Fat Bottom Girls

I think I was indirectly called fat (not phat) today. The IT guy was working on my computer last night and left me a note that he still needed to work on my computer in the morning because he could not retrieve my folder that magically disappeared.

He came in and made the file magically reappear and before he left he said that “since I was a good sport” he felt that he could share a story about him this morning. Apparently this morning he woke up, turn off his alarm and laid there thinking of stuff he needed to get done that day. My computer problem popped in his head and THEN he said that Queen’s Fat Bottom Girls came on. I asked him “what’s that supposed to mean?” and he said “I knew you were a good sport!” and walked away. Obviously, I thought he was telling me I was fat/heavier/bigger, since we were talking about working out and how in the last year I have gained 28 lbs and have been struggling to get if off AND was wearing jeans today. Jay thinks he was telling me that I have a nice ass.

Waistline check

On the way to work yesterday I heard this clip from CNN. The Japanese government is forcing companies to check the waistline of all employees and if they are deemed overweight then the company gets fined and the company can fine the employees. A part of me wishes they did that here in the states for my own benefit.

When I was in the Navy I knew I had to be in shape, to not only fit in my uniforms that are only issued every 4 to 8 years, but it was part of the job and promotion standards and requirments. Maybe that is what I need to stay in shape - a job that requires it.

Finally a date!

Finally… I heard from the surgery schedule and the big day is on July 15th. Ironically, it’s a day before my Dad’s birthday.

Before leaving on Friday my boss asked if I had spoken to co-worker Cindy. She was the one who had thyroid cancer 4 years ago and the one that has a huge, visible scar that got me worried. Of course I didn’t! I couldn’t see myself just walking up to someone and asking them questions about their health condition. What if it’s personal and she doesn’t want to talk about it? Plus, it’s hard for me to open up to strangers. My boss said he would ask her to speak to me and moments later she called me into her office. She was very upbeat about the whole situation, which made me feel good since she went through the surgery, had her entire organ removed and found out she had cancer, went through radiation therapy, found out she was immune to radiation and is “incurable” since she is immune and is expected to live into her elder years. Her scar is bigger then the average scar because she had cancer and it went into her bone, so they had to cut deeper to cut the bone. *wiping eye brow* I shouldn’t have such a big scar! She told be the good, bad and ugly about the surgery and iodine radiation. I left work feeling better about the whole situation.

I’m glad that I have such loving supportive people in my life that keep checking up in me. Last night I told Jay the way my family is and during times like this they are around a lot. He looked around our very tiny place and said “all your family is going to be here?!?! Where will I go?” Luckily, Jayla will be in AZ with her mom during that time, so we wouldn’t have to worry about getting her to daycare (since I can’t drive), etc.
The people that will be there like 24/7 are my Mom and sis from CO. In the evenings I imagine I will see more of my little sister, Jessy and oldest sister, Sharon (which might come with my two nieces) after they get off of work. Plus, the occasional visit from their husbands and my friends is going to call for a full-house!

Life Lessons

Yesterday mark year #2 of my Father’s passing. All day I was feeling super anxious, my tummy was upset and I felt like I wanted to toss my cookies. Maybe it was because I didn’t sleep well the night before (we don’t have A/C and it was hella hot here), or could it be because my Statistics midterm was later on that evening or simply that it was the anniversary of my Dad’s death, which feels so weird typing the words!

Half way through the day I decided I wasn’t going to stop by the beach and drop off roses as I do for Father’s Day, his b-day and this day. I think a part of me didn’t want to face that another year had passed by. There's not a day that passes that something doesn’t remind me of him or a memory flashes by. This year it just seemed harder then last year. But I changed my mind and glad I did!

After class... yup, that Statistic class where the A/C is still not working and we just happen to be having our summer heat wave… I went to the beach. I stopped to get some roses for him. When he was alive, he had some rose bushes at his house that he used to pick roses from and leave them by my room. Sometimes he would make me a fresh juice in the morning and leave it on the fireplace mantel with some roses. When I got to the store I already knew I wanted to get him roses, especially the red and yellow colored ones and what do you know? There was one of those bouquets of roses left.

I made it to Balboa pier and it was packed. On this summer day there were tons of people fishing on the pier and coming from the Ruby’s restaurant at the end of the pier. There were even some people in the water. It did look refreshing!

I walked the pier and looked for a spot that didn’t have tons of fishermen and was private. I found the perfect spot. I have this thing I do when I go and drop off flowers at the beach for my Dad. With each flower/rose I drop into the ocean, I recall a fond memory I had with him or thank him for something. Yesterday, I thanked him for some important life lessons he taught me. Afterwards I walked the pier and watched people get excited over the fish they caught. This one girl was holding up her fishing rod with the tiniest fish, but she proudly gave the biggest, cheesiest grin as she posed with her catch for a picture.

Last year I remember asking my Dad for signs that he was there, but this yearI sat on a bench (the one that Jessy and I sat at for his b-day) and told him that I didn’t need one this year, cuz I knew he was there with me. I stared out at the ocean and sky and witnessed a shooting start. WOW! It as if he wanted to say hi!

Met my surgeon today

Finally, my doctor's appointment with my surgeon was today. My thyroid doctor is one of those people that has probably been in the industry 20+ years and somewhere along the line he must have forgot that while he deals with this information/situation every day, it's the patients first time hearing the medical terms, etc. He doesn't go into too much detail, so I was thinking that the surgeon was going to be the same. What a wrong assumption to make!

My surgeon and his staff was AMAZING!!! My Mom and I were very impressed the upbeat staff, the no wait,and super clean and modern office.

The surgeon was very informative, took his time to explain the procedure and my test results that the thyroid doctor had sent over. Looks like the surgery will be in the next 3-4 weeks. A surgery scheduler will call me from within the next week to set something up.

A little about the procedure: I am going to have the left part of my thyroid complete removed. That is the side that is enlarged and has the two nodules (growths). During surgery the partial gland will be sent to pathology and if they can detect it's cancerous, they will remove the entire gland during the surgery and I will come back for iodine-radiation following the surgery. If pathology needs more time to review the tissue, then they will sew me up and get back to me in a week with the result. If it is cancerous, I will have to go under the knife again to remove the other half of the thyroid and start iodine radiation following the surgery. Finally, if (and this is the one I am praying for!!!), if not cancerous cells are found during or after the surgery, then I will be away from work for 10 days and not be able to drive during this time. Not bad at all!

Either way, I do have to stay the night in the hospital just in case there is too much swelling or bleeding occurs which can block my air passage. The doctor says it's very unlikely, but more of a precautionary procedure.

Oh and I met the PA that will be there before and after the surgery. She was SUPER cool! She said her job is to do everything beside the surgery, so she will be there before and after my surgery to check up on me and call me once I get home.

Going green

I found a great website that allows me to rent school books for the school semester or quarter for not only a very reasonable rate and free return shipping, but they also plant a tree for every book rented. They have programs in the US and Central America and my tree is being planted in Guatemala. I got a $120 book for $43.00 and did the Earth some good! Woohoo!

Times have changed!

Yesterday while picking up Jayla from my sister’s house, my Mom told me the cutest story. She went to pick up my niece, Lizzy, from her last day of school. She wasn’t ready for the sight she would see when see walked in the classroom. Kids were literally crying and would hug one of their classmates, have a moment with them and switch to another classmate or the teacher. These kidz kept saying in between their tears “I’m going to miss first grade!” My Mom said she had to wait sometime until they were all ready to say good-bye.

I never recall crying on the last day of school. What I recall is watching the clock like a hawk, running out of class with a huge Chester cat grin and eating all my snacks in my earthquake preparedness pack during my walk home.

Later on my niece insisted that she need to be taken to the track to run because she needed to get her sadness and nervous out of her. This kid is 6 years old! Now, I know I never acted that way or asked to be taken to the track when I was little. Exercise was a form a punishment when I grew up, never a stress reliever! So the whole family, My Mom, sister, 2 nieces, Jayla and Jahnice’s friend went to the track. Lizzy ran some laps with Jayla following her, Jahnice and her friend walked behind them my sister read a book and Mom video taped the kidz (She is such a grandma!).

They headed over to Yogurtland afterwards cuz Lizzy needed another stress reliever. Now, THAT I do recall doing! Haha! As they sat there enjoying their soft-served yogurt a classmate of Lizzy’s came in. She got up, said nothing but hugged the kid for some time, let go and walked back.

School must be a wonderful place now cuz I never mourned it they way Lizzy has. I guess that is a good sign of quality education.

Sharing my treasure

I had a little extra time on my lunch and decide to stop by Juice It Up for a wheat grass shot and some fresh carrot juice. This group of kids came in asking prices of the smoothies and yogurt bowls trying to figure out how they were going to split the goodies amongst each other and how much stuff they could get with their dough. The leader in the group started to order and asked another girl exactly how much she had. She sheepishly asked the group to come to the table. The continued to press her and she just walked over and dropped all her change. She must have emptied out a piggy bank recently or something. The group realized her concern and went to count the change with her. All together they had a little over $10.00 and I saw them fill their hands with the coins and make it back to the register.

I those remember those summer days back when I was a little kid. My sisters and I would search the house for change or hit up the folks. After we all had a dollar we would ride to 7/11 and get slurpies or to this liquor store that had cheap candy. You get there and do the math trying t get as much as possible.

They started debating what they could afford, so I just placed what few dollars I had on the table and said “here you go.” I forgot how much more money is worth to kids. They all looked up at me, jaws dropped and I heard an echoing “thank you!” As I walked out I heard a kid scream “God bless you” is the happiest voice. It was too cute! If only I had a camera to remember their expressions, but I guess I will have to rely on my memory and hope it can easily retrack it. But knowing me and my memory, probably not going to happen.

On Grade standby

My last official day of class was Sunday, MAY 25th. According to the school policy, grades are supposed to be posted on or before the 5th of the following month. Most teachers are good about getting grades in the following week following the last day of class. Actually ALL my teachers have had a great track recorder, so I was surprised to not see a grade posted for my Philosophy class. I check online daily and hello, we are way past the date grades were supposed to be posted. Yesterday, I checked and yippee I see an entry. I scroll across the screen and am surprised to see a “RD” as a grade. What they heck is that? Naturally, I freaked out because that’s just my nature and at the time the only thing I could think “RD” stood for was “redo.” It seemed logical then, but SO silly now. I searched for a school online catalog (I’m so resourceful!) and come to find out that RD stands for “report delayed.” I could have told you that the report was delayed along time ago. Now I am on standby until the teacher post my grad to get my AA diploma. I remember in the beginning of the class he said his arm was in a cast (or something like that) and he was grateful for online classes, so maybe he still hasn’t recovered fully and that’s what is causing the delay.

A dose of what I needed

I had a dream last night that it was the day of my surgery, they put me under and all of a sudden I was in a white, never ending room and my Dad was holding my hand. I asked my Dad if I was dead and he told me no and that the surgery was being performed, so he wanted to look after me.

I heard someone calling my name and as I opened my eyes I saw my Dad peeking from the hospital curtain and I reached out for him and burst into tears yelling “do you see him?!?!” The curtain moved as if he let it go and my family asked “who?” I didn’t reply and just cried because I knew he made his way back to heaven.

Today I goggled thyroid surgery and saw real pictures of the procedure. As my eyes got bigger and my freak out meter started to rise, I got a text from my sister letting me know that I was in her thoughts and she just wanted me to know that. She went on to say that she worries about me, but feels confident that I will be okay after the operation and ended with letting me know that I could count on her and her family’s help!

What perfect timing!

Follow appt w/ thyroid doc

Yesterday I had my appointment with my thyroid doc that did my biopsy and is recommending surgery. It cracks me up and is alarming how their office works. It’s as if the office doesn’t know what my visit is for and the doctor doesn’t read my file prior to walking in to see me.

The medical assistance took my vitals and then asked the reason for my visit. I looked at her puzzled thinking shouldn’t you know that, but of course I didn’t tell her that and instead said that after the doctor had called me with my biopsy result he asked for me to come in and see him. She said “oh, so are you hypo or hyperthyroidism?” I said neither and that my blood work is normal, but my gland is enlarged. I know that my test results are in the system, so why is she asking me? She then asked if I was coming in for a biopsy today then. Didn’t I JUST say I got a call from the doc about my biopsy results and that is the reason for my visit??? So we got it squared away on why I was there and then was left to wait for the doc to come in.

He came in and I greeted him and asked how he was doing. I like his reply of “I’m living a dream, how are you?” I said I am good except for the fact that I need to have surgery. He paused, looked me up and down and asked why I needed to have surgery. Are you serious??? I thought. Should I be concerned that my doctor doesn’t know who I am and why I am sitting in front of him? He looked up my reports in his system and went through them with me again, answered my questions and sent me off to get an EKG, chest x-ray and breathing test. All in preparation for my surgery. I was the youngest patient in all the waiting rooms and felt like at any moment one of the other patients was gonna croak!By the time I was done, I felt drained!

So what I learned yesterday - I will be out for a week if my nodules are non-cancerous. They cut me open just about the area where my right throat meets my chest.

If it is cancerous tissue, then I will be out longer and have to come back for iodine-radiation therapy.

*crossing fingers* that it’s not the second one!

Later that evening I got a call from my sister from CO. She said that her friends really wanted me to know that they would be praying for me. It just really touched me. My eyes got watery and I thanked her for letting me know and she said she would be calling me A LOT, which made me giggle cuz she means it! We had probably talked 3 or 4 times in that one day.

Fishing in the toilet

Yesterday I made it home 20 minutes earlier then I normally do and took that opportunity to visit my sister who just got out of surgery before going to my first day of Statistics and Probability class. I made a quick stop by Walgreens and picked up some magazines for her.

Man, it was heart breaking to see how much pain she was in and how pale she was. You can tell when her daughters would come in that she would try to tuff it out a little, but I know her way too well. Her hubby helped her sit up and let me take over while I assisted her to go pee. It was quite comical! I helped her pull down her pants and her hospital undies. For those who have never had to wear them or even see them, they are these full covered, white, fish net panties. As I sit her down, I accidentally step on her toe, but once I removed my foot from on top of hers and sat her down she asks where her pad went. The hospital had gave her one just in case she bled. I patted down her leg thinking it fell down one of the legs, but nope. I search the floor and nothing! Mind you it hurts her to laugh and talk, so she tried to be as serious as possible when she mumbles that she thinks it fell in the toilet. Shame had left the building a long time ago as I look from behind to see if it was there and sure enough it was! I told her to sit tight and I was going to pull it out and she mumbles sternly that she will. She actual thought I was going to put my bare hand in the toilet water. But I told her my plan was to get it out with a plastic grocery bag, the way you would pick up dog poop. After the pad extraction, she tried to do her business but was having a shy bladder moment or was afraid that it might hurt. I didn't know what to do, so I just turned on the water (cuz I hear that helps) and played with my niece's dinosaur shower toys until my sister was done peeing.

I got her situated in bed, go her some med and was on a hunt for a heating pad, but no luck. Luckly I live only a few blocks away from home, so got one and was off to class. Talk about a productive 20 minutes!

Sister Surgery Update

Just got a call from my family at the hospital with an update on my sister. Her surgery is complete, it all went well and they were able to do a laprascopic surgery insted which means she can come home today, no staples, less scars and her recovery time is down to 2 weeks instead if 4-6. YAY!

Good bye Crazy Month of May

Friday my Mom graduated with her Masters Degree! Yay Mom! After the ceremony, we all met up at my sister's house for a great celebration! My aunt Ligia was cooking the meal and Jessy and I had decorated the night before. We walked in and saw a table with cookware. Cook this me the surprise my aunt had hinted about in an email a day prior? At first I thought she was going to do a sales pitch to us and a full on presentation, but she just let us know that she is cooking the food in the pots and what the benefits were. On the table was a demonstration of what a pound of fat looks like. Ew! Only at my family event would they have this!!!

To much of everyone's surprise dinner was delicious! Honestly, we were all scare of what she would cook and Jay and I even hit the El Pollo Loco beforehand. She had prepared chicken, rice, beans, plantain banana cooked in molasses (Costa Rican style baby!!!), vegetarian lasagna, salad. Another aunt had brought sweet rice, which is like a rice pudding with cinnamon and raisins in it. For dessert there was fruit, ice cream and a white cake with strawberry filling.

Then came the entertainment. Can you tell my Rudy's expression that it was quite entertaining???

My aunt came out in a Costa Rican costume (Sorry, I was cracking up that I didn't even manage to take a picture of it!) and did a dance for my mom. It didn't look like a dance at all! It just looked as if she was walking around the living room, would stop and pull out an apron from her skirt and move it from side to side and paraded the living room again with an occasional "this is for my sister!" It was hilarious!!!!

Then, my sister preformed for those that missed her show at my graduation celebration.

What happened next would go down in family party history! My aunts, uncle, and mom took turns going up an dancing to flamenco music. Oh my GAWD... It was hilarious, to say the least! They were getting so into it, moving their dresses around that it practically flashed many of us SEVERAL times, their feet would move faster and the more we laughed, they faster they danced and more they got into it! It was all fun and games until they were trying to get me to go up there, but I'm no fool!

Here's my Mom and her brother and sisters (minus 1 in CA and like 10+ in Costa Rica).

And you know how I always refer to my family as the paparazzi? Well, here are some of them in action.

Here's my Mom with her daugthers minus the one in CO. She came down yesterday, though, and we are going to photoshop her in some of the pictures.

Sunday was my sister and niece's flamenco recital at Tapas Restaurant.

They did such a great job! It's was adorable to see my niece do her dance and the outfits were amazing! I joined in on the celebration a bit much and broke my diet with a shot of patron and a mojito. Don't shoot me! Unfortunately, I am a light weight and lunch was not served until two hours later and I was buzzed and felt a little sick from only those two drinks. During the performance I remember asking my oldest niece for water, but I didn't toss my cookies which is a good thing!!!

While we were taking pictures outside Lizzy kept reading this postcard!

She is up with technology and I can just picture he googling "genital warts." All I can say is I hope her parents have parental control on the computer!!