My humble abode

After my accident the living room in my house was converted to be my bedroom since I could no longer go up and down the stairs in my house. Although the living room is smaller than my former bedroom, I'm grateful for it and I'm grateful it was relatively easy to convert. Here are a few pictures of my bedroom:

A view looking towards my bed:

A view looking the opposite direction:
My bookcase (I really need a bigger bookcase because I've acquired more books than this bookcase can hold):
My entertainment area:
The shelving unit where I keep a lot of my scrapbooks, photo albums and other projects (I like everything well organized): Some of my nick-knacks (I like pretty things): My garden of African Violets (I love plants, especially ones that flower): My overhead lift (this is how I get in and out of bed/my recliner/wheelchair):

Of course it's kind of hard to understand what my room looks like and what the layout is like from just a few pictures, but hopefully you can get a sense of where I live and what my living area is like.

Cheesecake Factory: check!!

At the beginning of the year I made a list of goals and fun things I wanted to accomplish in 2010. One of the things on my list was eating at The Cheesecake Factory. I've never been there before and I've always wanted to go there, so that's why it made my 2010 list. Here's a few pictures of the outside of The Cheesecake Factory: I went to The Cheesecake Factory at the St. Louis Galleria this past Saturday with my younger sisters Chandra and Laura, Laura's husband Brett and my friend Nate. We went at 1:30 pm, so it wasn't too busy and we only had to wait 15 minutes to be seated. I decided that I would just get an appetizer instead of a meal so that I could also get a piece of cheesecake for dessert. I decided to get chicken potstickers for my appetizer. The potstickers were good, but I probably wouldn't get them again. My friend Nate got an appetizer of avocado egg rolls, and those were really good. They tasted different than I thought they would and they were really yummy. I would probably get the avocado egg rolls for my appetizer if/when I go back. Here's a picture of the potstickers and the avocado egg rolls: I ordered a slice of Godiva Chocolate Cheesecake for dessert. Here's the description of the cheesecake from the menu: "Layers of flourless Godiva chocolate cake, Godiva chocolate cheesecake and chocolate mousse." It was delicious! I had a hard time finishing it since I had eaten my entire appetizer, so Chandra and Nate helped me out! Here's a picture of my Godiva Chocolate Cheesecake: It was such a fun way to spend a beautiful afternoon. Here are a few more pictures from my outing:

How it went...

I had my surgery on Monday to remove the kidney stones that were in my left kidney. My surgery was scheduled for 1:30 pm, so I had to be at the hospital at 11:30. I was checked in right away and taken upstairs to the pre-op area. I was transferred from my wheelchair to a gurney, and then I was undressed and put into a ultra-chic hospital down. After all of my vital signs and initial information was taken there was a lot of down time where I was just waiting. Fortunately, my mom brought along the book we are currently reading for our book group, so we were able to make quite a bit of progress in our book.

The anesthesiologist came in shortly after 2 pm and put some medicine in my IV, and after a few short minutes I was out of it. Although I was still conscious, this is the last thing I remembered and my mom said that I was "flying high." I was taken to surgery about 2:15 pm, although the surgery didn't really get underway until 2:45. My mom got a call from my urologist a little before 5:30 pm and he said that things had gone well, but he'd had a little bit more trouble getting the stones out then he'd anticipated. (There were several kidney stones -- one big one and lots of small ones.)

My doctor wanted me to stay in the hospital overnight just to make sure I was recovering well, since in the past I've developed major complications. I was taken to my hospital room about 6:50 pm, and although it wasn't a room in the ICU, it was a nice, large room. (The reason I always like to stay in the ICU is because that's where I get the best care. The nurses in the ICU only care for two patients, so they can devote a little more time to each of their patients. The nurses on regular floors care for five or six patients apiece, so a lot of times my needs get overlooked since they are so busy.)

My mom had decided beforehand that if I had to stay on a regular patient floor she would stay with me to make sure I was well cared for. When my nurse found out that my mom was going to be staying overnight with me, a hospital bed was brought in for her to sleep on. My sister Laura and her husband Brett came to visit in the evening, as well as my sister Chandra.

Although I was quite tired, I still had a hard time sleeping through the night. It was harder to get comfortable, and people kept coming in my room to do different things to me, so my mom and I kept getting woken up. However, we were both able to get quite a bit of sleep, all things considered. I was just so grateful to have my mom/advocate there with me in the hospital.

One of the urological residents that works with my urologist came to check on me the next morning at 6:15 and told me that everything looked good and that I could go home that day. I was dressed and ready to go home by 9:30. In my past hospital experiences the discharge process has taken all day, so I was pleasantly surprised to be on my way home by 10:30.

The drive home from Barnes Hospital takes about 40 minutes, plus my doctor prescribed an antibiotic, so we stopped by Walgreens to get it, and my mom had to wait about 30 minutes for it. I was quite tired (you usually are when recovering from anesthesia) so I slept the entire way home, including the wait at Walgreens! Actually, I slept most of the day yesterday. Anytime I would try to watch TV or have my mom read to me, I would fall asleep!

So long story short is that I survived another surgery! I didn't make my 2010 goal of not being hospitalized, but hopefully I will make it the rest of the year and a good portion of next year before anything goes amiss with me.

Easter 2010

We had a very low-key Easter this year, but it was also very nice. We didn't have any family or friends over, so it was just my mom, my younger sister Chandra and myself. We had a yummy dinner on both Saturday and Sunday so that I could enjoy the meal two days instead of one since I was having surgery on the following Monday.

I told my mom that the Easter Bunny better not bring me any edible treats since I'm trying hard not to put on weight! (Sometimes I ask my mom not to buy me sweets, but she does anyway because she can't resist.) However, this year she complied with my wishes and bought me a completely non-edible present. She bought me a new African Violet. I love African Violets because they have the softest leaves and the prettiest flowers. One of my friends bought me an African Violet almost 2 years ago for my 24th birthday, and I (or I should say my mom) has managed to keep it alive, and it has flourished and grown.

My mom thought my birthday Violet needed a companion, so she bought me a new African Violet for Easter. I love it! It's the perfect gift for me! Here are a few pictures of my new Violet (although, the pictures definitely don't do it justice!):

About my week

This week has been pretty busy, so I haven't had as much time to be on my computer. Plus, I haven't really had anything to blog about. This is a different feeling for me because I usually have so many things I want to write about, but not enough time.

The weather this week has been absolutely beautiful, and I enjoyed sitting outside Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday afternoons. Hopefully I will be able to sit outside on Easter because it's supposed to be really nice.

My younger sister Chandra had the day off of work on Tuesday, so my mom, Chandra and I went to Kohl's to do a little shopping. We all found some stuff that we wanted, and it was all on sale. My mom had an additional 30% off coupon, so we got some great deals! After shopping we went out to dinner at Chili's to use a gift card that my sister Annette gave us this past Christmas. We all enjoyed our dinner. I got Southwestern egg rolls and a turkey sandwich. I've eaten at Chili's several times, and I always get Southwestern egg rolls because they are my favorite!

On Wednesday afternoon my mom and I had to go up to the hospital for my pre-op testing and registration. Fortunately, they were able to call St. Anthony's Hospital to get my most recent chest x-ray, EKG and blood work. I was fearing I would have to get out of my wheelchair to get these tests over with, but I didn't since they were able to get everything from the other hospital. My mom and I had a long wait, and we were at the hospital for several hours, but at least we got everything over with so hopefully everything will go smoothly on Monday.

I'm looking forward to this weekend. We're having Easter dinner on both Saturday and Sunday so that I can enjoy the meal two days instead of one since I can't eat or drink anything after midnight on Sunday. I'll be in the hospital overnight on Monday, so it will be a hospital dinner tray for my dinner that night! The things I'm looking forward to eating most for Easter dinner are corn pudding (so good!) and the coconut cake my mom is making for dessert.

Well, this is a relatively boring and short post, but I didn't want to go too long without writing anything. Hopefully my surgery will go well so that I can report back on how everything went sometime soon. Happy Easter, everyone!