Saturday, July 3, 2010
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.
Friday, May 28, 2010
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.... :(
Monday, May 24, 2010
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!
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!
Friday, April 23, 2010
Thursday, April 22, 2010
Friday, April 16, 2010
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.
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.
Wednesday, April 7, 2010
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. :)
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