The girls, Dave and back to school

Cassie went over to Davis Park (Fire Island) with her boyfriend, Nick, today. They were with a bunch of other kids as they seem to travel in packs. Nick's going into 12th grade--Cassie--10th grade. He seems a bit shy around us, her parents. I wish he'd get over this! We're really not too scary, and some might even say we're fun to hang around with. Maybe we'll have to formally invite him over for dinner and a Mets game.

While Cassie was enjoying the sun and surf, Ali was working at Dave's store. They were so busy today, they didn't eat lunch for quite some time. This is Dave's busiest time of the year at the store with kids going back to school. He usually works 12 hour days for two weeks straight. Then once he's finally off, I head back to school and my busy season starts.

I went back up to school for an hour this morning from about 11:30 until I left for the neurosurgeon at 12:30. It's amazing the amount of detail work that goes into setting up a classroom for the fall. I think I'm pretty well set. At least we go in 2 days before school starts to put finishing touches on before the kids come in.

Neurosurgeon Appointment

I love how, when you go into a medical office, and things run so efficiently and the staff is pleasant, it makes you feel confident in what you're about to face. I had done my research on the group and found that I could print and fill out the new patient paperwork at home. After meeting with medical biller, I was brought to an exam room.

The P.A. came in first and reviewed my MRI's with me. I have some bulging (not herniated-whew!) discs at C5/6 and C6/7. My neck is so straight up and down with a bit of a reverse curve. Normally straight up and down would sound good, but in the neck it's not so good. Oh well.

The doctor came in next and gave the good news that I am not (yet) a surgical candidate. He wants me to continue with physical therapy and is sending me to a physiatrist (pronounced fizz eye a trist) to evaluate treatment options. Dr. Galler also said to continue with prednisone if the symptoms flare again.

IF the pain comes back like it was, and no physical therapy or prednisone helps, there are some injections I can get and of course surgery would become an option. The surgery goes in through a place in the front side of the neck and they attach a titanium plate to it--sounds quite unpleasant. I pray that conservative methods work!!!

On my way out the doctor sent me with a more specific script (other than evaluate and treat cervical) that I brought over to Dr. Gary Welch; the physical therapist who's been patient enough to see me through a ton of pain since last November.

Overall, a relief-filled day.

How to comment

Okay, so I've only told about 5 people about this blog, but I thought I'd at least have one comment by now. Someone told me that they didn't know how to comment so here are some quick comment lessons: First click on the part that says 0 comments right below this message. Then add your comment in the text box on the page that comes up. Type in the coded message into the correct space. Finally click on anonymous and click post comment. Hope to see some of you there soon (I should really let more people know about this).

Well it's off to Dr. Galler today (neurosurgeon). I do believe I will actually take notes about what he says. Usually I come out with my head swimming--sometimes with terms I can't even pronounce let alone understand. This time I need to know what's going on in detail and what my options are for treatment. I NEVER want to go through the pain I went through last week.

Funny part of being on Percocet. My friend Sharon brought up a conversation that we had on the Monday when I had taken the first dose and was very sleepy. I had no clue that we had even spoken to each other except for the final topic we discussed. She said I sounded quite loopy.

Splish Splash Adventure?

Why was I worried about what slides to go on? We were able to go on one total slide, have lunch and go on the lazy river in 5 hours. Hollywood Stunt Rider was the first one we went on. It took us a little over an hour on line. Lunch was next. Lazy River was another 20 minute wait--we stayed on as long as we could, hiding out in a tucked away alcove to enjoy the sun. Saw the kids after that and watched them on Alien Encounter after they waited for an hour (we were at the wave pool waiting). Then it was time to leave (4:35). I hope I remember this waste of $36 a piece next time someone wants to go to Splish Splash!

Back to School

So, today I went back to school to continue organizing the room. About 3 hours in, I realized I could get rid of a set of cubbies and make a lot more room for my reading area. It turned out that a primary teacher needed one anyway so at least it went to good use.

The rest of the day was quite productive: putting things away and unpacking new things to put away. I got the entire shelf along the windows completely cleared off (something I was never able to do before). I love to have a nice, neatly organized space.

Now I'm just down to creating folders, job cards, independent reading center, closet spots, bus info, word wall, etc...(the basics of being ready to start the year.

This Wednesday we get to work with writing workshop guru Judy Davis. She always leaves me feeling empowered to be the best facilitator of writing ever. I can't wait--it's a great way to start out the school year.

For tomorrow, we'll be off to Splish Splash, but I doubt I'll be found on any major body slides. I'll probably just stick to the tubes and the lazy river.

Soccer and Cassie

Cassie's new soccer team had their first scrimage today. They won 2-1 against a team that was 4 divisions higher than they were. The girls played so well and Cassie had a lot of saves as goalie. She also came off wounded as their were a couple of plays where she went for the ball and got tackled. First time, she got kicked right at the bottom of her shin guard. The second time she got a knee to the eye socket. That one was awful, and it nauseates me to think of the painful scream that left her body. Her nose is swollen, as is her cheekbone under her left eye socket. But after her trainer, Russell, got her on her feet, she played out the rest of the game in pain. She'll look great for high school tryouts this week--she'll probably show up with a nice shiner come Monday morning--a great conversation piece for tryouts.

Back to School

Yesterday I went back to school to check out my classroom. I have moved from the second to the third floor and all of my educational belongings were in boxes--about 15-20 good sized boxes. I worked for about an hour in the morning and then came back with Cassie in tow. We worked like maniacs for over 5 hours. It is amazing how many things I have accumulated over 2 years of being in the other room. It was kind of nice to get rid of items when I was packing up in June, but a daunting task when unpacking in a new classroom.

We got all the boxes unpacked. Cassie organized my classroom library bins, and organized my storage closet while I cleaned out a storage cabinet and put my things away. Then we had the trying task of figuring out how to organize seating. Our intermediate (grades 3-5) classrooms at River are small (we've counted ceiling tiles--it's 11 (2ft? tiles) going across the width and 7 (3ft. going longways--roughly 22x21 or 462sq feet) The school was built in the 1920's when students sat in rows of tiny desks and not much else went on in the classroom. Take out 2 feet from 3 walls for cubbies and computer tables and built in shelves for our class library and you have about 340 sq feet. Put in a u-shaped reading table that takes up another 18 sq ft. Now divide that by 27 students and 1 teacher and each person has about 10sqft. which includes their desk or table space. This issue isn't a problem in our primary classrooms because they are larger, and the students are smaller. Go figure...

Hunger finally got the best of us a little after 7pm and we trekked off to Hibachi Sushi. At least it was a productive day. I will have to go back at least two days next week prior to the start of school on September 2nd.

Montauk-The End

Many of our good friends have campers. They bought them around 8 years ago and started camping all over Long Island and up into Connecticut (Strawberry Park). We decided to not get a camper. If I'm on vacation, I want to be on vacation. I tried camping at Strawberry Park, and although I had fun, it was a lot of work--cooking, cleaning, making beds, etc...I thought to myself, I could be home doing the same thing. Better yet-for the same price (camper and site cost 1200 for the week), I could've been in a nice clean hotel where they clean and make your bed for you AND you don't worry about having to request a pump-out.

Tuesday evening we headed to Montauk-Dave had to work so it was just the girls and me. We got there and my friend Marie was beside herself because their grey water was overflowing (at least it wasn't the black stuff) and their power had a problem and the 4 teenage boys she had in her camper (2 were her own sons) had ravaged the food supply. Her husband Rami wasn't due out until Wednesday evening. Not sure if she's decided to speak to him yet...

We brought the kids into town and they went to The Movie. That's what the movie theater is called in Montauk. It is a small building and shows one flick at 7 and 9:15 pm. The adults headed onto Main St. to have dinner. We went to a place called Shagwong's. Yeah, I know the name is weird, but the food was delicious. We got mussels (red and white sauces), baked clams, and a mix of shrimp, scallops, and mussels in an amazing broth (as good as Water Zooeys of Garden City). They had a prix fix menu for $21.95 and my tuna and salmon was juicy! It's just so funny how when you get a fixed menu price, and split 3 $14 appetizers amongst 9 people, it ends up costing $48 a person. So let me add this in to the camping experience....

After losing a measly $5 on Texas Hold 'em, I retired for the night with my wonderful oxycodone. Listening to the waves crash right outside the camper, combined with the pain going down my shoulder to my hand being numbed, I had no trouble falling asleep. THIS was wonderful! Nothing prepared me for the sheer pleasure of waking up to a cool sunny day with the gentle swooshing of water on the shoreline. It was soothing and put me in a very happy place to start the day. If only Dave could be her enjoying it with me...

Now I understand the benefits of camping-to have a home away from home and be able to enjoy new places and experiences. Even with the issues poor Marie had this trip, it probably accounts for about 2% of all her camping experiences. And if I was home, I'd be doing the same type of chores, but being in such a gorgeous place makes it all worthwhile.

Ahh... relief

Well after a somewhat relaxing PT appointment (except when he stretched my arm out and pushed back-electric shocks felt as if they were going down my arm), as soon as I sat up the pain came back full force. I cried all the way to the ortho's office and continued to cry while signing in and all throughout the appointment.

Now, I've had many surgeries-gall bladder, 1 left and 3 right knee arthroscopys, a lateral patellar dislocation (that stayed on the outer side of my leg for about 2 hours until the ortho at the er put it back in place), and 2 c-sections, but nothing has hurt like this!

The doctor ordered a steroid pack (prednisone-UGH), and some wonderful oxycodone (percocet). I spent a great afternoon in a drug induced haze, and am now suffering the stomach repercussions of one of those drugs (a bit nauseas, and a lot of gurgling going on). My right arm feels really weird though-minimal pain, but really weak.

The ortho mentioned bulging discs at C6 and 7, but I was in so much pain I didn't pay attention to what the rest of my MRI report said. I may have to call tomorrow to get a copy of it to keep with my films. I'm also supposed to follow up with a spine specialist. I'd like to find someone nearby--these doctors practice mostly in Rockville Center which is quite a hike. The PT said he has a list of some doctors that they deal with.

Spine Photo

Thanks to Robb and Lisa for that photo--definitely helped me piece the puzzle together.

OH my goodness, PAIN!

For the past 10 months, I have been experiencing pain in my right shoulder. Sometimes it would radiate down my arm and my fingers would feel all tingly. Bad enough pain to cause me to wake up several times a night. My orthopedic sent me for physical therapy which helped ease the pain after about 6 months-long after my insurance began denying me physical therapy sessions. MRI's showed I had 2 tears; in my rotator cuff and my subscap.

In July, since the pain was still present, I asked my orthopedic, "What if the pain is stemming from my neck from a car accident I had 17 years ago?" He sent me for an MRI of my c-spine. I figured I'd make an appointment to go over the results upon my return from California. Well, just when the pain in my right shoulder began to be tolerable, I came home from California with intense pain in my LEFT shoulder! This time it was a constant shooting, searing pain down my left arm into my elbow and down to my hand. I brought my MRI's to my PT (waiting a week to see the ortho was too long for me) who looked them over and showed me where my C4 through C7 were and how some of them were pushing into my spinal cord! HMMMMM....this makes sense!

The past 4 days the pain has become so awful, I find myself moaning and groaning (usually after someone brings it to my attention), and crying with pain. My PT was good enough to stay open (he had a couple of other patients that morning) and do an eval on Saturday morning--traction seemed to help and he found this great spot on my neck that when he pressed it, the pain subsided (I keep trying to find it on my own but worry I may cut off my circulation somewhere).

Tomorrow, Monday, I have an appointment with my PT (beg for heat and the lovely towel around my neck stretching me into oblivion--I feel as though I must look like one of those old-fashioned dental patients with their cheeks wrapped up) and straight from there I'm off to the ortho to seek some answers. I just know I cannot function like this! My arm feels weird and my strength is lacking-hard to lift an empty water bottle. This cannot be good.

Yesterday we had a family barbecue with Dave's family and my mom at our house. I did all the prep work--shopping, making dips, marinating chicken and skewering it on a stick (this was tricky as my left arm had a lot of difficulty holding the strips of chicken as my right hand threaded the stick through it). Running Cassie to soccer practice in the middle of it all gave me the time alone where I really began to feel the pain again. I had to get ice for blended drinks (try carrying that with an arm that feels as if it's coming off anaesthesia) which brought the tears again. I tried hanging around with family to get my mind off the pain and finally around 9:30, succumbed to my needs and went to the bedroom with the heating pad praying for relief. It finally came sporadically throughout the night. When I woke (for good) this morning, it came back with a vengeance--now I have some fun little spasms to go along with the pain.

This morning I turned to the Internet to search for answers of Cervical herniated discs and it all makes a lot of sense. I just don't like the answers.

40's

I find that once I hit my 40's I became less inhibited in speaking my mind. Sometimes it gets me into trouble and I hurt others, but most times I'm right on the money. I heard someone on the radio say just this morning, 'yesterday is past, tomorrow is uncertain and all we have is right here and now'. It struck a chord with me and I made a promise to myself that I would continue this saying what I mean to say and not hold back. Let's see how many enemies I make :>)

Back home again...

Well, California was gorgeous. Weather was perfect--75, sunny, cloudless, and no humidity! San Fransisco was very chilly. Who knew, that in August, it could be that way. The teachers I was with were puzzled by the fact that we could see the steam coming out of our breath. The campus at Stanford makes me want to be a student again. The grounds are so immense, it's like a town instead of a campus. Nearby Palo Alto reminded me a bit of East Hampton, except larger by about 4x. Muir Woods was incredible with its Redwoods climbing so high it seemed as though I'd topple over looking upward at the canopy! If I can figure out how to post pictures, you can see for yourself :)