Day 8 - Worst test of them ALL!!!!

Day 8 at the Mayo Clinic in Scottsdale, AZ today started out with a very easy test, ECT Holter Monitor being hooked up. Then off for a bit of a break and back for the great test of the Esophageal Monometry. This test by far has been and will be the worst one yet. With out sedation and very little numbing, if any, I had a tube stuck in my nose and to my stomach. I still have burning in the nose and throat. I laughed at one point just after vomiting, because what the nurse said and a conversation JG and I just had a few days prior on dumb things nurses will say. “Ok now don’t move, just breath, you can not breath while you are gagging, take deep breaths, and swallow” “would you like a little drink of water to coat your throat with?” “ok now don’t move, just relax your shoulders and drop your chin (all while gagging).” “It is ok just let it come up it is just mucus (hello I am gagging and vomiting what do you think I am going to do, swallow it?). Please can someone tell me how this sounds to someone that was sitting straight up on a gurney with a wall to her left and the nurse and machine to her right? Where was I really going to go and why in the world would I move just to experience even more pain? I don’t know but tonight I had some great laughs about it with a friend. No worries I took pictures of the beast that tortured me for all of you to have to see as well. No, I did not take the chance of ever having a picture with the tube in, since I just wanted it out as fast as possible.

After completing the day at the Mayo Clinic I met up with the Fleming Family at there brothers for a BBQ (yes on a rainy day) and games. It was a lot of fun, I laughed so hard I was crying. With a bunch of competitive people playing “catch phrase” it gets a little loud and out of control. I will say the best part was the winning team had to do a dance; oh that team happened to do the can-can and had two guys on it. I would pay just to see that again. The evening was very fun and it made my stay here even better. I have had a blast with the Fleming family. It has been great just being treated as part of there family and feeling so welcome. I don’t know what I would have done with out them. I have wonderful memories I will always cherish. Thank you Fleming family, you guys are amazing!!!!

The upcoming week!

The upcoming week does have some testing and such, so for everyone that is wondering what is next, here is my itinerary.

Monday Dec. 22nd
The day starts in the afternoon at 1:15 PM at the Scottsdale Campus. I will have a 24 hour ECG hooked up, yet once again. From there I will head to the Gastro department for a Gastro MOT test. This is where I will have a tube down the nose into the stomach for a little over an hour. They will measure a bunch of stuff and how it is working. From thee I will be off to a BBQ at the Flemings’ Brothers’ home and then the Temple lights all together. They have invited me and I would love to have some Christmas times with them since I can not be with my own family at this time.

Tuesday Dec. 23rd
Today will start at 7:30 AM again at the Scottsdale Campus. I will have to report to the Radiology Department for a Gastro emptying test. This is where we will have to eat some radio active food consisting of an egg sandwich and milk. This will be about 4-12 hours depending on what happens with the food moving on. After that I will report at 2:30 PM to turn in my ECG holter monitor.

Wednesday Dec. 24th
This is the LAST DAY…so is the hope and prayer. I will start at the Pheonix Mayo Clinic at 8:00 AM, to meet with the Cardiologist, Dr. Luis Scott. Then I will head to the Scottsdale Campus to meet with Dr. Steven Krotzer, Consultive Medicine, at 10:30AM, to see what the diagnosis and treatment plan will be. No, worries guys after Friday it is a good chance I will be back here and right now I am not allowing for this to play in to the picture. AS SOON AS I AM DONE, I AM OFF TO CALIFORNIA!!!

Day 7 Sabbeth in Durango Ward

Day 7 the Sabbath in Gilbert, AZ. This morning started out a little ruff, I did not sleep well, and I passed out. No worries, I made it through all of church! It was a first in a long time. I really enjoyed the Durango ward. They are very nice and welcoming and so many love and miss the Shelton family. All of them wanted me to say hello for them and honestly I can not say I remember one name. Today was a day that I was able to relax and just enjoy life, not feeling like I was being held down by this “illness thing”.

After church we all returned to have a nice dinner and Emily and I had some laughs while making some brownies. I can not say enough how grateful I am to have the chance to get to know this family. It has been a huge blessing to me and has allotted me the chance to relax and less stress while getting the medical care I am in need of. I am amazed at how humble they are and willing to help everyone. I thank you again RS for your help in getting me in touch with this family and ward. THANK YOU!!!!

We will watch “Errand of Angels” and other then that, I will just relax, and call friends and family back. Thank you everyone that has kept me in your prayers and helped me so much, supported me, and loved me through these trials over the last 9 months. Today I have pondered this much and can not come up with words on how grateful I am and humbled by all of your love. I have truly learned who my real friends are and how to be a better friend to those around me. I can only hope I can be half the woman many of you are! Thank you for teaching me and being the hope when I could not hold on to any.

Day 6 Enjoying a day off!!!

Day 6 today was spent enjoying the Phoenix, AZ area. I was able to sleep in and relax this morning, get caught up on some work emails, and meet up with Kristal Guison (mission companion in Nashville, TN.). It was great to visit with her for the first time since the mission! Her mother was with her and it was great to see her as well, since I met her on the mission. Guison was here in the Phoenix area passing through to move back to Springville, MO. Best part was that I was so blessed to see her and spend some time with her. We met up in a town called Guadalupe, AZ. Nickname, “little Mexico” and was very fitting. We were able to speak in Spanish again, eat some great food, and buy a piece of jewelry. We watched in the marcado some Spanish dancing, people just enjoying one another’s company, and having fun. We spent about 4 hours together in this town and felt so great to be with people who just loved life and wanted to share with you there culture. I truly enjoyed that time. Below are some photos of our time together.

After Guison got back on the road I headed over to Fleming’s brothers home, to watch the BYU vs. AZ game. Can I just say BYU can now be bumped down to high school level on the playing field? I am not so sure they even brought there team! I thought for sure they would have had that game…but no! The Fleming families have been great and I am so grateful for them opening there home to me and treating me like family. I have enjoyed the time here and will look forward to having them as life long friends.

Day 5 - Sorry no funny saying...happenings this time

Day 5, at the Mayo Hospital in Phoenix, AZ. I had what appeared to be a short day today; little did I know I would arrive at 8:00 AM and not leave till 5:00 PM. No worries time was all a matter of another world today.

I started my day off with a great thing called an EEG, an ultrasound of the heart through the throat. I have had a few of these since March. Today’s by far was the best one yet. I did not wake up nauseated; I finally awoke after they gave me some medication, and an hour and a half of sleep. Bryan, The Fleming families’ son, was my driver today. He really is a great kid and was so amazingly helpful. Best part was he was entertained and impressed with the hospital enough he did not get board. The nurse was from Indiana and was quite funny. She helped a lot in getting me up on my feet, well kind of, she made sure that Bryan knew to not let me try and walk for at least 3 hours. The doctor performing the EEG was from Australia, here at the Mayo Clinic to get further training to take back to her home country to help them.

Next I was able to meet with the Neurologist fellow, Dr. Byron R. Spencer. He seemed to be very good, not my favorite doctor I have met with, but once Dr. Timothy J. Ingall, he specialized in stoke and cerebrovascular stuff. They did not think I should have had the closure so fast, maybe I should say they think that I should not have had the device at all. They think I should have had open heart surgery to close the connection. He also admitted that everything with the PFO closure devices is still very controversial. Much of it is still in research here at the Mayo Clinic. He feels that the part of what is going on very well could have been caused by the PFO closure device. It was quite interesting to also find out that Dr. Spencer will be in Utah for another Fellow in April at the U of U. Dr. Ingell trained with my neurologist Dr. Futrell in SLC. He feels she is very amazing and asked what she had said when she suggested this closure. He seems to really respect her and still works with her over the phone and such.

Once we were done there at about 5:00 PM, we came back to the house. We had dinner and watched the movie “The Pursuit of Happyness” this movie was very good! I would see it 100 times more if I could. I feel there were some really sad times, I even cried a bit. Over all I enjoyed the movie and took much from it in hope, determination, perseverance, and never giving up on ones dreams no matter how “scary” it may seem. It was a great movie for me to watch with everything going on here.

As for this weekend, it is a time for me to take a break and forget what is happening. I plan to have some good times, laugh, and enjoy all of Phoenix.

Here is the one picture I did have today, just after they were ale to get me up… as I was walking to sit in the wheelchair.

Day 4 - Laughs and Pictures

Day 4 at the Mayo Clinic in Scottsdale, AZ today is a day filled with test, meeting another Doctor on the team, and more test. The greatest thing happened though, I was able to eat a breakfast then start fasting for the MRI tonight. I was so excited, you have no clue!

This morning my first test was with Stacy, doing the Pulmonary Test. She was a ball of fire from Indiana. Indiana girls truly are wonderful! LOL! She had me laughing and was nice enough to take picture of the testing. I have to say the pictures are funny!

As for the Endocrine test, it was boring, I just had blood drawn and a shot to see what happens when they cause my adrenal glands to work. It was a test to see if I have Addison’s disease. I was able to sleep for a moment and get rid of the dizziness, light headed, and nausea. No worries they kept the IV in for the MRI, which was taken off and put back on 3 times. After they said I was to have it, I was all changed, and then they said they can not do the test. For the love!

I did meet my Gastroenterologist today, she is really nice. She and this other guy doctor, she consulted with, does not think it is my gastro system. As they put it, it is Cardiology’s job to rule out that it could be Cardio issues. They say that the test over the next few days would have to show something significant for it to be gastro. They will retest me to see where the gastroparesis is and if it is getting better. They say if it is still there that they will have to have me go see a dietitian. Not that I have not controlled this on my own for the last, say several years, but it is there precautionary way to make sure I am doing the right thing. Over all it was a good visit and I will get my results over the phone by Tuesday. I really like how things just flow here.

All in all it was a good day, even with my schedule changing about 4 times today. I have an early day tomorrow and the weekend off, thank goodness since I will have another TEE with sedation tomorrow. Then again that is always subject to change I have found out. The bad news is they are thinking of having me come back after the 25th. I have told them I can’t and that I have to be back in Utah, but we will see what happens.

The Fleming family, which I am staying with, has really been great so far. There son, Bryan will be the one staying with me tomorrow through all of this. He is attending BYU and seems to be a great kid. We have laughed a lot tonight and it has been good to get to know them. One of the highlights of my day was talking with a friend on IM, she had me laughing so hard today, plus she helped me pass the time in a joyful way. Thanks JG!

Here are some pictures from today… enjoy laughing!

Day 3 - Hardest Day

Day 3 at the Mayo Clinic in Scottsdale, AZ and at the Mayo Hospital, Phoenix, AZ; this morning I was at the May Clinic location for the second half of the stress test. I LIVED! Yes there were pain but none the less I made it through. That is till I was really light headed and the nurses would not let me walk or pull out my own IV. OK so it was “radio active” but still, I was done and did not want to wait for them. I just wanted sleep and to get on to the next test… oh and eat for the first time in about 18 hours. I only had a 30 minute opening.

I was able to make it to the Fleming’s home early and had time to get to know Gayle. She is a really sweet lady and so grateful I have the chance to stay there. Funny connection, her daughter in law is an old mission friend. Out of all people it was Erin Hanson, from the DR. I was shocked since I have not talked with her in about 3 years and we just lost touch after she was married. Plus her son served under some friends of mine in Hong Kong, the Ong’s.

Gayle took me to the Mayo Hospital where I was poked and prodded for a tilt test! Oh the joys! The two nurses were really nice, like everyone seems to be. The best part was they did not have to put in an arterial line in my wrist. They have this new finger censor that works the same. I love the Mayo and there new technology! You will see this in the pictures below. The bad part was they could not get me to pass out. Ok, so the two that were doing the test did not have anyone all day pass out on them. Bad part is they needed to see this and could not get it to happen. Then again my heart rate did not drop low enough.

The evening ended with making tons of calls, if yours was not returned forgive me, I still love you the same, and I have been crazy busy and getting caught up from day’s old calls. Then I had dinner and went to sleep, more or less. Can I just tell you it is great to have home cooked meals that I do not have to prepare! I LOVE IT!