What a way to start my week off...

Well, lets see...I made it through my week at work. I think that when you know you have a week off coming up you work twice as hard and worry about getting it all done before you leave for your time off. Then you spend the first few hours worried about whether you completed everything you needed to before you left.

Anyway, on Saturday Tom and I went and changed his phone out. My phone broke that I had with US Cellular and so after arguing with them they decided that I needed to claim it on insurance and get a new phone. When the girl at US Cellular took it out of the box she found that it was already broken so yet another claim has to be made...more about that later. I have switched carriers and am with ATT now. So, only Oma and Tom are on US Cellular at the moment. They will be switching soon as well. But anyway, we got him switched and had to go over to ATT to get Kristi's new phone fixed. Now I know why it was free!!

Tom and I came home and found Alayna asleep and Kristi in the pool. However, she stayed in the pool way too long and got blistered on her legs, sunburnt (and I mean burnt) on her arms, back, and face. She is still paying the price for that relaxing afternoon in the pool.

On Saturday afternoon mom and I cleaned chicken and corn for the BBQ and worked around the kitchen. I knew mom said that she didn't feel really good but would not go sit down. She said that she couldn't find a comfortable position. Her back has really been bothering her and she can't get her shot until July 7th so I thought that is what she meant. She wanted to make homemade rolls for the family down the street (a 90 year old man and his 80 year old wife who just had a heart attack). So, she made the rolls and took the casserole I made down to them. When she got back she said that she was hurting really bad and had a high fever and was going to her apartment. I told her to wait a minute and lets call the doctor - especially since she finally specified that the pain was in her kidney area not her lower back. So, she called the doctor and he wanted to see her right away at the hospital.

So, off we went to Boone Hospital and found that she had a kidney infection which is bad enough, but this is a type of infection that is easily transferred to the blood stream and is capable of being fatal very quickly. So, they told her that she had to be admitted - for 4 reasons...her age, her uristomy, kidney infection, and high fever. If she would have had only 3 of these they might have let her go home but she had all four so they didn't really give her an option. I think she was better off here since they could test her blood every few hours like they wanted and could also watch her to make sure she is progressing as she should. She spiked a temp again last night for some unknown reason but feels really good today. She really wants to go home, but we are waiting her urologist to see her. The family doctor is concerned about this kidney infection since she has had cancer. He wants to make sure that we are not dealing with another issue.

Today - Monday - Tom is in Boonville (look Kris, I spelled it right) cutting down a tree for his parents, Kristi is at home wanting to die, Alayna is at home "helping mommy" and I am here with mom.

Now - about that phone. I called this morning to tell them they sent a broken phone and the lady on the other end said that I had to fed-ex and send that phone back to them. They would in turn look at it and determine if I did the damage or it was done in shipping and then send me another phone. As you can guess, I was not happy about that. First, we will be without a phone for up to a week and what do you mean "see if I broke it" I wasn't the one who found that the answer key was missing - the lady at US Cellular was the one who took it out of the box and found it. Anyway, I wasn't very nice to them but will do this tonight and the folks at US Cellular will know that I am not happy.

I guess that is enough for now.

What am I???

We think it was a gopher - but the standoff between Jelly Bean (the cat) and animal (the animal) was funny. In one of the pictures, Animal was shaking his body. Tom said that he was making noise to scare away Jelly bean, but he wasn't having any part of being scared away.

I am really not sure why I pay a zoo membership with all the wildlife we have in our yard.

Switching cell phone service, I guess...

We are thinking about switching cell phone service from US Cellular to AT & T. We want IPhones and they are the only provider that we can get them from. Of course, mom will have to move sooner or later, that should be the hardest part. Of course, I am not sure if I can afford the move since you have to pay for activation fees and other stuff, but we are looking at it. When I called US Cellular they said that we have been customers with them since August 1992, I can't believe that we have had them that long - almost makes me sad to leave. Well, then I think of the IPhone and get glad again. I can't wait to have my Sirius radio on my phone.

Terrible loss for the Royals on Father's Day

We left early on Father's day for our day at Royals Stadium. We got there in plenty of time to get comfy and start the grill - only the grill had other thoughts. I bought match light charcoal so that I didn't have lighter fluid in the car during the game with 90+ degree temps outside. Well, I should have because the charcoal would not light. We finally had to use A LOT of paper to make it start. But, with a lot of prayers it got going and we had wonderful FRESH hamburgers and hot dogs. Alayna loves picnics and she thought this was a blast because we were at the stadium.

After a good lunch we went into the stadium. It was neat to look out over the crowd and see all the red and blue. Almost patriotic. But, I don't think the Royals got paid for the day because they left their talent at home. Royals lost to the St. Louis Cardinals 12 - 5. I think everyone had a blast except for the heat.

New stove

Well, we finally decided on a new stove. It better work because it drained savings and maxed out credit cards. We decided on a Samsung Stove from Lowes because mom could get a 10% military discount which aided in the affordability of the stove. So far we really like it. Has a lot of things on it that we are still learning about. Since we have a freezer full of meat we should be able to utilize it for a while.

Bad News from the Doctor

Hey guys! It's Kristi again. Mom wanted me to come on here and post a message about the news that I got from the doctor myself. I think she was afraid she'd get it all wrong. My six month check up with the oncologist was last Thursday. I didn't get such great news. I guess it could have been a lot worse, but it was still rough to handle. The first batch of bad news came as soon as I checked myself in. This oncologist will stop accepting my insurance on August 1st. This means that I either pay "out of network" premiums or I switch doctors for the third time in a year. I would gladly pay to continue to see this doctor if she could guarantee that I would not have to have surgery, but since I am pretty sure that I am eventually going to have to have surgery, I am more than likely going to have to switch. There is only one other gynecological oncologist (what a mouthful) in this immediate area. If that doctor doesn't accept my insurance, then I will probably have to start seeing someone in Kansas City or St. Louis. It kind of feels like I am going to be starting over at square one, although I am trying to look at it from the perceptive that maybe this new doctor will have different options than the one I am currently seeing. The second batch of bad news is that I still have a year to a year and half of the cervical biopsies before they will take my treatment a step further. The type of abnormal cells that I have have been known to heal themselves in 60 to 70 percent of cases, so the recommendation is to wait 2 to 3 years before pursuing any kind of treatments. This will be the case until the cells either go away completely or get much worse. For most people who read this, this scenario would seem like no big deal. This situation is emotionally draining for me however, so the possibility of doing this for another year and a half is really depressing for me. I am a nervous wreak for the week or two before my appointment and then for two weeks after, until I get my results. The subject never leaves my mind, of course but the month surrounding my appointments are complete and utter h-e-double hockey sticks. My feelings on this is that if the cells have not repaired themselves in last year and a half that I have been dealing with this, then I really don't think they are going to up and decide to go away now. I haven't gotten the results of this last round of biopsies yet, but I'm sure Mom will post something regarding them when we do. The third round of bad news was that I may be dealing with abnormal cells in two different areas of my body. My monthly cycle, which had always been pretty regular, decided in April of 08 to take a hiatus and has not come back yet. According to the oncologist, the absence of my monthly cycle indicates that I have something abnormal occurring with either my hormones or in my uterus. Due to the fact that I didn't stop taking birth control until December of last year, they will not begin doing biopsies on my uterus until this December. She said that my not having the monthly cycle could be attributed to many things including hormonal changes, weight gain or loss, or stress. She wants to wait the full year to see if the cycle will appear again normally. If not, they will begin the biopsy process in my uterus and thus will begin the 2 to 3 year biopsy cycle in that area. Honestly at this point, I am just ready for them to take everything out and let me go on with my life. Unfortunately with my age and the fact that I am currently single, they won't even consider that. I would have to be much worse off before they would fight the insurance company to do that type of surgery.

We are still here...

I had a friend call me last week and asked if we were all ok since I had not updated this lately. I read this every night, just don't think of updating it as often as I should.

Tom and I are busy with work. We are trying to get everything set for our mandatory week off without pay. I don't think they realize that it is going to hurt us really bad since there are 2 of us suffering. It wouldn't be so bad if I had to take one in one month and Tom the next. No, it will hit us both in one month. Bread and Water will be on our menu a lot! We have some plans for that week. Tom is going to help his dad cut down a tree one day and we want to take Alayna to the St. Louis zoo one day. Our membership is still good, so it will be free once we get there. I am taking a picnic lunch to eat there. Alayna loves picnics. I hope to get back into scrapbooking. I have so many pictures to put in albums but just have not felt like it.

I go back to the doctor on the 28th for my next potassium check. My level is still not where is should be. Last Saturday, Tom and I finished cutting up a tree that he dropped last fall. After about an hour I had no feeling in my face. The doctor said that I probably sweated just enough to be lower than I should have been. He said eat more foods with potassium - well, just how much do you want me to eat. I am turning into a monkey with the bananas that I have eaten. Dole is now sending me Thank you letters. Yesterday, I was walking to the back of the house and fell in some mud (our garden hose leaks really bad and makes for a heck of a mess). I landed face first in the mud. The first thing I did was make sure I could move my leg - I have enough trouble with my knee, but it hurt but was movable. I ended up hurting my shoulder, knee and rib but nothing is broken I think. I think I probable did something to my shoulder but am going to try to deal with it. Needless to say - Thank god it wasn't mom who fell.

Oma is finally crying "Uncle" and going to go get her shot. She is hurting so bad 90% of the time and can't stand to do anything that she wants to do. She has a lot of things coming up and wants to enjoy them so it is shot time. She was trying to wait to be able to get one that would still be working for Scott's wedding - but she doesn't think she can wait anymore. We went to the mall the other night and she hurt so bad that she couldn't hardly get out of the van when we got home. Otherwise, she is not quilting or planting - just hanging out.

Kristi is really stressed with school and her semi-annual cancer checkup this week. These check up always weight heavy on her mind the week or so before because she is so worried about what they are going to find. She is having some problems so she is really worried about what the doctor is going to tell her. She thinks surgery is looming on the horizon and this is not want she really needs right now. Especially since she can't take pain meds and would have to endure major surgery on Tylenol.

Alayna graduated from Pre-school about a week ago. She was so proud of herself and had a smile from ear to ear the entire time. She told me the other day that she is now big and is going to big school. I almost cried wondering where the time had went. I can't believe that she will be 6 years old next month. On Friday the preschool went to the park and Alayna ran away from the group. They couldn't find her and when they finally did she was on the other side of Cosmo park. Now, if any of you know the size of Cosmo park it is not small - I am not sure where she was going - maybe to find Uncle Gene's bench and pop-a-squat to have a chat with Uncle Gene. Who knows. She told me that she was exploring like Dora does so we had a chat about having an adult with you when you explore. She has already done this once here at home - disappeared in the woods exploring. I guess she will be the next Christopher Columbus. She doesn't know fear and this may be a problem when she gets older. I am glad Kristi gets to deal with this.

Brian is just having fun like most boys his age. He went to Kansas City on Friday night for a party to watch the playoffs or whatever they are called for hockey with some friends who live in KC then back home for a house warming party for someone. Tonight he has game night with his friends. No wonder he is tired - he needs to move home to get some rest.

Next week-end we are off to the Royals game in Kansas City on Sunday. We are having a heck of a time finding Royal shirts in Columbia. We can find all the Cardinals (yuk) stuff but not much for the Royals. Give me a break with are half-way between the two teams and some people like the Royals. I finally found some thing for everyone except Alayna and didn't spend an arm and a leg.

Our oven died about a couple of weeks ago. We are wanting to buy our own since we know that the lady who owns the house will buy a piece of junk and raise our rent (which we couldn't afford right now). But, the stove that we want, which is not a fancy model is $1,700. We can't afford that right now so we are doing the best we can. The stove top works so we can cook there - just not in the oven very often. It works today but maybe not tomorrow. So, you have to have a back up plan. The repair guy said that the brain is dying and will die soon - just no telling when. He said that stoves only last 5-7 years and this one has lasted 6 years and we don't know how old it was when we moved in. He said that he is surprised that this one lasted this long with the amount that we use it. I checked into renting stoves and they rent everything but stoves. So, if it goes we will grill alot.

Not much else going on here...What up with everyone else?

We have a new cook at our house

Alayna has develped a great love of cooking - which drives Oma crazy. I am trying to teach Alayna how to cook easy stuff and Oma is always telling Alayna to get out of the kitchen. I figure let's teach her while she wants to learn. She is so proud to serve you what she has cooked, and I keep coming up with new stuff for her to try. She is now an expert at scrambled eggs having them at least 5 times in the last week. This morning she made pancakes. I was having trouble with my allergies and my eyes were almost swollen shut so Oma had to help her - well most of the time Alayna watched while Oma cooked. I would have let Alayna pour and flip, but maybe next time. For lunch, Alayna wants to make the mashed potatoes - even though she won't eat them. She is taking after her Grandpa Fines - he would be so proud of her wanting to learn how to cook.

Feel Beth & Lucas Pain...

I was having trouble with my van and took it to the shop. My wipers would stop working (I think they were union wipers!!) and you would have to mess with the turn signal to get them to come back on. This is a real problem when you are driving down I-70 at 70 mph in a thunderstorm. Anyway, I took it in on a sunny day and told them that the switch on my steering wheel was bad and needed to be replaced and then left it. The idiot called me and said that it wasn't raining outside and so they couldn't get it to do what I said it was doing. I, being a smart woman said - without thinking...why don't you put it in your wash bay and turn on the water idiot. He replied "that is a good idea, we didn't think about that!" I hung up the phone and promptly said "Men are so stupid sometimes" and when you work in an office with 3 other woman they all agreed. Anyway, they called back and said that the switch was bad and they would have to replace the entire turn signal to fix it - was this ok? No, it is not...I really don't need wipers...idiot. Anyway, the cost to fix that and the sliding door was $1,400...thank god for extended warranties. I feel for Beth and Lucas every time they go to the shop...we pay $40+ an hour for these "experts" who can't find the bathroom without someone leaving them cracker crumbs to follow. And you wonder why the big 3 are in financial trouble!