Tyler and his Roboreptile

How do you suppose Tyler got to play with his Christmas present early?? If you said he has a Grandma that can't say no...you're right!! I have let Rhebeca play with her American Girl doll and all I ask is that she put her in the box when she's ready to leave. So, I thought I'd let Tyler play with his roboreptile early and then put it back in the box. I told him Grandpa would probably be mad at me for letting him play with it but not to worry about it...just have fun. Well, it wasn't too long till Wayne came in the door and Tyler ran and closed the door to the room we were in and said..."Wayne, you don't need to come in here." That about cracked me up. I told him we're not going to lie to grandpa...we'll tell him what we did. Then he was free to play. At first he was scared of it...as you can see in the 3rd picture he's safely on the basement stairs. The remote control is a little difficult to learn and I'm hoping Tyler's Daddy can figure it out!! Isn't part of the fun of doing something ...doing it when it's not the right time or it's a little too early? Like eating cookie dough before the cookies are made? He'll remember that long after the roboreptile is gone and in the dumpster!

Did anybody miss me? I think it's been well over a week since I've been on this blog. I have had a rough week and anytime there is nothing from me on here you can guess I'm going through a hard time.

First of all the rheumatologist put me on about 4 times as much prednisone (steroid) as she did a few months ago. My heart started racing and my blood pressure shot right up. I called to tell her and found out she takes Friday afternoons off. So, I called my famiy doctor and he said to stop the prednisone right away. I stopped it and it wasn't 24 hours till my whole body swelled up. When I went for an injection to my neck on Wednesday the doctor that gave me the shot saw the swelling (or edema) and said he bet I was retaining 15-20 pounds. First thing Thursday morning I called my family doctor and he got me right in. Sure enough my weight was up about 20 pounds. There's no way I could actually gain that much in a few days. I was just miserable with the swelling. He said finally this is something I can help you with. At times when I go in there he just doesn't know what to do with me so I could tell he felt good that he finally had an answer. He gave me a very high powered water pill and said to stay near a bathroom. Funny thing is... in the next 12 hours I only went twice. It finally did kick in today and the swelling is down considerably. The only problem is the water pill makes me very nauseated and gives me a headache. I've taken it 2 days (he wants me on it for 7 days) and I think I'll switch to my other water pill...demadex. I used to use lasix but it doesn't work for me at all any more.

I am hoping for one of those weeks where I feel good every day. I had a dream this morning when I was sleeping (I slept a lot because I used a phenergen suppository for the nausea from the water pill) that I thought signified how I feel about my health. I was driving a car to a familiar spot in Plymouth. It is by a lake where we once found lots of mushrooms. For some reason I drove out there and got into this really thick deep dirt. I just wanted to go home but couldn't back up. I took a turn to try to get back home and it got even worse...it was really deep sand. The car barely moved and finally got stuck and then I woke up. Now, I don't always think that dreams have a meaning to them but this was so clear when I woke up. I want to get back to my old health and to be like I used to be and that was the going home part. The getting stuck and bogged down was illness. I just couldn't get out of it no matter how hard I tried. And I knew I could call someone but also knew they wouldn't know how to find me and that is the doctor's that just don't know what to do for me. I think that there are times when our dreams have a real meaning comparing them to our lives.

Last night I was at my most miserable state. My feet were so swollen that they felt like there were pins and needles stuck in them. BUT...Rhebeca and Kael had their Christmas program last night and there was no way I was missing that. This was Kael's first time to be in front of people and he did such a good job. He was in the front row and he smiled and sang and did most of the hand motions. We all had wondered if he would just stand there but nope...he did it!!! (At that age his Dad used to sit on the teachers lap on the front row). Then Beca's group came on . She sang with the choir and then sang in a group of 6 girls. I know she was really nervous but she did a great job. She looked confident and had the nicest smile on her face. I was really proud of both of them. I had to leave a little early because my feet were bothering me so much. But, I stayed to hear Beca's group sing. I wouldn't have missed that for anything!!! I loved what she told me at their house before we left for the program. I asked her if she was going to be doing any of the drama. She said no, they had to choose between singing and drama. I just love her self confidence because she went on to say that's going to be a real big problem in the future. She said...I'm good and acting and I'm good at singing...I don't know how I'll decide which one to do. Well, Beca, you decide and Grandpa and I will be there to listen to you whatever you decide!!!

I was supposed to get a root canal on tooth #29 last week. I was too sick to go there and it's scheduled for this Tuesday. A couple days after it was scheduled to have the root canal a big chunk of the tooth fell off. Then last night I was eating some pretzels and I felt something hard in my mouth. It was a huge hunk of my tooth! Now the tooth is really hurting. I imagine the nerve is exposed. I have to be real careful when I eat and drink and keep putting the canker sore medicine on the tooth because that numbs it. This is the first time I am really anxious to get the root canal:)