Still sick

Happy 4th of July!

So I thought we were just about done with this sickness stuff but now Allison is getting more congested again. I suspect Allison and I had a mild cold that we were about over then Jeran got this more severe cold (or whatever it is), then I got it, then Allison got it. Oh well. This to shall pass, even if it means staying sequestered for all of July, which is often the most social summer month.

Otherwise things are good. Allison has rolled over several times in her sleep but she doesn't do it deliberately or when she is awake or unswaddled. We put her in some footie pajamas instead of swaddling her last night and she did all right, especially one she fell deep asleep. It took a while because I think she's used to having her feet move more in unison and swings herself about that way, which wasn't working so well being unswaddled. Overall night one of that was a success.

Work is going well overall. Lots of things are getting done which is good news for my stress level. Allison is being good when I have to have her with me on conference calls and Jeran is good about taking her on walks and stuff in the afternoon when I need to get work done.

Life is good. Getting excited for August though. Lots of good, fun stuff happening then: tests finished, babies born, visitors coming!

June 2015

The other night we had a pretty good storm, complete with grape-sized hail. No real damage right around us, except that our over-achieving tomato plant (Jeran counted 56 tomatoes!) lost one of its most laden branches, Really just bent it good, it might pull through.

Here are some hail pictures - not very good ones since I was in a hurry and holding a squirmy baby, but you get the idea.

Allison has been sick with a decent cold for over a week. I think she's improving but still wakes herself up coughing. Since she gotten sick she has been staying up until 11pm instead of her normal 9:30pm. She has also been pretty much impossible to set down during naps without waking her completely and won't nap well unless she's held. So we've been holding a coughing, sleeping baby a lot recently. I'm not sure whether it is just a normal phase or if it is because she's sick, but hopefully it won't last forever.

Jeran is sick now too, and he gets pretty miserable whenever he gets a sore throat, but it can't be too serious because he was well enough to go wake-boarding twice this weekend despite the rain. :) Allison also wakes up to his coughing, so I got treated the other night to the amusing sight of Jeran rushing into the bedroom to grab a pillow to smother himself with while he coughed after putting her to bed one night.

My sister, Jessica, came to visit us this past week. She braved Allison's sickness and we just hung out and went out to eat and talked. It was so great to see her again and talk baby stuff. Woohoo! Not long for her now!

My work is going pretty well and I think I'm doing a pretty good job balancing work and home even as they are blended together so thoroughly. Jeran has been trying to study most every day for a few hours for his Masters qualifying exams that will happen at the end of July so that's keeping him pretty busy. I'm excited for the few weeks in August between those being over and school starting again, plus my friend Mary and baby Peter are coming to visit during that time so it will be doubly good.

I'm going to try to post a little something much more regularly. I always enjoy my family and friends' blog posts, even if it's only one or two lines or just a picture, so I'm going to try to update my own more even if it's just a tiny post. Happy end of June (already?)!

Otitis Oschmitis

What a fun year I've had so far! January it was a killer head cold, February was a sinus infection, and now March brought me a nice ear infection.

Apparently, I have bilateral Otitis Externa, also known as Swimmer's Ear. It is an infection in the ear canal that causes swelling throughout the ear canal and usually severe pain whenever the ear canal is moved, such as by pulling on the earlobe. I'm so lucky I get to have it in both ears!

My personal opinion was that there were three contributing factors to my getting this infection:
1. We went scuba diving last weekend.
2. We dove and swam in some pretty gross and murky fresh water - some places underwater visibility was about 2 feet and everything else around us was green/black/dark.
3. I was a bit paranoid about remnants of my sinus infection hanging around so I cleaned my ears out good before diving so I wouldn't have any additional problems equalizing.

Probably any one of these wouldn't have caused a problem but the combination of these was just the ticket.  Anyways, I'm on oral antibiotics, ear drops, and prescription ibuprofen and they seem to be working. Today it doesn't seem too bad although my ears are still fairly blocked up.  Earlier this week I was miserable and half deaf!

So, the moral of the story is:
1. Avoid swimming in fresh water or dirty water.
      Probablility of getting swimmer's ear in regard to location highest to lowest:

• Fresh water (lakes and rivers)
• Ocean water
• Bath water
• Pool water

2. After swimming in probable risk areas, rinse your ear canal with 1:1 white vinegar and rubbing alcohol and let dry.

3. Don't clean out inside your ear unless it is seriously gunky. Your ear canal should mostly clean and dry itself.

Anyways, I'm not complaining (too much). I have had a decent week overall. Last week I found really good recipes for chocolate muffins and poppy seed muffins that I'm tempted to make again.  My work has been proceeding well, although phone calls are somewhat painful or difficult still. General Conference is this weekend! Life is good.

Diving update

Jeran and I recently finished the class sessions for our SSI Recreational Diver certification. It was very fun and interesting. We're excited to take a short trip to Florida soon to do our open-water dives to complete the certification.

The classes were fun and we miss having that to look forward to. There were 6 classes (Monday and Wednesdays) and at each there would be an hour or two of classroom learning and discussion followed by a few hours learning and practicing skills in the pool. We got to be pretty expert at removing and replacing our masks under water, locating our regulator if you misplace it, and all sorts of other necessary skills.

Unfortunately, the day of the second class I noticed I had a sore throat. That weekend I had an AWFUL cold (or strep or something) with a sore throat for 5 solid days. Then, on Monday I thought I was starting to recover but was still congested and dove anyways without too much trouble. Then Wednesday I was going downhill again but went to class. I toughed out the weekend (and it was rough - toothaches, earaches, the works), thinking every night that tomorrow I would be so much improved. Well it wasn't happening so I went to the doctor on Monday. I had a bad sinus infection and was put on antibiotics. Several days later I started really recovering. Hooray for modern medicine!

Anyways that's probably too much information, but it was a huge part of my dive class experience. I learned what blocked sinuses felt like with increasing pressure and that you definitely do not want to dive deep with blocked sinuses. Pool depths can be dealt with if you're not too blocked up and are very careful, but some days I was miserable afterwards.

Anyways, we're looking forward to lots of fun diving experiences and hopefully a lot more healthy days!

One Year

September 9, 2011 has just passed. It has been one year. And how fast that year has gone!

On September 9, 2010 I received a radioactive iodine treatment that killed any remnants of thyroid tissue that were left in me after my complete thyroidectomy. This was the last step in treating the thyroid cancer that was discovered a few months previously. Now, one year later, I have officially been deemed cancer free!  Hooray!

I don't really have any other comments on this besides that I feel great, my thyroid hormone replacement medication is adjusted nicely, and I'm excited to have a "normal" year! Thank you doctors, family and friends! Go me!