After yesterdays ordeal into healthcare hell, I had a much better day today. I was able to make an appointment to see a Dr. to get a referral to see an OBGYN. (That sounds like a kid's song - there was an old lady who went to the dr.). The Dr. assured me that in two days I can book an appointment to see another OBGYN. I also have my pre-op on Monday. Ben is going with me and we have a list of questions to ask that my sister wrote up for us. I feel much better about everything. I also continue to be so thankful that my medical care is not like what I experienced yesterday. On a side note, I wrote a formal letter of complaint to Tricare - our insurance - saying this Dr. needed to be removed from the list of approved civilian doctors in the area.
On a really different note, I have all the pieces cut out to make the boys their quilts. How fun to make them for my own kids!!!! I made one for my niece Cherith when I was 16. Little did I know that I would end up making 12 more for all the nieces and nephews that came after her.
Thursday, January 29, 2009
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
Health Care System Reality Check
Wow!! Today was quite an experience. I had an 11:30 appointment to get a second opinion on my endometriosis. I have had all my Dr.'s appointments at the Naval Hospital so this was my first off site visit since we moved to Norfolk. I saw the address and thought it was a weird site for a medical office. I was right. It was in a run down area of town and I was pretty horrified as soon as I walked into the building. The waiting room was filthy. The air vents had spued some black stuff across the ceiling and walls. The chairs were ripped and torn. The carpet was stained and disgusting. I went to sign in wondering what I had signed up for. They wanted me to sign a paper saying I had received a notice of patient rights. When I said that I hadn't seen this paper so I couldn't sign that I had, they claimed to have "run out" then all the sudden they found one. I almost walked out right there. I felt so badly for all the women in the waiting room as I have never experienced anything like this but they seemed to think it was normal. I waited 40 minutes and was just about to leave when they called me back. I then went back to the second waiting room where my blood pressure and weight was taken. They ask me to pee in a cup. The bathroom had chipped tiles and was old, scratched and dirty. I came out and they asked me to go in Exam room 2. I looked in that room and there were two ladies in there, one sitting on the exam table in a robe. I went back out and they asked me again to go into Exam room 2 and I said there was someone in there. Then the nurse looks at me and says they can't treat me today. I'm like what the heck? She shows me a print out of the referral form my insurance which said "confirmation of endometirosis". Well it should have said "second opinion for endometriosis". I looked at her like she had grown a second head. Why was she trying to stuff me in a room with two people if they couldn't treat me. She said I was welcome to call my insurance and reschedule my appointment. Like I would ever walk in the office again. I literally felt dirty leaving the place. I felt so horrible that this is the medical treatment some Americans are getting. I am also going to get on the phone with my insurance right now and straighten this all out but I am also VERY grateful to have our insurance and the Naval Hospital to go to. Yuck I would avoid the Dr. altogether if I had to go to clinics like the one I saw today.
Sunday, January 25, 2009
ONE MONTH COUNTDOWN
One month from today we will find out if we become parents of two adorable Ethiopian brothers or if we must continue to wait. I was thinking this must be like a pregnant lady waiting for her due date. Except if she is overdue it is by a day or week and for us it could be weeks or months. Also she is probably mighty uncomfortable the last month and I can run, jump, dance and basically do whatever this old body will let me. Yesterday we finally set up the boys bedroom. No sheets ect, but the bed, crib and everything are in place. This felt pretty major for us as we have really not done any preparation at all for the boys in order to protect our hearts.
During the next month we have a quite a few things planned. We are heading to New York, NY for a pre-kid get away. I am hoping to finish my kid's book. I am working on quilts for the boys. I also have surgery scheduled for Feb 20th. My mom is coming the 21st to help look after me. I just love having her here so any excuse right??:) It looks to be an eventful month for us.
Please pray with us that we are able to pass court the first time. It would be such a relief to a long wait. Plus those little boys have now been in an orphanage 7 months. It is time for them to come home:).
During the next month we have a quite a few things planned. We are heading to New York, NY for a pre-kid get away. I am hoping to finish my kid's book. I am working on quilts for the boys. I also have surgery scheduled for Feb 20th. My mom is coming the 21st to help look after me. I just love having her here so any excuse right??:) It looks to be an eventful month for us.
Please pray with us that we are able to pass court the first time. It would be such a relief to a long wait. Plus those little boys have now been in an orphanage 7 months. It is time for them to come home:).
Friday, January 23, 2009
Another Life Hurdle
Reader beware - the contents of this post do include girl anatomy and I would rate this PG 13:).
I debated when or if to post about the latest saga in our journey to being a family. I decided to go ahead and put it out there as it will take up a big chunk of the next two months and would need explanation anyways. Plus now that the shock is off I am taking it in stride.
Last week I had a Dr. appointment that was supposed to talk about when we could maybe try to have biological children again. I almost cancelled this appointment as it felt selfish to be thinking of getting pregnant when we had the boys coming. I know they will require a ton of energy to help them bond and learn to trust us both. I really feel it was a God thing that I didn't cancel. During my exam (notice I left out the gory details but all my girl friends know what I went through) my Doctor was surprised to find a growth. This is the same Dr. that did surgery last year to remove a bad fallopian tube, a small chunk of endometriosis and a cyst. He has literally seen my guts so he knows what should and should not be inside me. This is not a small growth but one that is bigger than my uterus. It is my endometriosis coming back with a vengeance. It is about the width of a soft ball. We don't know how thick but we know it is pretty solid. There isn't a lot you can do for this disease - you can cut it out, go on birth control or sometimes getting pregnant helps. Well as Ben joked, getting pregnant is not our forte and I hate the pill(it makes me a she dragon) so we are left with surgery.
The Dr. then tells me that it will be a laparotomy surgery - full cut versus the laproscopic surgery of a two small incisions. He also mentions that the location and speedy growth of this tumor could lead to a hysterectomy. At this point I am trying to think of all the questions I need to ask. He begins to look at his schedule as to when we can operate. He says he can do it in March. I begin to panic as March is when we are hoping to get our boys. He suggests waiting until May. I think to myself "How can I have two toddlers around and heal from surgery when our family is across the continent?" I held it together pretty well in his office. I tell him I need to talk to my husband and call him later to schedule surgery. Walking out of the hospital I start crying and feel like a huge ninny. I call Ben and it turns out he is at lunch about 10 minutes from the hospital. I drive over and explain the situation to him. He is wonderful and suggest booking the surgery and then getting a second opinion while we wait for surgery. He doesn't make it seem like such a big deal at all and just loves on me. He also came home with flowers later!!
Anyways, so the God parts steps in. I get home and talk to my mom and sister who are in the medical field. My sister really wants me to have a second opinion and my mom thinks surgery makes the most sense. I decide to call the Dr. and book surgery. I call the office and the secretary tells me the earliest available date is March 27th. I ask if I can get on a wait list. She says that it is unlikely as there is already someone on the wait-list and surgeries are rarely cancelled. Panic kicks in again and I am about to lose it as that is an impossible date with the adoption. Then she says, "Wait I see a post-it-note from the Dr. that he has already scheduled you to have this done Feb 20th." That is PERFECT timing. My mom is able to come out for a week to help me out, I have a full 5 weeks until we would fly to Ethiopia and 6 weeks until I would be home alone with the boys. The Doctor himself had told me the earliest he could do it was March. He also said he would wait to schedule it until he heard from me. But here I am now scheduled for Feb 20th. I have a second opinion scheduled on Jan 28th. I have been researching this on the internet and my gut feeling is that they will say the same thing that the full loparotomy surgery is the best choice. The size and location of this growth make laproscopic surgery difficult and it would a very long procedure. While I will need longer to recover there is not a better time for this surgery with me not working and not having the boys yet.
I'll keep you posted on what happens at the second opinion. The good news is that everything is set for the court date on Feb 25th. We have heard that our paperwork looks good, the birth mother is ready to go to court and the courts seem to be passing people again. We could still fail, but we are choosing to think positive!!
I debated when or if to post about the latest saga in our journey to being a family. I decided to go ahead and put it out there as it will take up a big chunk of the next two months and would need explanation anyways. Plus now that the shock is off I am taking it in stride.
Last week I had a Dr. appointment that was supposed to talk about when we could maybe try to have biological children again. I almost cancelled this appointment as it felt selfish to be thinking of getting pregnant when we had the boys coming. I know they will require a ton of energy to help them bond and learn to trust us both. I really feel it was a God thing that I didn't cancel. During my exam (notice I left out the gory details but all my girl friends know what I went through) my Doctor was surprised to find a growth. This is the same Dr. that did surgery last year to remove a bad fallopian tube, a small chunk of endometriosis and a cyst. He has literally seen my guts so he knows what should and should not be inside me. This is not a small growth but one that is bigger than my uterus. It is my endometriosis coming back with a vengeance. It is about the width of a soft ball. We don't know how thick but we know it is pretty solid. There isn't a lot you can do for this disease - you can cut it out, go on birth control or sometimes getting pregnant helps. Well as Ben joked, getting pregnant is not our forte and I hate the pill(it makes me a she dragon) so we are left with surgery.
The Dr. then tells me that it will be a laparotomy surgery - full cut versus the laproscopic surgery of a two small incisions. He also mentions that the location and speedy growth of this tumor could lead to a hysterectomy. At this point I am trying to think of all the questions I need to ask. He begins to look at his schedule as to when we can operate. He says he can do it in March. I begin to panic as March is when we are hoping to get our boys. He suggests waiting until May. I think to myself "How can I have two toddlers around and heal from surgery when our family is across the continent?" I held it together pretty well in his office. I tell him I need to talk to my husband and call him later to schedule surgery. Walking out of the hospital I start crying and feel like a huge ninny. I call Ben and it turns out he is at lunch about 10 minutes from the hospital. I drive over and explain the situation to him. He is wonderful and suggest booking the surgery and then getting a second opinion while we wait for surgery. He doesn't make it seem like such a big deal at all and just loves on me. He also came home with flowers later!!
Anyways, so the God parts steps in. I get home and talk to my mom and sister who are in the medical field. My sister really wants me to have a second opinion and my mom thinks surgery makes the most sense. I decide to call the Dr. and book surgery. I call the office and the secretary tells me the earliest available date is March 27th. I ask if I can get on a wait list. She says that it is unlikely as there is already someone on the wait-list and surgeries are rarely cancelled. Panic kicks in again and I am about to lose it as that is an impossible date with the adoption. Then she says, "Wait I see a post-it-note from the Dr. that he has already scheduled you to have this done Feb 20th." That is PERFECT timing. My mom is able to come out for a week to help me out, I have a full 5 weeks until we would fly to Ethiopia and 6 weeks until I would be home alone with the boys. The Doctor himself had told me the earliest he could do it was March. He also said he would wait to schedule it until he heard from me. But here I am now scheduled for Feb 20th. I have a second opinion scheduled on Jan 28th. I have been researching this on the internet and my gut feeling is that they will say the same thing that the full loparotomy surgery is the best choice. The size and location of this growth make laproscopic surgery difficult and it would a very long procedure. While I will need longer to recover there is not a better time for this surgery with me not working and not having the boys yet.
I'll keep you posted on what happens at the second opinion. The good news is that everything is set for the court date on Feb 25th. We have heard that our paperwork looks good, the birth mother is ready to go to court and the courts seem to be passing people again. We could still fail, but we are choosing to think positive!!
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Tea Bag Darling is Back
Last week I went back to my old school to substitute in a First grade classroom for two days. I felt a little like a rock star as kids all over the school recognized me and because they hadn't seen me in a long time they were VERY excited. I heard, "Mrs. Leppard I know you." "Mrs. Leppard I love you" "Mrs. Leppard we missed you." "I saw Mrs. Leppard and she hugged me." They were running up to me all day and hugging me. I on the other hand was desperately trying to remember names.
The first day I was standing at the classroom door waiting for the first graders to come in. The buses let out a stream of students and they are supposed to walk in an orderly line down the halls to their classrooms. One of the first little faces I see coming down the hall is Tea Bag Darling. She jumps out of the sea of students and begins chattering at me as fast as she can about how she reads to other classes now and how good she is at it. Now I know that they often have the very bright but naughty students go read in other rooms as motivation to behave. If they are good that day they can go read. If they have a bad day they can't. On Friday as the sea of students stream by my room, she stays in line but yells out with her little lisp, "Mrth. Leppard today I will wead in Mrth. Ellith(Ellis)room." She is being shoved down the hall by others behind her but continues to tell me this over her shoulder with a huge smile on her face and a spring in her step. At the end of that day she is in the same river of kids being shoved the other direction but she is plodding along with an angry scowl on her face and she says, "Mrth. Leppard I did NOT get to wead in Mrth. Ellith room today." I wish I could show you pictures of her face before and after.
The class I taught in was quite funny as well. I have a finger puppet lion called Henry. Now Henry is a major weapon in my substitute arsenal. I have found that K and 1st graders truly are captivated by puppets and will do anything for them. I keep him in my pocket and he will only come out and visit if they are very good. Once they meet him they will do anything to see him again. I have him go round and give tiny high fives, kisses and hand shakes to each student. They are so hilarious. They will literally shake his tiny paw and shudder with excitement when he talks to them. If they are being loud I make Henry pretend to cry and hide his face and they get very upset that they have made him sad. When he takes a nap I will hear them reminding each other to be quiet "so Henry can sleep". The problem this week was I chose to give him a high squeaky voice. So whenever they talked to him they used a high squeaky voice. I had two Birthdays in one classroom and when Henry started singing with them they all started singing in high squeaky voices. It was awful. The second day that I was in the classroom, the girls in the class had fallen so in love with Henry that they brought him presents. They pestered me all day to give Henry a present, or have him meet their toy that they had smuggled into their back pack to meet Henry. One little girl even gave him Chucky Cheese tickets which in their world is worth more than gold. Lesson learned for me - give Henry a nice low growly voice.
The first day I was standing at the classroom door waiting for the first graders to come in. The buses let out a stream of students and they are supposed to walk in an orderly line down the halls to their classrooms. One of the first little faces I see coming down the hall is Tea Bag Darling. She jumps out of the sea of students and begins chattering at me as fast as she can about how she reads to other classes now and how good she is at it. Now I know that they often have the very bright but naughty students go read in other rooms as motivation to behave. If they are good that day they can go read. If they have a bad day they can't. On Friday as the sea of students stream by my room, she stays in line but yells out with her little lisp, "Mrth. Leppard today I will wead in Mrth. Ellith(Ellis)room." She is being shoved down the hall by others behind her but continues to tell me this over her shoulder with a huge smile on her face and a spring in her step. At the end of that day she is in the same river of kids being shoved the other direction but she is plodding along with an angry scowl on her face and she says, "Mrth. Leppard I did NOT get to wead in Mrth. Ellith room today." I wish I could show you pictures of her face before and after.
The class I taught in was quite funny as well. I have a finger puppet lion called Henry. Now Henry is a major weapon in my substitute arsenal. I have found that K and 1st graders truly are captivated by puppets and will do anything for them. I keep him in my pocket and he will only come out and visit if they are very good. Once they meet him they will do anything to see him again. I have him go round and give tiny high fives, kisses and hand shakes to each student. They are so hilarious. They will literally shake his tiny paw and shudder with excitement when he talks to them. If they are being loud I make Henry pretend to cry and hide his face and they get very upset that they have made him sad. When he takes a nap I will hear them reminding each other to be quiet "so Henry can sleep". The problem this week was I chose to give him a high squeaky voice. So whenever they talked to him they used a high squeaky voice. I had two Birthdays in one classroom and when Henry started singing with them they all started singing in high squeaky voices. It was awful. The second day that I was in the classroom, the girls in the class had fallen so in love with Henry that they brought him presents. They pestered me all day to give Henry a present, or have him meet their toy that they had smuggled into their back pack to meet Henry. One little girl even gave him Chucky Cheese tickets which in their world is worth more than gold. Lesson learned for me - give Henry a nice low growly voice.
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Let It Snow
This MLK weekend Ben and I drove with some good friends up to Snowshoe Mountain in West Virginia. It was a six hour drive but well worth it. We stayed in a great lodge that served a huge warm breakfast. We got lots of fresh snow and it was beautiful. It really was a wonderful weekend. We had a blast sledding with the kids, playing games, talking, drinking hot chocolate and just enjoying the amazing beauty of the area. It was actually really peaceful considering how much playing we did. I found out last week that I need another surgery and I was kind of bummed out so this was just what I needed to remember how good life is:). We also took a ton of pictures. Here are just a few:).
Friday, January 9, 2009
Tree Chopping Leppard Style
Back in December we had to take down an oak that was in our front yard. It was dying and we were told it would cost $900 to have it taken down. Ben decided to buy a chain saw, invite some friends over and do it himself. I decided to be the photographer and to pray for safety as it was all done without a safety harness. Amazing enough the only injury was Ben's scratched cornea. He did have safety glasses on but a piece of sawdust got under them. He is all better now and the tree is gone.
While I knew the tree had to go, I love our big trees and this is how I felt about cutting her down.
Ben on the other hand was very excited to use his chain saw.
Before the first cut.
The final fall - notice Ben doing a cheer in the back ground. The cheer was done with scratched cornea.
While I knew the tree had to go, I love our big trees and this is how I felt about cutting her down.
Ben on the other hand was very excited to use his chain saw.
Before the first cut.
The final fall - notice Ben doing a cheer in the back ground. The cheer was done with scratched cornea.
Wednesday, January 7, 2009
Cutie Pies
I promised to put these pictures up a week ago!! Here are the cuties we visited in Michigan. We loved having a white Christmas and Megan loved being outside with us. Check out this smile.
She was such a good sport and let us put a huge snowball on her belly.
Snow Fort and me with a bad hat day.
I love this pictures. It looks like they are posing but really Megan is trying to grab the shovel out of Ben's hands.
Momma and baby Audrey.
DId I mention that Megan LOVES princess stuff and Tinkerbell. This is her opening Tinkerbell. When she watched it for the first time she teared up when Tinkerbell was sad about something. How sweet is that? According to theory a two year old isn't great with empathy but I disagree.
Baby Audrey who is one of my top three babies EVER. She was so easy to be with and has a sweet nature.
Megan in her new princess out fit. If she had her way she would have worn this every day all day and to bed:).
She was such a good sport and let us put a huge snowball on her belly.
Snow Fort and me with a bad hat day.
I love this pictures. It looks like they are posing but really Megan is trying to grab the shovel out of Ben's hands.
Momma and baby Audrey.
DId I mention that Megan LOVES princess stuff and Tinkerbell. This is her opening Tinkerbell. When she watched it for the first time she teared up when Tinkerbell was sad about something. How sweet is that? According to theory a two year old isn't great with empathy but I disagree.
Baby Audrey who is one of my top three babies EVER. She was so easy to be with and has a sweet nature.
Megan in her new princess out fit. If she had her way she would have worn this every day all day and to bed:).
Friday, January 2, 2009
Praise God - Good News for 2009
Ok, so this adoption road is just a crazy one. Yesterday I posted that we probably wouldn't know our court date until the end of February. Today I woke up to an email telling us that our court date is..........
FEBRUARY 25th!!!!!!!!!
Please pray that we pass on our first try!! God is so good.
We are working on moving our blog and such to our mac site. Here is the link for our happy dance with this information.
FEBRUARY 25th!!!!!!!!!
Please pray that we pass on our first try!! God is so good.
We are working on moving our blog and such to our mac site. Here is the link for our happy dance with this information.
Thursday, January 1, 2009
Christmas in Michigan
This year we did a road trip to Michigan to spend Christmas with Ben's sister. It was a long trip but very well worth the ride. We don't get to see each other that often so it was nice to just hang out together and for us to see their home and life in Michigan. Of course we had a blast with our two nieces. As most of you know being an aunt has been a highlight of my life so any time with the little ones is always extra special. I have quite a few pictures but blogger is slow so this will work for tonight. They are so adorable. Audrey is in her fancy Christmas dress and the second one is Megan in her "princess" outfit.
Another Delay:(
We just got word that our wait for a court date is going to take longer than expected. We hoped for a Feb court date but it is beginning to look like we will only FIND out the date in February. This means that we will most likely get a March/April court date and pick the boys up a month after that. I am pretty sure we will be patient people by the time we complete this adoption!
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