Memorial Day 2010

Ryan and I went to WaKeeney, Kansas to see my Grandma Bennett for Memorial Day.  I also got to see my good friend Kayla, who I hadn't seen in way too long :) She was back for a family reunion so it worked out really well.... I got to see lots of people that I love in just one weekend!  Below are pictures my dad took of the weekend.  What a great weekend with so many memories.

Baby fox, BIG snake....

The pictures are a bit blurred since there is a screen on my kitchen window, but this is what I woke up to this morning.... EEK! I'm not afraid of snakes, nor do I mind them living in my yard.... but I am pretty impressed with the catch made by my (yes "my") baby fox this morning!  What am I going to do with myself now that I'm moving home to Manhattan for the summer? I'm sure going to miss these little guys.... :(

Whew!! Summer!!

Man.... the last month has been a busy one--last class of the year, Mental Health (booo!), finals, lots and lots of physical therapy and doctor's appointments, and then trying to find a job.  I'm tired just reminiscing.


Let's catch up:
I have now had 17 physical therapy appointments.  I know this is all I seem to talk about anymore on facebook, but this is really driving me crazy.  For starters, I hurt... I have bursitis on my butt bone, and it hurts to sit, sleep, stand.... I have bursitis on my ischial tuberosities  
<-- and greater trochantric bursitis.  A pain in the butt.  Today at physical therapy, I had a weird treatment done that felt like 100 bees were stinging my butt and hip all at once.  It was called iontophoresis which uses dexamethasone (a steroid) filled patches that are stuck to my butt and hip.  Electrical charges (the "bee sting" part) send the steroid into my skin and the goal is that the steroid will help with the inflammation.  I've had 2 steroid shots in the last 2 months, so my orthopedic doctor won't let me get anymore for awhile.  These steroid patches use less steroid, but the electricity is supposed to help the bursa absorb it easily.  Who knows.  It hurt, and it left red burn marks (not bad) on my hip, but this is pretty much all that can be done until my next appointment on June 11.  At that appointment, we decide if the next step is an MRI ($$$ I'd rather not) or aspiration of the bursa sacks.... basically pulling fluid out of my bursa sacks in hopes that it will take away some pain while my body heals.  I'd take amputation at this point if the doctor offered.... The good news is that since I'm working on strengthening the muscles in my butt, hamstrings and core, once they "fix" this bursitis problem, I should be able to run and exercise again, starting slowly, of course.  HOWEVER, I also have issues with pain in my hip socket when the doctor "scours" it.... which basically means bending my leg up so the knee is pointing to the shoulder, then moving (scouring) the hip in an arc of motion while putting pressure down through the leg (yes, I googled this).  The doctor said I might have a torn labrum which can't be seen without an MRI.  Basically, that's torn cartilage around the hip joint (like a torn rotator cuff).  If that's what's wrong, it would require surgery, but apparently it's not bad.... they use arthroscopy which makes just a very small incision for the surgery.  Who knows.  This has been a LONG process, but at least now my doctor is starting to figure out what the heck is wrong with my leg.  I'm very thankful to Ryan and my family for helping me pay for all of these appointments!! This has been ridiculously expensive.  Grrr.  I'm pretty annoyed that with all of the doctors I've seen over the last 12 years, this is the first one to actually figure out what's wrong.  Oh well.  At least this guys figuring me out.  That's something to be thankful for, right?


While I've been whining and cussing my sore butt, Ryan has been kicking butt training for his Ironman race on June 6!! I'm so proud of him.  A few years ago, Ryan was told that his heart was not healthy enough for him to run or do anything strenuous.  Early this year, a cardiologist discovered that Ryan's chest is thinner than what the EKG machine is used to, which is why he failed SEVEN EKG's while in the Army.... in other words, Ryan's heart is perfectly healthy and strong, and the doctor gave him the green light to do whatever it is he'd like to! :) Naturally, after being denied years of triathlons, Ryan decided to tackle a big one.... the Ironman!  His goal is to qualify for Kona, the Ironman in Hawaii, within the next 4 years (the last 4 years in his current age group for Ironman).   The Lawrence Ironman race is a 1.2 mile swim, a 56 mile bike ride, and a 1/2 marathon run.  In Hawaii, everything is doubled.  Ryan has been swimming at Tuttle Lake (I kayak next to him--safety first!!) in a wetsuit because the water is SO COLD!  He is a great swimmer, raced in college, coaches at Junction City High School.... but open water swims are a different beast.  He's discovered that dramamine is required before long open-water swims! :) If anyone wants to come watch his race with me, let me know!! 


I have to share some photos of Ryan saving blue jay babies from the back yard this past weekend.... Our dog Sera snatched a baby jay when I let them out Sunday morning.  Apparently a nest was in a big cedar tree right above the yard.  They all fell out (or weren't successful on their first flight lesson) and were stuck in the yard since we have a big wooden privacy fence around the yard.  I watched Sera chomping on one, freaked out, and made Ryan go outside and save them (after yelling at Sera and making the dogs stay inside).  We went to church, came home and the parents were trying to teach the birds to jump up and over the fence.... this was not going to happen.  Too weak!  Ryan decided that he was tired of me whining about the poor babies being so small and tired from trying to get over the fence.  He donned a bike helmet (to prevent dive-bombing mama from hitting his head) and gardening gloves.  So funny!

 





Ohhhhh..... Just as I type this, I heard a noise at my kitchen window.  The fox are back!!! While I enjoyed watching them grow, I am really nervous to see them back in my yard!  They have grown so much, and they stand out so much.... it's hard to miss 6 fox wrestling, and I live next to a fairly busy street.  Praying for these baby fox, and praying that the mama follows the creek out of town and takes them to the country.  They are so cute though! 



Ivy was not at all afraid, which makes me even happier that I chose to make her an inside kitty!! Sheesh!

Good Golly I love this boy :)

I can't BELIEVE IT! A NORMAL PICTURE!

I Love it.... So much. :)

Ivy makes me laugh :)

NO! You will not make your bed today...

A little of this, a little of that....

I never knew how busy I was until I tried to start a blog.  Stuff keeps happening, I want to blog about it, then I run out of time.  (Cue Jessy Spano from "Saved by the Bell": "I'm so excited! I'm so excited! I'm... so scared!") There never seems to be enough time to get anything done outside of school that I want to.

I was in surgery last week for clinicals and I loved it.  The first week of clinicals at Newton Medical Center was in the out-patient surgery center.  I saw breast augmentation (breast implants) for a lady who had battled breast cancer, won, then wasn't happy with how her breasts ended up.  It literally looked like an ice cream scooper had taken chunks out of her breasts.... I wouldn't have been happy with that either.  The surgery lasted about 3.5 hours and she looked a lot better afterward.  She didn't feel better after surgery, that's for sure, and I'm really surprised she went home that day.  She looked horrible.  It's amazing what modern day medicine can do.... cut someone up, put breast implants in, sew em' up and they go home that day.  Amazing.
Some of the neat surgeries I saw last week were an  appendectomy (appendix removal) done laproscopically, same surgery procedure done to remove a gall bladder, 2 thyroidectomies, kidney stone removal, and a mid-foot amputation.  I LOVE SURGERY! It was a fun environment to work in.... I think I've found my niche :)
During the appendectomy, the circulating nurse was cleaning off the boys stomach to prep for the surgery.  She was using alcohol wipes at one point, and she noticed they kept coming off his stomach brown.  She hadn't used betadine yet, so it took her a second to figure out what was happening.  It was tanning lotion!  She said, "Ohhhhh.... he's not going to be happy with me.  I just cleaned off his tan!" Then she slathered him up with betadine so it probably left him even more brown than when he came in.  ha.
The amputation was a totally different experience for me.  The nurse said that we were going to watch an amputation next, and I was totally pumped.  I'd never seen a surgery that removed a limb, and I couldn't wait to see it.  I hadn't seen knee replacements like some of my classmates, and I was wondering how I would do with the "crunch" sounds that come with surgery on bones.  We walked into the surgery room, I looked into the old mans eyes, and I immediately felt guilty.  I was excited to see someones foot be cut off?! It hit me: these are real people.  It's easy to get caught up in the learning aspect and forget that.  Not that I've ever been callous or rude to patients, I just appreciate the fact that I'm seeing something I've never seen before.  That being said, I felt pretty sad throughout the whole surgery.  It was actaully very quick--about an hour once the patient was under and the surgeon began.

Moving on to my ant farm... remember that?! I've had some trouble getting the seeds to grow.  I filled the holes too full of seeds, and too deep, I think.  Since the medium is blue gel, I could see the seeds growing sideways, upside down, etc. etc.  That was a little frustrating.  I did a bit of digging with tweezers and was able to pull some of them toward the surface, but most of them are still growing underground, sideways.  Sigh.  I was a bit anxious to get the ants into the farm because the ants are starting to take over my bathroom.  I hate killing things!!! I appreciate all of God's little creatures, but would rather they not be in my bathroom with me.  It's small enough just for me. So, the plants weren't quite as tall as I'd want them to be, but the time to put ants in had come.... otherwise I was going to take a garden hose to my bathroom wall. Ahhh!  I managed to catch about 15 or so (that is TOUGH work), lost 2 in the process (sorry little guys) and sealed up the farm.  I was excited to see them start digging tunnels and thriving in their new home.  After all that work, I sat on my couch to relax for a bit.  About 15 minutes later, I went to check on the ants.... I bet they've already started building tunnels!!! Such good workers they are!  Nope.  They managed to find the one ITSY BITSY, TINIEST hole in the tank lid for oxygen, then escaped.  I mean, this was a SMALL opening.... I didn't even know it was there.  I was really frustrated. Grrrr.  At this point, I decided that I'd tried my best, and that I was going to have to end the ant farm in my bathroom.  (I've yet to do it though.... I just hate killing things!!) I do have 3 ants in my antfarm that have decided it's a good place to live.  And I will say, I know this is odd, one of them is a wonderful worker :) He immediately began digging a tunnel while the other 2 took a nap (I think--unless they're dead? I'm in Manhattan for the weekend... I'll have to check on that.).  I told Ryan that he is my favorite ant, and he told me I'm weird.  Oh well.  Nature is such a cool thing to watch.... and it is so cool to watch him dig into the gel.  He worked all day at it.... if only I was that hard of a worker! I wonder where I'd be today? Probably a billionaire.

One of the things I love about Ryan is that he lets me do "girl things" on him: like trim long eyebrow hairs, tell him to cut stray nose hairs (ha! old man!), pull out ingrown beard hairs and take care of his nose pores. :) Gross maybe, but I have fun playing beauty school on him.  Last night I asked him if I could clean out his pores.  He said "surrrrrrre."  He really doesn't care what his pores look like so I think it's funny he appeases me by letting me do this.  He said "Add biore strips to our Wal-Mart list."  I wrote down "bjore strips."  He laughed at me and said, "Ummm, Bec, that's BIORE, not BJORE, like the singer."  And I started to crack up, wondering why in the world he knew this?? Hmmmmmm.

Italian Greyhound + Boxer = Harvey??

For Ryan's 30th birthday we had Harvey's DNA tested at Petco.  After waiting, and waiting, and waiting, I went online to see what was taking so long.  I googled the DNA company and found a link that had user comments.... about 75% of the users said stuff like "What a joke!!!" or "Good for a laugh, bad on my wallet!"  I was bummed.... we really wanted to know what he was.  We were told when we adopted him that he was a "Short-haired St. Bernard."  We googled that, and he DOES look like one, but he is 90 pounds, which is pretty small for a St. Bernard.  Well, I got the DNA results yesterday in the mail.  The results?? According to a professional DNA company, Harvey is primarily boxer, with Italian Greyhound ancestry.... Really?! I definitely see the boxer.  I always tell people he's a St. Bernard/Boxer mix.... but an Italian Greyhound mix?! I don't think so.  :) 

So it's come to this...

I am tired of there being 6 bottles of pills (vitamins, arthritis medicine, pain medicine) on my kitchen table.  Between a jug of protein powder, my pills and an ant farm (haha), my table is pretty cluttered.  So I did it.  I broke down and bought a pill box--and I feel pretty weird about this.  My grandmother had a pill box...  in her 90's!  Me? I'll be 28 this month.  And the best part? I already broke the Monday lid, and fixed it with scotch tape.  CLASSY!!! :)



 .

Nearly time to add the ants!! :)

Look at these cute little sprouts! Can't wait for them to get big enough to add my ants :)

One thing I love about weekends in Manhattan...

I love Manhattan's trails!  Ryan and I enjoy taking the dogs to the spillway, then walking them on the 1-mile loop next to the picnic area.  When we started dating, Ryan took me to the trail, and told me he called them "Hougie's Trail" because he ran them so much.  I, being naive, thought that they were actually called "Hougie's Trail..." like the city let him name the trail that or something.  Sheesh.  I was smitten--I'd believe anything he said at that point :)
Yesterday we took all 3 dogs to "Hougie's Trail."  Ryan was going to run the trail a couple of times, and take Harvey with him.  I can't run due to my dumb hip, so I was going to walk the other two (Sera and Toban).  I told Ryan that he favored Harvey, and that he should take Sera running, because she loves to run and I feel like he takes Harvey all the time.  He said he would take Sera, but asked "Are you sure you can handle Harvey?"  Yes, I said.... I can handle Harvey and Toban.  I walk the dogs more than Ryan does (I'm guessing), and I've walked Harvey many times.  Not an easy task by any means, as he weighs just about 20 pounds less than I do, but it is certainly manageable.  Ryan started off down the trail in front of me, and I started the 1-mile loop.
About 2 seconds after Ryan ran past us, Harvey started whining and throwing himself at Ryan.  He wanted to go too!! I pulled back on his choke chain, and said, "Harvey!  No!"  I got him slightly settled down, and we made it about 5 feet down the trail when Toban started "internally sneezing."  I put this in quotations because that is the official term for something that scared me half to death the first time he did it.  Anyone had a beagle before? They do this weird snorting that looks really painful.... it involves their entire abdomen.... a snorting/heaving motion that makes you think your dog is going to pass out or throw up a rabbit.  I asked my vet friend about this (after taking my beagle to the vet clinic to have "his trachea checked out". $35 dollars later they found nothing wrong with him.  I asked my vet friend about this and she just laughed.  She said that's how they sneeze.  This sounded very fishy to me, but I googled it and it's true :) I'll post a youtube video at the end to show you what I'm talking about, if you're interested.  Ha.  


So Harvey keeps whining, and Toban keeps sneezing every 5 feet (literally!!) and I am getting quite frustrated.    I am trying to keep my cool, because I did tell Ryan that I was capable of doing this.  I take a deep breath, look at the river and try to relax, and begin again.  Harvey has decided at this point to pee on every bush, sign, rock, squirrel (ha) he can.  Toban is a copy cat and has followed suit.  It would be amusing if they didn't kick up dirt after each pee.  The wind is blowing very hard, and the dust is flying in my face.  I yank them away, say "No! Let's go!!" and begin walking again.  Once again, Harvey yanks me over to a bush to pee. Toban did the same.  The wind is blowing, Toban (who is short) stands under the bush to pee, and Harvey stands right on top of him.  I screamed "NO! Harvey, NO!"  but it was too late.... Toban had his head peed on, and with the wind blowing, it blew Harvey's pee right onto my leg.  We are now probably 30 feet into our 1 mile walk.  I am certain Ryan is going to come around at any moment for his 2nd lap, and there I will be, 30 feet into the trail with a wet beagle and a peed on leg.  I suck it up, and yank the dogs along, Toban snorting and sneezing, and Harvey yanking me this way and that.


Ryan did pass me, but not for awhile.  He was at the end of his 2nd lap when I was about a 1/4 mile away from the pickup.  I noticed that Sera was nowhere in sight.  I threw Harvey's leash at him,. said "Take him!!" and started yelling out for Sera.  I thought it was odd that Ryan would let her get so far out of his sight... Ryan ran away with Harvey, and I was left with the cutest dang beagle in the world, and a bit of peace and quiet.... until the snorting started again.  I get to the end of the trail to see Ryan walking back towards me with both Harvey AND Sera.... apparently 2 minutes into their run, Sera pooped out on him.  He yelled over at me, "She isn't a 7-minute-mile dog!!!"  I said "Who is?! And why would she be? When is the last time she went running?!"  Apparently he'd put her in the back of the pickup before starting his second loop.


Yet, after all of this irritation, I love spending time with Ryan and the dogs on this trail.  Ryan even buried my cat, Milton, under a big tree on this very trail :)  Illegal?  Maybe, but with the shade of a cottonwood tree and a view of the river, we couldn't think of a better spot for him to be.  I say hi to him every time we walk past that tree :)


 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P1rbSj2y6RU  

A pain in the butt!!!

About 12 years ago my leg started hurting.... an ache that hurt a lot but "moved."  Sometimes it hurt in my butt, sometimes it hurt in my hip, always moving, but always aching.  No one could figure out why my butt, hip, leg was aching, so they told me to stretch more.  I stretched, I took ibuprofen, I went to doctors, and it still hurt.  As a last resort on nights when it was really hurting, I'd take a broccoli rubber band (you know, the BIG ones!) and would put it around my ankle until my leg went numb.  My mom did not approve of my self-medication, but it worked, so I did it.  She told me I was going to lose my leg, but I never did... although I did stop wearing it when I woke up one morning with an indention from the band, and when I got home from school that evening, it was still there.... yikes!!

I went to an orthopedic doctor yesterday, and $401.00 later (yes, he is expensive, apparently), he has diagnosed me with trochantric bursitis, IT band tightness, and a hip that dislocates when I sit down.  Neat!  I received a shot in the head of my femur (into the bursa which is inflamed) and have physical therapy twice a week for the next 6 weeks.  If this doesn't work out the doctor says I will have to get an MRI because he doesn't know what else it could be.  You know what? Now that I found out my butt dislocates every time I sit down, I really do notice it.  I sit on the ground, plop... it moves.  I do yoga, plop.... it moves.  I always thought this was "normal," as it's done it as long as I can remember.  It really does hurt though, which is probably due to the fact that now I know it's happening.  Isn't that the way things go?  

It's hard not to brag when they are so cute!! :)

It's definitely spring time.... Ivy can't be found anywhere but in the office window, and Hobbs is feeling awfully frisky!

Tis the season for an ant farm!

Ryan bought me an ant farm kit about a month ago... some may think this is a strange gift, but I think it's awesome :)  The first year we dated, he gave me a tarantula "jeweled" pin to wear for my birthday gift... and, again, perfect gift for me.  (Quite impressive gift giver if you ask me!)

I think with the spring-like weather, it's time to set this ant farm.  The kit includes the following:
A tank filled with gel (this is what the ants drink)
Wood stick (to create holes in the gel so the seeds roots grow deep)
Ant catcher (a container filled with gel... stick next to some ants, and they crawl right in!)
Seeds (a capsule with basil, pine and clover)
Magnifying glass (to see my ant babies, of course!)

First things first.  You can't just throw the ants into the tank and expect them to thrive.  They need plants to nibble on, and oxygen!  So, I have to plant the seeds.  Hopefully in a few days they will be big enough for me to put ants in.

To plant the seeds, I had to stick the wooden stick in several millimeters into the gel.  Next, I filled the holes with seeds using a piece of paper to "funnel them in".  (Not as easy as it sounds.)
The seeds get all the water they need to grow by absorbing the gel.  Fantastic, right?!

If you look closely at the top, you can see dark spots.... those are the seeds :)

I can't wait to add the ants!! I would feel bad about catching ants from outside, but I have a nice little family of ants that enjoys coming into my bathroom daily.... I think they will love their new home :) Ha!

A bit of background info about ants... They are actually very cool!
*The earth has more than 4,600 kinds of ants.
*They can excavate and create an extensive network of catacombs that are sometimes up to 15 feet deep!
*If I could move as fast as an ant, I'd be running 65 miles per hour :)
*Ants use pheromones to speak to each other, find their way home, and even go to war against other colonies.

Welcome Home!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K0fbJDY6Ho8


Check out how our Wildcat fans welcome back our team after a tough loss in Salt Lake.  EMAW!!! 

Proud of the Wildcats!

March Madness has consumed far too much of my free time lately, and also quite a bit of time that I should have been studying :) It has been a great way to harass my sister ("So KU lost, then Purdue, perhaps it's time you start cheering for the best team already?") and spend time with Ryan and my friends cheering on the cats.  What a great season!!! Can't wait to do it all over again next year!