A Personal Note

I just want to take a minute or two and let you all know what I have been dealing with the last week. On Wednesday, August 27, 2008 I recieved a phone call from my 4 year olds school nurse. She informed me that Chris was not feeling well and she needed me to come in to the school to take him home. As most of you know, Chris has been sick for about 2 years now. He has been having episodes of nausea and vomiting and stomach pain since right after his 2nd birthday. So, I wasn't too worried about this new episode but found it more of a good sign. See, the doctors and I have been trying to figure out why he has been getting sick and Chris was set for a CT scan on Friday of that week. I was hoping that the scan could be moved up to that day, and set off for the hospital. Up till this point we thought Chris had intussusception but where unable to diagnose it. The doctors thought that this was in part of not having any tests down during an episode.

12 hours later we found out that Chris was being transfered from St. Mary's Hospital to Loma Linda Acute Peds unit via an ambulance. He was in kidney failure!

Before Chris was born I was told that he had hydronephrosis. After I delivered Chris I seen two separate doctors and both told me that if Chris did have hydronephrosis we would see signs and then they would run the tests needed to diagnose it. But, until those signs were present it wasn't wise to subject Chris to the large amounts of radiation that the scans produced. By the time Chris was two and started having his episodes we had kind of forgotten about the hydronephrosis. Matter of fact, we never told his current doctor about this pre-birth diagnosis. So, during each episode Chris had we all were looking for something different.

Well, it turns out that the kidney failure was caused by the hydronephrosis.

After two days at Loma Linda we got good news. My baby was sick, but the kidney failure was not as serious as first thought. Both kidneys were functioning at a total of 90%. The right kidney is filtering the blood but not draining. It is 13.5 cm in size when it should be 7 cm. The left kidney has multiple cysts (tumors). But, the kidneys are working. The doctors were actually surprised due to the fact that these attacks, or episodes, have been occuring for the last 2 years and usually that length of time means that one of both kidneys can be severely damaged. Plus, Chris has a 2mm kidney stone.

Chris was discharged from Loma Linda on Friday. He has a long road ahead of him. Over the next week we have to see his primary care doctor for a follow up, and he also has to see a specialist in Loma Linda for a pre-surgery consult. The following week, Chris needs to have surgery to place a shunt between the right kidney and the bladder. If this procedure decreases the size of his kidney another surgery will be performed to put the shunt in for good. If the kidney does not decrease in size we will have to figure out what to do next. After the right kidney is decreased we will move on to the cysts in the left kidney.

For all of you who know Chris personally, please know that he is doing well right now. He is almost back to his old self. He does have a lot of pain still and is on medication. He is hoping to go back to school on Tuesday.

I would like to thank all of you for the prayers. I truely believe that God had a hand in Chris's good news this past week.

August's Altered Scrapbook Class

I have had a problem posting lately due to a few firsts in my life. I will tell you all about these firsts in a minute but I wanted to take a minute to share the new altered scrapbook that we made this past weekend.

I got this idea from Convention this year. I didn't finish my scrapbook yet, eventhough I usually do before each class, but I can tell you that everyone in the class had wonderful looking books when they were finished.

Each scrapbook was made with a total of 7 pages and one pull out. I suggested to each class mate that they use the pull out for journaling. But, like everything else I do, I also made the comment that they could do what every they wanted. A couple of the girls used the insert as a place to hold tickets for the event they placed in the album. All very cute ideas!

This album was made with two envelopes bound together with a ribbon. If you would like step by step instructions for this project, or if you would like information about joining next months class, please let me know. Just send an e-mail to me at ana4stampin@aol.com or give me a call at 760-713-3708.

Now for my firsts! This month was the start of some great firsts for me. My kids went to their first day of school (after 4 years of being homeschooled). And, I started my first job as an LVN (after not working away from home in over 5 years).

The boys were very excited about their first. They are now into their 3 week of school and both of them seem to be thriving.

My new job is kind-of exciting. I am trying to get the hang of it.... and trying to remember all the things I am suppost to do through out the day. I am working at a local nursing home on the night shift. Yes, that means that while you are all at home suggled into your beds, I am up working. These new hours are taking a bit to get use to but I am sure that I will be ok.

The only bad things about my new job is the fact that I am going to have to juggle some of my SU! classes around. So keep posted and I will let each of you know about up coming classes as they are known to me.

Hope you all enjoyed this new project. And, like always, if this inspired you to make your own send me a picture of what you have made.

Ana

New Links

I have just added a couple new links to this page. Now you can view our new Fall~Winter 2008 Idea Book and Catalog just by clicking on the picture on the right side of the page. This link will open up a .pdf file that you can use to view the new catalog, and make a wish list that is all yours. You can even save the file on your computer to view at a later time.

The other link I just added is for a stamp sale. Stampin' UP! is offering some of the new stamp sets just released at a great price. Click on the link to view the sets being offered and then view them through the online catalog. If you see something you just cant live without, let me know and I will order them for you.

Celebrate Coffee Cup

This years SU! convention logo has really touched me. Not only is it SU! 20th year and their reason to celebrate; but, it is also the year that I finished school and became a nurse, which is my reason to celebrate.

I actually had one printed logo left from making my convention swaps so after I came home from convention I decided to use it for my coffee mug. Ok! If you really know me you know that I am not a big coffee drinker so I am planning on using this mug for my water, or soda.