The Nose

The Nose is so Important.....but why is Mine and Marks so big? :-)


Poor Andrew has had drama with his Nose....

Julie: Andrew do you have a lot of nose bleeds?

Andrew: No, I don't think so.

Julie: How many do you think you have a week?

Andrew: Maybe 4 or 5?

Julie: And how many did you have yesterday? 

Andrew: 2

Julie: Do you think this is normal?

Andrew: Yes

After this conversation I knew I had to get his nose fixed. 

When I went on my search for a new family doctor, I made sure to ask it they can cauterize a nose if need be. Sure sure they said. After my second visit they now tell me they don't like to do this for children. Well they could have told me this earlier. I knew lotions were not going to cure his problem. 

So off to a specialist we went. She was great. After 5 seconds looking around his nose she could tell he had a deviated septum and would need surgery when he got older. Also could tell that he had lots of blood vessels close to the surface and would need to be cauterized for sure. ( Just what I told the other doctor months ago) 

Andrew was not feeling too good when he saw all her instruments on the table next to his chair. They did look pretty scary. The cauterizing was kind of painful for him. But he did great. She was very quick and did not linger around so he could get worried about it. After she was done he started to look very pale. I thought for sure he was going to pass out. He threw up his small breakfast, good thing it was just toast. He was still sweaty and pale so she let him lay down in the chair for a while. I am so glad we did not rush out after the procedure. He would have gone down in the hallway for sure.  Lots of drainage after, and uncomfortable and yucky taste in your mouth. But doing ok. Nothing a Chocolate Sunday won't fix. 

Wikipedia: 

If a person has been having frequent nose bleeds, it is most likely caused by an exposed blood vessel in their nose. Even if the nose is not bleeding at the time, it is cauterized to prevent future bleeding. The different methods of cauterization include burning the affected area with acid, hot metal or lasers. Such a procedure is naturally quite painful. Sometimes liquid nitrogen is used as a less painful alternative, though it is less effective. In the few countries that permit the use of cocaine for medicinal purposes, it is occasionally used topically to make this procedure less uncomfortable; cocaine being the only local anesthetic which also produces vasoconstriction, making it ideal for controlling nosebleeds. More modern treatment uses silver nitrate, a local anesthetic is applied and the procedure is generally painless. The nose may run for up to a week after the procedure.

I am glad we went in. I was impressed that the doctor knew what HHT is. My brother Mark has major bloody nose issues with this diagnose. The doctor did not think Andrew's is that bad right now. He could have a small case of this disorder. But not too much to do about it. But good to keep an eye on it. 

Can you believe I did not take a picture of the procedure! I thought about it and then got distracted.....

Earlene George

Last week we lost another Great Lady. Earlene left us to be in a better place with out pain or suffering. She has left a huge void for her family and friends. I have so many great memories of her growing up. It really would not have been the same with out her. Gary and Earlene spent many hours helping to make sure our childhood turned out great. From Girls Camp to EFY to many cook outs and roadshows and youth actives. They loved us all.

When I think of Earlene I think of smiles- and the best example of true Christ like Service around. She and Dorothy together could make things happen, and have a great time doing it. She was always doing things for others. Love Love Love her.

I was able to help out the family by doing a slide show for her funeral. So glad I could help out. Reconnecting with Cheri and Debbie thru all of this has been great. We will defiantly keep In touch. 

Of course Jan has a special place in my heart forever. She and Krisse and I will always be great friends. 

Strawberry Time!!!

 

I took a class in Relief Society on how to make Jam. Ok I think I already knew how, from making all that Grape Jelly last year. But It was a great refresher.

I made cooked Jam and Freezer Jam. Both super yummy. But since my freezer gets full fast I did mostly cooked jam. I have more shelf space for that in the garage.

I am pretty impressed with my collection of canned storage I might say. And Gary has the Garage super organized. I will have to blog that soon. Before it gets messed up.

 

And I learned a new technique. To cut up all your strawberries use a can that has a raw sharp cut end to chop them up with. It works great! I like to have a few chunks left and this also lets you cut thru a lot of layers all at the same time. Super easy clean up also. Less then a blender. Thanks Jen! 

 Nice big berries from Costco. I am not sure how cost effective making your own jam is. I could probably buy cheaper. But how much fun is that. And I know what is in my Jam.

Thanks Andrew for helping me. Great chopper and stirrer of the Jam!

Why does cooking or baking have to be so messy! Yikes! This is just a part of the mess. No pain no gain I guess.

 Finished jam! 2 batches Low sugar, 2 regular and then one batch frozen.

The kids are loving it! Toast with Jam is now the favorite at our house. I need more bread now.

Photographer for the day...

My old friend and neighbor, who will always be known as Diane Haymond, came to town with her family to run the Seattle Rock and Roll marathon. While they were here she asked if I could take there photos. Of course I would. I love to take photos. :-)

She got lucky with the weather this day. It was great. We met at the Bellevue Botanical Garden. Always pretty there and they just put up a cool little bridge over a ravine. It turned out to be a perfect spot for photos. It is nice and shaded so not too bright. The little kids were great. Well as great as little kids can be. You have to work quick.

Here are a few of my favorites:

Thanks Diane! It was fun to meet all your kids! I especially loved meeting Carter! Will keep him in my prayers for his next surgery to go great! 

Andrew Hike\BC Graduation

Busy day... 

Get the kids up and off to school.

Work on my last day of homework. Really not loving my storytelling class.

Packed and got Andrew ready for his first overnight scout hike. Food and tent and all the other jazz you have to have. He had a great time. But his poor hips were bruised from his pack. This was a good warm up for his 4 day hike in August. 

Getting my self ready for Graduation ceremony at Bellevue College.

 I was originally going for my AA in Business. When I finished my classes back in 1999, I did not understand you had to apply for graduation. Yikes....then Gary was after me to finish. So now I don't qualify for the same degree and had to take another class, whoops. But I am done with that now, with a 3.98 grade point average. Yeah....1 more Year to finish my Digital Media Arts degree. 

They still did not say my name correctly....

Then I went home and finished my home work for Spring quarter. Got it done just in time. 

Republican Convention-Tacoma

I never really thought that I would be involved with politics. But I find my self not happy with how things are going in my area and my country. It really bugs me that Government is getting so big. Ugh...so what should you do if things are not working? Help change it. So here I am doing my part. You can't complain if you don't do anything to fix it. 

It has been very interesting to see how things work. I am just seeing the outer workings also. It just seems that any normal person would not want to be in politics for sure. So I really applaud people who put them selves out there to stand up for what it right. The least I can do is support them and find out the facts. 

This year should be very interesting for sure. I was a delegate for our area and went to the state convention. I helped vote for some very deserving people to head down to Florida for the National Convention. It would be fun to attend, but maybe some other year. 

I have my bumper stickers on for McKenna for Governor, and Romney for President.  People do look at me funny, but oh well. My state is mostly Democrats. I put my stickers on magnets so I can take them off if I am going some where they might make a problem. Not sure where that could be, but just in case. 

The Furhiman's have been great. Ingrid knows everyone. Teaching me the ropes, and we keep each other company when the Ron Paul people start stalling everything. I really don't get them at all. Good ideas, well some, but they have crazy tactics that really turn people off to their ideas. 

 Go USA! 

 Laurie Kruger was at an event I went to for Rob McKenna. She and Cindy went to school with Rob at Sammamish H.S. Way back when. 

Rob McKenna and I- He is running for Washington State Governor. He is super smart and has some great ideas for our state. 

Random May events

Here are a few things that happened in our family, but not enough info for a single post. :-)

 Updated self portrait for Facebook

Vincent fishing in the river behind Davids house. The water is still really high, no fish caught that day. 

We went to the Imax and saw a movie the kids. 

Fun in the rain and wind at a soccer match for Sammamish\Vincent

Andrew leaving for 6th grade camp at Camp Sealth. He had a great time. He is growing up so fast!

I turned 46 and I have a mental block about how old I am. Yikes...Gary got me a fancy new lens for my birthday and christmas and anniversary and it covers any other event a present is required for the year. :-)

Moon Light Ladies Retreat 5/12

A little catch up on life. I had a great time at the last retreat. Such a pretty place to get away. 

Great fun and great food. I had lots of time to work on my cross stitch stockings. One more to go. I guess I should have taken a photo of it. whoops...I will soon. 

Don't you love the lids for the lemonade! So cute....we bought them on line... Etsy?

  Our group made pulled pork sliders and broccoli cole slaw. Super yummy! As you can imagine I am in charge of photos and cutting up veggies. Not a lot of cooking is ever assigned to me. I also clean the dishes well. I wonder why?