Lithotripsy #4

So today I woke up at 4 and drove to the city in the dark and rain then Kev drove me to the city and I got there 2 minutes late. I got all settled with changing into my johnny shirt and vitals done then sat down to read my book on the leather couch I never get to sit in because it's always taken. Instead of the usual 2+ hour wait, they send me into the next room after only 20 minutes, but then I had to wait in the uncomfy chair for 40 minutes. I would rather have waited in the comfy leather couch!
My doctor comes in and seems excited about the stones I passed and says that he'll do an x-ray first before putting in the IV just in case I already passed that last stone. It was still there though so we went ahead with the procedure. Went as smoothly as could be, I had no afterpain and Kev came about a half an hour later. (s'ok...I had my Hunger Games to keep me company) We left the hospital at 10:30am.

Kev & Lynda had some stuff to do before we got to Truro so we didn't end up getting home until right before Kristen has to be picked up from her class trip (3:45pm). Good thing her bus was a bit late!

So besides having to drive around a lot, the day went well. I didn't get to take a nap (was awake during the procedure) so we'll see what time I go to bed tonight!

Lithotripsy #3

So today I went in for my 3rd lithotripsy. We arrived at 7:30am (meaning we left home at 6am), a half an hour before I had to be there. I got registered, changed, got my vitals checked then the anesthetist (a different one than the other 2 times) wanted to put the IV in me right then. I was like uhh...last time they did it right on the table so I wouldn't faint. And she said "oh, you won't do THAT!" so I told her to at least put it in my arm not my hand so she did. That went okay...didn't faint and had it in my arm the whole time I waited, which was about 2 1/2 hours. Got in and got it done...the stones in my ureter had passed and 2 of the 3 stones moved down so he focused on those ones and I have to go back on the 30th to get that last one done. Hopefully that'll be IT! I think because of where it was, I didn't have any pain afterward (besides the feeling of having a bladder infection, of which I am taking an antibiotic right now in case it actually is.)

Happy 6th Birthday Kaylee!!

Today Kaylee turned 6. It was just the two of us because Barry was working and Kristen was still away with my in-laws, so I took her to do a bunch of fun stuff! First we went to the SPCA to see the kitties (& get some cheap litter), then we went to WalMart to have McDonald's for lunch and spend her birthday money. She bought a Minnie Mouse shirt, a little stuffed Smurfette, a Barbie compact/brush & a carton of Whoppers. After we spent a few hours at WalMart, we headed to the Clay Cafe to pick out something to paint. She chose a big lidded cupcake dish and asked me to paint the top because it is so intricate. It took us a few hours but I think it turned out cute! We'll see on Tuesday when I pick it up. After we were done painting it was almost 5 o'clock but we went to the park to play for a bit anyway. :) Soon after we got home, Barry got home from work and we headed to Wendy's for supper which was Kaylee's choice, then to Dairy Queen for dessert. At around 8 I took her over to my mom's to stay for the night because I had an app't in the city really early the next morning. Kaylee had a WONDERFUL 6th birthday!

Lithotripsy #2

So yesterday Barry & I went to the city for my second lithotripsy procedure. My app't was scheduled for 10am this time instead of 7:15am which was a whole lot better, but I ended up waiting until about 1:30 to actually get it done! They didn't put the IV in until I was on the table so I didn't faint this time. I was sedated but not unconscious like I was last time. Felt pain in my left side very soon after the procedure and it just got worse. Like on a scale of 1-10 it was an 8 or 9. They said I wouldn't (or shouldn't) need anything more than Tylenol #1's, but even though I took a Tylenol #3, it didn't take away any of the pain. When I got home at 4:30pm I went straight to bed and waited for the pain to subside. I was able to get up around 7pm and eat some yogurt. Haven't passed a single stone yet, which is kind of troublesome as the stones in my ureter were supposed to be blasted to sand which would mean easy to pass.

Next week when I go again (hopefully for the last time) I am going to insist on a shot of pain meds before I leave because I do NOT want to deal with the pain again! It's during Labour Day weekend too which means I won't feel well enough to sell my jewelry at the Stanley Fly-In like I was going to...no extra $$ for me. :(

Lithotripsy

For those who don't know, I have been dealing with kidney stones since 2 days before my wedding, almost 11 years ago. In April I had a CT scan done on my kidneys where I found that there were 2 good sized kidney stones in my kidney (9mm & 5mm) so I was sent to a urologist to get a lithotripsy procedure done last Friday, the 19th.

I had to get up at 4:45 so I'd have time to take a shower and stuff then drive to the city and find out where to go. That was bad enough, but then I couldn't get to sleep until about 3:30!

So we get there and give her my info then go into another room and she weighs me (ugh), takes my vitals, asks questions about the meds I take and tells me about the procedure, then I wait for about an hour and a half. We (Barry & I) then go into yet another room where the guy puts in an IV. Normally it's really hard to find a vein to put the IV in and I get stuck a bunch of times but this time he only had to do it once....yet I fainted afterward. Ugh! I HATE that I'm a fainter!

So after I'm feeling better and can sign the consent form, they wheel me in and put me under the machine and the anesthetist gives me some "rum & coke" in my IV (that's what he called it) LOL. I must've went to sleep right after that because next thing I know I'm in the recovery room where a woman is giving me juice and cookies. I wasn't supposed to fall asleep, just be relaxed and pain free...must've been pretty tired!

When I woke up I was already having kidney pain but it wasn't horrible. We drove to Stanley to pick up the girls who were with Kev & Lynda and I rested on the bed in their trailer until we were ready to go (Lynda was out with the girls so we had to wait until they got back). I peed before we left and it was almost straight blood, with some little clots and a few little stones. Scary! As we drove home my pain started getting worse and worse and by the time we were about 10 minutes outside of town, the pain was so bad I fainted & threw up a little in my mouth. Barry rubbed my arm and kept asking if I was okay. I could hear him but didn't have the energy to speak. He asked if I wanted to go to the hospital and I said no, knowing that they'd just give me a pain shot and a Rx for some pain meds which I already had. So when we got home I went straight to bed and he brought me a Toradol since I'd already taken a Tylenol 3 two hours before. He gave me a cold Magic Bag and I got under the covers and slept for about 3 hours.

The first day I was passing stones every time I used the bathroom, but haven't passed anything significant since Saturday morning. I have a follow up appointment on Friday with an x-ray and if the doctor thinks I need it done again, I will have to do so that day I think. Ugh! I just don't want to be in pain anymore...seriously. 11 years of having them more than 3 times a year is enough!

My Oh My!

It’s been so long since I blogged! Almost 3 months! A lot has gone on in those months, but I am not about to go through it all, so I’ll just post the main things that pop into my head…

On May 9th we got 2 little bobtailed kittens to foster for a month…they were so sweet! We got to name them so we chose Trixie and Pixie. The day I had to take them back to the SPCA was a hard one. I cried a lot that day! It only took a few days to get over it but I do still think of them and hope they get adopted into their forever home soon! We will be fostering some more kittens in the future too.



We are having a pretty lucky year here in the Layden household…Kristen won a contest through Family Channel and won a Liv doll, I won a Mother’s Day basket for charity that was worth well over $100, and Kaylee just won a $250 gift certificate last week towards the purchase of a bike & helmet! The local pharmacy has a contest at the end of every school year where you bring in your report card and then get a ballot to win one of 2 gift certificates (1 for a boy, 1 for a girl) and this year Kaylee was one of the winners! We went out right that afternoon and purchased the bike and helmet then my mom had to pick up the bike the next day because Barry was away overnight that night and I didn’t think it’d fit in the car. Here are some pictures of Kristen’s and Kaylee’s prizes!



On June 28th Kristen got a retainer for her mouth. She has a crossbite and when one of her top teeth came in, it came in too far back and wasn’t able to move forward because her bottom teeth were in the way. So, she got a retainer that has plastic below the teeth so the top teeth and bottom teeth aren’t touching so the tooth can move over top of the bottom one that’s in the way. It also has a little spring behind that tooth to help assist it to move.



The girls just finished up their Fun in the Sun Day Camp last Friday and they got to tie dye t-shirts. They wanted tank tops though so I went and bought some for them. I think they turned out pretty nice and the girls love them!



I haven’t done much jewelry to sell lately, just some pieces for gifts and myself. I have done some layouts though!

We are off to Ottawa for a week soon so I’ll be posting more pics after we get home!

Happy Easter!

It’s a 4 day weekend here and as much as I’d like it to be sunny and warm, only tomorrow and Saturday are supposed to be nice. I remember when I was a kid, every Easter was nice and sunny and we’d play outside with all our new outdoor toys like skipping ropes, hula hoops, bubbles and chalk. My daughters are getting Monster High stuffies, Monster High pets, books, movies (Tangled & Narnia: Voyage of the Dawn Treader) and lots of candy…and that’s just from my husband and I! I warned them that next year will be different and that they’d only be getting stuff like I got when I was a kid. I hope I can stick to that plan! LOL

I haven’t been doing a whole lot lately, making a bit of jewelry and scrapped a page today. I really like it! The colors are great and there are lots of embellishments. Those birds, butterfly and bee are sweet!

Here are some pieces of jewelry I’ve done lately!

oh, and I made this for my mom for Mother’s Day. Shhh…don’t tell her!

Sick of the crap

I’ve been a busy bee scrapping lately because I haven’t felt like making any jewelry but I just can’t watch TV and do nothing at the same time. Unless I’m feeling REALLY crappy, I have to be doing something. LOL So, here are the layouts I’ve done since last Tuesday. I’m trying to get some of my holidays done.













I hope you guys are all doing better than we are here…Kaylee started with the stomach flu on Saturday and then Kristen got it on Sunday. Neither of them went to school today but Kaylee is now feeling better (I can tell because she’s playing with her jewelry on the floor) but Kristen is still feverish and throwing up, poor girl.   I just hope that it doesn’t last long and that neither myself or Barry get it!

Is that GRASS I see??

Yes! It’s finally Spring!! I am so glad it’s getting warmer and very very glad that there will be no more piles of snow! I have been busy making jewelry for my Etsy store, just last night trying to do some chainmaille for the first time, and today I actually scrapped! It only took 8 months for the mojo to come back! Although, I DID use a template to make the page. Here’s the layout…

And here are some samples of the jewelry I’ve been making!

There is plenty more in my shop as I make at least one piece to sell every day!

Happy New Year!

Holy wow it’s been a long time since I blogged! Still not “in the mood” for blogging or scrapping much I was diagnosed as depressed in September and went on a drug called Effexor. It worked well, but in December I started having twitches, like all of a sudden my foot would move without me wanting it to. My doctor didn't like that too much so she told me to wean myself off of it. It was the HARDEST thing to do! The "brain zaps" were the worst. I realized after going off of it that I was having rapid heart beats when I was on it as well as having majorly shaky hands. I am doing well now but still don't feel "normal".

I have started designing beaded jewelry and accessories and have opened an Etsy store. So far I am making a few new pieces every single day! Good thing Barry doesn’t do the banking. LOL

Etsy: www.etsy.com/shop/JennilynDesigns