MRIs: A Pain In The Neck....

So today was the infamous MRI. Eugh....

I started out by ending my eating at 8am and I had to be at the hospital for 9:30am. I arrived with mama in tow to keep me company. I was processed through and had to put on a gown and housecoat(boo for hospital garb!). Then we were moved to a bed where the real fun began.

Peglyte. Oh how I loathe thee.

This (next to CT Scan contrast *SHIVER*) is THE. WORST. TASTING. LIQUID. EVER. INVENTED. PERIOD. DONE. ZIP. KAPUT. END. OF. STORY.
It tastes like chalk that has artificial fruit flavouring but it can't decide if it wants to be bubblegum.... If that makes sense. The weirdest part is that it has a chalky texture but looks clear like water. Hmmm..... And did I mention that you have to drink an 8 oz. cup of it every 15 minutes for an hour?!?! That's 32 oz.!!!! Phew....

Needless to say I got down the first cup and half of the second cup before Little Crohnsie Bit(CB) started acting up. She had 3 "little fits" and all I wanted to do was keep up with my drinking. I slowly started to fall behind further. And further. And further. Until finally it was an hour past and they were coming to get me and I had only had two and a half cups down and couldn't get out of the bathroom. When I finally get back to my bed I take a look at the unholy bottle and read "Gastrointestinal Lavage Preparation and Laxative".

WHAT!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?

I didn't sign up for this!!!!

No wonder everything I just ate over the last week made a reappearance! I didn't have this kind of reaction last time I did this! (December 2011).

After getting calmed down a bit the MRI Tech. comes to get me and takes me to a different area to prep for the test when I tell her I don't yet have an IV because I've been stuck in the bathroom. So back to the other bed area I go.

I get an IV, go back to the prep area, go to the washroom again, then make the trek to the MRI machine. It's in a new part of the hospital so they're still getting the layout down right.

When I get into the room it's cold. I'm not sure if it's actually cold or if it's me (remember I'm wearing a hospital gown). She has me lay on the table on my stomach and put my arms straight up above my head. Then her and another Tech. put a bunch of equipment on my back, heavy equipment that helps with the pictures. Then I get some fancy dancy headphones A) Because it's extremely loud when the magnets get going and B) so I can hear the Tech. speak to me and when I need to hold my breath.

Ten minutes later I'm being squeezed into the machine.

And that's pretty much it. I laid there for an hour, intermittently holding my breath when told to through the headphones, sometimes holding air in, sometimes keeping it out. All the while they are pumping dyes and contrast and meds to slow down my bowels into my IV.

When I got out let me tell you! I had such a stiff neck! And still do 8 hours later! Laying in the same position for an hour with your head cocked to the right sucks!

I got my IV out, got changed, got my parking validated (YES!) and headed home.

It wasn't that bad, just wish Lil' CB would stop revolting though....

Water Loading....

Also I forgot to mention I'm water loading tonight. What is water loading you ask? It's kind of like carbo loading for athletes but instead of carbs you use water. As any chronically sick person knows the night before a test/treatment you water load. Basically it involves drowning yourself until you feel like you are going to barf and/or pee your pants uncontrollably. This ensures that even someone with even the most horrible of veins can to have a comfortable experience and only have to have 1 IV poke .
I'm bottle 4 in two and a half hours. I'm not getting stuck three times again tomorrow! MRI, uh....

That'll Be The Day....(x2)

So has anyone heard about these "reborn" dolls? They are VERY life like dolls that look and feel like real newborn dolls. They are even weighted to an infant's weight. They are extremely expensive. I'm talking like 700 dollars expensive....
Anyway, today I'm walking through my friendly neighborhood Walmart and there is a lovely young African-American couple walking in front of me and the man who for entertainment purposes I'm going to call "Darrell" is holding what I assume to be his infant daughter in his arms. I follow them almost to the front when they stop so "Takeisha" can look at something at the end of the isle. So naturally I go around them and as I do I sneak a peek at the baby as I do (I do this with all babies. I'm not creepy, it's part of my profession to pay attention to children and I usually congratulate the parents on such a beautiful baby). I look and look away. There is something wrong. I look again and realize that it's a doll. At this point Takeisha turns to me and says, "You have a problem with my baby?" to which I say "No. She's very beautiful." and walk away. End of story.
You see I saw a story like this on Anderson Cooper's show a couple of months ago. People actually dress these dolls up and take them out to show off. When she turned to me and said that I fully expect she wanted attention just like the women on Anderson. I did not give her that satisfaction. Sorry Takeisha. Not getting a rise out of me.
That'll be the day when I spend $700 on a doll.
That'll be the day when I take it out to show it off to the world.
Although it would be nice to model my knitting/crochet on....

Awkward Moment #63...

When you find out that you babysit the granddaughter of your gynecologist...
AWKWARD!!!!

16 Little Geese....

Today we had a game morning outside in the backyard at the daycare. As per the five year-olds' request we played three games and they went as thus...

1. "What time is it Mr. Wolf?"
This was by far the favourite of the 2-3 year-olds because it involves three of their favourite things; running, counting, and screaming. This will definitely be played again in the near future.

2. "Duck, duck, goose!"
This game was a little more poorly received on the account of there being 16 little geese who just wanted to run around in a circle. We might wait a little while before re-attempting this one...

3. "Freeze Tag".
This pretty much just turned into a free for all of kids whacking each other and saying "You're it!" and kids crawling under other kid's legs. It was a mess. Probably off the list for a while...

Anyway, when the majority of your participants are 2 and 3 what more can you wish for.
Here's hoping you had a super fun day!!!!

I Make Remicade Look Cool...

Thursday was Remicade day. It went good besides the three attempts to get a vein. It was a new nurse so I'll cut her a little slack. I was losing faith after the second attempt in the back of my hand failed to gain any backsplash of blood in the needle. We ended up going to my old fail safe in the crook of my elbow in my right arm.
I have an MRI this Thursday so here's hoping I'm not totally bruised then...

100 Years Ago...

...long before my mother, grandparents and I were born there sailed a magnificent ship the likes of which had never traveled the Atlantic before. On this fateful night, at this fateful moment in 1912 Titanic met it's early demise after hitting an ill-fated iceberg. Over 1,500 men, women and children went into the North Atlantic ocean. Only 710 souls were saved from the freezing cold water that night.
The reason why I am telling you this is because I've always been fascinated by the story of Titanic. I've done independent research, seen the movie upwards of 63 times and even did a speech on it in Grades 5 and 7.
As you go about your business tonight, tomorrow and the next few days maybe you could just stop to think about all of the lost ones, the empty graves the families will never get to fill and the survivors(now long gone) who had to live with the guilt and nightmares of screaming and death.
I know I don't really write heavy posts like this but I think it's an important part of history that needs to be remembered. Here's to you unsinkable ship! Cheers!

Where Is The Tantrum Button On My Keyboard?

Because I'm about to blow a gasket!!!! To add insult to injury of having to pee on myself yesterday I now have to poop all over myself this weekend!
I've been having a lot of pain which I'm assuming is Crohn's pain based on the severity and location of the pain aswell as other symptoms. So yesterday I called my Gastro. doc. To see if I could get in to see her today but she was completely over booked but the super nice receptionist took down all of symptoms and said she'd pull my chart for Dr. P to look at.
Then this morning I get a call and whoopi! Entocort for another 12 weeks it is! Along with yet another full set of bloodwork to add to my now monthly VIP pass, 5 stool samples to do over the next 3 days(ick!), and to top it all off another MRI which means more Peglyte, BLUH!!!!
Anyhow, I just wanted to share some of the illustrations depicting how they recommend a stool sample be obtained. Not because it's new to me, believe me I've done so many of these flippin' things I could sell them on the black market, but because the artists renderings are just so funny! Enjoy!

New Look and I Really Hate Peeing On My Hands...

Happy spring y'all! As a homage to this lovely season my blog has a new look. Here's to sun, flowers and not freezing our arses off shoveling snow! ;)


Also, I went to the urologist today. He doesn't seem to be too worried about my peeing problems. He said it could be Over Active Bladder based upon all of the tests I did before seeing him. I had to give a urine sample and let me just say I REALLY hate peeing on my hands and if you have ever had to give a urine sample(and you are female) you know EXACTLY what I'm talking about. Anyway, I've got a couple more requisitions and bottles to do as the symptoms progress and I see him again in mid-July to review and decide where to go from there. *SIGH*

Everything Hunger Games...

This is going to be a long one. I'll start off with the Hunger Games trilogy of books and end with the movie...

*SPOILER ALERT. I HAVE MADE EVERY EFFORT TO NOT SPOIL THE MOVIE/BOOKS WHICH I AM REVIEWING AND I PROMISE NOT TO RUIN THE END BUT IF YOU DON'T LIKE KNOWING BEFORE YOU WATCH/READ I WOULD RECOMMEND YOU LEAVE THIS PAGE NOW.*



Books
A Short Synopsis: The Hunger Games trilogy is set in the future where North America has been replaced by the country of Panem. Every year in Panem each of the 12 districts is forced to send a girl and a boy between the ages of 12 and 18 to fight in the hunger games. The hunger games is a televised event where these 24 tributes fight to the death to become the sole victor. Enter the main character, Katniss Everdeen. She is a great hunter and a fierce family member so when her 12 year old sister gets drawn to compete Katniss steps in and takes her place. She travels to the capitol to made over into a tribute and enters the games. To find out more you'll just have to read the book...

My Thoughts: I. LOVE. THESE. BOOKS!!!! And I wish my keyboard had more buttons that could convey yelling more than just caps lock because they are just that awesome! The character of Katniss is so epic. I think she is a lot like me in the fact that she doesn't always know exactly what is going on and ends up thrust right into the action but somehow it all works out by shear luck.
The love between her and Peeta even though she doesn't fully acknowledge or understand it until the very end of the last book Mockingjay. I never really bought the Gale/Katniss storyline. If we had had more pre-story between them it may have been different.
I also really love the Prim/Rue comparison when they are in the arena. And when Rue dies it is the saddest moment only to be surpassed when Prim dies at the end of Mockingjay by the bomb Gale had created. I think this event also cements Peeta and Katniss's relationship.
There are so many ways I could go with reviewing these books but I don't want to spoil them so just read them OK?


My Final Thoughts: I could go on and on and on about how good these books are but the fact is you need to read them for yourself. I promise you won't be disappointed.


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The Movie
A Short Synopsis: See the book synopsis.

My Thoughts: This is THE closest movie rendering of a book I have EVER seen. Obviously everyone sees a book in their head a certain way but in terms of content, plot line, character attributes, it is one of the best. I read all three books before going to see the first movie because I didn't want my view of the books tainted by the setting of the movie. I wanted to keep them as two separate entities but part of a bigger whole if that makes sense?
It was greatly cast. Jennifer Lawrence was brilliant as Katniss. The training she must have undergone to be able to perform all of the stunts must have been intense. Josh Hutcherson as Peeta is such a natural fit. He just IS Peeta. Period. Liam Hemsworth was great as Gale but it felt like he wasn't as involved as much as the other two (naturally) because he's not in the games but I look forward to seeing more of him in the following movies.

My Final Thought: If you don't want your view of the books tainted by the movie read the books first and cement it in your head. But definitely see the movie for a whole new Hunger Games experience!