SPRINKLER PARK

It was so hot that I took my niece Nevaeh to the local Sprinkler Park yesterday.

She absolutely loves it there!

MIA'S 2!

Happy 2nd Birthday Mia!

Just look at how big she has gotten...

WATER BALLOONS AND LOBSTER

This past Sunday was so nice out that I decided to take a ride up to my parents house. My Mom's being telling me that the Strawberries are starting to come in and they had plenty to share. When I got there my Parents were outside watching Nevaeh play in her pool and within in no time my both of my sisters, my nephew Jonathan and my niece Savahna all showed up. Danni had a bucket of water balloons in tow!

Nevaeh was so funny. When she got hold of the hose, watch out. She completely soaked me and my Mom numerous times but it was so hot out it was all in good fun!

I spent over 10 hours straight outside with the kids while my sisters went and did various things in the house. I really did have a blast but went home with a wicked sunburn, I know better but didn't even think about sunblock. It is now a standard in my purse so this doesn't happen again!

One of the best parts of the afternoon is when one of the neighbors stopped by with a huge lobster he had won in a shoot. I guess he won a few of them and wanted to share since my dad had helped him with something the previous week.

The lobster was so good! What a treat!! Mom boiled it up and then Dad chopped it all up and removed me outside. Boy I bet my Mom was glad it wasn't in the kitchen because it caused a huge mess. Afterwards since there were so many of us I suggested they make a lobster salad and get some rolls and we could all have a sandwich!

Yummo!!!

FENWAY PART 2

And Here's some pics inside the park. We went to two Red Sox vs Mets games. Mets won one game and Sox won one game!

Dustin

Nick Green

Big Papi

Jacoby

Jason Bay

FENWAY FAVORITES

I had such a blast last weekend that's it's taken me this long to recuperate and get to posting some pictures.

These are various ones I took outside around Fenway Park......

WEEKEND PLANS

Happy Memorial Day Weekend Everyone!

I'm very excited since I am going to 2 baseball games this weekend. We're heading out to Boston tomorrow to catch the Red Sox vs Mets game Saturday night with some friends. We're staying overnight and then going again on Sunday!

Even though I am very excited for this weekend in general, I'm exspecially excited for Sundays game since we have Home Plate Pavilion Seats which are right off the upstairs restaurant at Fenway. They have waiter service and separate bathroom!

I'll defiantly post pictures when I return.

I hope everyone has a safe holiday weekend!!

Let's Go Red Sox!!!!!!!!

BRACE PICTURES

Here's a few pictures of my Figure 8 Brace......

OK LETS TRY THIS... AGAIN!

OH VEY!

I know, I know it's been a long time since I posted anything.... Again!

I promise I really am going to try to keep up this time but you know how that goes!

Since my last post I continued working and going to school. There was nothing really new to report just the same ole stuff day in and day out.

But then everything changed on April 1st!

I woke up to the most excruciating pain all through my right shoulder and my collarbone and chest area. It was awful. I couldn't do anything but sit and cry. I assumed to was a bad muscle flare up due to the Fibromyalgia and I already had a scheduled apt with my Dr on the 10Th so I figured I would deal with it till then since all the reading and researching I did pointed to a muscle flare up. I worked a few more days and then couldnt do it anymore. I started to call out of work and did nothing but stay home and cry. No matter what I tried to sooth it, it didn't work.

Finally the 10Th rolled around!

The Dr listen to me and then felt the are and concluded that I was right and it was a muscle flare up. At this point the shoulder hurt so bad I couldn't pick it up and it started to droop and literally hang almost at breast level. I looked completely lop-sided. Dr gave me a note to cover my missed days and we both agreed I would go back to work the next Monday and try it. He also increased my muscle relaxers and Lyrica.

I was back at work for only two days and I knew something was wrong. I now was crying at work constantly and making my co-workers a little uncomfortable. I couldn't do anything, heck I could barely move. Half way through my second day back my sister took me to the local ER. They did x-rays and found out the I had separated my AC Joint about an inch and a half. However the lady told me it was no big deal (as I'm sitting there crying histarically) and I should go back to my Dr. She gave me a few Percocets and wrote me out of work another three days.

I had an apt scheduled back at my Dr's in a few days for an injection to help bring the swelling down so I brought my x-rays then. He said he had never seen a separation so big and immediately sent me to get a figure 8 brace to try to pull my shoulder up and see if it would heal naturally. He also wanted me to do some Physical Therapy. Within three sessions the Dr stopped it cuz it wasn't helping and he was afraid it would separate further. My instructions were to continue wearing brace and to do nothing but rest until my next apt on May 11Th.

Oh did I mention I am of course out of work.... Again!

It's become a big issue since I went back out of work six months from my last leave (I was two weeks shy of six months), they have to review to see if it is the same injury as last time.

Oh did I mention it was same shoulder..... Again!

It was so much fun the first time I thought I would do it again. LOL. So yea it's under review cuz they need to determine if its a new issue. It actually is cuz last time it was Rotator Cuff and this time AC Joint. They now owe me over a months pay. I talked to long term lady a few days ago and she said they brought in a nurse case manager and she cant say officially but it looks like its gonna be ruled a new claim, they are only waiting on x-ray report to make final decision.

OK now here's the difference...

If I go back to Long Term then I get 60% of my pay and I need to start paying my health insurance again ($400 month). Plus they also want me to apply for SSI since I've been on that claim for almost two years. Now if its ruled a new claim then I start from begining and get 100% of my pay for 3 months and Costco continues to pick up health insurance. So as you can see I'm very anxious for a Short Term ruling!

Now back to the Dr. I went on the 11Th and had no improvement. Well that's not entirely true, the initial crying all the time pain is gone and now the shoulder/collar bone just throbs and aches all day everyday and it kills. I don't know if I'm just used to pain or it's a different type of pain now?! The shoulder is also not hanging so low, it still droops a bit but much better. Alot of the swelling has also gone down so I can now stick my finger in the "hole". Dr said obviously it won't heal by itself and he referred me back to my Shoulder Surgeon, unfortunately the apt isn't until June 17Th.

In the meantime I'm suppose to rest. I can wear brace if I want, some days I do and some I don't. I just don't think it helps, I did wear it for 4 weeks straight and it did nothing.

Back to being out of work and bored.... Again!

FINALLY AN UPDATE!

Hell Everyone!

Yes I'm still alive!! LOL

The last few months have been completely insane and after many emails wondering where I went, I'm back. Now I can't promise that I'll update my blog as much as I use to but my goal is going to be at least once a week!

HHHMMMM Where to start?!

I've now been back to work for almost three months. Things are still tough everyday but I've figured out a little system that works for me. Although my job does require alot of lifting, I try to do it in steps so it's not a complete shock to my body all at once. For example... I need to purchase supplies for the Photo Lab from the store steel every week. Normally you do one big pull for the week on Monday but I buy a little each day and it seems to work for me.

I get to the store around 8 each day and I go pull whatever it is I might need and then I push it up to the Lab on a flatbed and let it sit there for awhile. Then one of two things usually happen... I wait a few hours to let my body recover from the morning lifting and then unload it all and put it away or sometime when one of my staff get in, they'll unload it and put it away.

Then during the day I only have to lift the paper magazines in and out of the machine depending on what the member orders. Since business is slow this time of year, I only have to lift 20-30 times a day vs continuously. My girls do most of the other "heavy stuff" like my Debby BeBe takes care of filling all the chemical tanks and Natasha does alot of the heavy maintenance and cleaning. I am so fortunate to have such great friends that work for me!! Thanks Girls I couldn't do it without your help!!

Now on to school...

I actually love learning new stuff so I think it's alot of fun! I'm almost through with my second semester and only have four more to go plus my internship. I've been studying like crazy and am fortunately doing very well. I even pulled a 4.0 my first semester!! WoopWoop!! This semester my grades are just as good but back in December I missed a few classes because I was in so much pain so I'm not sure how that will affect my grade. I know attendance counts for like 25% of your grade in each class so I'm curious what my average will be when the semester ends next week.

Although it is alot of work, I know that in the long run it will pay off. I haven't decided though exactly when I will leave Costco. I know that my body can't continue to work there for another 30 years so I'm going to school so I will have a back up for when I'm medically forced out. It's a wait and see situation.

Now as far as my health goes...

Mentally I feel great! I try to keep a super friendly positive attitude everyday so that my body aches and pain don't wear on me. I'm just in so much pain everyday. Since my last blog post I've had numerous injections in my back and nothing has helped and things are hurting more and more. My Dr has finally said that he is pretty positive that I do have the Fibromyalgia like I thought I did plus I also have a condition called Myoplacia which is parlysis of the upper thigh muscles. All this means is that my thighs constantly feel numb and tingly. I have various sensations like this all over my body.

Unfortunately at this point he said there's not much he can do for me except treat me with prescriptions. I told me I can play around with my Lyrica, like try taking an extra in the middle of the day or two at night instead of one plus he also prescribe a different muscle relaxer because the last one did nothing for me. The new one actually helps me sleep better. He said I could take it during the day but since it makes me so sleepy at night I haven't dared! The next step he said we could try was Botoxing all my muscles. This sounded funny to me since I've only heard of it ever being used for wrinkles but apparently he said that it parylsis the muscle so they stop contracting and stop hurting. He said exspecially in my back that it may help with my limping problem.

I guess we'll wait and see! Well that's it for now but I promise I'll take the time to update this more often!!