On the Flag

If you want to read a great commentary on the flag and the importance of putting our hands on our hearts when we say the pledge, link on my friend Lena's blog. She really puts into words the important symbol that our flag has been and should continue to be in our country!

We DID IT!

Today Dave & I ran our first 1/2 marathon. That is 13.1 miles. I wasn't sure that I would ever want to run one. Last year after running my 2nd 10k I figured that maybe I could do it in a year. When we found that the YMCA 1/2 marathon was on a Saturday and was sooner than the one we had originally planned on. We decided to do it and it was at that point that I got a sick feeling...what had I gotten myself into???? It wasn't until I ran 10 miles a few weeks ago that I really had any confidence that I could really run that far. Of course the last couple of days I have been nervous. I am not really competitive, but I wanted to finish and I wanted to run the whole way.

The day started early this morning. We were up at 5:40 and left at 6:15 am. Here we are at the starting line. It was a little bit chilly before the race started, but that is a good thing and the day couldn't have been better!

Dave's sister ran this 1/2 last year and was back again this year with her friend and running partner Catherine. She joked at the end and said, "I just spent $50 to torture myself!"
Here we are at the end, not too much worse for the wear:)! The last 2 miles were mostly up hill. The last mile included a steep dirt hill that was a killer, but we still did it!

Dave, Me, MaryAnn, Catherine
(after all that and we can still smile!)

Dave came in with the best time at 1:51:07. MaryAnn next with 2:04, Catherine at 2:07 (if my times are off they are pretty close). I came in last of crew at 2:11:38. My goal was to run 10 min 30 sec miles which would put me at a time of 2:17. So I beat my time. I ran with MaryAnn and Catherine for the first 3 miles until they pulled away. There was another gal that was running about my pace and we introduced ourselves (Laurel is her name...didn't have time to catch the last name) and ran most of the rest of the race together, keeping each other motivated.

The last two miles I just told myself that I run this all the time and from here on out it is all in my head and I can do it! I am so glad that Dave got me started running and that the rewards of feeling better keep me going. I am not an elite runner, but I am a runner nonetheless!

Back to normal???

Above is Lindsay on Tuesday. Looking better :). I kept her home from school a couple more days. Below is the picture I took on Thursday after she returned home from school.

I think her eye is looking better. However, there is still a great big scab and it is not very pretty. She came home and said the kids kept looking at her and pointing to her eye. She handled it very well though and said that they were happy to see her back. She had gotten used to staying home and took a little extra snuggling and encouragement to get her moving on Thursday. No problem today!

Today I went with Samantha to "Shadow your Student" day for the 8th graders at Highland Junior High. I went last year with Samantha and she wanted me to go again. I actually think it is a great program and it is fun to see her with her friends and to get a feel of what her day is like. Lots of parents came. We carpooled with the Smiths and Camille (the mom) said after 4th hour..."Is it time to go home now?" My thought was, "Look at how old those parents look. Wait I don't look that old do I?" I still feel like I could fit right in with those kids. When did I become middle age? I guess I am only as old as I feel...right! With Paige in Junior High next I will be doing this pretty consistently with only a little break for a few more years. Probably by the time Lindsay is in Junior High...people really will look at me and think the same thought that I had today. I better keep running so that I look younger than my "real" age:)!

We are HOME!!

Here is Lindsay when we first were admitted to the hospital and Dave brought the camera. Looking great, eh? Now the test is....does she look any better in the last picture? (It was taken when we got home. I just had her lay down and close her eyes...she is not asleep).


They have a great program at Banner Desert that is called...Child Life, I think (my brain is mush). They come to help answer any questions the kids might have and provide some activities for them. Anyway they came in and brought Lindsay a teddy bear and showed her how they had put the IV in and had her do it to her new friend Mrs. Teddy Bear. It was great because Lindsay really went crazy when they had to take off some of the tape covering her IV to make sure it was okay. Lindsay's comment was, "It gave me a freak out, mom."


We all came for a quick visit on Sunday evening to swap and so everyone could see where she was. Amber and Dave spent most of the day at the hospital with Lindsay. Dave was glad to have Amber there who entertained and played with Lindsay. Who by the way felt great except for the crazy IV in her hand and some sometimes uncomfortableness on her eye.


That is my "comfy" cot that you see in the background (with the blue blanket). I spent both nights with Lindsay and I knew before that I didn't really like hospitals, but I thought it was because every other time I have stayed in one I have just had a baby and didn't really feel great myself. However, after two nights there I didn't fell great anymore so I came to the conclusion that it is the hospital itself that makes me sick:). I am SOOOO happy to be home and sleep in my own bed tonight I just might never get up tomorrow:)!



Here is our last picture at the hospital and the next one is one that I took at home shortly after we settled in. Now feel free to compare to the first picture from this post and let me know what you think. Was our hospital stay helpful??


Tomorrow we go and visit an ophthalmologist to have her eyes checked. Just to make sure that whatever it is that is affecting her eyelid is NOT on her actual eye. The jury is still out as to exactly what has caused this problem. Choice A: Impetigo, Choice B: Herpes Virus (like the one that causes cold sores). One is caused by bacteria and the other by a virus. The pendulum is leaning toward choice B because Lindsay has been on 4 different antibiotics for nearly the past week (she now has a fifth one that she is taking). She is also on an anti-viral medication that according to the Dr. might not do anything, but then again it might. Dave reminded me when I called him as I left the hospital a bit frustrated that we really and truly weren't that much better off than when we got there, that there is a reason that Dr.'s call it "Practicing" medicine. Hopefully they got a lot of "practice" out of us.

It has been an interesting journey. We sure have appreciated everyone that has offered to help us and prayed for Lindsay. It is comforting to know that we have an army behind us! Thanks to all!

Update on Lindsay

Yesterday, Lindsay's eye didn't look any better. She also had developed a fever of 101 degrees in the night. I called the Dr. on call and they sent us to the ER. We went to Banner Desert and I was surprised at how quickly she was taken back and examined. It was determined that she needed to be admitted and given intravenous antibiotics. They also ordered to have blood work done to see if the bacteria had entered the bloodstream and a CT scan to make sure it had not entered her actual eye or the bone surrounding the eye. The CT scan showed that it had NOT gone into the bone, but it showed that it had gone into the cells and was now Cellulitus as well as Impetigo. She also has a sinus infection. The Dr isn't sure if it happened simultaneously or if it was a result of the impetigo and a weakened immune system. The blood work came back positive this morning which can be bad, however they assured us that it may just be because the sample was contaminated when it was taken so they wanted to retake it and retest it. Lindsay was not happy about being poked again. In fact she has been her FUNNY self and when I have more time I will have to share some of the silly stuff, but right now I will stick to the facts. The Dr was not too concerned because she said if it was really in the bloodstream she would be acting a LOT sicker. Her eye is still red and swollen and now all crusty and because they want to retest the blood, we will stay one more night in the hospital. When we get home I will post more pictures (the camera is still at the hospital). Thanks for your prayers on Lindsay's behalf!

New PR

That is a running term for Personal Record. I ran with Dave on Thursday morning and he always pushes me! We ran our regular 3 mile loop and the last mile I ran in 8 minutes and 8 seconds!!! That is my fastest time EVER! The fastest I had run one mile before that was 8 min and 26 sec. I ran the whole 3 miles in 25 minutes and 55 seconds. Now someday I am hoping that I can push myself that hard on my own. I do have to say that the last mile there were times that I thought I would throw up, but I didn't and I made it.

Update

Okay so Lindsay's eye is not looking better and I called the Dr.'s office twice yesterday. I even told the nurse, "I don't want to sound paranoid, I mean, she is not even my first, she is my fifth, but I have never seen anything like this before." Fortunately she agreed that it seemed unusal, but they wanted to give the antibiotic a chance to work. So this morning, when I saw that it was even worse and called and got an appointment.


The Dr. was glad that we came in and said it looks like the bateria is resistant to the anitbiotic and she put her on a stronger one. Don't ask me the name, unless I am right by the bottle. I just don't have a good memory for those kinds of things. So she is taking the new one starting today and the doctor said that if it doesn't start to show signs of improvment by tomorrow that we should take her to the Emergency Room and have them give her intrevenous antibiotics to take care of the infection. It is a staph infection that can become serious if it enters her bloodstream. So far it is just on the skin, so keep her in your prayers. I found this website that is very informative:

http://kidshealth.org/teen/infections/bacterial_viral/staph.html.

So we are kicking back at home again today.

On a happier note, Samantha is having her birthday party today and fortunately we planned it for night games at the park! She is so excited because she invited boys to come too! Also she turns 14 on the 14th so she is thinking she needs to make it memerable!