Strep, Strep, Strep, Strep, Strep

It all started the last week of September. My throat had been hurting and I was trying to decide if it was overuse since starting work again or something else. When I saw white pus on my tonsils, I knew I probably should go in. Sure enough, it was Strep. This was my first case since high school. I get sore throats all of the time but never strep. I decided to get a penicillin shot and was on my way. Then about a week before Thanksgiving, my same horrible sore throat came back. This time it was accompanied by chills, aches, and a fever. I had strep #2. Even then I wasn't too concerned. Almost exactly when I was done with my prescription however, my sore throat returned. I held off a little on this one convinced it wasn't strep this time. I was wrong of course and when the pain became unbearable, I went in to the doctors and had Strep #3. By now I had been given a large list of Ears, Nose, Throat doctors and was highly encouraged to go see one. 7 days later I was back at the doctors with strep #4 and this time the doctor recommended a certain ENT I should go see. I decided I was tired of being sick so made an appointment but wouldn't be able to get in until January 9th. By now it was Christmas break so I thought I was safe. I knew I would be away from all of my germy students. Once again, I was wrong and while still at home, suffered through another sore throat. I put this one off a lot longer but decided to go back to the doctor although I already knew my fate, Strep #5. Not only was this 5 times in about 3 1/2 months, it was 4 times in just over 4 weeks.

Finally I went in to see the ENT. He said I had developed a type of film over my tonsils which is impenetrable. That is why as soon as I was off a prescription, I would get sick again. It kept it at bay but wouldn't be able to get rid of it. Strep would basically never go away as long as I had tonsils. My tonsils are also gigantic even when not sick so that along with some other things made me a perfect candidate for a tonsillectomy. He warned me that this is one of the most painful surgeries for an adult  because there is a 10-14 day recovery. I just wanted them to be out so I could start working on getting better and I scheduled my surgery for as soon as possible. It would be just a week later on January 17.

Being a teacher, I was most concerned about missing so much work. This is only my 2nd year so I don't have very many sick days and finding a sub that's reliable for PE is another job in and of itself. Miraculously, two days later I had the ok from both Principals and had subs lined up. I would have my surgery just before a 4 day weekend so although getting 14 days to recover, I would only be using 8 sick days. Things seemed to work out quite nicely so I was confident I made the right decision.

I was able to thoroughly enjoy my meals for the rest of the week knowing I wouldn't be able to eat normal for 2 weeks. I also didn't feel guilty with my daily Dr. Pepper and extra desserts because I also knew I would probably lose 10 lbs while recovering. Plus, I decided I wouldn't start any resolutions until I was better. I had some good "last meals" with friends and enjoyed a great last supper the night before at my aunt and uncle's house. By now I was sure I had strep again as my tonsils were very swollen but that didn't stop me from enjoying a wonderful meal. My uncle and grandpa also gave me a very nice blessing which calmed my nerves a bit.

Here is a picture of my tonsils the night before surgery: Warning, it is disgusting!

Thursday, January 17 was the big day. I didn't get nervous until we were ready to go inside. Sarah was able to take some time off to help nurse me and we had to check in at 6:30 am. I got signed in, dressed, got my IV then at about 7:45 they came to take me to the OR.

I remember the anesthesiologist giving me the "brave juice" as he called it and then I was out. The surgery lasted about 40 minutes and it took me another hour or so to wake up. Once I was up, I felt the pain right away. Sarah said I had tears streaming down my cheeks when they put me in the recovery room. I was quickly given some pain meds and was much better. The doctor ended up taking out my tonsils, adenoids, and adenoid tissue. They said it is very unusual to have adenoid tissue as an adult but leave it to me to be the exception. My uvula was about 10 times its normal size but everything else was good. I managed to eat some crushed ice and an Italian ice but that was it. Sarah got my prescriptions and after deciding I felt ok, we left around 11. Going home was miserable. I was nauseous and way out of it. Sarah managed to get me inside and since then all I've done is lounge around, complain, and sleep.

Here is a picture we took right after I got home:

 See how swollen my Uvula is?

All in all, the pain isn't terrible but it is uncomfortable. I got sick of jello, ice, and popsicles quickly but those are really the easiest things to eat. I've managed a couple pieces of bread, eggs, and finally oatmeal today but don't mind being hungry. Most of the time I'd rather be hungry then go through the pain it takes to swallow. Apparently today was supposed to be the worst since I'm starting to form scabs. I would agree with that. It's also been hard being so tired and dizzy with the pain meds and I get bored but hopefully in two weeks, it will all be worth it! I can't wait to swallow without it being painful.

Christmas 2012

I know, I'm a bit behind but I thought I would do a quick update about my Christmas break. Better late then never!

It was really great being home. I spent a lot of time with my family, enjoyed eating way too much food, and loved sleeping in and lounging around the house. I won't bore you with day to day details but here are a few pictures documenting my time home:

Christmas Morning

Whitney and Andy joined us Christmas afternoon.

We made mom try Just Dance which was hilarious. 

We pulled out our Bronco gear and enjoyed watching some football.

Whitney and Andy gave Dad a roller coaster set for Christmas. After about 4 hours of putting it together, we sure were proud when it worked!

I don't have any pictures to document but another highlight was going to see Les Miserables. Our theater at home wasn't showing it so we drove to Pueblo one day to see it. It was totally worth it, an amazing movie!

Thanksgiving and November Wrap-up

November sure has been a busy month. With work, my church calling, teaching after school, and other things going on it seems I barely have time to relax these days. Work has been going well other than me always being sick. I came down with STREP again the week before Thanksgiving. For anyone counting, that's 2 times in 2 months. This one was a lot worse too. I had a fever, aches, chills, headache, and of course an extremely bad sore throat. When I went in to the doctor, he said it was the worse case he'd seen in awhile. This time I had multiple prescriptions to reduce the swelling, get rid of the bacteria, and manage the pain so I could eat. It also came the weekend I had to give a talk in church. Luckily (or unluckily), I managed to be well enough to give it. It was on gratitude and it made me focus on all of the blessings I have in my life even when things are tough. Maybe me being sick is trying to teach me a little more about patience and to always be thankful for what I have. I must not have learned enough yet however because I have another sore throat at the moment. I'm pretty sure this one is not Strep this time but I'm getting a little sick of my throat being in pain. Who knows, maybe the real lesson I'm supposed to learn is to eat less since I'd rather starve then swallow at the moment!
Although being sick makes work difficult at times, I'm having fun teaching my students. I started teaching the older grades volleyball. Sometimes it tries my patience but I know a lot of them have never had any experience with this sport before and at least I know they are enjoying it. The younger students continue to make me laugh with their crazy antics and sayings. They have fun doing the simplest of things and it is gratifying to see them improve their skills or succeed at something for the first time. I also love how often they remind me that I'm the nicest, most beautiful PE teacher in the world! That always helps brighten my day.

I also got to go home for Thanksgiving break. I was at home for a whole 3 days and it was wonderful. We broke tradition and had Thanksgiving dinner at our house this year with my sister's inlaws. The food was amazing and the company enjoyable so it was a great day.

I felt like I literally spent the entire day in the kitchen and don't look forward to ever having to host a Thanksgiving dinner by myself in the future as it is so much work!

The rest of the break was spent mainly hanging out with my family. No one had to work on Friday so we got to hang out, play games, eat, and take our traditional family portraits at the ol' homestead. Here are some of my favorites:

We were missing Whitney's husband so we'll have to take more over Christmas break but we sure had fun. 

Other highlights from the trip home include:

Going shooting twice. I finally hit something thrown in the air with a shotgun so that was a feat and I totally beat my dad on shooting accuracy with the .22 and the BB gun pistol.

Roasting hot dogs and s'mores one night in the fire pit since the weather was nice.

Having amazing authentic tacos and playing Just Dance 4 with my best friend.

No one had any accidents, injuries, and I didn't get pulled over on the drive to and from Colorado!

So overall, wonderful trip. And another big perk is that I will be back in 4 weeks for Christmas.

Fall Break

Originally I planned on going down to St. George and Zion National Park for my Fall Break with some friends. October was busy and time kind of got away from us so that did not work out and my break was spent at home in Salt Lake. I didn't mind one bit however because I think being at home and able to relax was exactly what I needed.

Prior to the break I had a couple of crappy weeks. One weekend I had an extremely bad sore throat which turned out to be strep. Later that week I discovered that my bike had been stolen from off my back patio. Then the very next weekend I came down with the stomach flu. Anyone who knows me well, knows that stomach flu is pretty much the worst kind of sickness for me. It was conference weekend and my parents were in town so although it didn't quite turn out to be the weekend we planned, I sure appreciated having my parents here. The following Monday at a softball game I then got hit with a ball right on my lower shin. I'm pretty sure something is wrong with my tibia since it still hurts to this day but don't want to pay for an x-ray to find out! And then my facebook got hacked. So after that I was sure glad to get a little bit of a break.

I called my break "revival time" and did things just for me. Call it selfish if you will but I needed it. Thursday I slept in, took my time getting ready, had lunch with my sister at City Creek, and saw a movie by myself. I've never gone to the movies by myself before but it was quite exhilarating. I of course loaded up on Reese's and Dr. Pepper during the movie as well and had no one with me to make me feel guilty. I then got a haircut and later saw another movie with Sarah. We saw Pitch Perfect which was hilarious! We loved it and I can't wait to add it to my DVD collection. It might even become the movie I turn to on sick days to perk me up (if I can give up my current sick movie The Wedding Singer that is). Friday I finally spent my birthday money and gift cards and went shopping then relaxed at home. Later that night I saw another movie :) with a friend. Saturday we winterized and organized the apartment, went to Gardner Village with some friends and went to the new sporting goods store Scheels. That store was awesome, definitely my kind of place. The break then ended with a nice relaxing Sunday of delicious dinner, watching football, playing Just Dance 4, and getting a Mormon hangover by eating way too much junkfood. It was fabulous! So the break turned out to be exactly what I wanted and needed.

Here are some pictures as well for those who were patient enough to read this long post!

Gardner Village-The witches were out!

 SCHEELs:

 Still a moose at heart

TONS of sporting equipment and clothes + statues of important figures in History = my new favorite store!

September Happenings

September has been one busy month and I finally have time to sit and write about what has been happening in my life. School has been in session for over a month and I love how fast the time has gone. Although I do still have some rough days with rough kids, I feel much more prepared and things are just easier. We've been in a football unit for a couple of weeks and it has been fun seeing how much the kids are getting into it. I love seeing the looks on girls faces when they finally throw that perfect spiral or the funny "celebration dances" the boys love doing. Overall they have done very well with it and it's times like these I love being a teacher. The younger classes are also doing quite well and are if anything, very entertaining. My funniest experience so far was in a 1st grade class. This boy came in with his coat on when it was 90 degrees outside and almost as hot in our gym. He had just his hood on and I was worried it would fall off and then someone would trip on it so I asked him to take it off. He refused to do so multiple times so finally my patience was tried and I made him sit out. I told him he had 2 options: take it off so he could play or put it on so his arms were in the sleeves so it wouldn't fall off. He contemplated those choices and still refused. I was like, "this is ridiculous" and started getting a little mad. At this point he started crying and finally said through many tears and sobs, "My hair is short." That was it? He was crying because apparently he just got a haircut and didn't like how short it was. His hood was on so no one could see it. So then I laughed, felt sorry for getting angry, and let him play, with his hood on of course.
Work also = lots of sickness. With this month being so busy and my body hardly having time to rest, I came down with a cold at the beginning of the month, fought allergies throughout, and ended the month with Strep. I guess that's what you get when working with kids all day but I hope this means no more sickness for awhile.

This month has also had it's ups and downs. A family member got in a serious, life changing accident at work. Although very sad, it has been amazing to see the amount of love and support he has received from friends, family, and the community. Then one of my closest friends just moved to New Zealand so that was sad. But on a positive note, another close friend had her first baby, a handsome and healthy little boy. I was also reminded this month that my friends and family are awesome and I am truly blessed to have them in my life!

Now I won't bore you with details about everything else that happened this month so I will just highlight the important things and add pictures of course.

I turned a quarter of a century old on the 19th! I had the best cakes ever.

I also got to enjoy the outdoors and the wonderful fall colors while hiking up to Lake Blanche.

Now we are on to October! October is probably my favorite month. For me it marks the true beginning of fall and I love everything that comes with that: the colors, the food, the clothing, the weather, football, etc. I also really love Halloween so that's a plus!

The 24th in the San Luis Valley

I took a break from my summer babysitting job and headed to Colorado for Pioneer Days in the San Luis Valley. I didn't originally plan on going but after finding out several members of my family were going, Sarah and I decided to make the trip. It was a good decision too because it was wonderful! I had a really amazing time hanging out with cousins and enjoying the Pioneer Day celebration.

We got an early start on Thursday so we could get home for a family BBQ at the Sanford Park to celebrate my Grandma's 85th birthday. I don't have any pictures to document but we were very pleased with the turnout from extended family to support my wonderful grandma. It ended with a very intense game of HORSE with my cousins where I thoroughly embarrassed myself my missing almost every shot I took! I made up for it later though.

Friday we decided to start off the day in Manassa. I had never really looked at the Jack Dempsey Museum so we did that and caught the parade as well.

Sarah, Dad, my cousin Katelyn and I then headed to the mountains for some 4-wheeling. We went up past Antonito to a gorgeous spot where we took turns riding the ATV, playing the guitar, eating our body weight in sunflower seeds, and throwing around a baseball.

 

I then apparently decided the day just wasn't adventurous enough. I made a quick split second decision to load the 4-wheeler into the truck even though it was at a bad angle and crashed it into the back of the truck bed, hard too. Everyone, including me, expected to see me either flying over the top of the truck head first or smashing into the back window and shattering it. Luckily that didn't happen but I put a nice dent into my dad's beautiful truck. Tempers flew for a bit and we had an awkward ride home but my dad of course forgave my stupidity. The story was shared with everyone which didn't help me forget but at least I can now laugh at it. Later I then met up with my best friend for Mexican food and the Dark Knight Rises. My heart also goes out to all those involved in the Aurora shooting. We were a little hesitant to see that movie that night but everything was fine. There was however, an officer that stood by the emergency exit in the theater the whole time. 

Saturday we enjoyed the Pioneer Celebration to the fullest. We watched the parade, hit up the hamburger stand, went to the rodeo, and the demolition derby.

It was nice spending time with cousins who I don't regularly see, especially when we are in a place we all love and have great memories of growing up at. 

Sunday we enjoyed our last full day together. We went to church to hear my dad give a talk, enjoyed a family dinner (adults inside and kids outside of course), visited the family graves at the cemetery, finally searched the old house we were always told was haunted, went on more ATV rides, and watched the best finale of The Bachelorette  EVER! It was a fantastic day.

Everyone left Monday morning but Sarah and I stayed one more day to attend Whitney's Bridal Shower! It was really fun and hilarious. Thank you to those who put it all together so we could go while we were in town! Whitney should be all set for the wedding now with presents and amazing wedding and wedding night advice :)

Tuesday we drove the long 10 hours back to Utah totally exhausted but thankful for the wonderful trip and memories. Other memorable events include:

Having 10 and sometimes 11 people staying at our house with only 1 bathroom

Watching how much everyone, especially the kids loved the "wild" kitties

Having everyone at the house and bringing back memories of when we were younger

Going home a consecutive three times without being pulled over/getting a ticket

Being home without getting extremely sunburned

Being able to feel like a kid again. I don't think I've laughed so hard in a long time!

All in all, it was a very fun and successful trip. We have so many memories in La Jara being at Grandpa and Grandma Miller's house so it's wonderful that my parents are now in the house and we can go back and create even more memories.