What is happening in this country?

I am completely enraged.  Please read this article and then you might understand why.

"Oklahoma, what have you done?"

As a health care professional specializing in neonatal intensive care, and a woman, I am completely shocked that a governing body can make a decision like this!  I know that I am a very opinionated person and I have very strong feelings about certain issues that may be contradictory to others, but I am always willing to listen to the opposing views.  I may completely disagree, but I will always listen.  One issue that I feel strongly about is the separation of government and religion.  I completely respect people who are strong in their religious beliefs, but the bottom line is that they are YOUR beliefs.  There are too many religions in this world for our country to have legislation passed that is based on a religious view.  There is much moral and ethical grey area, but if you feel your moral compass is straying then don't do it.  You shouldn't have the right to tell me I can't.  I could talk about this for a long time, but I won't right now.   Our country was indeed founded by Christians (Puritans), but they came here seeking a freedom to praise in whatever way they saw fit.  This is what our country seems to forget too often.

I know that the issue of abortion is very heated and controversial.  I am not here to discuss what is right in respect to abortion.  I am here to say that the Oklahoma legislature apparently has gone completely insane!  To deny a woman crucial information about her unborn child purely so she won't have an abortion is completely disgusting.  As I was reading this article to Shawn I was so disgusted and saddened that couldn't help but cry.  What is wrong with people?  How can this state decide that I shouldn't know that my baby has a disorder that could greatly shorten his or her life or will require much more care than a regular baby?  Too often I see babies born with problems related to trauma during the birth that could not be planned for and this causes a tremendous amount of stress compounding an already thoroughly stressful situation. Hou could you deny a woman that chance to plan ahead, or if she so chooses terminate the pregnancy?  Any physician that actually follows this law and actually withholds this information from a woman should have his or her medical license taken away!   I am so angry about this that I am sure I am rambling.   I am just so angry...and even more disgusted by the people of the USA right now. 

I probably doesn't help that the interview on The Daily Show last night was ignorant and wrote a book claiming that Obama is basically becoming Stalin.  I am just getting tired of this.

In Charge

Starting tonight I have to be in charge at work.  I have been kind of dreading this moment, but I knew it would one day come.  I had one day of training (last night) and tonight I will have someone to help me, but I will be in charge.  Yikes!

Physical Therapy...

is a miracle!

I started physical therapy today and it was so great!  The therapist is really nice and I am really optimistic that it will help my neck.  He gave me some exercises to do at home 3 times a day that should help a lot and he thinks that in a month or so I should have tremendous relief!  I am so freaking excited!  We did some measurements of my range of motion (ROM) so that we can track my progress.  He did one thing that basically lengthened my spine by him kind of pulling my head...I can't really describe it but OH WOW!  I felt an instant relief of my pain.  Plus, my ROM was increased immediately afterward with only minimal pain.  I really think this is gonna work!

Andrew

Thursday evening we picked up Bryce in LA and then Albert in Reseda and drove to Downey to visit Andrew.  We drove all over the city!  Bryce hadn't seen Andrew since he had gotten out of the hospital, so he was pretty excited to get to see him again too.

We took some of the pictures from the wedding and honeymoon to show Andrew.  He as basically the star of our reception so I thought he might like to see some of the great shots of him dancing!  His parents really enjoyed seeing the pictures and Andrew looked though each of the albums.

He looks pretty good.  He has put some weight back on since he got out of the hospital and his parents said that he hadn't gotten sick at all since he's been home with them.  They take him to different kids of therapy everyday.  He goes to Physical Therapy, Occupational Therapy, and Speech Therapy.  He is getting stronger everyday.  He has a lot of strengthening activites his parents do with him as well.  His left side is strong and has full movement.  His right side is coming along slowly.  He doesn't have any movement on the right side of his face, and only minimal movement in his right arm and leg.  The hand and foot still have no feeling.  But they are seeing improvement, which is promising.  He seems to understand what is going on around him, but he has difficulty speaking and he can only concentrate on one thing at a time.  He laughs at Albert of course!  He enjoyed having us all there for awhile.  We got pizza and watched a fight on TV (he loves that stuff).  He still gets tired though and all that excitement was a lot for him.

His parents are planning to head back toward Indiana at the end of March.  They are worried about the drive for Andrew, so they are going to drive back slowly, making it a bit of a vacation with a lot of tourist like stops.  Being back in Indiana will be great for them...although Andrew isn't very excited to leave the nice weather and his friends.  His family will be glad to be home though.  Shawn and I promised that we will come down a lot over the summer to visit at their lake house north of Ft. Wayne to visit with Andrew.  It will be great to be able to see him more often!

Distraction

I am having a hard time staying focused on my diet.  The days I work I don't have trouble at all.  I don't snack at work at all...I just drink water and one soda then eat something at one point during the night.  My trouble is the days I am home!  I don't want to go out to stay busy because then I spend money I don't need to spend.  If I stay home and read or watch tv then all I can think about is food!  I need something else to do!  I haven't been going to the gym because my neck has been bothering me so much...so I am really lost.  Any suggestions?

On a related note, I spoke with my doctor about my neck.  The Xray doesn't show an lasting damage to the bones where the fractures were, so that is good.  However, my neck as a whole didn't heal exactly right.  The curvature of my neck is off and the muscles and tendons on the left side of my neck are weakened.  So, after we get back from California next week I will be starting physical therapy.  I really hope that will help. 

Why do I need to title this post?

I went to the doctor the other day about my neck pain.  We got an xray and make sure that the pain isn't being caused my additional damage.  I should get a call tomorrow from my doctor to let me know what the xray shows.  She said she may want me to bring in my old xray from after the neck brace came off for comparison.  A girl I work with said that the pain could be because of arthritis forming where the fracture was...I never thought of that.  I hope that isn't the case though!  If the xray looks good then I am going to start physical therapy.  I hope this all works out in a way that allows me to be pain free (or at least with a tolerable level of pain) and not using prescription pain medications.  We'll see...

A few things that have been irritating me lately:

#1 - the Tivo has skipped the recording of two of my favorite shows this week. Jerk.

#2 - My favorite old Tae Bo workout was never made on DVD, only VHS.  So.....I can't do it anymore. Boo.

#3 - When I am taking care of three babies at work, all that take bottles by mouth, and ONE of the babies is a slowpoke kinda feeder that likes to be held so he falls asleep as soon as you start trying to feed him but then wakes right up as soon as you lay him down the other babies start to notice my severe irritation and start to eat poorly too.

Ok.  I feel better now.  Time for bed.

Headache

I am currently entering hour 16 of the worst headache I have had  in as long as I can remember.  My neck has been aching and the pain is radiating up toward my head, which is probably the cause of this monster headache.  I thought I was going to be ok without the prescription pain medication for my neck, but I am starting to think I was wrong.  Looks like I will be calling the doctor on Monday for an appointment.  If only I could make this headache go away now though so I could get some rest and maybe actually relax a bit, plus I am going to miss an 80's party that a friend of Shawn's is having tonight.  Boo.  I love the 80's, but I just feel miserable and I don't want to ruin Shawn's fun by not feeling well.  Stupid headache.