APRIL: April has come and gone. It was a crazy month, and I am going to try my best to post more often now that life is a little less crazy. There is a lot to catch up on, so here goes….Nana and Pop took a wonderful 2 week cruise around Italy and the Greek Isles. They went with alumni from Ga. Tech and saw wonderful sights and I cannot wait to see their pictures. The problem is that often when they leave town, bad things happen. This time it was a couple of bad things. Both of which have turned out fine, by the way.

FIRST BAD: Early in April I began to have headaches, and they just would not go away. By the end of the first week I had talked to my Doc and switched from Tylenol to Percocet. By week two I was in the hospital on the “strongest migraine meds ever created” and they were not helping much, but the Demerol sure was nice. They scanned and re-scanned. The also had me on an anti-seizure med, Depakote. I don’t know why. Finally they decided to do a lumbar puncture, measure the opening pressure, and take a look at the cerebral spinal fluid. The guy who did the test said my CSF pressure was high and proceeded to drain some fluid off. They ran test on the fluid and everything looked good. I started feeling better after the LP, but the neurologist said that my CSF pressure was fine and to ignore the other guy. In fact I felt so good; they sent me home the next day, only to experience the joys of the “post lumbar puncture headache.” I was pain free when horizontal, but standing up was a nightmare. This happens in more than 70% of folks who get a LP and was expected. It’s just seems strange that they use a LP to help diagnose a headache, and the LP then gives you a headache. Hmmm. That headache lasted thru week three. After missing so much school, I had to withdraw from my classes, but thankfully I did so before my GPA was affected. I am still having some headaches from time to time, but they are not awful. They put me on Topamax, which is a migraine preventative. So, was it a migraine, or was it increased CSF pressure? Will we ever know for sure? It was a rough time, but family and friends were there, and the girls ended up having a fairly good spring break without me. My sweet, sweet husband made sure everything was taken care of, including me. You know someone really loves you when they will get in the shower with you, clean you up, wash your hair, dispite the risk of being vomited on. He is a good man.

SECOND BAD: The other bad thing happened at Nan and Pop’s house. Poor guys! They finally got home from their trip and their basement was flooded. After being awake for 20+ hours flying home, Pop bailed water until 2am, when the man finally gave up for the night. And yes, he is almost 70. He’s my hero. The hot water heater was broken and the basement was saturated. So they had a new tankless system installed. They are still cleaning.

FAMILY: Now for the fun and happy news….Brother Paul and family learned that they got the family housing they wanted at Emory. Yea! He starts school in the fall and they will be moving mid-summer. Niece Rebecca will be coming for a week this summer to hang with the girlies. They are sooo excited, as am I. Paul and Nana both had birthdays. Yea!

MUSIC: Keith and I went to see Bruce Springsteen last week and it rocked. Last night Keith saw Bon Jovi and said it too was a great show. I have recently gotten lots of great new tunes from my friends Sue and Rosa. This makes me very happy!

WORK: I am back to work now and really enjoying it. Although the last two shifts provided little sleep, I did get to watch a massive MI on the EKG and worked a couple of cool wrecks. And I won an award! It was for Region III - Excellence in Pediatric Care for a call I ran on a little 10 year old girl last year. It was a terrible wreck; two drunk teenagers hit a family in a minivan. The van rolled and hit a concrete post and the little girl’s neck was shattered. She was practically decapitated. I was sure she was dead, but she was such a fighter. After a long recovery, she is now up and running around. She got her life back. That is why I love my job.

GIRLS: Today is Piano Guild. The girls will compete in front of judges and be scored. They are both nervous and excited and I am sure they will do a great job. They are still practicing hard for their spring choir musical at church. Lydia has pioneer day this Friday at school. She has made her own apron and today we will finish her skirt. Emily had a really fun field trip to the aquarium and World of Coke museum. She came home with her very own glass bottle of real Coke and wanted to drink it that night with dinner. Like any good mother would, I told her no, and let her have it with her cereal the next morning. Saturday they are off to the Renaissance Festival for some fun with the Rainey family.

That’s the news for now, hopefully the next post will be sooner and shorter!