So while I'm doing laundry

I guess I can update my blog...lol can't believe how long it has been!

Dave had 2 tests done and they both came out fine. YAY! The first one he had was a colonoscopy and I quote the doc "He did a great job prepping...no polyps...and his colon looks squeaky clean!"...LOL...I had to chuckle when he said that and at the same time, I was sighing in relief. He was long overdue for one, since he has a family history of colon cancer(his mom died of colon cancer when he was a baby), so we are VERY happy to hear the great news!

A few days later, he had a biopsy of his bladder. They scraped the cells where there was some redness (right between where the bladder sits on top of the prostate). They were a little concerned of his prostate being more enlarged than normal but all the tests came back fine...no cancer! They are thinking the redness came from an infection he had so he had another round of antibiotics which seemed to have worked this time because he hasn't had anymore pain in his lower back. Now, he needs to have one more test and that is a bone marrow biopsy for his polycythemia. We are probably going to wait a few weeks for that so he can make up some lost money while he's been off of work.

Two of my girls had birthdays last month. Aleia turned 6 and Ashley is now 18. I cannot believe I have an adult child. We went to visit the art college that she is hoping to get accepted in. She took her portfolio with her and received some great advice. So now she is "sprucing" up her portfolio and will hopefully be turning that in soon. It won't be long after that to see if she gets accepted. The one thing she is concerned with is her ACT score. She didn't do very well on it because of all the math problems. It isn't her best subject but hopefully they will look at her overall application and take that into consideration. This college is harder to get into than we thought. I hope they look more at her potential and creativity than her actual scores on a test.

Aleia and Andria are doing good in school. Andria is going through a rough patch again with her OCD but it's not nearly as bad as it was in the past. I am confident she will work through it. Aleia...well...she's Aleia..LOL Life of the party. She's doing VERY well in school and is doing an AMAZING job reading! I am so proud of her! I wish her papa was still here so she could read to him over the phone. He would have been so proud.

As for me...busy. I have 2 more weeks left for the winter quarter to end. Then I will be starting my junior quarter...YAY! This quarter we learned to take vitals, do hematocrit tests, and learned the endocrine system. Just remind me to NOT work for a endocrinologist. Holy crap! Talk about the most confusing body system...lol We also have been learning geriatrics, the reproductive system and our final in A&P will be the skeletal/muscular system. In venipuncture, we are using butterfly needles and drawing 2 tubes. Butterfly needle is kinda fun since you have more control of the needle and is easier to fish a vein. The only problem I have is using my left hand to put the tubes in the vacutainer because we are not allowed to let go of the 'wings" of the needle...we have to do it one handed even though everywhere you go when you get blood drawn, you see people let go of the wings and leave the needle in by itself. Apparently, you shouldn't do that with the chance of the needle coming out. Next quarter we will be doing hand draws with the butterfly...fun fun!

Overall, we are doing good! I am happy to say that I have lost a total of 22 pounds since September...yay! I really need to fit some exercise in though because I have plateaued as my body is getting used to my new routine and eating schedule. I need to rev up my metabolism again to get it going again. Unfortunately, I have had to take a mild diaretic to lower my BP some. It is getting too high but my doctor is confident it will only be a temporary thing as I lose more weight. I think between my weight and stress with everything going on lately is what's causing it to be up. No biggee...my blood work came back great...glucose, cholesterol was all within normal range. Now I just need some warmer weather so I can take advantage of walking outside!

Think spring!