What happened?

Thought I would put this on the good old pickled bean since it's a longer story and easy for people to view if they want to.

On Thursday morning I woke up feeling perfectly normal. I did two loads of laundry, prepared for dinner, showered and got the kids ready for school. At about 7:30 I walked out to my office to turn my computer on and set my desk for the upcoming work day. While walking back into the house I started to have chest pain so I sat down next to Taylor and Cooper on the couch and watched the end of sesame street. As I was getting up to get the kids backpacks and lunches I started to have horrific stabbing pain in by back. ( under my left shoulder blade) At that point I thought I had pinched a nerve in my back, so I just kept with my routine. When I took the kids outside I collapsed in the garage trying to get the kids into the car. A neighbor walking his dog saw me on the ground and ran over to help. I told him that I was just not feeling well and that I was going to take the kids to school and drive myself to the doctor. He helped me get Cooper buckled and I left for school. After about 30 seconds of driving I started to get stabbing pains up the left side of my neck and down my left arm. -- Now I was back to thinking I was having a heart attack. I immediately called my sister to tell her that I was on my way to the ER and that I had both kids in the car with me, and that I thought I was having a heart attack or stroke. Dusty was in Vegas attending a solar conference so I didn't have any other options. I was in a complete panic. Allie grabbed her husband and left for the hospital immediately. I called Dusty in route to the hospital as well. ( honestly I don't think Dusty or Allie knew what I was saying since I was so hysterical). When I got the to hospital I parked at the ER and tried to get out of the car. A security guard ran to help me and to get the kids out of the car... and to ask if I had been to east Africa of course.

Allie and Brad arrived at the hospital about 45 minutes later. They had immediately done an EKG and knew I was not having a heart attack. After a chest X-ray they found that my left lung had collapsed and was about 30 percent of normal This is called a spontaneous pneumothorax, spontaneous since no trauma caused the collapse. I received a chest tube and was admitted to the hospital for the next 3 days/2 nights. We were told that this typically happens to tall skinny young individuals. Mostly teenage boys. Dusty made it back to Northern California within two hours. ( I admittedly, scared the hell out of him) Allie took care of the kids while Dusty stayed with me at the hospital. I have been in pretty severe pain and have had a hard time breathing but once they took the chest tube out I have felt much, much better. I am still short of breath and moving like a 90 year old but I am on the mend and so happy to be at home.

It will take me about 1 week to manage the pain and about 3 weeks to get back to normal. What I have learned is that I need to take care of myself while taking care of others. And that I only really need to take care of ( and make an effort with) the people who really care about me.   I also have realized who my true supporters are. Yesterday morning while in the hospital I had a wave of calm reflection, I know with the utmost clarity that I need to make some pretty big changes with the people who I allow into my life. With that, I have decided to stop posting pictures and personal updates on my Facebook and will not be using social media as a way to let people think they are part of my life without putting any effort into it. Can you believe that it took a moment where I thought I was dying to figure that out! Silly really.

Even through all of this pain and being so frightened I have felt so positive and happy. I guess things happen for a reason :) I really am so lucky to have the best husband and children. My family is phenomenal and I count my little blessings every day. Love to you all. xo

Ash

The end of an era

I know it has been ages. I have been so busy over the last few weeks, and I have found that this little blog has become less and less of a need for my family. Honestly,  I find myself wanting to share very little about my team these days. A good friend of mine said, "if someone isn't willing to ask you personally how your family is doing why do you care to update them online, they obviously don't truly care about you." Although I know that this is true of some people I must say that I know that a lot of our Williams Syndrome family as well as friends who have fallen through the cracks like to check up and see how we are doing.... AND I LOVE THAT.

....here is comes... but.....  (and here is the great news.) I have started a new business. I thought I would be doing this very... very part time. I was helping a few friends fill some positions and needed to make things more official with an LLC. So I started Solana Recruitment Services.

My business has ramped up so dramatically over the last month that I have found myself working full time again. It has been a very long time since I was so passionate about the work that I have been doing. I am truly happy, overjoyed really... and I must say my boss is AWESOME. It's amazing when you realize that the hard work that you are doing is benefiting your family and not the pocket book of someone else.  My focus is on family first and business second right now, so with that, I feel a need to say a very fond farewell to The Pickled Bean. 5 years of pictures and moments shared with the world has come to an end. I'll keep the website up for another week and then I will be turning it off.

Going forward please feel free to follow me on
Facebook
LinkedIn
Instagram
Pinterest


Thank you all so much for being part of this chapter of our lives. This has been a very hard decision for me, but when it comes down to it I just don't have anytime to devote to the site any more. I hope you all wish me luck in this next chapter.

Onward and upward!

xoxo
Ashley

Tips for my Team

Favorite song EVER....EVER performed by my favorite group ever....EVER # hippyatheart although this is not there best version.

This week for dinner

 Sorry for the lack of posts last week. We had a great week, very busy full of school, after school activities and lots of work. Pictures to follow, but here is one to tide you over.

Sunday: Meatloaf, mashed potatoes and green beans
Monday: Lemon and garlic braised chicken, rice and asparagus
Tuesday: French Dip Sandwiches and tater tots
Wednesday : Spaghetti and garlic bread
Thursday: Left Overs
Friday:Family Dinner Night Out