The Absentee Blogger

Well, it's been almost a week since I've posted - shame on me! We had quite a boring, yet relaxing weekend. Steve, the girls, and I all went to church together - that hasn't happened in quite a few weeks with horse shows and illnesses and such.



But Monday was quite a day. We did school and then in the late afternoon, I had an episode of chest pain that was quite intense. It lasted for about 20 minutes and then suddenly disappeared. Steve took Brooke to choir practice and then he and Morgan went to take care of the horses. They hadn't been gone long when the pain returned, even stronger than before. It took my breath.



I called Steve and gasped that the pain had returned and he said, "I'm coming home now" and hung up. I called a friend and asked her to pray for me. She stayed on the phone until Steve came home. The pain just kept getting worse. I thought I was going to die.



Steve, my loving nurse, came in and took one look at me (at this time writhing in pain on the bathroom floor) and said, "You're either having a heart attack or it's your gallbladder. YOU are going to the hospital." Since Steve works with the sickest of the sick, when he recommends going to the hospital, it always concerns me. So off we went....



Want to insure a very prolonged ER visit? Go in complaining of chest pain and shortness of breath! Although the ER was very full and I did have to sit and wait for about an hour. It doesn't do to know too much - I kept asking Steve what the window was for the administration of TNK in the event I WAS having a heart attack.



They finally put me in a cardiac room (the lady who took my information put it on a "medicine" sheet when she should have put it on a chest pain sheet - a nurse was reviewing the sheets, saw my symptoms, and called me back as soon as she saw that), hooked me to heart monitors, and did an EKG and chest x-ray. And drew blood. Lots of blood.



The good news - my cardiac workup was negative. But my blood work showed elevated liver enzymes and they sent me for an ultrasound. I have gallstones. I'm too young for gallstones! Actually, I guess I'm not. And it does run in my family. They did a few more blood tests and called the surgeon and he said to send me home to follow up with him in his office on Thursday.



So now I have a surgery consult tomorrow. I don't want to have surgery! The only surgery I've ever had was oral surgery for an impacted tooth. I'm afraid it'll be downhill from now on. So I'm researching alternatives on the internet. If anyone has had gallbladder stones and used a non-surgical remedy, PLEASE let me know! I'd be very interested.



Okay, since I haven't taken any pictures, I'll have to post some taken by Brooke. She gave the ferret a bath and we laughed at him rubbing around on the sofa to fluff himself up. The cats, of course, were very interested in his grooming process.

Ferrets Rock

Here's our little Ferris peeking out of his little colorful ferret bed. He is just the cutest thing! He wakes up and looks around when you call his name. I thought I'd post some pictures of him here because someone on my Support4Homeschool yahoo group asked for suggestions of small pets. I recommended a ferret - he's the only "small" pet we have.

The upside of ferrets:

• they aren't demanding
• they don't bark
• they don't eat a lot
• they are pretty low maintenance
• they are funny and affectionate

The downside of ferrets:

• they smell kind of musky
• they tend to take small items and hide them under sofas and beds - Ferris likes to steal razors from the side of the tub and he loves any crackly paper or bags - those are hidden under the sofas
• you do have to clean the cage (well, *I* don't - that's a Stevie-boy job!)

Here's a picture of Ferris and Brooke's cat, Libby. Libby has always loved Ferris and will climb into his cage. They love to play together.