Dream a Little Dream

For the past month or so, I've been dreaming about massive, deadly tornados. A lot. Usually I'm watching through a window or in a review mirror. I'm never in the path, but I can see it, feel it coming. So anyway, I guessed it was a symbol. Me feeling like my life was spinning out of control or something. Looked it up today and someone give me a gold star, cause I was right.

"A tornado is a violent storm in nature, and it may represent violent emotional storms in your dreams. If you have reoccurring tornado dreams consider the emotional changes in your life and also the amount of anger and rage that you may be currently experiencing. Tornadoes could also represent disruptions and upsets in your immediate environment and specific or current issues that may be overwhelming."

Quoted from http://www.spiritcommunity.com/dreams

Now, I really don't feel like I have any anger or rage at the moment. Honestly, it'd take too much energy to muster up rage. I'd much rather use that energy for something productive like blogging or carting around my crazy heavy camera, maybe even for a load of laundry if I'm feeling domestic. But rage, naw. The rest of it rings pretty true though. We've definately been through a lot of emotional changes and come on, the part about "disruptions and upsets in your immediate environment". Oh yeah, got that one BIG time.

So maybe there's something to this whole dream symbol thing. What are you guys dreaming about?

Cutting your medical bills

Ben found this link on another blog. It's worth a read even if you have insurance.

http://www.kiplinger.com/magazine/archives/2009/03/10-ways-to-cut-medical-bills.html

She's so grown up

"Time stands still best in moments that look suspiciously like ordinary life."
-Brian Andreas

I'm so thankful that I get to record these moments of ordinary life. It's where all the true beauty is found :)

(Oh, could she look any more like Dakota Fanning in that last picture?)

We are surrounded by beauty

and some times we just need to take a moment to look around for it.

And a quiet week it was . . .

I was so afraid we'd jinxed it by talking about how great it was going to be with nothing to do last week but nope, it was a boring week after all. Thank goodness :)

So since I stayed away from all things blog related, I guess I'll do an update. Ben's next appointment is Wednesday for a CT scan. One of the requirements on the UNOS listing is a CT scan every three months along with bloodwork at set times too (depending on your MELD score). His last scan was at the end of November so it's now time for another one. I'd love to explain in all technical jargon what they're looking for in the scan but when I asked Ben last night his reply was "I don't know. Last time they just came and got me at 11 at night. I didn't ask." Do you see me rolling my eyes right now? Yeah, that was helpful there buddy. This is why I tag along to all of his appointments now.

The only other thing going on is the changes in his meds. The doctor lowered his Immuran and put him on Vitamin A and Zinc. The Vitamin A helps his immune system while the Zinc helps the body absorb the Vitamin A. Plus it makes Ben's coat shiny and his eyes bright. Oh wait, that's the Alpo . . . For the Immuran, the doctor cut out one dose a day so he's down to just two pills of that daily. His white blood cell count is low (so low the lab tagged the results) so hopefully a little less Immuran will help the white blood cell level come back up. I guess we'll have to wait for the next round of bloodwork to see if all this fiddling with his meds helps.

That's it for now :)

A week without news

It's been quiet around here. Thank goodness. This is Ben's first week without any bloodwork, doctor appointments, dental work, tests, etc. in at least a month or so. Dare we hope for a "normal" week? It's almost too good to be true. Work, school, watching tv, dishes, laundry, playing the wii and cooking. It seems so wonderful to *only* think about those things.

There's lots I want to post about. Plenty of medical tidbits to share and explain but for the rest of this week, I think I'm staying away from the blog. Maybe we'll even get to be bored this week. Now that really does seem too good to be true :)

For now, just a little reminder that we all need roots to grow . . .

It's not just Valentines Day

It's also the 10th Annual National Donor Day. To learn more about the day and about organ and marrow donation, visit http://www.organdonor.gov/get_involved/nationaldonorday.htm

Peanut Butter Recall List

Check your cabinets folks!

http://www.foxnews.com/projects/pdf/PeanutButterProducts2009.pdf

Stentless

Just to prove that Ben's entire life is now based on expecting the unexpected, he is now without a bile duct stent for the first time in four months. Yesterday was ERCP #4, which sadly, did not come with a "buy three get one free" offer (I'm still holding out hope for a $1.00 coupon for the next one though). According to the doctor, his left bile duct has been opened enough for the bile to flow and average size gallstones to pass without getting caught. His right bile duct is almost completely closed which Ben knew from his first ERCP so no stents or ballooning for that one.

So, it still seems amazing that we didn't come home with any new news yesterday. No new issues, no complications, just a routine procedure. It feels like nothing has been routine so far. I'm still holding my breath, waiting for something to come of this. Will his biopsy show something new? Will his bile duct close back up? Will he get another stone lodged in there and get another infection? This was all just too simple this time.