Wednesday, August 17, 2011

Wednesday

Today we headed in to Temple for around 11am to get my scans for the day done and out of the way. I was able to see a little bit of the screen and I could still see the radioactive stuff still in there. I just don't know how far along it is supposed to be then compared to how far along it actually is on me. Hopefully I will hear the results of some of my tests before I head home. I'm not so sure I will though, because I don't have any appointments actually scheduled with the actual doctor. My GI doctor at home wants me to get copies of all my tests results, or just really pay attention to what they say, haha!!!

After I was done with the scans for today, we decided to go to the Philadelphia Zoo. It was a nice sunny/hot day. I enjoyed taking pictures of all the animals, so I may be posting some pictures from the zoo in the days to come.

Not looking forward to the tests scheduled for the next two days. I will be posting more updates tomorrow.

Taking it one day at a time!!!

Tuesday, August 16, 2011

Tuesday - August 16, 2011 - Temple Day 1

Today I started a 4 day emptying test around 8:00. It started out by having to eat an egg sandwich with 2 eggs and a glass of water. They had a radioactive substance in both the egg and the water. Then for the next 6hrs they watched to see how far it gets through with periodic scanning. At first they the scans every half hour and then they do it only once every hour. It makes for one long day, and it gets pretty boring. Fortunately you are able to walk around some in between the hour scans. Over the course of the next 3 days they just scan you once a day, for 8 minutes at a time and then you are done for the rest of the day.

I was able to get most of the sandwich down, but didn't feel very well after eating it for a couple of hours. So hopefully they are able to see what they want to see and maybe be able to learn a little more about what is going on with me.

I had to stop all stool softeners/laxative and any motility medications because it would interfere with what is actually going on in the GI system. The way my body works, I would think they should still be seeing it one the last day, because I probably won't have a BM with not being able to take any medication to help things move along. So it will probably be in there, somewhere!

After the 6 hours of scanning, my mom and I decided to go do a little shopping. It was fun, but by that time I was pretty tired so didn't get to really enjoy it as much as I would have like to.

Tomorrow, I just have to go in sometime after 11am and before 3:30pm to get my scans done for that day. We are thinking that since tomorrow will be the day with the least tests, we may try and go to the Philadelphia Zoo.

Taking it one day at a time!!!

Sunday, August 14, 2011

Beginning of a BIG Week!!!

This week has been a long time coming. I have been waiting and dealing with Temple since March to finally get tests/procedures scheduled. Now, the time has arrived and now I am quite nervous and almost wishing this week wasn't here.

Monday evening, after my mother gets off work, we will travel to a hotel we rented in New Jersey (which isn't too far away from Temple). Then we will leave bright and early for Temple on Tuesday where I/we (not sure what mom will do yet) will be at the hospital all day have testing. I think the first day is a test that takes 6hours. As of now, I'm not totally sure how the rest of the week will play out, probably just depends a lot on how things go. If things go well, my mom and I might be able to do a couple fun things like going shopping or maybe to the zoo. We'll see!!! I may be pretty miserable some of the days though. I will do my best to tough them out though because I want to have some fun too, and not be miserable the whole time.

Will be posting more about my tests later, but I am too embarrased to post about some of them right now. Maybe after they are done I won't be as embarrased to share, but for now I can't. Hopefully I will be able to laugh about it later.

Prayers would be appreciated this week. I want the Lord's will done, but I would like to get some answers and help if available.

Snippets and Snapshots - Memories For a Lifetime

I just added a page on Facebook where I will be posting my pictures from the shoots that I do. The page is called "Snippets and Snapshots - Memories For a Lifetime." Feel free to "like" this page on FB.

Snippets and Snapshots was a name I thought of because some of the pictures that turn out the best are actually snapshots and each picture is just a snippet in that persons life. Memories For a Lifetime came about when I lost someone really close to me and I could only find 1 picture of that person that I had taken. That is when my interest in photography slowly started. I regretted that I didn't have pictures of that person to carry with me for the rest of my life. So I started out taking pictures of my nephews and it kind of just went from there. Soon, I was enjoying taking pictures of scenery, landscapes, animals, and other children and family. People soon started asking me to take of their children and families after seeing the pictures that I had done of my nephews.

I really enjoy photography, but as of now it is only a hobby and am not too busy with it. I would like to be able to do more shoots and get more experience. I think it's kind of funny because I didn't know I was interested in photography while I was in school and before I started college. So I went to college and became a nurse, and then realized that I loved photography. So I am in the best of both worlds. I love nursing and I love photography and I really wouldn't want to give either of them up.

With everything that is going on physically, I would like to get more photography business and maybe eventually cut back on nursing maybe to part-time, and do photography part-time. Those are just dreams right now though. Especially since I am in school to further my education in the medical field.