Dallas Ice Storm

January 28 - January 29 the Dallas area received a minor ice storm.

I know most of you think it's funny when we close everything around here because of the ice. But the cities do not have much in the way of an arsenal to treat the roads to prevent icing. It's best to stay home and away from all those that DO NOT know how to drive in it.

Long Lost Friends Unite

Facebook is a wonderful tool.

I was contacted by my long lost best friend from college, Denise "Burgess" Leffelman. She found me via Facebook search. She is now a part-time radio announcer on WLLT in Dixon, Illinois.

The photo to the left was taken in the summer of 1980 with my little sister Jenny.

My how we all have changed!! We've been emailing and talking on the phone since we reconnected. It's like we took up right where we left off. We've shared photos over email and stories by phone. It's been so fun catching up!

I hope to never lose by old friend again!!!

Jackie's Injury

Well, it all began with a normal game of racquetball....

I was up for the serve, so I did (quite beautifully I might add...). The ball was being returned a couple of times and finally got around to my friend Jimmy. Well, Jimmy didn't see that I was about 2-3 feet in front of him at the time the ball was coming towards him....but he swung anyways. I tried to duck, but it was too late. The ball hit me square on the ear.

My friend Blake ran to the desk to get some ice and the student medics. They came and asked me some questions and such making sure I was okay. I didn't feel light-headed or nauseous or anything, just my ear tingles and is hot and numb. No hearing loss yet....but we'll wait to see what happens in the morning. They asked me if they wanted EMS to come out and take a look, but I figured since I wasn't bleeding or seeing stars, I was on the safe side.

Right now my ear is still red and very much hurts. When I look in the mirror now, one ear sticks out normally and the one that got hit is a little bit "flat-looking". It just tingles and hurts.

When I was getting ready to leave, my friends showed me the ball that hit my ear and it had a big ear mark on it....just to give you an idea of how fast the ball was moving. Hopefully I won't have any problems overnight, so we will just see in the morning.

Keep me and my ear in your prayers....don't want it to get any worse. :-)

Dress Shopping

Today, I took Mom shopping for a dress to wear at Jill's wedding in December.

Jill's wedding colors are red/white and black.

We took advantage of the holiday dress sales today.

This ensemble was purchased at JCPenney for $35.98

Mom is shown modeling the skirt and blouse she chose.

Hopefully different shoes will be in order!!!


So....Jill...is this dress ok?
...or should she wear the purple one you love so much?

Breast Doctor

Friday my Mom and I both had appts with Dr Beth Anglin, a breast surgeon in Plano.

We both have had breast issues so I made appts for the same date/time.

Mom had her screening mammogram done right before leaving Iowa to travel to Texas.
The mammogram was abnormal "suspicious of malignancy".

My issues were related to chronic breast cyts and nipple discharge.

We were both examined.

Mom will have a "diagnostic" mammogram next Thursday followed by a biopsy. Hopefully this will just show the suspicisou spot to be a calcification and benign in nature.

I had a breast ultrasound at the time of the appointment. The breast cysts were numerous in both breasts. The doctor only took measurements of the 8 largest ones. She told me to try taking Vitamin E for the breast pain for 2-4 weeks and come back for fluid aspiration once the cyst size was unbearable. The nipple discharge is normal for fibrocystic breast disease.

Prayers for Healing

PRAYERS FOR HEALING ARE REQUESTED

Our brother-in-law, Bob Kennedy, underwent brain surgery yesterday (Jan 14th).
During the surgery the doctors located the focus of what has been causing Bob's seizures
and removed it. The surgery lasted 8 hours.
Bob experienced several seizures while they were finalizing the surgery.
He was transferred to ICU where they closely monitored a video eeg for seizure activity.
Bob was intubated given medication to stop the seizure activity.
The medication kept him from waking up completetly.
Bob will need to be in ICU until stable before moving to a regular hospital room.
Prayers for a speedy recovery and a life without seizures.

Doug's mom, Lyla Kuklenz, underwent knee replacement surgery on Jan 13th.
The surgery went well and she has been discharged from the hospital.
She is now in the Fonda Rehab Center for 3 weeks
where she will under go a rigourous therapy regime.
Our prayers are for a speedy recovery and a future with a painfree knee.

Doug continues to still battle with hearing loss.

He is good for a few weeks and then has a set back.

He went to the doctor on Tuesday and was having a better day than most.

The doctor talked to him about changing from oral methotrexate once a week
to injections of methotrexate once a week. He would need to give himself the injections and he has some apprehension about that...but I'm here and even though I haven't given an injection in a while..am totally capable to doing this.

But...whammo...Wednesday/Thursday...he is not hearing well at all.

He is very frustrated and just wants to give up.
The side effects of the medications pretty much make him miserable
and unable to complete simple tasks.

He is supposed to be having an upcoming business trip to Malta
and there is some apprehension about traveling, more hearing loss and not being able to communicate with the customer, on top of not feeling well.

So prayers are requested for restored hearing for Doug
and a special prayer for patience (for the both of us).

My New Room

Well, here is my new room....not like home, but it will do for the time being.

This is my makeshift corner so all my stuff is together. The closet doors open up so I can stand behind them to get dressed in the morning since the bathroom is always being used.

This is my roommate's side of the bedroom.

The built-in desk that I don't use....more as space for my pictures.

My pics and SHSU gear...

My makeshift desk on top of my dresser. This way I can sit on my bed and use my computer.

My makeshift desk in all its glory...

Well, nothing too exciting. The bathroom is kinda icky but at least usable. It's only for a semester. Hopefully I will be selected for an RA job soon.....then I could have my own room......that would be nice! :-)

Jackie Update #3

Well, it has been two weeks and I'm almost fully healed. It looks a lot better back there, still healing, but I'm actually able to eat normal food now. The last meal I had before I left home was sooo delicious! We had steak, baked potatoes, corn, and biscuits.....very delectable!!

Well, it wasn't too bad...having surgery and all. I experienced the most pain on the 3-5 days, just as they said I would. I didn't take the Hydrocodine stuff they gave me...liquid Tylenol kept me pretty much drugged up and kept the pain away. Mom was my savior. She always made sure that I was fed, watered, and medicated...without her, I bet I would still be in a world of hurt. THANKS MOM!! YOU'RE THE BEST!!

Well, school is starting tomorrow. Hopefully it will be a good semester, not too hard I hope. I'm living on campus again since Jill has moved away....*sniffle sniffle* I met my roommate today; she seems ok. I guess we will just have to see. Pictures to come of my dorm soon.

Well, best be getting off to bed. I have to get my much-needed rest for my FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL tomorrow! :-)

later gators..... *chomp chomp*

Jackie Update #2

Well, I'm tired....hungry....and cranky....and it's only Day 5

It has been a hard couple of days. All the research the Mom and I have done said that day 3-4 was the worse...and it was! Everything hurt. It was not pretty. Drugs keep me inline. I'm taking lots of tylenol and then my antibiotic. Every 3-4 hours I take tylenol and twice a day I take my antibiotic. I still haven't gotten use to swallowing both of them....I still gag a lot.

Last night I only got about 2 hours of sleep. I have felt very sleep-deprived and I don't know if it is because of the medicine or just me. Who knows?? I caught up on my sleep this morning, taking a 4 HOUR NAP!! Gosh it was nice....not the dry throat I woke up too, but I felt much more refreshed.

Eating and drinking has been kicking my behind!! It is hard to keep drinking and eating when you really don't want to. I always have to tilt back my head to swallow so it doesn't hurt as much. It is hard to find things that don't taste bad, don't go down, or are too "blah". I'm tired of eating all this jello and yogurt. Today for lunch, I had a semi-big kids meal. I had some finely-chopped steak with some corn, yogurt, and gatorade. I was able to eat it all with a little patience and persistance. Mom has been my motivator....more like my nutrition drill seargent. She's always making sure I'm eating something or drinking this. It's a pain in the butt, but it's making me feel better so I can't complain too much.

I have figured out my meal I'm having after I can eat some real food. I'm having a Hamburger with fries and a Cheese Pizza. Mmmm.........makes my mouth water!!

My throat is looking better....it is just one big white flemmy scab now. You can't cough, sneeze, or clear your throat or else you risk the chance of the scab peeling away and bleeding. I don't want that! I can feel that the scab is starting to go away as it is becoming a little bit more easier to swallow and I can sometimes feel the scab falling off.....doesn't taste very good.

Well, I feel another nap coming on. TTFN....Ta Ta For Now!!