http://www.caleychronicles.com/index.php/site/index/ The Family weblog of April Caley en april@caleychronicles.com Copyright 2010 2010-02-12T22:04:50-08:00 http://www.caleychronicles.com/index.php/site/getting_healthy_is_killing_me/ http://www.caleychronicles.com/index.php/site/getting_healthy_is_killing_me/#When:22:04:50Z In the past 2 years I have suffered 4 different ailments in my attempt so get and stay at a healthy weight. Maybe some of it is my age, but this is getting rediculous!! First, I developed ovarian cysts and bigger fibroids as a result of estrogen being released from my lost fat into my bloodstream. This caused an ovarian cyst to burst (very painful) and periodic ovarian pain that is more of a nuisance than anything else. As a result of significant cardio workouts, I developed a heart murmur from mitral valve prolapse and a recurrance of PSVT (Paroxsysmal Supraventricular Tachycardia). So I have been on a medication to control the PSVT. This is especially bothersome because I had a cardiac ablation (burning of electrical pathways in the heart) done in 2002 to cure the PSVT so I wouldn’t be on meds for it for the rest of my life. 5% of PSVT recurs and it had to happen to me! Because of the murmur, I have to take antibiotics prior to some procedures like dental cleanings. Now I have Bilateral Greater Trochanteric Bursitis. Which basically means both of my hips hurt. This has been going on since the summer and I finally decided to get it checked out. I went to Physical Therapy today for the first time. I really didn’t know how I got it because the thing I do a lot, the elliptical, does not cause pain when I do it. I can also ski without pain. It sometimes hurts to walk and I have a slight limp at times. What hurts, is lifting my leg while turning it outward. Like when you rest your ankle on your opposite knee to put on shoes or to dry your foot after showering.  It also hurts to step up a big step. It hurts to lay on either hip when sleeping and to roll over in bed. After a rather complex PT evaluation, the Physical Therapist concluded that I am overdoing the elliptical and not stretching beforehand. I also have a very slight scoliosis in my lower back. So I got ultrasound treatment to both hips today and heated massage of the ligaments on the inside and outside of my thighs, which are all inflamed. So, I am allowed to do the elliptical but have to reduce it to half the incline and half the resistance and keep it to 30 minutes. I go again on Monday and Wednesday next week. I must remember to take Motrin before I go because I was pretty sore afterwards. I meant to take it today, but was running late and didn’t eat breakfast and didn’t want to take it on an empty stomach. He gave me stretches to do twice a day which are pretty simple. Hopefully, I will be feeling better in a few weeks. Blogging 2010-02-12T22:04:50-08:00 http://www.caleychronicles.com/index.php/site/family_updates/ http://www.caleychronicles.com/index.php/site/family_updates/#When:17:20:17Z Tara got her Driver’s license last week!! She actually parallel parked in Sam’s big truck! Way to go, Tara!! It is nice not having to make so many trips to the school. She drives herself and Jake. Softball season has started so we need to pick up Jake sometimes if practice starts right after school. I have not gone skiing as much this year as usual, but I plan on going today! The snow sucked pretty much until we got that big storm a few weeks ago. But I was working a lot and couldn’t make it out until this past weekend when I went with Jenny and Jeramiah. We had a blast!! Tara’s first Softball game is Feb 27th. We are pretty sure that she will make the varsity team since she was moved there the end of last season for the 3A State Championship which they went on to win. There are bunches of games so we will be traveling a lot. Jake is only playing Little League Baseball this year. He thinks he won’t make the JV team, so he didn’t even tryout. :(  They start playing Apr. 26th. I hope some of you will be able to make it to watch them play. Erin got contact lenses yesterday. She is still working on getting used to them. Sam turned 50 yrs. old last week. We had a party with some friends the Sat. before and then went to his mom’s on his birthday for a nice dinner and cake. Blogging 2010-02-10T17:20:17-08:00 http://www.caleychronicles.com/index.php/site/Obnoxious_snowman/ http://www.caleychronicles.com/index.php/site/Obnoxious_snowman/#When:03:51:27Z Sent directly from my cell phone. This message has been sent using the picture and Video service from Verizon Wireless! To learn how you can snap pictures and capture videos with your wireless phone visit http://www.verizonwireless.com/picture. Note:  Quicktime@ Download Movie Blogging 2009-12-27T03:51:27-08:00 http://www.caleychronicles.com/index.php/site/old_friends/ http://www.caleychronicles.com/index.php/site/old_friends/#When:07:47:14Z The last few days, I got to visit with some friends that I don’t get to see very often. Yesterday, I drove to Gilbert to see my friend, Omana. She is from India. We became friends 3 yrs ago when she moved to Pinetop-Lakeside to work at the hospital where I work. I trained her to work in our Nursery. She has been a NICU nurse for many years, so I really just had to show her our paperwork and computer stuff. She only worked with us for about a year and then moved to the Phoenix area to work. I haven’t seen for about a year even though she doesn’t live that far away. I learned to appreciate our country more from her. She worked in Kuwait for many years and told me about how they were not permitted to practice Christianity there. Today, Helga (my friend since I was 4 yrs old from NY) came to Jenny’s to visit. She is in AZ from Florida visiting her husband’s sister with her family. I haven’t seen her since probably 6 years ago.  She helped me through so much as a kid. It is very rare to be friends with someone for so long. Someone who knows you so well and knows where you came from. She reminded us that she has been to AZ twice and we have never been to Florida to visit her. I hope someday soon that we will be able to visit her at her home in Florida. Next week, I am hoping to see my friend Marcia who lives in Tucson. She plans on being in the area. We saw her summer 2008 when we went to Tucson for a Little League tournament. Marcia and I have been friends since grade school in NY and have kept in touch all these years. Blogging 2009-12-23T07:47:14-08:00 http://www.caleychronicles.com/index.php/site/hiking_south_mountain/ http://www.caleychronicles.com/index.php/site/hiking_south_mountain/#When:18:19:58Z Tara, Jenny and I hiked South Mountain yesterday. It took a total of about 3 1/2 hrs round trip. The hike is 7 miles long. I have been having pain on and off in my hips for the past few months so I wasn’t sure how I would do. There was a lot of climbing involved too. There were loose rocks so you had to be careful not to slip as well. When we got near the top, I realized that I had a blister on my right heel that started to hurt like Hell. The shoes I wore were really old and the plastic in that area was worn off. We shoved some tissue in my sock but it only helped for a few minutes. The rest of the hike, I tried to ignore the pain because there was nothing else I could do. We took a pic when we got to the top (see Moblog). Going down was much easier, but took almost as long because of the climbing and loose rocks. Jenny actually slipped on some rocks and fell. She hurt her ankle a little but was able to walk fine. Jenny remembered right before we got to the bottom that she had breastpads and I could’ve used one to pad my shoe. So now she is to blame for the blister!! When we got to the bottom, I threw my shoes in the trash! Tara wasn’t even fazed by the hike. She could have slipped on a dress and gone to the prom without even showering. We had to rush home because we had plans to go to the Phoenix Zoo to see Zoolights. We took showers, ate dinner and took off. It was packed, so we had to park at least a mile from the zoo. I am not exaggerating. They said that there was a shuttle bus, but they lie. We walked the whole way. Then we walked around the zoo. I won’t lie, my hips were hurting. There was no way that I was walking the mile+ back to the car, so Sam and I waited at the zoo entrance while the rest of them fetched the car and picked us up. He said he didn’t want to leave me alone, but I know he was just using it as an excuse to sit. Before we went to bed last night, we looked up online about the 7 Summits of Phoenix. It is 7 mountain trails that people hike in the area. The trail we hiked on South Mountain is considered “Difficult”. It is second only to Camelback Mountain, which is considered “Strenuous & Difficult”. Jenny’s ankle is a little sore and swollen today but not too bad. She is able to walk just fine. My legs and hips are sore today, but are getting better as the day goes on. The blister is the worse part. It hurt every time I tried to move in bed while I slept. We MAY hike one of the other 7 Summits next week. Eventually, we will hike them all. We think we will conguer Camelback Mountain in February. I hiked North Mountain last year with Jenny and Alex, so that one is already crossed off our list. Blogging 2009-12-21T18:19:58-08:00 http://www.caleychronicles.com/index.php/site/Patrick_update/ http://www.caleychronicles.com/index.php/site/Patrick_update/#When:17:43:54Z Early this morning at about 2:30 am, we recieved a phone call from Patrick. He was in Kyrgyzstan (yes. I had to look up how to spell it) which is north of Afghanistan. He traveled there from Ansbach, Germany to be deployed to Afghanistan. He was in a McDonalds on a base there and could see the mountains of China from where he was. He told us in November, when he was here, that he would be deployed on Dec 15th. He called last week and said the date had been changing on a daily basis, so he didn’t know exactly when he would be deployed. Needless to say, we have been wondering for the past few days what was going on. Well, now we know. We don’t expect to hear from him for at least a month. Even if you don’t normally pray, please take the time to pray that Patrick stays safe and strong. I will keep you all updated. God bless America! Family 2009-12-17T17:43:54-08:00 http://www.caleychronicles.com/index.php/site/its_christmastime/ http://www.caleychronicles.com/index.php/site/its_christmastime/#When:04:01:40Z We are pretty much all ready for Christmas. On Thursday, I am cooking dinner for Louise and Sherrene so we can celebrate with them too since we are traveling to Phoenix/Maricopa for Riley’s first Christmas. I have most of the Christmas shopping done and Tara wrapped everything for me (I hate to wrap). I have to work Tuesday and Wednesday and then I will be able to cook and also pack. Erin and I are driving down Friday afternoon and the rest will come either Saturday night or Sunday morning. Jake was going to go with Erin and I, but he is behind again on his schoolwork so I decided not to reward him with an extra day of fun. Sam has a job to do on Friday and Saturday and Tara wants to watch Kevin’s wrestling tournament on Saturday. Originally, they were the only two coming later. Sunrise Ski Park hasn’t opened yet. I was hoping to get in a day of skiing before I left, but it doesn’t look like that’s going to happen. Oh well… Blogging 2009-12-14T04:01:40-08:00 http://www.caleychronicles.com/index.php/site/giant_papillary_conjunctivitis/ http://www.caleychronicles.com/index.php/site/giant_papillary_conjunctivitis/#When:22:37:40Z Giant Papillary Conjunctivitis sounded pretty scary to me when my eye doctor told me that’s what I have. I guess it wouldn’t sound so bad without the word “giant”. Anyway, my contact lenses have been bothering me for months. They were the same brand I have been using for years, but they changed the name. I got my eyes checked in January and the trial pair was fine. After wearing them for a month, instead of wearing the new ones with the new name, I wore my old ones since I had almost a whole box left and the RX was the same. Everything was fine until I ran out of them and started wearing the new ones with the new name. That same day, I started having problems. Just general itching and irritation while wearing the lenses. After a few days, I threw them away and put on a new pair. Same problem. I was thinking maybe they dispensed the wrong size and the fit wasn’t correct. Nope, checked the RX and they were what was prescibed. I tried moisture drops. No help. Sometimes I could wear them for a day with minimal discomfort, other times, they would start bothering me within minutes of putting them in. I called the doctor about a month ago and told them my problem thinking maybe something was wrong with the batch of lenses. They gave me a new pair to try. Same problem. After having to wear my glasses almost all the time, I decided I would have to go back to the doctor and pay for the exam since my insurance won’t cover anything until January. So today was my appointment. I told her all my symptoms and after examining my eyes she said that I developed an allergic reaction to the plastic in the lenses and that the edge of the lenses were wide causing the irritation. She thinks they changed the composition of the lenses without telling the doctors because she’s had other patients with the same problem. She gave me two different types of lenses to try starting tomorrow. One is a monthly lense with a different plastic and a narrow edge. The other is a daily wear with a narrow edge. Hopefully, the monthly will work for me since they are cheaper. If neither works, I will have to take a steroid medication for, I think, a month or so to decrease the swelling so I can tolerate the lenses.  I am thinking I may submit a claim to my insurance since I have an eye condition that prompted me to have an exam and I just didn’t want a new pair of cool glasses. It’s worth a shot anyway. Blogging 2009-11-25T22:37:40-08:00 http://www.caleychronicles.com/index.php/site/i_am_a_bad_blogger/ http://www.caleychronicles.com/index.php/site/i_am_a_bad_blogger/#When:03:49:36Z I am a bad blogger, so sue me! This weekend was great! Jenny, Jeramiah and Riley came for a visit. They just got a beautiful new minivan that they took their first roadtrip in. We basically just hung out and relaxed. Jenny and I made an awesome dinner last night and Tara baked a cake for dessert. We drank a bottle of wine or two as well. Riley is growing so fast. Soon she will be crawling. She is sitting up and rolling all over. And getter cuter by the day!! Sam and Jake were gone on a hunting trip. They left Thursday morning. Jake actually got a deer all on his own early Saturday morning. While Sam was lolly-gagging trying to warm up and drink some coffee, Jake tracked the deer in the snow and shot it straight through the heart. First hunting trip, first deer!! They came home late last night. They were hunting north of The Grand Canyon so it was about a 6 1/2 hr drive. Sam said it was pretty windy so driving the truck hauling the camper was quite an adventure. Anyway, I will try to be a better blogger. Blogging 2009-11-16T03:49:36-08:00 http://www.caleychronicles.com/index.php/site/todays_goings-ons/ http://www.caleychronicles.com/index.php/site/todays_goings-ons/#When:17:29:43Z While I am waiting for the coffee to brew, I figured I’d post again. The kids are still sleeping, but Tara is starting to stir. I think she is going with Alex to buy stuff for the store in a little bit. Ah, she just woke up and actually got out of bed. I am taking Jake and Erin for haircuts today. Also shopping for clothes for Jake for dress-up night on the cruise. We are all dressing in black and white for a family photo. I am taking Tara to get her Learner’s Permit too. She is 15 1/2 yrs old today. She has been diligently studying her Drivers Manual for months. Yesterday, she got her retainer and it is completely clear. She didn’t know she was getting that type and was really happy about it. Later on today, we are heading to Jenny and Jeramiah’s. I am looking forward to seeing Riley smiling a lot. Sam should be finishing out the Softball Tournament today and heading down here tonight or tomorrow morning at the latest. We leave bright and early Monday morning for LA to start our cruise! Will post pics when we get back. Bon Voyage!! Blogging 2009-07-24T17:29:43-08:00