Brain Damage

Ok so something keeps coming up and irking me! I had to do a little soapbox post. I thought I had vented it all out to Kami but it came back around today and I wanted to reach through the TV to smack someone. I am so sick of hearing people continuing to justify tanning beds' acceptance. In the last couple of weeks I have heard someone, practicing alternative medicine, actually suggest to a friend that they go to a tanning bed to lift their mood in the winter. How can you be helping someone get healthy by turning around and suggesting they get cancer? Come on. So I vented to Kami that I can't believe it. THEN I see on a morning show that the first host is in Hawaii. The third host says "you're going to look so tan next to us." Well the first host explains she's been sunscreening up and will still be white. Good for her. The second host (with whom I have many a problem) says "you should just let yourself get burned a little." COOOOOME OOOOOON!!!! You're on TV! You're saying it's ok to get sun damage (which causes wrinkles, cancer, and pain) on TV! What an ignorant comment.

Let me explain my passionate feelings before you get your panties in a bunch all you tanners. I have done plenty of tanning in tanning beds in my days. Mostly in my younger days when I bought that it wasn't that bad. When it was easy for me to deny that something like cancer could happen to me. I'm a huge fan of a nice, natural looking tan. However, I think the scientific evidence is pretty telling when you see that skin cancer is the most common form of cancer and that the risks of skin cancer are multiplied exponentially by use of tanning beds. I read and and see information on TV constantly dispelling rumors that certain types of tanning beds are actually safe, etc. etc. Who do I believe? A dermatologist or the orange 16 year old behind the tanning bed counter? Hmmm... With the inundation of information these days, I have to admit that the risk is very REAL and not worth it. Cancer is no fun for anyone.

Here's the thing, there are safe ways get a tan these days! Spray tanning has advanced a ton. If you're going to regularly spend money getting tan, may as well do it safely right? And nowadays they have more and more natural looking options. Also, it's surely not safe but a little bit of regular old plain sunshine when you're outside being active in the summer is better than that concentrated bed. Tanning lines! So what? It shows that you're active in my opinion. Ain't nothing wrong with it. Even better though is to keep your sunscreen on in the summer and make sure you don't burn at all. So many people see burns as a good thing and they're damage. You don't say yay I burned my finger on my curling iron, but it's the same level of burn.

The other reason for sunscreen is wrinkles! How many 25 year olds do I see these days who look like they're closer to 35? Tons! And it's because their skin prematurely ages due to all the tanning. They look like pieces of leather. Plus, you can totally tell when someone tans in a bed frequently. They get that weird tone of tan that stops looking natural and starts looking gross. So for me, I like my moisturizer with sunscreen built in and my huge sunglasses that will keep me from getting the "squint at the sun" crows feet. Raccoon eyes are my badge of pride. They may be white, but they keep me looking young.

I can see how easy denial was back in the days before transparent data about skin damage was so prevelent. Now, though, I don't think there's any excuse to deny that it's dangerous. I say if you want to tan in a bed, that's your deal. I'm totally cool with it. As long as you aren't doing it under some delusion of saftey. Make an educated decision taking into consideration the risks. If someone tells me, it's worth the risk, then more power to them. But if someone tells me oh it's not that bad or that they're using the bed with the "safe" UV rays, I want to ask them to go ahead and take the same risk by walking across State Street without looking. I know it's dramatic but I am just sick of the ignorance justifying the stupid. Make your choice based on facts so that you can truley stand behind it.

Monday Monday

Cuteness attack!!

This was exactly how I felt this morning.

Before we get to the not as fun business stuff I have a cute puppy story. So every morning Jeff wakes up before me and takes the puppy out. Incidentally he also takes her out during the night because I sleep through her first couple of whines. He's a gem! Ok so he woke up this morning when she was whining to go out. He let's her out of the crate and instead of running to the door like normal, she puts her paws up on the bed and peaks over looking for me. Then she runs to my side at the end of the bed and peaks over the top again. Then she starts whimpering like she wanted me to get up too. It's so adorable. I love having an animal who totally loves me. She's nice and bonded to us which is my fave. I know I said one story but here's one mroe that one reminded me of. I go to Salt Lake for work every other Tuesday and don't get back until late. Of course I miss my puppy all day too and it's so comforting when I come home and her little tail is wagging a mile a minute because she's so excited I'm home. I guess this last time I was gone and Jeff was home with her, she walked around the house like she was looking for something. Jeff realized it was me she was looking for when she put her paws up on the bed and peaked over at my side. How flattering is that?! I sure love puppyville.

Alright, so let's get on to the To Do list from the weekend. Shall we see an update?

1. Sew up clothes DONE!


2. Sew pillow inserts (I started this one but then I realized I made them too small. Ugh. So since they're inserts I'm going to make a couple little tube type inserts to fill in the edges. Or maybe I'll just make them too small and deal with it. we'll see what happens but I really want to have at least a couple finished up this week)

3. Dishes (Jeff did about half the dishes so the rest are getting done today)

4. Figure out how to make the sink not stink DONE! I googled this one and was all prepared to clean out the P trap under the sink when Jeff discovered it was just a pot that stank. So that's taken care of

5.Declutter media (Nothing happened on this one, but I did discuss it with Jeff and told him I want to steal Kami's idea with the DVDs in envelopes.)

6. Bake pineapple tarts DONE! But not that great sadly. They really needed a little tartness. I'm really looking for something superb to bake and things are just coming up subpar sadly.

So today is another floor and surface clean day on apartment therapy. I'm almost disappointed too because it's the last week. :( I'm going to have to get back on Fly lady so someone's always telling me what to clean. For today's surface clean I'm going back to the kitchen. I've got to get the second half of the word crossed out on my To Do list. I actually cleaned a lot of the surfaces in there yesterday too so I'll work on decluttering and the floors too. I need to vacuum this place like no one's business. So what is everyone else up to? Is anyone else doing the home cure? How's it gone for you so far?

Easy Like Sunday Morning

Today feels like Sunday, I'm not sure why, it just does. And I'm sure glad it's not because not only do I get a Sunday today, but I'll get one tomorrow too! So this is going to be another short post because I was dumb and read Kami's blog. Which reminded me how many things I still meant to do for my Apartment Therapy stuff. I'm totally stealing the idea of putting the movies in the sleeves. We've already done that with some movies but I actually have a DVD holder box thingy that would be perfect for it and I'm sure all of our DVDs would fit! The closest I got to organizing media this week is unpacking my box full of media that was sitting around forever. It was the first box I moved up here and the last to get unpacked. Oops. I mean to organize the bookshelves and cupboard better too so things don't look quite so cluttered up in here. I haven't done things on the day they were mentioned in most cases but I have mostly done everything. I still need to fix something. I have a couple of things I wanted to sew up so I might do that today. PLUS I've started making boob pillows for people who had to have mastectomies due to breast cancer so I need to sew up a bunch of inserts for those. Quick and easy peasy like. And our kitchen stinks because there are dishes to do and no garbage disposal. I suppose I should get on that as well. Yikes, here I was chillin', watching football and now I realize how much I'm not doing. OH and I'm going to bake a treat today too. Ok so enough chatting about it. Lemme list so I can come back and cross off and feel all cool.

1. Sew up clothes
2. Sew pillow inserts
3. Dishes
4. Figure out how to make the sink not stink
5.Declutter media
6, Bake pineapple tarts

But before I go, I found out that wedding pics are ready so I will be getting those soon. Hooray! Also, my puppy rocks. I need to get some good pictures of her playing in the snow. She loves it and just takes off running everywhere like a nutcase. Then it clings to her scruffy hair so her face and paws are covered in white. I will be such an annoying mom someday. All bragging about my kids. Fair warning.

Back to Business

Holy...crap. This year has been INSANE! I have half blog posts all over the place because I get started and there's just so much to tell that I get sick of it and stop. Evyerthing has changed since May. It's so bizarre to think that things were more and more of the same and in less than half a year, it's all flipped around. I am no longer the single girl living in SLC. Nope. I'm the married girl living in Logan with a single kidney. I'll have to finish my half written post about the surgery later because it has a ton of detail. But here I am feeling just like normal except for the scar through my belly button and the two tiny scars on my hips. Oh and the fact that doing situps or other strenuous exercise with my abs is a little more difficult still. My dad is doing really well too. He's working and getting out and about. His blood levels keep normalizing and he's to the point where they're going to start the chemo back up. He's been off it and in remission for several months because of his surgeries but since multiply myeloma has no cure, they want to be absolutely sure it doesn't come back. This means chemo indefinitely. My fingers are still crossed that those modern medicition miracle workers come up with a cureposte haste. Anyway, moving on...

The next little piece of news is that I am married! Jeff and I got engaged in August and married the 30th of September. Then I moved to Logan since this is where he's going to school. Yeah I know we were not engaged very long which made the process stressful, but strangely everything ended up falling into place. We had a great wedding, we ended up with someone to take over the lease on my apartment, and I've been able to keep my job working from here until the end of the year. It's just crazy to look back and think about how fast it all happened.

Oh yeah! And we got a PUPPY!!! Oh my gosh she's so damn cute. I could seriously stare at her all the time. Even when she's being crazy and naughty she's adorable. But all the Dog Whisperer shows I've watched have been coming in handy. I'm certainly not the greatest pack leader yet but I have confidence I'll get there. I'll post some pictures a little later but any of my FB friends have seen plenty. I'm kind of obssessed. she's the bomb.

This is just the quickest summary but I'm sure I'll be putting some more details later. Right now I have other things on my mind. Namely the Apartment Therapy 20/20 cure I did last hear. 20 tasks in 20 days to whip your place into shape. I can't tell you how badly our place needs to be whipped. I did the bathroom yesterday and now I just want to hang out in it all the time. Nowhere else around here is even close to sorted out. I feel a little like a hoarder since I'm having to walk through paths. So I have to get all homemakery and make my home. today's task is the living room. Where I have a couple of boxes of miscellaneous crap which is the worst to go through. Oh well, gotta just get through it. Sort It Out Shanno. Like seriously. It's a tad redonk and I've had it!

Let me warn you now. The marriage stuff and the puppy stuff is all so new that I'll probably be annoying with it for a bit. So sorry but you can just skip those posts. Well here we go..I'm officially BACK!

Getting Closer

Just today my anxiety level has risen a tad. It's odd to think about being this close to the procedure. So of course, being the weirdo I am, I decided to freak myself out a little by looking up pictures online. Don't get me wrong, I'm not squeamish, however, once you start imagining this stuff done to you, it gets a little more squeamy. Just to help you out, here are some cool diagrams I found to describe what's going to happen. Don't worry no real pictures although those are out there. I almost thought it looked weirder seeing all the instruments in little tiny holes than the older pictures where they cut the whole side open. I'll explain as we go.

Ok so this is the closest thing to what I'm going to look like that I could find. Although I will be minus the killer muscular physique. Basically you have the little bitty slits on the left where they put in all the laproscopic doodads like the camera, the scalpel, etc. Then there's this incision a few inches long right around the belly button. The good part about this is that a lot of it will get sewn back into the belly button and I'll have minimal scarring there. Anyway, it's called a hand assisted laproscopic nephrectomy which means the doodads do their job to get everything disconnected inside me and the surgeon puts a hand in the longer incision to help the kidney out.

In the olden days, (a whole like 10 years ago) they would make a huge incision in the donor's side from the stomach around to the back. This helped them get to the kidney and pull it out without damaging the organ. Seeing as how it needs to be in pretty good shape leaving the body, it makes sense. But that was longer recovery time, more risk of infection, and more PAIN! All I can say is thank heavens for technology. Laproscopy is about the best invention I can think of as of late.

Now these are diagrams of what's going to happen on my dad's end. He gets a half moon shaped incision on his side and then in goes the kidney. The other two stick around and continue not working. The new guy hangs out on his own closer to the front of the body and starts kicking butt and taking names. Oooo! He can make his own show "Sister Kidneys"! I think I'm on to something there....

Have I mentioned lately how much this stuff blows my mind? I mean seriously! And I was reading articles that there is a way of doing the entire thing through one hole in the belly button. Craaaazy!!

I'm kind of glad I looked at pictures so I have an idea of what's going to happen. I was actually surprised because it seems like there are several variations. In many cases, the longer incision was below the bikini line and they pulled the kidney all the way down there. Some people have 2, 3, 4, 5 or even 6 tiny slits for doodads. (I should have 2-3 according to my doc) Just goes to show there's more than one way to -ectomy a neph. A little medical terminology humor there for ya. ;)

It still does not give me the greatest idea of what to expect with the surgery aspect of things. So at night my brain takes over and starts imagining all kinds of weirdness. I guess it's a good thing we're so close to the big day. Before long there will be no imagination needed!

My technologically advanced way of communicating with the surgeons while I'm knocked out.
"This side please"

Help for the sistah!

Kami needs our help! (If you're wondering who this Kami chick is, just read like every other post. She's the awesomest chick ever) She's entered a contest to get a room makeover and desperately needs it. Kami knows I'm not trying to offend. She just has a tiny space that could use another set of eyes for some organization. AND this chickadee has got great taste so she's willing to put her house in someone else's hands. Check out Kami's post about it here and then PLEASE go to vote for her here. Help a sistah out pretty please!

Holding My Breath and Counting Down

Big News! The surgery is back on! I was reeeeally hoping to have had it and be recovered by now, but there were minor complications. Here's a breakdown of the whole ordeal to date (for anyone out o' the loop):

• We found out my dad had multiple myeloma and amyloids after he went to the doctor thinking he might have a kidney infection.
• Next there was much unpleasantness involving chemo, dialysis & a bone marrow transplant.
• We waited for his kidney functions to bounce back...they didn't.
• He had a fistula implanted in his arm and has continued dialysis 3 days a week for around 4 hours a pop.
• The doctors said, the kidneys aren't coming back but that the cancer was in remission and he could be a part of the kidney transplant program.
• Cheering all around.
• I decided to see if I was a match after realizing I'm the only immediate family member with the same blood type.
• I was.
• I researched to find out more about what a kidney donor could expect and I found out that while it's majory surgery, not without its risks, it is a lot less scary than I originally thought.
• I then realized I wanted my dad to live a better life and that I was willing to give a up a kidney to keep him around. (and feeling less ill)
• Testing was draaaaaaagged out until we finally got a new coordinator
• Holy cow surgery scheduled for next month! (This was in October)
• 1 week before surgery, "oh by the by, we found a brain tumor." 2 days before the surgery, "Sorry, no surgery."
• Tears, grumbles, and hissy fits all around (ok maybe I was the main hissy fitter)
• Brain surgery - the tumor is benign (oh yeah and it's been there awhile. Just some nice info to have)
• "One month of recovery and you can reschedule"
• One month later..."one more month and you can reschedule"
• A second month later...Come on!! How long does it take to get some friggin paperwork?!

I spoke with our coordinator last week and she mentioned she was able to get the paperwork they were waiting for. I asked her to find out how quickly we could reschedule. That brings us to Monday of this week when she said "Looks like we can get you in on the 9th". I'll give you a second to do the math..
...
...Pencils down please.

Yes! That is exactly 2 weeks. Holy whoa. We both really want to be functional by our birthdays (end of May) and this would be cutting it a liiiittle close. So I called him to see what he thought of that date. There was an unmistakable enthusiasm you would likely only notice if you knew him and recognized it's not his normal tone. It's a quiet, understated but powerful spark that touched my heart. You see, I'd been thinking that maybe we should wait until after birthday month so we can be sure we'll have enough oomph to celebrate. Duh Shannon. I haven't been doing dialysis and feeling miserable, depressed, and sick daily for roughly 2 and a half years now. That spark of hope in his words spoken without so much as a breath after I uttered the date, "Yeah! That will give me enough time to get coverage at work. Tell her that works"...I can't even relay it in type. I guess you had to be there. Point being, I remembered what it was all about. Sure it's been slower than thought and we've had our anticipation shattered once already. It's all been worth it to have the chance to get him well faster. The faster the better. I realize now it wouldn't matter if I had to walk a little slower or take it a little easier on my birthday. I'd have his life as my celebration and nothing beats that.