finding the sun on a cloudy day....

i went back to the lyme dr. on wednesday morning and found out that i am going to have as shelly calls it "my friend" the PICC line for another month...i will start it when i get back from my trip to minnesota...i just finished the last dose of the other med i was on tonight...i start with a week of rifampin and azithromycin...i will be on these while im in minnesota...when i get back i will be on doxycycline through the iv and bactrim orally...we are going to be treating both lyme and the co-infection that my dr. believes i still have since i had no response to this past round of meds...and the last time i was feeling well we had been treating both lyme and a co-infection...

so i was kinda bummed out about this until i talked to richard and he gave me some advice...he said "well kaela it is a good thing that they are still trying things...they haven't told you that there is nothing they can do"...this put a little perspective on the situation...so there was my first glimpse of the sun through the clouds...

the second came today when i found out that i got the job that i was applying for...i will be teaching half-time next year in the school that i am currently teaching in...i am very excited about this! a little more of the clouds started to burn away...

the last bit of sunlight came when i talked with the pharmacy in florida that will be providing me with the meds and everything i need to maintain the PICC line...(my insurance will not pay for anything to do with the iv and meds any more)...and i found out that it is only going to cost me $500 a week...this is still a lot but compared to the $1400 a week that we thought it was going to be this is great!!!

so the fight continues...

results...results...results...

well i got the brain mri results back and things look pretty much normal...they found 2 black spots that aren't even a centimeter big in my white matter...(not sure what white matter is?)...these spots are due to inflamation from the lyme disease and will go away with the iv treatment...
iv treatment...well i will not know if i am continuing this treatment until friday morning when i meet with the lyme dr. again...looks like i might have it in longer then a month which means i am going to be appealing with my insurance company since they only pay for the medicine for a month...but more then likely i will have to pay for the antibiotic myself and they will supply all the stuff to maintain the picc line...we'll see im going to talk to the blue cross blue shield lady on sunday or monday...
that is all i know for now...i don't feel like im responding to the treatment yet?? but i know it can take awhile...the only thing that has gotten worse since starting treatment in my short term memory and attention span...(which wasn't great to begin with haaaaaa)...im not getting worse but not feeling better...YET!!!!!!

this is my brain on lyme....

today i went to the hospital AGAIN to get an MRI of my brain...to, as i was told, make sure lyme is the only thing we are dealing with...which i am very cool with...would rather be safe then sorry...the mri guys gave me a cd with all the pictures of my brain on it so i could show my kids at school...and of course blog it! haaaaaaaaa
the GOOD NEWS is that I DO HAVE A BRAIN!!!! the bad news is that other then knowing that i have no idea what i am looking at in these pics...lol
this one looked like one of those african bullfrogs to me actually...i laughed out loud when i was scrolling through the pictures...
and this one kinda freaked me out!! so crazy huh...
i should find out the results in a few days im hoping...i go back to the lyme dr. a week from thursday...we'll see what he has to say then...i went to a new lady for acupuncture today..she had lyme herself...and works with my lyme dr. which is great...very happy with her...
thank you for all your well wishes and support...you guys are so awesome!!!!!!!!!!

everything you ever wanted to know about...

urinals in europe...my dad put this montage together for my grandpa, papa, for his birthday...this was filmed while they traveled around scotland...

not a dry eye...

when in san diego welcoming my brother and his buddies back from their 3rd tour in iraq we had multiple 'jam' sessions...lots of music and singing...my sister harmony sang the following song to all of us one night and there weren't many left with dry eyes...

dad's tribute to jake

we had a welcome home party for jake while in bonaire over the holidays...my dad put together a short video for jake...


thank you jake and all the men and women that have lost their lives and continue to risk their lives so that we may live the life we live..and those less fortunate may have hope of a better life...

growing kitty

when we picked thura up she was just barely 9 weeks old...and she weighed almost 2 1/2 lbs...
well thura is now 5 1/2 months...and is growing like crazy...here are a couple of pictures from our trip to san diego in november when she was wasn't quite 3 months old
she still loves to get between the computer and me...sprawl out on the couch...she has also picked up a few new games...she likes to play fetch with hair binders and straws...she also likes to push a tennis ball around the apartment...this is a video of her and the tennis ball


this is her a couple nights ago...sprawled out on the couch next to me...these next few were taken tonight...
she is such a great cat...she is now 7 lbs and growing...she is great to have around and so fun to watch and play with...im very grateful for her company!!

snow and lots of it...

this is what i woke up to last thursday morning...and it was still snowing...we got about 2 feet of snow in about 2 days...it was so beautiful...we had lost almost all of our snow due to really high temps...
but after a couple days the week before of rain and ice...we got our snow...today jen and i went snowshoeing up the mountain right behind our place...it was the first time i've ever been snowshoeing...it was so much fun and so calming...it had started to snow just as we were leaving...it was so peaceful and inspiring...
we were out there for a couple of hours...while we were gone isadora and seth built a snowman...
if you go to www.badcolonies.org you will see how big it is compared to a 3 year old...i would say it is at least 8 feet tall...the snow was perfect for making a snowman...as you can see...
link to picture of snowman and isadora

princess bride must see

Video Click Here

this is great....my family should really appreciate it!

Brain MRI and Job Interview

well yesterday i was getting out of the shower as i heard my phone ringing...i quick ran out to the kitchen and it was my lyme dr. nurse...i was kinda surprised...she proceeded to inform me that i was scheduled to have a brain mri on tuesday morning at 11...she told me that my dr. wanted it done asap just to make sure lyme is the only thing we are dealing with...this kinda freaks me out but i guess it's better to be safe then sorry...but the real bummer is that im supposed to be observed for the teaching job im applying for at the same date and time as the mri....i left messages for my principal and sent her an email...
this morning i called the hospital and they were able to reschedule the mri for later in the day....yeah! so ill be observed in the morning and will go for my mri after lunch...

trip back to minnesota

well i have been gone from minnesota since july 18th...a lot has happened since i left...and im finally heading back for a short week...mon-fri...im looking forward to seeing my friends and family!!! i have a week off from school and thura is going to join me on my trip...
if anyone out there is interesting in buying a house in minnesota let me know...im looking to sell mine asap!

countdown...

dad is famous for his countdowns and i started doing my own countdowns to when i see dominic...my new countdown has become one that involves my PICC line...i just finished my first week of meds...im not having the same effects from this med as i did on the oral antibiotics...i think part of it has to do with not having it affect my stomach...who knows...i get sat and sun off from meds...just have to flush my lines...
giving the meds has gone better then i thought it would...i have had some very slight swelling in my upper arm and pain in my neck shoulder area which the nurses said could be signs of something wrong with the PICC line...so on wednesday night i drove myself to the er on the advice of my nurse to get an x-ray and just get the peace of mind that it wasn't the PICC...the signs of something going wrong with the PICC could also be symptoms of the lyme...long story short the dr. gave me the vibe that i was an idiot over-reacting and he didn't give me an x-ray...i left feeling stupid...but im still glad that i went
the nurse is coming this weekend to double check things....