Life

I slept and dreamt life was joy, I awoke and saw life was service, I acted and, behold, service was joy.

- Tagore


Just wanted to stop by and say hello.  I'm not sure where to start - I will warn you though, that I'm a little high off of the 8mg of morphine I just received in the ER.  Yes, in between my classes and clinical days, among my kiddos and social life, after my appointments and just before my commitments, I had to make time for that in my schedule today.  I woke up with the worst back pain I've felt in my life.  I almost felt paralyzed on my right side, but I'm so proud of myself - I made myself go to clinical anyways!  Even though my determination was notable, it wasn't the best idea, so I cut the day short and went to the ER.  They ran labs and did a cat scan to rule out any kidney issues, and they determined it's just back pain.  Yes, seriously.  Nothing more than that.  So I have pain meds, muscle relaxers, and anti-inflammatories.  I have to see my primary care doctor on Monday, and I'm sure my pain management doctor is going to want to know about this.  I'm no stranger to back pain, and this is just different.  It's much deeper and more stabbing.  If I move in certain ways, my body just stops and won't go any farther.  So weird.  Part of me thinks it may be an extreme exacerbation of my "normal" pain perhaps because of the stress I've been under lately, but I really have no idea.  I just know I don't have time for this!

So my trip to Ireland with my nursing school is officially confirmed for May!  My doctors OK'ed me to go, and I'm so excited.  I'm so scared at the same time - this is totally out of my comfort zone.  I think it will be good for me though, and it's definitely a once in a lifetime experience!

My dad's birthday is today!  We celebrated at Outback last night.

It was also Bryce's 8th (!!!) birthday, and we had a fun roller skating party!

Here I am with Declan...



and my precious friend Danielle...



I just passed my Geriatric/Rehab clinical, and our clinical group went out for Mexican to celebrate. How fun is this?



I need to take a picture of Zoe for you.  Our baby Boxer is almost as big as Riley!  Poor Haylie is the tiny baby again, and Zoe loves to pick on her.  We have such a crazy house with 3 dogs!

My sweet cousin is getting married soon, and her shower is Saturday!  We've had so much fun planning it, and it is going to be very PINK!  I'm so excited to help make such a special day for her, and I'm really excited to spend time with our friends and family.  Life has been such a whirlwind lately, and I get really disturbed when I don't have quality time with the people I love, so I'm really looking forward to it.  She's just madly in love with the sweetest guy ever, and I'm so excited she's finally found something this good.  I really wish my Nana were here right now to share in this joy.  There's nothing she loved more than her granddaughters and seeing them happy.  Remember that, Heather.  I know Nana is looking down on you right now, telling Jesus how excited she is for you. I know no one is sad in Heaven, but maybe, just maybe, she's telling Him how much she wishes she could be here with us, with you, right now.  :)

I'm doing amazing since my transplant - so much energy, and my labs are perfect.  I'm so grateful every single day.  None of the things I'm doing would even be feasible if it weren't for this gift I've received.  I'm so excited to live the rest of my life.

I could go on and on about all kinds of things, but I need to sleep off this morphine and I have so much studying to do.

I'm working with a designer for a redesign of my blog, so look forward to that soon!

I sent this Scripture to a friend yesterday, and I've been thinking of it today:

Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.

- Romans 12.12

Love!

Meet Zoe!

Meet Zoe, our new bundle of sweetness.

There's a little too much puppy talk going on around here.  But who said that was a bad thing?

Haylie Brooke is my 6 year old shichon (shihtzu/bichon frise) princess, yes, all mine, and Riley is our family's 4 year old Boxer.  Now we have an 8 week old purebred, reverse brindle boxer, Zoe.

After my transplant, Mom mentioned she wanted to get another dog once we re-situated after my discharge. My in-hospital transplant coordinator said we couldn't get a new dog because of the risk of transmitting germs from vaccines, being outside with germs/organisms, etc.  Of all of my new transplant "rules," this was the one I could take the least.  

Steroid-loaded, I remember literally sobbing as she explained this to us.  She said we could keep the dogs we had if we kept them clean and did not let them have the canine parainfluenza vaccination.  However, she cautioned against bringing a new dog into our lives.  "I understand people do it anyways," she said, "But I really wouldn't recommend it."

Our whole family was devastated.  While I wasn't exactly wanting another dog (and if I did, it would be another tiny girl like my Haylie), I knew in the future I'd want one.  Mom had an idea that another dog would be therapeutic for me during my recovery, but of course that didn't happen.

For some reason, Mom and I had been talking about puppies for the past couple weeks and were even "shopping" for them online.  To make a long story short, we found a sweet girl in Toledo.  Honestly, we fell in love with her sweet face in the picture on the website.  Mom thought Riley, our boxer, needed a playmate since Haylie never wants to play with her anymore.  We consulted with both my transplant coordinator and our vet and decided the risk was something we could be proactive about.  Our family agreed the benefit outweighed the risk.

The puppy on the computer (with the big eyes!) continued to work magic amongst our family, and yesterday we set out on a journey to see her.

For me, it was love at first sight.  Our family debated between her and her sister, but we finally agreed on our computer puppy, the one I liked the most all along.

We named her Zoe, which means life.

And appropriately so. 

The word life means so much more to me now that I've survived a liver transplant.  I'm painfully aware that another family is living without a precious life while I'm enjoying many more years.  Life - be it eternal life, physical life, whatever it may be - is always a sacrifice, and Zoe's name is special to remind us of that.  

Additionally, this little Zoe is bringing life to our family.  After a year of painful circumstances, confusion, and fear, we are beginning anew and have this precious little face to remind us of that as well.

Here's to new beginnings and being grateful for the sacrifice paid to save my life, all in the face of a tiny Boxer girl.

A special birthday

Today I'm wishing a special little princess a happy sixth birthday.

Six years ago today at 7.45am, I received a phone call saying my puppy had been born.  The shih tzu/bichon frise (aka, shichon) mix that I put a deposit on a month or two prior… had finally been born.  (More about her story here.)  A sweet baby girl that I had no idea would tear her way straight into the middle of my heart.  

Haylie Brooke Gianna Soleil

Above is from this fall, and then again and below at the Picture People last month.  (It was a nightmare of a photo shoot, but alas, a definite memory.) 

Haylie's been told she looks like a stuffed animal in this picture.  Don't you adore her rhinestone name tag?  So chic.  :)

Haylie has been through quite a journey with me these past six years, and she's been there for the most defining times and trials of my life.  It's amazing what she's seen me through.  I adore this 9 pound angel.

Christmas, 2009

My girl is definitely spoiled and a little set in her ways, but she keeps me going, dances when I get home, and snuggles with me every single night.

I love her more than anything.

Here's to many more birthdays, sweet baby girl.

Marie's arpeggios

I loooove the Aristocats. Always have. I put a bow in Jonathan's sister's puppy's hair and she reminded me of this.....



See?



Awww.... :)