My ticking time bomb

Ok, for those of you who don't know I was diagnosed with a brain aneurysm about a week and a half ago. The "cure" for it would have involved some form of brain surgery. "How was it found?" you might be asking yourself. I'll tell you.

Back when I had the girls you may (or may not) remember I had a Bell's Palsy. The last 6 months, some of the symptoms from that have been getting worse, more ptosis (drooping) of the eyelid, twitching of the eyelid, some vision changes, facial numbness, etc. I went back to the neurologist and he thought it might be a good idea to get an MRI to rule out any sort of brain abnormality that might have caused this. I know, I know, you're all thinking, "Of course she has an abnormal brain," or "She has a brain?" They were thinking medically not mentally. Now that we have that out of the way I can continue with my little saga. Anyhoo, the MRI showed what looked like a small aneurysm in my carotid (the major blood supply to the brain). An aneurysm is an area of a blood vessel that stretches out much like a balloon. If left untreated it grows and grows until an area of the vessel wall is so thin that it bursts much like an over-inflated balloon. The result is quite often death or severe brain damage, so as you can imagine, I was quite nervous. The next step was to get a CT angiogram which I did yesterday. In the mean time no physical activity for me, nothing to raise my BP, etc. Arrrgggg.

The CT angiogram was the strangest experience I've ever had in my life. I've had studies that used contrast before, but never like this. They inject it while you are being scanned and it immediately makes you feel hot. I could literally feel it travel around my body. I got an odd, almost metallic taste in my mouth and my mouth felt like it was full, like just before the dentist uses her magic wand on you to suck out all your saliva. Then, the oddest feeling of all. I got very hot down there, and it felt like I had wet my pants (I hadn't). All this occurred over about 20 seconds, and then it was gone. Sooooo weird.

So. Scan done. Now for the waiting. Thank goodness my neurologist is an early riser and a prompt responder. For both scans he has called me first thing in the morning the day after the scan. Now for the good news, which I'm sure you all have guessed by now, NO ANEURYSM!! Woo hoo, woo hoo, and woo hoo. Apparently it was just an odd twist of the vessel that created a large shadow that looked like an aneurysm on the MRI. You can't imagine the relief I feel. Big, huge weight lifted off my chest. As Andrea so accurately put it, I feel like jello about now.

Now, back to hockey for me. I'm playing Sunday!! Woo hoo!!

Since Andrea has blogged, I figure I should too

As usual, a lot has happened since my last blog entry. Most of it I remember from photos I haven't yet uploaded (although that process has begun.)

The girls had pajama day at school. A wonderful day in which (in theory) I didn't have to get them dressed for school. In reality they had gymnastics in the morning, so they had to get dressed for that, then come home and get back in their pajamas for school. They thought going to school in their pj's was the best. They also got to read bedtime stories, have warm chocolate, "go to sleep" and then had pancakes when they "woke up." All in all, it was a great day for them.

My birthday this year happened to fall on the annual St. Patrick's day dinner hosted by our church. Normally my birthday is good, or at the very worst it's uneventful. This year truly stunk. There were many awful things that happened (that I won't go into here), but the end of the day turned things around a bit. The dinner was a lot of fun. I found out one of my friends daughters was/has been one of the Celtic dancers that perform every year. My entire family generally attends these things, and so they brought my cards and presents there. I was very lucky to recieve a quilt made special for me by my SIL, Deb.

St. Patrick's day the girls and Val helped make Shamrock cookies for their teachers at school. My parents had also given the girls a plethora of green holiday items for them to wear and consume. They looked quite cute and were very excited.

That brings us up to this past week. The girls have become very sick, Riley more so than Sam which varies from the norm. After 5 days without improvement (and some degeneration) I took the girls to the docs office. It turns out they both have bronchitis and Riley has an ear infection (both ears) to top it off. They were sent home with antibiotics and inhalers, and seem to be on the mend. After 3 days of being in bed (voluntarily), Riley is finally up and playing a bit though she still seems tired and lethargic. Sam is still pretty cuddily, but gaining more energy herself.

On a side note, Bill, Stacey, and I are also sick, but mending as well. We were suppose to be up at my parents condo in the snow this week, but finances and illness had other ideas.

This weekend is scheduled to be a 3 night (12 hours each) work extravaganza, so no hockey for me. However, it should be noted that that is only temporary. Thanks to my wonderful hockey peeps who got me registered, I will be skating summer season. Woo hoo and THANK YOU!

My weekend hockey report

I played my first hockey tournament this weekend. The report is as follows:

Game 1 vs. Blacklist, we won 4-2, I was -2
Game 2 vs. The Northstars, we lost 0-2, I had neither a + or - for that game.
Game 3 vs. The Seals, we lost 0-9, I was -5 for the game
Game 4 vs. The Bucktooth Dolphins, we tied 3-3, our line was briefly +1, then they scored on us.

Of note, The Northstars and Seals both have unprofessional coaches. The Northstars coach kept yelling at his players to crush us, next time take them out harder, etc. The Seals coach made similar comments and to top it off was yelling at their team to kill us when they got a power play AND WERE ALREADY COMMANDING A 7 POINT SHUTOUT LEAD.

This was suppose to be a recreational tourney.

Despite all this we actually had a really good time. It was nice to start the tourney playing our Blacklist friends and to end it playing our buddies, the Bucktooth Dolphins.

Bad News Brownies/M4

Normally I don't blog about hockey because, well, my hockey is just not blog worthy. Tonight was a little different, not because I did anything great, but just because of the situation.

I was asked to sub up a division along with a couple of other people. Again, not due to my skill, but because they were desperate for warm bodies. In any case, everyone on the team was so nice, and so supportive, it made what could have been a very nervous game for me, a very fun game. The team was very motivational, and even though we lost 5-0 I left with a huge smile on my face. It was one of the best hockey experiences I've had.

Thanks Liz for asking me to sub for M4.

My little hockey player

This morning Sam wanted me and Riley to play hockey with her. This afternoon when I told her it was naptime and started walking to the bedroom with her, she told me to close the kiddie gate so she could climb over it. I guess she'll have no problem with the boards.

House no longer secure

All this time we've been able to use kiddie gates to keep the kids out of the areas of the house where they could get into trouble. Up until now it's been no problem because my kids aren't really climbers. Didn't climb out of their cribs, don't generally climb on furniture, and never
over the gates. Today I couldn't figure out how Sam got out of the play area, so I asked her to come back, so I could see how she did it. She simply threw one leg over the top of the gate and
rolled on over like some people clear the boards in hockey. So much for security.

Woo hoo and boo hoo!

Woo hoo! I had my first red game tonight. I didn't fall and I sort of kept up. My legs were very jello like at the end. Main point? I had fun, and can't wait to do it again.

Boo hoo! Val got hurt and had to go to the ER, but she's better now. Back to playing like her old self.

Arrrrrrrr, I still be rrrrred.

Nope Mateys, it not be gettin' old for me.

Things that are red...

crayons
The Fish Market logo
napkins at The Fish Market
Val's sweater
Bill's dinner (king crab legs)
the strap on my new Mickey Crocs (Thank Aunties)
my new red jersey (cuz I'm in red now.)

In case you were wondering...yep, still grinning, still excited, still in a state of disbelief.

Thanks to everyone

This is a sampling of the comments I've received as a result of Andrea's blog entry .

WOO! Congrats, Susan! I suppose I should tell you that in your own blog, huh. *grin* carolyn
Whoo, Soosun! *pokes shoulder* Viv
Ditto! Nice work, sneaky snowflake! Liz
*such* a punk. and *soooo* cool. :-D cheddah

I figured instead of filling up Andrea's blog with comments that I would say thanks to everyone here. Oh, and yes I'm giggling Viv.

Also, thanks to Hubby and everyone else who sent verbal congrats as well.

I'm so excited. So excited! Did I mention I'm excited?

What I tried to do quietly

Some time ago, I did this:

Then last night I received this in my email box:

Thanks so much for attending the Red Evaluation sessions. I'm happy to let you know that you according to your scores, you have been placed in the Red Division for the upcoming season ... Congratulations!
Woo hoo! I'm finally in Red.

Weekend/Hubby update

This was one of my long weekends that I work all night, and sleep 1/2 the day so I can go back to work again. I don't know what got into Bill but he deserves a big thumbs up for productivity this weekend. By my count (and it may be off) he did 2 to 3 loads of dishes, 4 loads of laundry (even put some of it away), made me 2 very thoughtful (and yummy dinners), took the girls to the park, to soccer, and to the store, and to top the weekend off he even brought them and Harrison to my hockey game. We lost 4 - 2 and I was -3 for the game (boo), but it was nice to have them all there. The people on my bench kept commenting on how cute they were and how nice it was to have my family there cheering for us. I agree.

3 Games, 3 Wins, 2 Days, and 1 Happy Camper, Me!

Yep, I played 3 hockey games with 3 different teams in 2 days and we won them all. Now I didn't have a whole lot to do with the first 2 wins, missed way too many passes, and over skated the puck, etc., etc., but I had a great time. In the 2nd game I had an assist on a sweet goal by Andrea, and in the third , game I actually scored a goal myself. Woo hoo! Go me!

Hockey shoulder news.

Tonight I played my first hockey game in over a year, and it wasn't too bad. Let me break it down for you.

Good news:
We won 5 -3
My shoulder didn't bother me at all
I didn't wipe out
I had a couple of decent passes
I was on the ice again after a way too long absence (It does make the heart grow fonder)

Bad news:
I was on the ice for 2 of their 3 goals including when Andrea scored on me
Bad foot cramp in 2nd period
I felt like I was just off in general
Fear was driving my playing. I really didn't want to fall and reinjure my shoulder.

Hockey!

I went to practice today. Of note is that while my shoulder was a little sore at the end I don't think I damaged it or slowed my healing in any way. On the fun side, I got to shoot on goal and did an ok job. Now if I could just lift that puck.

Reader poll

Don't let me down my faithful few.

Tomorrow I have my first hockey game of the new season, and the first game since I went out with my shoulder injury. Rehab has been coming along, but today my Physical Therapist tried to work my shoulder so hard that I wouldn't be able to play tomorrow. Bill doesn't think it's a good idea either because he believes I am too competitive and won't self limit.

So, I'm taking a poll. What do you, my faithful (and easily bribable?) readers, think I should do? Should I play or sit it out a little longer?

I am so jazzed!

Why am I up at 2:55 A.M. you ask yourself? Or maybe you don't, but I'm going to tell you anyway. I played hockey tonight. Well, I attended a practice. I still can't shoot due to my shoulder, but it gave me some great skating time, and with some expert coaching, I think I might have figured out how to bend my knees AND keep my head up while skating. Of course it's going to take a lot more practice and I'm going to have to figure out how to do it with a puck on my stick, but it's the most excited I've ever been about a practice.

As a result, I am so jazzed that I can't sleep. I tried. I really did. Put on my jammies and climbed into bed, but that just didn't last so I came to share with my internet friends. Thanks for listening.