Life Changing Event

The day of Sean's birthday party was a good day.  The only thing that went wrong was my headache.  I woke up with a headache and kept it all day.  On the way to Sean's party I stopped by McDonald's and got one of the Mocha Caramel Iced Coffees.  The sugar and caffeine usually help my headaches and it did this day too.

After his party was over, we went to the Clock and ate dinner.  Neither one of us ate much at his party and we were all starving!  The meal was good and we headed home.  When we got home I told Mark that my head was hurting again.  I took some ibuprofen and we went to bed.  After I got in my bed my ears and neck were hurting too.  I asked Mark to rub my neck and told him that my throat hurt but not like it was sore.  I drifted off to sleep and slept good.

Sunday morning, December 11, 2011 we woke up and everything was good.  We started getting ready to go to Walmart and buy groceries when my head started hurting again.  Mark gave me one of the pain pills the doctor had given him for his headache.  He asked if I wanted him and Sean to go get groceries and I told him no.  I pulled my pajamas off to get dressed and my head started hurting worse.  My ears, throat, neck, front and back of my shoulders and my elbows were hurting.  I laid back down on the bed and told Mark to call 911 and started crying.  I felt like I had the flu and that my head was going to split wide open any second.  That's when I started feeling nauseated.  The ambulance got there and they asked me a few questions and then said, "Well, do you want us to transport you to the hospital?"  No, dumb ass! I just called so I could see your ugly mugs this morning!  What a stupid question for them to ask!  Anyway, I walked to the porch and down the steps and got onto the stretcher.  Inside the ambulance they gave me a little pan to throw up in and tried to start an IV.  My veins roll so he couldn't get one in.  We were half way to the hospital when the driver pulled over so they could transmit the EKG to the hospital.  When it went through the driver hit the lights and sirens, the EMT in back with me started doing all kinds of things like spraying Nitroglycerin under my tongue, giving me eight baby aspirin to take, spraying more nitro under my tongue.  Five minutes prior to this he said, "From everything I'm seeing it's not cardiac."  I asked him what was going on (all the things he was doing and the ambulance driver hauling butt and keeping the sirens on.  He said, "You're having a heart attack."  Oh, ok.  You just said it wasn't cardiac, boy you were wrong!  The didn't take me to the emergency room.  They took me straight to the heart center to the cath lab.  Once there, they did a heart cath, opened my right coronary artery which was 100% blocked and I felt better.  As soon as the artery was opened there was immediate relief.  Now, I had also been given something for nausea, Morphine and something for the sedation.  I just know I felt better. 

This is me a few hours after the heart attack while in CCU>

One of two IV's.  This one was in the bend of my arm.

Oh, I forgot to mention this.  When they pulled the tubing out I had some internal bleeding.  No place for the blood to go except inside and no way to get it out.  It just has to "dry up" so to speak.  It caused a lot of swelling.

Once the second ultrasound showed that the bleeding was stopped I was moved to a regular room.  I spent 2 days in CCU and 2 days in room 8412 in the Heart Center.

After my shower, Sean got to help nurse Nichole flush my IV.

He also checked out Mom's bed.

All my wonderful jewelry!


I am thankful to be alive and able to walk around and fuss about not going anywhere and not working.  I am thankful to be approaching another Christmas with Sean and Mark.  I almost missed his actual birthday and all future birthdays, Christmases and all of the things that go with your child growing up.  We wouldn't have known that his party at Chuck E Cheese would have been the last one that I got to celebrate or that my 47th birthday was my last or that Thanksgiving 2011 was our last together as a family.  I guess nobody knows these things but now I'm am going to live each day as if it were my last.

Oh, besides living which is the best thing, the second best thing is that I quit smoking!!!  Oh yes, my heart attack was a good thing and I will never smoke again!  It has been 10 days and I'm doing great!!!

Birthday Boy!

It has been so long since I've been here!  I said I wasn't a blogger!  But a lot has happened and it has been a trying time.

Sean was born on December 12th.  We had his birthday party this year on December 10th.  He had fun!  I can't believe that my baby is six years old!

He wanted a "Cars" cake and this baby was a hit!

His party was at Chuck E Cheese's!  Every kids wants a Chuck E Cheese Party!

Sean and his "brother" Chase had a blast!

His birthday dance!

Sean and Chuck E!

I think he's gonna blow!!

The ticket blaster was so much fun for him!

He had a great party and had so much fun!  He didn't want it to end!  The parties there are scheduled for two hours and we ended up being there for three!  Loved it!

Sunday Funday

This past weekend was Halloween weekend.  Mark always takes that weekend off so that we can decorate with Sean.  They really have fun decorating the porch and getting ready to scare people.  It's really not very frightening but they have fun.

On Sunday we had a really nice family outing.  We went to Strawberry Hill, which is Cooley Farms in Chesnee.  They have a really nice pumpkin patch, corn maze and hay rides.  Sean went with his kindergarden class a few weeks ago and he wanted us to go.

This is just outside the entrance.  These scarecrows are on the main road and welcome all who come.  They are lifesize and really cool!

As you start on the hayride, this is one of the first sights you see.  I really like that Halloween is in the fall and the colors were at their peak when we went.

Entrance to the corn maze.  We didn't do the corn maze because we feel that Sean is just a little young.  Maybe next year.

In order to get into the "fun" area, you had to ask Mr. Troll if you could cross his bridge.  Of course he said yes.

After crossing Mr. Troll's bridge, one of the first things you get to do is feed the cows.  Feeding the baby was fun!  He was a hungry little thing!

The next stop was the pick picking area.  Two "volunteers" got to catch a pig.  Of course, when they caught the pig it squealed and pooped! It was funny!

Then we got to the Pumpkin Patch.  Lots of pumpkins for the kids (and for the moms and dads).  They had this area set up as a play area for the kids.  It was a nice place for a break from the tractor/hayride.

Sean enjoyed the tire swings!

And the tractor!

I enjoyed my son!

I really enjoyed spending the day with both my boys!

Another Good Day

Sean has started asking for a brother.  Yes, he's at that age.  He knows that he is an only child and that his dad and I are older.  He wants someone to play with and to grow up with.  We thought about adopting and we investigated the process.  After approval it could take 6 months to 3 years.  We just don't have that long to wait.  So, we got him a brother AND a sister!  Now, we didn't do it illegally.  We just borrowed my cousins kids.

We were babysitting Jaden when Sean and Jaden were just two years old.  When Brooklyn was born we started babysitting her too.  Then I had to get a real job so I stopped keeping them.  Yesterday we had Krissy (my cousin) bring them to the park and then we brought them home with us.  We decided to start getting them every other weekend and so, Sean has a brother and a sister and we have joint custody - LOL.

Took tons of pictures at the park.  Here are some of them.

What A Day!

Now that I'm working at the daycare center I have the weekends off.  On Saturday Sean and I did nothing!  Oh, I cleaned the house and did laundry and such as that.  On the whole, though, we just spent time together and relaxed.  It was wonderful!

On Sunday we went to the park at Lake Bowen.  It's called Anchor Park and it's really nice.  They have the slides and swings that most parks have but they also have a rock wall for the kids to climb and a piece of equipment (I don't know the name of it) that helps with learning to balance.  It's not a balancing beam but more like poles.  They have the boat docks and the way the park is set up you can walk around the park like a walking trail.  It is really a great place to go.  The park is fenced in so the kids don't run out into the traffic of the boat ramps.

Sean let me take pictures of him.  I really needed to do that - he's growing so much and I haven't taken many photos of him in the past year - thank you Pizza Hut.

I really enjoyed my day!

He's so handsome! 

He's getting so tall!

He made it to the top of the rock wall but didn't know how to get down!

He had a quiet moment - like he was in deep thought about something.

This one reminds me of a quote I like.  "Children are the living message we send to a time we will not see."  He is my heart and soul and I hope he grows into a wonderful man!

We had a wonderful, fall day!

Change Is Good

Well, another change has occured.  I am now working at a daycare.  It is a good daycare and I am really enjoying my job.  I hope to get my own class soon instead of just being a floater.

I also got a puppy!  Mark bought me a boxer!  He said the puppy is a "just because I love you" present.  He is beautiful!  I've named him Gator because I am a huge Florida Gators fan and because I want him to have a good, strong name.

I guess the best thing that has happened this month is that I got the results of my mammogram.  The results are normal!  I don't have breast cancer!!!  I know that Dara was looking down and sent me to get it done and she was watching over me.  I am very thankful and I am now very serious about my health.  I've been doing well and Mark and I are walking.  It feels good.

Well, that's all for now.

Change of Plans

Well, that daycare didn't work out.  I just didn't feel comfortable there - the owner/directors lack of interest in her center and of following DSS rules didn't help.

Soooo...in the morning I start work at Hardee's.  It's not my dream job but it is a job.  I will keep looking until I find my perfect job.  I know that no job is perfect but there has to be something out there that is meant for me.

Another Journey Begins

I have another journey to embark upon.  It is probably my most important journey of all.  It's the journey to good health.

I'm 46, almost 47 years old.  I am, like a lot of people, overweight.  I'm 5'4" tall and weight 181 pounds.  If that's not bad enough I am also diabetic, have high cholesterol, and high blood pressure.  My doctor sent my lab results in the mail and the sentence that was typed really caught my attention.  It said, "Diabetes is not well controlled.  Patient has been noncompliant with her diabetes regimen but committed to being compliant which should improve her control."  Hmmm, yes, that was me. 

So, the journey to health begins.

This is me now.  I hope, no - I WILL lose weight and get the diabetes under control.  I want to teach my son to be healthy and to be active and to do that I have to set an example.

Another thing is the doctor found thickening in my breast tissue.  She is scheduling a mammogram and we will go from there. 

Lots to do but I'm up to it!

Sad Today

I had a doctors appointment today.  She did my physical and then told me she was scheduling me for a mammogram.  I know that I need one every year, after all - I'm past the golden age of 40.  She said she felt some "thickening" in both breast.  I, of course, got nervous.  I'm pretty optomistic about everything so I wasn't worried.  Then I came home...

When I got home I got on Facebook.  I'm addicted to Facebook and seeing what is happening in my friends lives.  Today my friends son had  posted on his mom's page, "I have to woefully tell you that mom passed away this morning."  What?! Not my Dara!  She has battled breast cancer for the past few years and was doing so well.  The cancer got her!  And now I am more worried!  I'm ready for the mammogram today! But I have to wait until the appointment is scheduled.

I will miss Dara and, even though I hadn't seen her in a while, I will miss her smile.  I will miss the e-mails we sent and the chats on Facebook! 

Rest In Peace Dara - you made an impact on my life!

This is Dara and one of her "kids".  She taught pre-school and loved it!  She called all the kids in her class "Dara's Kids".

Good Morning, Glory!

I'm finally relaxed and rested!  I got up at 5:30 this morning and actually felt rested!
Around 7:45 I went outside and took some pictures of the morning glories.  This one is my favorite!

New Job

I got a new job!!!  I was out of work exactly 6 days!  I'm very fortunate because a lot of people are out for months and years!  I start in a daycare today!  Off by 6 pm every night and off on week ends!  Yeah!!

A Fun Day...Finally!

So, after a year or better, we finally got a fun day that was not interrupted with a phone call from Pizza Hut!  A day with just us to do whatever we want to do!  I had such a great day!

We went to Campbell's Covered Bridge in Gowansville.  It is the only remaining covered bridge in South Carolina.  We have been before but they have done some work to the area and installed some picnic tables and really made it nice.  I love it there!

Sean had fun splashing in the water.  I forgot to take him a change of clothes so we wouldn't let him sit in the water or really get down and dirty in it but he still had fun.

I took lots of pictures.  These are my favorites!

The Bridge 

Splashing Fun

Even Baxter and Rafiki enjoyed the day!

Finally!

Well, I finally did it.  I quit work!  Now, I know that it seems really stupid to do something like that but I do have my reasons.  Let me explain...

Reason One: Sean Gillette!  He never got to see his mom!  I only saw him from 6:30 am until 7:20 am, getting him ready for school.  I always ended up working until 9 or 10 o'clock and he was in bed when I got home.

Reason Two:  Mark Gillette!  Well yes, he's a big boy but he's still my husband and I do love him!  Heck, I like him too!  I never had any quality time with him.  He would stay up, waiting for me to get home and I appreciate him doing so.

Reason Three:  Dee Gillette!  Yes, I like myself and I missed me!  I have been so tired and stressed lately.  I'm actually losing some hair!  Ugh!!  My blood sugar is up and I don't like taking the medicine! 

So, yes, I quit!  I'm very happy about the change and my next job will fit MY schedule!

So now I will be spending more, much more time with Sean and Mark.  Homework is going on and life is great!  Looking forward to the next chapter in my life.

Ready to Relax

Oh it has been a long week!  Or maybe two or three, I've forgotten!  And HOT! Oh my goodness has it been hot!  The humidity has been just awful and no one can stand to be outside for long.  Those things have made for a very tense me!

Today I got to leave work early.  I worked a full shift but it was still early when I left at three.  I drove to Seans school and picked him up, a surprise for him since he thought Daddy was going to do the pick up.  We drove home and I changed my clothes and got ready to relax.

The weather today was just beautiful!!  The temperature has been in the upper to high 90's since June.  The humidity made it feel worse!  Today, the temperature was 88 degrees with very low humidity!  A gentle breeze was blowing and it felt wonderful outside!

I went out and sat down in my lawn chair, ready to look at the clouds.  Mark and Sean came outside and Mark brought me a white russian - one of my favorite drinks!  Oh yes, relaxation has begun!

A New Era

He started kindergarten Monday!

My little boy started kindergarten on Monday!  A new era has started!  He is growing up so fast!  He has become so independent and sassy all at the same time.  He is so smart and loving!  He is self-confident and sure of himself.  He is the best!

Decisions

Today I made a very important decision.  It was a tough one to make but the right one in the long run.  I'm afraid of the unknown but ready for the change.

I manage a Pizza Hut.  I love the job, well, most days I do.  I love most of my team members and the customers are awesome!  However, it is time for me to leave.  I love my family more and my son is the most important person to me.  He starts kindergarten on Monday and I've decided that I am going to spend more time with him.  The years are going by too fast.  I work 60 hours a week at a minimum.  Sean doesn't get that from me.  He gets what is left.  What is wrong with that?  Everything!!!!  Today, when I go to work, I am sending my area manager an e-mail with my two week notice.  I will be applying for a job where I can work less.  Oh, the money at Pizza Hut is great and it will be missed but it's time!

So, my journey takes a new path.  One that, hopefully, will be the right path for me and my family.

The light of my life, the reason for my decision, the reason for living...my ray of sunshine!