Everyone's Got All The Answers

I don't know, this was one of the image results when I typed in "herniated disc."

If you want unsolicited advice from everyone in the world, herniate a disc. What a rude and ungrateful thing to say! I know, I'm sorry. I guess I can't help but be amused at everyone's answers to my problem...

Heat it; ice it; see a chiropractor; definitely DO NOT see a chiropractor, they're not real doctors; see MY chiropractor, he is LITERALLY the best chiropractor in the WORLD!!!; go straight to an orthopedic; go straight to a neurosurgeon; let the body heal itself, you know the body can do remarkable things on its own; go swimming; get a massage; don't get a massage; stretch and exercise; do THIS stretch; DON'T exercise whatever you do; get acupuncture; take some of MY prescription pain medicine; use an inversion table; and my favorite: don't pick up your kids.

Here's what I've done so far and my plan going forward. Now be aware that I may not have chosen your suggested path. Don't take it personally. I still love you and your answers.

My guess is that the injury happened when I had George back in April, because that's when the pain started. For the first 3 months (MONTHS!!!) I didn't know what it was and thought it would go away. I've had back issues before (you remember Twisty Back), and they've always worked themselves out within a couple of weeks. So that's what I thought would happen here. It wasn't until we were on our huge road trip in July that I turned a big bad corner and knew something must be done. See, sitting in the car is the worst. THE WORST. (Oh, I've mentioned that before, haven't I?) So when we were in the car for so long, I think I must've really aggravated it. That's when I decided to see Dr. Huffman, a chiropractor in town. He's great, I really like him, and I really really like his nurse Phyllis. I've been seeing them 3 times a week for the past 5 weeks. Each time I go I do electrical muscle stimulation, the decompression table, ultrasound, and get adjusted. When I wasn't showing signs of improvement after the first 3 weeks, and after our little road trip to Vegas last week aggravated the thing so badly, we decided I should get an MRI. So I did that, and there was no surprise in finding that I had a herniated disc and that it was causing a lot of pain in my sciatic nerve. Dr. Huffman thinks the injury is manageable though, and feels confident that with 2-3 more weeks of the same treatment I should improve enough to not need more drastic treatment measures (cortisone shot, or surgery). He has casually mentioned that getting massages may help. I haven't asked him about acupuncture yet, but I do want to hear his take on it and so I'll ask him about it at my next appointment. So the plan is to do my regular treatment for the next 2-3 weeks. I might throw in some massages and/or acupuncture. I have and will continue to try and take it somewhat easy, but I will NOT not hold my children. I won't exercise because Dr. Huffman says not to, but I will do the stretches he showed me. I won't put heat on it because that worsens the inflammation, but I will put ice on it because that brings the inflammation down. I will take my prescribed pain medicine if it gets bad enough (I just try to avoid taking medicine as long as I can so that I can be lucid and functional). After that, if nothing has improved, then we'll talk about the cortisone shot and/or the surgery.

Don't get mad at me for writing this! I really do appreciate everyone's interest and concern. Even more, I super duper appreciate how helpful some of you have been. It's just funny to hear everyone's answers, and how some of them completely contradict the next guy's. Anyway, it's not over yet but I've got a plan. And we'll just see how that goes. 

Sciatica Schmymatica

The kids and I tagged along with Chris on his weekly trip to Vegas for the purpose of helping Brandy move in to her new house and to see the Pionkes. The trip was a flop - Brandy's AC wasn't working so no unpacking got done, Lucy threw up in the middle of the night and that was a big debacle, and Olive was a naughty little biscuit so she wasn't allowed to see the Pionkes. But what took the cake was our ride back to Havasu yesterday. I've never been in so much pain, and that includes the very worst part of childbirth. It was so awful. I was gripping the seat and bawling my eyes out. I probably would've even screamed if it didn't hurt so bad to do it. I just wanted to be perfectly still, and every tiny jostle in the car was excruciating. I could not believe it. Chris kept asking if we should pull over, but I knew that would only prolong the pain. When we finally got here he helped me out of the car, and I just sobbed in his arms. I cannot believe how painful this is, and being in the car is just hell. All I could think about during those seriously intense 2 hours was how this was really affecting my quality of life. On the minimal end, I can't even sneeze or laugh without cringing. On the maximal end, I wanted to get pregnant for the last time right now, and that's totally out. Plus, it's so hard to keep up with the housework much less get down and play with the girls. So beyond being really painful, this thing is really breaking my heart. The treatment at the chiropractor is helping very little and very slowly. After yesterday I decided I really need to do something more aggressive about this. So, the MRI is set for Monday and we'll go from there.

Our Anniversary

Chris and I celebrated our 3rd anniversary yesterday. Courtnie came to babysit last night and we went to Martini Bay for dinner. It was kind of a bummer though because first our food was overcooked, then when they brought the newly cooked food out I burned my hand on the plate, and then that food was undercooked. We just laughed it off and went looking for a yummy dessert. We ended up at Smiths, and got a French silk pie from the bakery. (I made Chris wear that hat the whole time we were in the store, even when we ran in to a friend from church and talked for a while. Really cute). About 30 seconds after we got home, while we were chatting with Courtnie, Olive threw up. So the rest of the night was spent taking care of her while still trying to salvage a little bit of romance. George woke up promptly after we finally got Olive settled to bed. So we ate our pie while I fed him. We were exhausted by the end of it. It was a pretty funny comedy of errors, but we'll take it.

Jenny's family came to visit!

They got here late Friday night, and we stayed up talking for a while. Olive woke up and she and Alexis got in our bed and watched TV for a while. On Saturday we spent a couple hours at the beach. I think the highlight of that event was when Chris threw all 210 pounds of Mark from his shoulders into the water. After lunch and some naps we took the kids to play at Bubba Jump. They had a great time. We got pizza for the kids and left Josh in charge, and then we had dinner at Rusty's and talked for a while. Mark said it's always a great conversation with us, and we definitely feel the same way about them. We love Jenny and Mark! They left us on Sunday morning. We stood out on the driveway and waved goodbye to them. When we came back in we realized they had left Alexis! She was in here writing us a sweet little thank-you note. We laughed, and went back outside just in time to see them coming back down the street to get her. It was funny. We're happy they came to see us.

Another trip to Goodyear.

We had to throw in one last little trip before calling it quits for the summer. We went to Goodyear to see Papa and Oatsie. Had a lovely time.

A few days in Vegas with Brandy's family.

Brandy is house hunting in Vegas, and Chris had to work 4 days there last week, so we booked the same hotel and made a trip out of it. It was fun! Not to mention super helpful to have Sarah and Julia play with the girls. I hope they find a house soon; it'll be fun having them just 2 hours away. Here are a few shots of our few days together:

Our Big Trip to NC

We drove to North Carolina, spent a week in Charlotte and a week in Sunset Beach. It was the best vacation I've ever been on! I narrated the trip via Facebook updates; here they are...




6/24 2:05 pm
start: Lake Havau City, AZ

6:38 pm
‎5 hours in: Tucson, AZ

8:06 pm
The Thing...a bust :(

11:53 pm
Just passed thru El Paso...how many strip clubs and Whataburgers does one city need? Plus it stinks.

6/25 1:12 am
don't know exactly where we are, but we just saw the biggest brightest shooting star

1:26 am
My turn to drive!

3:57 am
beginnings of the sunrise

7:03 am
‎18 hours in: San Antonio...Halfway there! Kids have been sleeping great!! Chris and I, on the other hand, are kinda delirious!!!

8:59 am
breakfast at The Guenther House, holy cow this is good food

1:09 pm
‎24 hours in: Houston...begging for death or the end of this state, which ever comes first

4:01 pm
stopped to see alligators

4:45 pm
swamp people!

6:33 pm
dinner at mason's grill in baton rouge-blackened alligator, bayou shrimp with grit cake and etoufee, and the most unbelievable cajun shrimp burger; super friendly people, and my girls both ate the alligator! fantastic!!

8:54 pm
calling it a night in new orleans

6/26 7:40 am
beignets at cafe du monde in new orleans

1:04 pm
‎48 hours in: montgomery, al

3:13 pm
gnarly traffic in atlanta

5:49 pm
Just saw our first sign for Charlotte! The home stretch!!

9:23 pm
End: Huntersville, NC. We made it! And I'm gonna go and ahead and brag about my kids and say they seriously did awesome!! We had such a blast on the drive, and now the real fun begins!!

6/27 8:34 pm
day 1: pool with little miss emilee, dinner with sarah and jeff, and down time with scot and ann...i'm happy!

6/28 5:45 am
Bojangles doesn't serve cinnamon biscuits anymore. I'm devastated.

6/29 8:53 am
day 2 (yesterday): drove to apex and spent the day with tisha and curteis, swung by pittsboro to see emily, enjoyed the day's thunderstorms, and talked/laughed/philosophized with scot and annie; having a great time

8:53 pm
day 3: a lovely visit from nancy, a trip to ann's work to see the new(ish) evernham shop, lunch at lancaster's, some fun alone shopping time, a lovely visit from sarah, and then we ate a yummy dinner that chris cooked and a yummy cake that i baked - fun full day!!

6/30 7:30 pm
day 4: visited my pals at acn, had the hottest food i've ever eaten (thom mak huang, thai sticky rice, and asian spare ribs) at olay's and tho's (loves from chris's mission), and finished the day off with some of scot's famous bananas foster-happy camper

7/1 8:58 pm
day 5: showed chris west meck where my parents went to high school, hit a little lao market, lunch at bbq king (yum!!), jumped on the tramp with my girls, lisa and nick got here, dinner out with the whole crew and then ice cream with just chris and george, and then some chatting and hula hooping to round off the day :)

7/3 10:49 am
day 6 (yesterday): drove to the beach and had lots of talk time with lisa

7:20 pm
day 7: church at the shallotte ward, played on the beach till georgey couldn't take it anymore and then he and i napped for a while, the girls and chris stayed out (probably too long) and then came in and napped, went for an evening walk on the beach with the rest of the family, and then hung out at dad's place and talked and laughed heartily -- perfect

7/4 6:03 am
making homemade biscuits and gravy-chris made the gravy, i made the biscuits--so good

7:08 pm
day 8: chris and i made homemade biscuits and gravy for a select few, gramma gail watched george while we took the girls to the beach, chris surfed and i boogie boarded, made food for our big family dinner (chris made sliders, i made strawberry shortcake and chocolate dipped strawberries), and watched the fireworks in calabash -- happy happy 4th!

7/5 9:07 pm
day 9: went to wilmington to see the uss north carolina where chris's grandpa served in ww 2, had shrimp sandwiches at ella's in calabash, took lucy to the beach while chris and the others napped, more shrimp for dinner at capt nance's (my girls ate shrimp!!), took in all the knickknackery at st. nick nacks, and then made treats and talked and laughed with mom and lisa and laurie and the teenagers

7/6 8:53 pm
day 10: played on the beach with chris and the kids and everyone else, pedicure with my mom - had fun and laughed hard, dinner at king's, barefoot landing, and finished the day eating a "hot now" krispy kreme from one of the original kk stores, mmm!

7/7 9:32 am
on the pontoon boat in the channel, and there are dolphins playing right beside us!!

8:46 pm
day 11: chris went golfing with scot down in myrtle beach, the kids and i went with everyone else on the boat - went tubing (olive went with me on the tube and didn't really like it; then laurie and i went together and had a blast), saw dolphins super close to us, went swimming - and then we left the girls with megs and gess while the adults all went to dinner, dad surprised us by showing up with ashley and caroline!

7/8 7:26 pm
day 12: went tubing on the boat again (i stood up with no hands!! ...and then i wiped out!), and just hung out with everyone at dad's beach house on our last night together - we start our journey home tomorrow morning.
Big News: LUCY TOOK HER FIRST STEPS TODAY!!

7/9 7:21 am
start: sunset beach, nc

3:16 pm
stopped in atlanta for chili cheese dogs and fried pies at The Varsity

4:50 pm
just passing the talladega speedway, it's huge!

5:37 pm
driving thru some of the tornado damage in birmingham

7:44 pm
‎12 hours in: tupelo, ms

9:19 pm
sleeping in memphis...the whirlpool suite...classy

7/10 6:51 am
‎23 hours in: Graceland, and then crossed the Mississippi River

11:34 am
I just got us thru Arkansas, and now I've handed the wheel back to Chris because my sciatic is killing me :(

3:22 pm
ribeyes at cattlemen's in oklahoma city...oh, and coconut meringue pie!

5:18 pm
another state down. i can't be sure, but i think chris was quietly reliving his glory days while we were driving thru oklahoma.

7:44 pm
‎36 hours in: amarillo for the night

7/11 6:58 am
off like a dirty shirt

11:29 am
stopped in albuquerque for some new mexican cuisine, and to let the girls use their legs

2:22 pm
‎54 hours in: back in arizona

6:02 pm
played in the plush grass in flagstaff, our final refueling spot

7:53 pm
End: Havasu. Home

10:12 pm
This was the funnest fullest vacation! We really made the most of it and had such a blast. I'm totally sold on taking big road trips as a family. We're already talking about the next adventure! I ache leaving family and friends and I ache that it's over. But more than anything, I'm super enamored with my kids and have a such a huge renewed crush on Chris. Happy!

Trip to Utah

I had 3 goals for this Utah trip: (1) shop, (2) talk with Laurie, and (3) go to the Chicago reunion. Here's what happened instead: I got the stomach flu, and spent almost the whole time dying in Drew's bed. And then Chris got it. Huge bummer. But here are a few pictures...

Pictures of Sadie's Visit

Such a fun time. I love Sadie.

George's Blessing Weekend

Chris's parents came, along with Anna, and my parents and Laurie's crew came too. Craig came too, and took pictures. Sadie was here. Dad rented a house, and we all hung out there and swam and ate and relaxed. Laurie recorded the blessing and I transcribed it, and it's in George's journal. It was really sweet, and Chris was really inspired. It was a happy weekend. We love this boy!

Mother's Day

Slept in, perfect french toast breakfast, flowers and a new mommy's necklace, lots of help before and after church (which is NOT the norm), yummy lunch, little nap, awesome dinner and dessert, and lots and lots of love. Thanks, Chris and kids, for a great Mother's Day!

Acoma Ward Silent Auction

We love our ward! We had a BBQ and silent auction the other night to raise money for the youth to go to camp this summer. Lots of items were donated, we raised over $600, and I must mention that the item that went for the most money was...An evening with Chris Barragan!! Here are some pictures of the fun night:

My Birthday

For my birthday, Chris surprised me by getting his parents to come up for a couple of days to stay with the girls while he, George, and I went up to Vegas. We stayed at the Loews at Lake Las Vegas. It was really nice. I got to do a little shopping, have a fun Cinco de Mayo lunch, sit by the pool, see the Pionkes, and spend time with Chris. I gotta say, he and I always laugh a lot together, but we laughed super hard together on this trip and I really loved our near-alone time together. And I also gotta say, I forgot how easy life is with just one kid! Man!! Anyway, we had dinner at the Hash House a Go-go at the M, and it was so so so good! When we got back to the hotel that night, I was secretly wishing I could eat cake on my birthday but I was pretty full so I forgot about it. I had climbed in to bed ready to go to sleep when there was a knock on our door. It was room service bringing up a little chocolate lava cake with ice cream and berries. Lovely! Chris took a picture - pay no attention to my attire, please. It was a nice getaway. But I was as excited and twitterpated as a schoolgirl when we got home to Olive and Lucy. Happy Birthday to me!!

Easter

Arrival of George

For pictures and details on the arrival of George, I'm going to be lazy and just point you to his blog.

George's blog