Places in My Heart

A word about ogres and heroes

I love this guy!

Before and After!

I thought you might enjoy seeing these images of my insides taken during surgery! The top 2 and bottom right are before and the bottom left is after. You can see that my intestines are adhered to my abdominal wall, and there are lots of organs and adhesions in places where they are not supposed to be. The bottom left show how the abdominal cavity is supposed to look...

The surgery was a success! They found all of my abdominal and pelvic organs stuck to each other...there was a long band of adhesions from my liver all the way to my appendix. The appendix was pretty diseased, so they removed it. They found 2 ovarian remnants and removed those. They un-stuck everything, returned all organs to their correct anatomical positions, and cleaned it all up in there! I should be feeling much, much better once I am recovered from the actual procedure!

Doctor Sinervo and staff in Atlanta were fabulous, as was the ENTIRE hospital staff at Northside. It was by far the best hospital experience I have ever had. I am so glad I was inspired to find this dr and was able to travel and have this surgery done! I have 2 small incisions on either side of my pelvis, and a pretty large incision in my belly button. I am recovering well...somedays are better than others, but all in all I think I am doing quite well and certainly on the road to being fully recovered! It is interesting that most of what they found was left over and/or due to the previous surgery. No wonder I kept feeling like things were not improving the way I had hoped! But, now they will! And watch out, world! DeeDee with health, vitality and energy?! Unstoppable!

Another Day!

So, after several months of my health going downhill, and doctors not being able to offer much in the way of answers or treatment, I finally took matters into my own hands. I went to the Hotze Health and Wellness Center! Amazing! Doctors who understand what it is I am going through...have treated it for many years, and who are sure that they can help me! It is like going to a 5 star hotel dedicated to health. They take such good care of you! So, my hormones are completely out of balance (which may have something to do with the liver tumors) and they have started me on a regimen of prescription (and bioidentical) hormones, vitamins and supplements. Once I have sort of stabilized, I will do a special yeast cleansing diet which should also help to rid my body of the toxins that have built up over the years.

The day after I went to Hozte (saw Dr. Sheridan), Dr Sinervo from the Center for Endometriosis Care in Atlanta, Georgia phoned me. He said that he felt the majority of my pain was due to remnant ovarian syndrome. Evidently it is nearly impossible to remove all ovarian tissue in a hysterectomy...especially with such a mess as my insides were! That tissue that is left will act like an ovary, and the endo will grow and thrive once again! The ovarian tissue can even develop cysts...probably why I have been feeling like I have an ovarian cyst! I do! The pain in my back is most likely due to endo growing in the back of my pelvis. The tumors in my liver are possibly endometrial tissue. So, I will be flying to Atlanta soon to have one more and hopefully final surgery for endometriosis. The Center has only seen a 7-8% recurrence of pain and symptoms in 20 years of treating women. The normal rate is 40-60% of recurrence of symptoms in the first year following surgery! They use a very specialized surgical technique to remove ALL the errant tissue. They will have a general surgeon on hand to biopsy the liver lesions, and if it is endometrial tissue, they will remove the tumors also. So, though going through yet another surgery (It will be my 6th)for this awful disease doesn't thrill me, the prospect of once again and hopefully forever more being healthy, makes me ECSTATIC!

I am so thankful for all the prayers, and healthy wishes of family and friends...I truly feel so blessed and can absolutely see the Lord's hand in my life. Thanks, ya'll!

So, on to another day...the rain is about to stop, I can feel it!

The Wax Museum

The 2nd Graders at Cline elementary hosted a Wax Museum last Thursday night. It was a great event, with so many historical characters there telling their own stories! My favorite, of course, was Abraham Lincoln (who suspiciously resembled my own Cooper Addison..both handsome guys I tell ya!) I am so mad because I thought I got a video of Elvis also. His performance was priceless! But alas, there seems to only be a still shot of him. This guy looks exactly like Cooper's best friend, Christian. Except that Christian is a blondie and dresses much more conservatively. Betsy Ross was also a favorite of mine...she very closely resembles little miss EmmaLee Davis, Cooper's betrothed (at least in my world she is! wink wink)

That Abe Lincoln guy, he is pretty amazing! What's funny is that Jordyn wanted to be him when she did a wax museum in 5th grade. Cross-dressing wasn't allowed so she "settled" for being Mary Todd Lincoln, Abe's wife. Then Cooper, not knowing any of that was emphatic from the beginning that he was choosing Abe Lincoln. Hmmmm...I always quote him, (scroll down to the bottom of my blog to see one of his sayings) and am very fond of the man. Wonder what our "connection" is to him. I do know that we gotta give "props" to Uncle Jimmy for the, well, props! He did a fabulous job on that hat! The rest was pretty simple and easy to come by with just a swipe of a card and a signature from me! My momma taught me to be resourceful, you know... And like Abe said, "All I am or ever hope to be I owe to my mother!" And what an angel mine is! I say to Abe, "hear, hear!"

Bring on the Rain!

But, to tell the truth, I am hoping for sunny skies and clear sailin' this week! As you may know, I have been ill. Instead of the illness running its usual course and me getting better, I have just stayed sick. Bummer. Then, I had a CT scan that required further investigation. And then the further investigation required even further investigation. So, today, I am going for my first mammogram! Joy! I am not 40 yet, so it is a little early to be getting one, but I'll humor the dr. Then, later this week I will be having a liver biopsy to check out that stuff they saw on the CT scan. It is all a little scary, I must admit. However, nothing is ever SERIOUSLY wrong with me...I just get odd little syndromes that few other people get. Usually it is just a little black rain cloud in my otherwise sunshine-y life! It is interesting that when faced with difficulty, I tend to get weak in the knees, and end up on them a lot more than usual! Could this be the reason for my obstacles? To remind me Who is in control? To remind me that I need better communication with my Father in Heaven? Nah...it's just this dang physical body! I can hardly wait for the day (but I will wait...years and years and years) til I no longer have to be constrained by limitations of this particular defective body! But ya know, life is terminal...like the rain, it is inevitable, and neccessary for growth and further development and beauty! The rain never lasts forever (although I bet Noah and his family started to wonder!)...and though there are usually some indictors that it is going to shower, you never know for sure if you're going to get rain or not. So, in short life's forecast is this: terminal, with a chance of LIVING!!!!

Blood letting and other romanticism (February 4th)

Jordyn and I recently watched Pride and Predjudice...the original 5 hour version. I love that movie, and really any movie based on that time period. I love the 1800s. Everyone and everything was so genteel. So proper. It was Jordyn's first time watching it. I got the dvds for Christmas, and I insisted one day when I wasn't feeling well that she sit and watch with me.

And there has been plenty of not feeling well lately... I have been dealing with a urinary tract infection. You probably know that I LOATHE going to the doctor. Hate it. So, as soon as I realized I had an infection, I started taking natural remedies. The burning stopped, and I thought it was over. Then, at the Charleston Tea Room, I started feeling worse. I decided it was time for the doctor. I went today and indeed, the infection is in my kidneys and so I am going to be on antibiotics, which I also HATE! He said I should feel better in 48 hours after starting the meds. THAT I am looking forward to.

Speaking of looking forward...Elli started wearing her reverse face mask..she loves wearing it, except when she sleeps, but is being a real trooper. Her desire for medical devices is coming in real handy right now!

Maybe Todd could use some of the desire, because I think he may need a pacemaker real soon :0) I don't know if his heart can handle having a dating age daughter! Jordyn is listed on facebook as "in a relationship with Zachary Joseph Nelson." And, what can I say? I love em both. They are so cute together and so proper. They'd have done well in the 19th century.

Oh, to have lived then. Propriety was the norm. Women were women. Men were men. Doctors were...barbers! Did you know that? When you were sick, you went to the barber for blood-letting. That is why they have those poles with the red and white stripes. To inform the public that they were skilled in blood-letting. The white represents bandages and the red...blood! Well, on second thought, maybe I just like to learn about the 19th century...peeing in a cup is bad enough. I wonder how much blood they'd drain for a kidney infection... I am starting to feel real glad about those anitibiotics! In fact, I'll wrap this up now so I can waddle to my car and drive over to the "Apothecary" and pick up my "remedy" at the window. For now, I will keep my blood where it should be: inside my body. I'll keep watching movies, and pretending that everything about life was romantic then.

Lost teeth and Found appliances

Little boy finally lost his first tooth! He is so excited! He is the last one in his class to lose one...and he thinks he can feel another wiggly one now, too!



In related news, Elli Noel found out that her top jaw is growing at a slower rate than her bottom jaw...and so, for starters, she got this great new appliance yesterday! It's name is expander. We have to turn it with a special key every night for 14 days. Then, hopefully it will have opened up her teeth a little. On February 4th, she will be the proud owner of a reverse face mask. She will wear it to bed every night for a year. At the end of the whole process, her face shape will be different, her smile will be more beautiful than ever, her teeth perfect, and I think she is going to waste away to nothing because eating is pretty difficult right now! Now, if they could promise it would shrink my nose, I'd definitely get one for myself!

New year, new computer, new post

So, for Christmas, I got a new laptop, and a vinyl machine. I also got a 16 year old, a 9 year old and 15 years married! We had a party about every other weekend...and if you've been to a Baker party, you know they are no small affair. In short, I am pooped! We had lots of Johnson family visitors (the best gift of all!), and lots of friends. I will post pictures of the parties, the birthday girls, the husband (and son, for good measure), sometime in the new year. I make no promises of the exact date. Tomorrow is Sunday, and I am going to have a day of rest. The next day is Monday, the kids go back to school (bummer) and I will have a day of rest. Then Tuesday- day of rest. And Wednesday, Thursday, Friday...well, you get the idea! Then, once I feel rested, I will think about downloading and sharing pictures. And btw, I have a large stack of Christmas cards on the desk waiting to be sent. I am sorry you haven't received one yet. I just couldn't find the time. I do love ya'll and hope your holidays were merry and bright. And, I hope you got a lot of rest. If not, take the week off just like me...you deserve it!