Here are some pictures of my sister Christene and I through the years.

When we were little

Highschool/College

Last Year

This is my Grandmother and me being silly. I miss her!!

This is what happens when you drive too fast on the freeway and hit a patch of water

I will never forget that day. I was on my way to the University to pay tuition and as I was driving, something (God) kept telling me to get off the freeway but I didn’t listen.

God took care of me though. I didn’t get hurt and I didn’t hit anybody else AND as soon as my car stopped spinning, a police officer was sitting across the freeway. Amazing!

When I got a new car, my dad printed stickers that said “It’s okay to be late” and stuck them to the inside of my trunk. Thanks Dad!

Normal everyday things like spending time with my family

Now a story with the reason for why I emphasize normal:

Sunday after lunch I started feeling a sharp pain in my stomach and I tried not to think about it so I decided to bake some cookies (I had already taken the butter out of the fridge so it was at room temperature). When I finished I still had the pain so I decided to take a nap (while E was taking a nap) and I had a hard time falling asleep because of the pain.

When E woke up we got everything ready to go to my parent’s house for dinner and I was glad Joey was home to help with E. The pain was still a sharp stabbing pain. When we got to my mom’s house she suggested I lay on the couch and after several minutes I asked her “do I have to be vomiting before I can go to the ER?” She said no and after brainstorming what could be the cause of my pain, we decided I should go to the ER. We left E with my parents and Joey drove. I didn’t want to make a big deal about going so I only texted my mother-in-law to let her know what was going on. I also prayed that the nurse and doctor taking care of me would be nice and have answers.

We got to the ER and checked in and while we were sitting in the waiting area, we got on WebMD and did a search for my symptoms. It came up with the possibilities of diverticulitis, kidney stones and some other not-so-pleasant things. When I was taken back to a room the nurse came in shortly and told us her name and my doctor’s name and said “and he’s a very thorough doctor” I was happy to hear that. Praise the Lord! The doctor came in shortly and asked a lot of questions and decided to start with the following tests – blood work, chest x-ray and EKG (since I mentioned I felt the pain moving into my chest), urine sample and pelvic ultrasound to check for an ovarian cyst. He also offered to give me morphine but I told him I didn’t want it at the moment (which was stupid, I should have taken it right away) and he said he would write the order so I could have it when I was ready.

While we were waiting for everything to happen, Joey got on facebook and checked us in at the hospital and mentioned I was there with severe stomach pains. He did not tell me he did this and then I started getting text messages. I looked at Joey and said “How do they know I’m here?” and then he told me what he did. I was kind of upset (what if nothing was wrong and then I had to tell everyone) but then I was glad to know my friends cared and were praying. My pastor and his wife found out I was in the hospital and even came to see me and pray for me.

After all the tests were done the doctor came in to tell me that everything came back normal so he wanted to order a abdominal CT scan to make sure it wasn’t something that required surgery. I thought that was a good idea. After the CT scan was done the tech said “it will be about 30 minutes before the doctor will see the results”. It was now 11:00 pm so I called the nurse and asked for the morphine. She quickly came in and gave it to me and my pain level dropped from a 7 to a 2 within 5 minutes. Why didn’t I get it 4 hours ago? STUPID! Anyway.

Around 11:30 pm the doctor came in and told me that the scan came back normal. He then suggested that I follow up with my doctor to have further tests done for other GI issues. He said that 30% of people who come to the ER with abdominal pain leave not knowing the cause. He wrote me a prescription for pain meds and anti-nausea medication, told me to start with a clear liquid diet and not to do anything strenuous until I felt better.

I have no idea what kind of bill we are going to get but am glad we know everything the pain was not. I now have a normal EKG, pelvic ultrasound and abdominal CT scan on file but I still don’t know the cause of that sharp stabbing pain. I took it easy on Monday (Joey stayed home to take care of me and E) and I went to work today. I am still not feeling 100% but the sharp stabbing pain is gone.

After spending 6 hours in the ER I now have a greater appreciation for normal everyday things like spending time with my family, doing the laundry, making dinner, washing the dishes or just being a mom. I will now praise the Lord for those everyday things because it really is a blessing to be able to do those things.

Here are two summer pictures from when I was a kid.

Christene and I modeling our bathing suits

Joey commented that that’s one of the only times he’s seen me in a bathing suit. And he’s right. I don’t like to swim and I’ve never really liked wearing a bathing suit. Poor Joey.

This is a picture of a bunch of our (Christene and my) friends in the backyard of the house I grew up in

I have lots of fun memories in that backyard!

These pictures are not my most favorite summer pictures from when I was a kid. I wish I had more pictures scanned on my computer but I can only do so much. This photo challenge is a lot of work!

My cute baby playing with a puzzle

I just love his face in the last picture!

and here’s a video of him handing me the pieces