I just had a check up with my surgeon a few weeks ago. He had me schedule my next appt and said nothing about leaving Wash U. The following week, I was told he was no longer with Wash U. Curious, I did a google search and found that my surgeon has been accused of falsifying a study regarding the product Infuse. I'm concerned because he used this product in my back surgery. I feel really sorry for the guy, I really did like him. I just hope to God his lies were minor and he didn't put the lives of his patients in jeopardy for a few bucks. In all my years of dealing with our medical system, this is just another example of why I am utterly disappointed and disgusted by our entire medical system, insurance companies, drug companies, etc. If I could live without them, I would do it in a second!
This has been one of the toughest months of my life. It's been almost 4 wks of unrelenting Trigeminal/Occipital neuralgia. 4 weeks ago my new insurance co decided they would not authorize my normal meds until I first tried some alternatives. I tried one alternate med and the pain got so bad I ended up in the ER twice. I haven't been able to lay down to sleep in about 3 wks now. Instead I sleep in a chair. Needless to say I only sleep a few hours at a time. Much of the time I can't move my jaw to speak or eat without causing an increase in pain. Now they want me to change two of my meds at the same time. I have been on my old meds for 13yrs and 2 yrs. I can see requiring alternate meds for those with new scripts but this is beyond ridiculous. To complicate things, my doctor's assistant is worthless. One of my meds was denied because she didn't send the documentation they requested. As of today, the insurance co still has no information from her and of course, she would not return my call today. I love my doctor and have put up with her incompetent assistant for years as just what I have to go thru to see a great doctor but I'm so angry now that I don't think I can even speak to her without giving her a piece of my mind. I guess it's a good thing I can't talk right now!
Easter was a blast. We all gathered at Mary's, had a great time and wonderful food. Holiday's are the only time I get a home cooked meal. Wish there were more holidays. Sara brought her new baby, Chloe. She's adorable!
Mom and I went to the Botanical Gardens today. It was a great mother daughter trip. Mom actually took the day to stop and smell the roses. However, we weren't there long when Duane called Mom looking for his drill. LOL Mom has enough trouble trying to figure out her iPhone! Anyhow, it was sunny and around 70 degrees. A Perfect day in stl! The grounds of course were beautiful, however, I must say I miss the sculptures they had last year. Nonetheless, we had a great time and I only lost Mom once! Here are a few photos with my crapy camera....
I'm 3 wks post-op. I had a two-level fusion, L4-S1, on Feb 25th. The first 5 days were horrible. The pain unbearable, little sleep, and just hating being in the worst hospital in stl. Unfortunately, BJC/Wash U have some of the best surgeons/physicians but under par nursing staff/
Went to the doctor today for my weekly visit and here is the low down...
- my blood pressure is still bordering the preeclampsia line but hasn't crossed over yet so the doctor feels confident that if I maintain my modified bedrest schedule I should be just fine until she is born. I still have to monitor my blood pressure every day, a few times a day, but unless there is a serious spike, I'm ok.
- They did a stress test on the baby to see how she's doing and she's great! She's not stressed at all (obviously she doesn't not take after her mom or day - hee hee)
- I'm still going to be induced on March 12th. Actually, I go in into the hospital at 6pm on the 11th for the "prep" stage and then they induce me early the 12th. Once induction takes place, the baby should be born within 12 hours or so.
- I am not dialated or effaced at all. Of course that could change at any given moment but for now, I'm not. I've got 1 more appointment next Monday so we'll see if there is any progress after that.
I think that is it. Can't believe that at this time next week we could be holding our baby girl - too wild!! We'll post pictures of her as soon as possible on the blog so stay tuned!!
~s
sorry i have been behind on posting. things are shaping up really great around here. i heard moms go thru the nesting process before the baby arrives and i think i got my own version of it alot worse than shells bells. i was getting nervous that i would never finish alot of chores that have been lingering on my list so the last month i tackled everything. i reorganized the whole basement, built shelves and boxed almost everything up. i made the poker room side look much better also. i organized mardi gras beads, and threw out old paint cans, did it all. the basement looks great for now, im sure things will keep accumulating. im not the packrat of the family.
maybe i should have left the basement looking full...oh well. (by the way, i have my fair share of stuff in the garage) i also have my 4 wheeler torn to pieces and the engine half rebuilt, i should finish it this weekend. it will run much better. i discovered the piston was cracked, but it was still running. another reason to ALWAYS buy honda! i also did a bunch of little stuff like organize pictures on the computer and get a backup, so we can save all the new pics of the family.
ive been trying to see lots of movies for some reason (not that we wont have time for that, and ive grown quiet fond of the wii. we have a tank game thats pretty cool and mario galaxy is awesome. i never played video games much, never in college when all the other guys were playing bond, or tiger woods golf or grand theft auto, but this wii is pretty cool. guess im a dork. still dont spend much time in front of the tv though, id rather waiste time reorganizing my to do list and adding things to it. its a sickness i have to fill my time constantly tinkering with things around the house, instead of actually sitting down and doing one thing. this is also probably why i have 30 different hobbies.
Im #1 in earnings in my neighborhood texas holdem leaugue which is pretty sweet. next game is tue 3-10. the night before we go in the hospital!
as for work, we are lucky that things are steady, it slows down, but never enough to send anyone home. the sign biz is always on and off anyway. i was really busy with soco mardi gras stuff. we make all the signs and banners for that one big day in soulard (for shells company) here is a project i just got done working on this evening. it is a launch for a new premium vodka that patron is putting out. im sure its nasty so stick with Finlandia OK!!
i actually had a lot of fun with this. its not the most intense design stuff ive done, but i had to download all these pics from the web to make the imagery. usually big companies give us art to work with and i "make it fit" or just adjust it to size, but i got to pick my own pics so that was cool. it would be even cooler to spearhead my own photoshoots like my friend jessica that works for edward jones, but we arent that big yet!
the 16 little pics are for displays on tv's in the room. they will just cycle thru during the party. some are just the pics as are with a logo added, some are tinted blue, some have the bottles added. i think i have a good balance. the other thing is an invite postcard
...and the rest are tall banners that will be hanging around the bars
i thought the chicky was kinda cool. i guess i like these because normally i have to put so much text on all my designs... these got to remain more like artwork. just a simple message with a bottle and name and more of a feel, instead of telling you what your looking at. yep, thats why i had so much fun doing these.
anyway, just to clarify with all the guys out there, i love my wife and i love that she has been so brave these last nine months and i try to help when i can, but she is building me up too much on the blog and i dont want to get you in trouble with you better halves. she still cooks and cleans and drives me home when i indulge in too many drinks at dinner. occasionally i rub her feet for 5 minutes, but it usually because she gave into my movie selection, or something like that. ladies dont buy into all the praise, besides im trapped here in omaha with her and we share the same office space, so the amount of things i do for her compared to the amount of time we are together is equal to anyone else.
tonight we went out for what may be the last dinner in about 13-14 years that we wont incure an extra cost for a baby sitter. we took our time eating sushi and both got seperate desserts! it wasnt the best idea (since were stuffed) but it was nice (the quiet before the storm i suppose?!) shells is holding in there, shes a trooper, only 9 days left!!!!
~jd
sorry i have been behind on posting. things are shaping up really great around here. i heard moms go thru the nesting process before the baby arrives and i think i got my own version of it alot worse than shells bells. i was getting nervous that i would never finish alot of chores that have been lingering on my list so the last month i tackled everything. i reorganized the whole basement, built shelves and boxed almost everything up. i made the poker room side look much better also. i organized mardi gras beads, and threw out old paint cans, did it all. the basement looks great for now, im sure things will keep accumulating. im not the packrat of the family.
maybe i should have left the basement looking full...oh well. (by the way, i have my fair share of stuff in the garage) i also have my 4 wheeler torn to pieces and the engine half rebuilt, i should finish it this weekend. it will run much better. i discovered the piston was cracked, but it was still running. another reason to ALWAYS buy honda! i also did a bunch of little stuff like organize pictures on the computer and get a backup, so we can save all the new pics of the family.
ive been trying to see lots of movies for some reason (not that we wont have time for that, and ive grown quiet fond of the wii. we have a tank game thats pretty cool and mario galaxy is awesome. i never played video games much, never in college when all the other guys were playing bond, or tiger woods golf or grand theft auto, but this wii is pretty cool. guess im a dork. still dont spend much time in front of the tv though, id rather waiste time reorganizing my to do list and adding things to it. its a sickness i have to fill my time constantly tinkering with things around the house, instead of actually sitting down and doing one thing. this is also probably why i have 30 different hobbies.
Im #1 in earnings in my neighborhood texas holdem leaugue which is pretty sweet. next game is tue 3-10. the night before we go in the hospital!
as for work, we are lucky that things are steady, it slows down, but never enough to send anyone home. the sign biz is always on and off anyway. i was really busy with soco mardi gras stuff. we make all the signs and banners for that one big day in soulard (for shells company) here is a project i just got done working on this evening. it is a launch for a new super ultra premium vodka that patron is putting out. im sure its nasty so stick with Finlandia OK!!
Ding - Dong - The tree is Gone!!!!
Of course, I've been meaning to blog about it for weeks and once I do, the lady decides to take it down. Maybe she found our blog online and was embarrassed enough that she was compelled to take it down, or maybe someone else talked some sense into her... either way, I don't care - It's gone!!!
