Railroad Wife, Railroad Life

Just like we were told to ask our parents where they were the Day JFK was assasinated, I anticipate the day my children come home and ask me where I was on 9/11.  While the beginnings of the day are still vague, I remember sitting in my dorm room at UNLV.  My suitemate, Julie, had told us that something had happened.  Not realizing the full meaning of what had happened, I went to my first class.  When I returned, my roommate and both suitemates were in our dorm room watching the news.  It was then that I realized exactly what had happened to our country that day. Like most Americans, I thought the World Trade Center was untouchable.  There had been bombing attempts before that failed to take the buildings down.  Watching the towers crumble, it was a harsh reality that life was we knew it was over. In the days that followed, I remember Las Vegas being a ghost town.  It used to take at least an hour to get from one end of the strip to the other.  After 9/11 it took minutes.  The sidew

As most of you all know, we were in Cincinnati two weeks ago for Spina Bifida clinic, some Urology testing, and for a consultation with a plastic surgeon.  Kennedy will be having surgery the end of September (I was told the 25th, but that could change) and the plastic surgeon will be cleaning up her fetal surgery repair site. During clinic the Physical Therapist Doctor said she wants Kennedy to have another Manual Muscle Test done before surgery.  This will be done to get a baseline on her mobility before surgery.  It's an important step to making sure the cyst removal has given her back whatever mobility has been lost due to their presence.  As of right now we have that scheduled for the 18th of September.  However that could change. Last week I received a call from the Urology Department regarding the results of Kennedy's urodynamics test and her renal ultrasound.  Unfortunately Kennedy is no longer completely voiding her bladder and is being put on a schedule where we ha

The first week in August we will be heading up to Cincinnati for Spina Bifida Clinic, a urodynamics test, and a consultation with the Pediatric Plastic Surgeon.  Now that all of these appointments are made I decided to call Dr. Stevenson's office to see about scheduling a surgery date.  As luck would have it, the person who answered the phone does surgery scheduling for Dr. Stevenson.  After looking at the schedule she said we are looking at a surgery date the end of August or sometime in September.  The scheduler will be calling Plastic Surgery tomorrow to see what their schedule is.  Hopefully by the end of the week or beginning of next week we will have a date.  I can't help but think how cool it would be if they scheduled the surgery on the 2nd anniversary of our fetal surgery AKA Butt Day.  Even though we didn't celebrate Butt Day with more than a photo session last year, it really holds a special place in my heart.  I will let everyone know when we find out what the s

Yesterday morning Kennedy had her second sedated MRI in six months.  The results of her sedated MRI in December showed she had 3 dermoid cysts on her spine.  After her rapid MRI in February, Dr. Stevenson said he wanted to have another sedated MRI to determine if these cysts were growing.  Each of them has grown 2-4 mm's since December.  Right now they aren't causing any problems, but Dr. Stevenson wants to have them taken out before they do become a problem.  He's afraid if we wait more than 6 months they will eventually start pushing on Kennedy's spinal chord and cause her to lose mobility in her legs.  I asked him if we could wait to see what the upcoming December sedated MRI would show in growth.  He told me he'd like that MRI to be a post-op one to make sure everything looks as it should. While Dr. Stevenson is removing the cysts, he will also be detethering Kennedy's spinal chord.  Normally the spinal chord freely moves through the spinal column.  When a

May 4, 2015 - Cruise Day 1 Today we embarked on the Carnival Cruise Ship, Fascination.  We arrived just after 1pm and were able to go to our cabin immediately.  Thinking ahead, we packed our bathing suits in our carry on's so we could head to the pool.  First we enjoyed lunch on the Lido deck.  Of course Jonathon had to have some ice cream afterwards.  We came back to our cabin, changed into our bathing suits and headed to the pool. While at the pool we enjoyed some Bahama Mama's and soaked in the sun.  Our sunning was interrupted by the safety briefing. After the briefing we came back to the cabin for a nap.  An hour before dinner we went to The Palace Theater to see the welcome show.  After the show it was time to go to our dining room.  We were the last couple to arrive at our table.  There were 2 couples who sat with us.  One was from South Carolina and the other was from North Carolina/Virginia.  As his appetizer, Jonathon decided to try escargot.  I stuck with a more c

Obviously it's been well over a year since I birthed my last child.  However, I have a lot of friends who are either new mommies or are on the verge of becoming a new mommy.  I wanted to reach out to all of you and let you know the many sides of PPD (Post-Pardum Depression).  Due to the nature of Kennedy's pregnancy and delivery, I had 3 total Post-Pardum visits.  At the first 2, they gave me the Edinburgh Test.  During my second appointment the Doctor expressed her concerns about me developing PPD.  This particular visit came after some family drama arose, so I figured my answers were a direct result from that situation.  I declined any medical intervention and explained the situation to my Doctor.  I told her that I knew once Kennedy was out of the NICU and we were home, trying to get on a normal schedule, things would be fine. Fast forward 6 weeks and I felt like someone had thrown me into the deep end of the pool.  I couldn't understand why I was getting so overwhelme