around on my belly. Thank the Lord for nice doctors, right?

Dr. Rizvix--General Medicine.

Amanda RN, Night Nurse--Another Favorite.

Isn't she just so darling?

Diane Alexander, Nurse Administrator.
She was in charge o' updating my record information, emergency contacts, address, insurance, updated pill list, past medical history, and any other pertinent information. When Diane walked in the door she stated, "So I hear that you are really nice in this room." That's when I asked her for her picture. She was so flattered that I'd asked to get my picture taken with her, that she said I was by far her favorite patient so far.
Me & Nurse Diane.

All in all I guess the admission process went fairly smoothly. The only complaint was waiting 7-8 hours before I got my pain medication, so I wasn't a ball o' thunder when the doctor (Dr. Rizvix) came in to see me. In some ways it was good so that they could see the pain level my body is experiencing.

THE END!!!

30-- CD (Gram, PICC, RN's, Manicure)

Altoona Regional Hospital
Wednesday, June 30, 2010.

Today is Wednesday, it's been a busy day for me. Not necessarily getting things done, but just lots o' things on the list that are on the schedule. I woke up at 8 a.m. to get my shower. When I got done with my shower I came out o' the bathroom to be greeted by a sweet smiling face...

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Grammy Hoffman
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Gram had a dentists appointment scheduled up here in Altoona and she decided she would spend some time with her granddaughter before she went to her appointment. Gram has always been an inspiration to me in that she is 88 years old and full o' spunk. She stopped by and I had some cards and suggested we play a card game. So we played a few rounds o' "Spite & Malice", which I must say she kicked my butt, like always! (: She was only able to sit through a few rounds before she was chomping at the bit and ready to leave. I was very thankful that she was able to stop by and visit. Thanks for the visit Gram, I love you!

My Gram...She's the BEST!

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PICC Line
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This a.m. my IV in my neck started to infiltrate and leak into my neck. It started to burn, so I called the nurse and told her that it was burning. The nurse said, "Ok, I will tell the doctor." Finally 30 minutes later another nurse came by, I mentioned how badly it was burning. Apparently the IV should have been shut off to prevent it from infiltrating more. Whoops. So here are all the pictures o' the swollen/infiltrated neck IV site:

Can you see it?

Kinda looks like a goiter?

There it looks like a big bump...

Compare to the normal side.

Finally, it's out!

It's a li'l red...

Vampire bite...with a li'l bit o' blood!

The PICC LINE STORY---
I was getting ready to go down to get my PICC line put in. So the nurses were telling me all that I needed to do before heading down to the procedure room. The way she explained it to me was as though I was going down into surgery. Now, I've had many many many PICC lines in my life, so I know what to expect. In Pittsburgh, they do the PICC line along the side o' your bed. I was in the bathroom cleaning up and I hear them yell my name cause they needed to scan my bracelet. So I came walking out o' the bathroom with my PJ bottoms on and my sports bra on. Well the one nurse began to explain how I needed to not have my bra on. So I nicely told her that I didn't think she wanted me to walk out there naked and flashing her. So then I put my gown on and the nurse said I needed to take off my PJ's and my underwears. Now, the PICC line procedure is on my arm...NOT my leg or butt!! So anyway I think she just wanted to see my sexy body!! (: Haha...she also wanted me to remove my bobby pin from my hair and take off my hair ties on my wrist. I don't think she realized what all was involved in the PICC line placement.

Then I got down to the procedure and the one guy (Matt) started the procedure, and he got it in, but couldn't advance it through my vein. In his frustration and under his breath he got upset and stated he just wanted to shove it real hard.

Shocked I stated, "Do you realize that I'm not sedated and I can hear everything you are saying!?"

He laughed a bit and told me that this was a 15 minute procedure, and it was already passed the hour mark! So he called and got another doctor to help. The new doctor tried for a while as well, and at this point I was getting frustrated and it was really starting to hurt. So he put a call out to the head guy and he came down and finished the job. So the procedure that should've taken around 15 minutes ended taking over 2 hours! But finally I was able to get my PICC in and this baby should last me a 7 days before it needs changed.

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Nurses

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Even though this was my first time being on the any other floor other than the 5th floor, the nurses sure have been nice. It's been great to meet all the new nurses and have great heart to hearts with various ones.

Me & Vicky.

Me & Nurse Joyce.
Notice my hair? Joyce did it?

She went out and bought me a hair, hair tie to help with my alopecia (hair loss) that I'd been having. She was so sweet and such a blessing. It's li'l gestures like this that really can take a blaa day and change it to a GREAT day! (:

The HAIR-hair Tie! (:

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Visitors
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Becky Coleman, Lindsay Seliga, Mama Lane.

Had some visitors stop by today. What a pleasant surprise. While I was being transported down to get my PICC line, I came back and there was a lovely balloon and card. Pastor Coleman was in the recovery room down on the 3rd floor after having his hiatal hernia. So while Pastor was walking around trying to gain up strength so he could go home, Becky came to visit me. Apparently he was in his "See-More Butts" gown with a pair o' sneakers on, when one o' the nurses started to run after Pastor yelling, "Patient is trying to escape! Patient is trying to escape!" So it was quite funny. Also while Becky was here the phone kept ringing and ringing. I would answer the phone and a shaky old voice would say, "...hello...I'm looking for STEVE!" Eventually Mrs. Coleman answered the phone, got the nurse, and we figured out what was gong on. WOW!!

Becky & I...

My nurse talking to the crazy lady!

Lindsay...my best fair-whether friend, EVER!

Holy Crap...She's SO Cu

Mama Lane stopped by to bring me a few things!
She is the sweetest person EVER! LOVE HER!

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Manicure
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This is Michelle Lamborn Bonin. I grew up with her since 3rd grade. We've always been best buddies b/c we have so much in common Anyway, since I was in the hospital, Michelle decided to stop up and keep me company for a while.

We look SO good!

She was so thoughtful to stop by.

BEFORE: My Footzies!

I picked bluish/green.

My Mama's Nails...I did good, right?

Pretty job, Michelle?

My job on Michelle's fingers.

YUM...Candy!

Doing a flower design!

Can you see the flower?

She did such a wonderful job.

Talking to her Hubby, Tony!
"Smile Tony!!" ~Jill

A Foot & A Hand...isn't that a disease?

Saying our Goodbyes!

It was so good to have Michelle stop over to visit, and she is such a blessing. She was able to just sit and talk, do nails, you know, fun girl stuff!! (: Haha...So looking back through I can see how much a blessing friends can really be.

UPDATE:
They are talking o' moving me to UPMC, Montefiore for a second opinion. They also mentioned that they might want to take me down to The Cleveland Clinic, out in Ohio. Eventually we can only hope that they can figure out and get some answers. Right now, I am in UPMC; however, this is a day off, so I am going to try to touch up the next blog set.

THE END!!!

Babysitters....Mchll/Ashly/Jckie

MY Lovely Babysitters.
Recovery Week II


Because I still have trouble doing things for myself, various ladies from the church offer to open up there home to babysit me; while other girls stay at my house and help out with various choirs that I wouldn't normally not be able to complete. I took some pictures o' some various babysitters and some o the fun times that we have had!!

\\\Babysitter Michelle///

Michelle and I go all the way back till 3rd grade through Senior year. She offered to come over and help me out, which was so refreshing to have her help out with different tasks around the house that I have trouble doing or am not allowed to do for another 3-5 weeks!!! YEAH! My honey, Ace, shouldn't have to come home to a house that's dirty. It just makes me feel like I'm a terrible wife...so this was such a blessing!!

She did my dishes...BLESSING!

Vacuumed my carpets...YAY!
Dr. says vacuum is a No-No for me!

Michelle rocking out the green bug glasses!

She even made us supper...AWESOME!!

Chicken da la creme a la Stuffing.

\\\Babysitters Ashley & Jackie.///

They made iced cinnamon rolls for breakfast.

Had trouble setting oven temperature & timer.
Strombolies cooking....

They look SOO yummy!

While Ashley and Jackie were babysitting me, Adam had some more work to finish for the front door, so he worked on that when he got home from work.

First Ace tried on some Irish Apparel.

Working on the trim o' our new door.

Using a sawl to cut the trim.

He's still cutting...
Hope he doesn't cut my coffee table!

After he put up some o' the trip around the side o' the door, he took a break so Ashley could give him a nice warm iced cinnamon roll to eat. While Ace ate, Ashley had a show for him to watch....Haha...this is HILARIOUS!! Please Enjoy!! (:

Ashley's Helium Show For Ace...Enjoy!! (:

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