Air Time

I have come to enjoy morning radio shows over the past few years. Since moving to Salt Lake I found I enjoy listening to "radio from hell" on X96. They frequently have a segment called "Hello, Yeah? What?" where people can call in and talk about pretty much anything. A couple of weeks ago there were 2 or 3 people that called to get an opinion on possible baby names. So this morning when the segment was announced I decided to try calling in. I was on the air for a minute or two. I decided to also seek opinions on names we are considering. Though we obviously reserve the right to change our minds at any time, we are considering either Liam or Griffin (spelling not yet determined). I have never been on the radio before. And i think it was a lot of fun. BTW... The radio hosts all prefered the name I like over the one Em wants.
Thanks for reading.

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Saturday Fun

Today was a nice Saturday for many reason. We relaxed at home this morning until Em's mom and Tony came over. Her mom took her and Maya, and Em's sister and daughter for some girl time (craft/thrift stores, etc.). Tony and I went to the car show in Sandy. Saw quite a few cool cars, including a Dodge Challenger, which is my realistic dream car (though it was not the right color). It doesn't what my real dream car is, cause its never going to happen for multiple reasons. I had this moment today where I realized that you people reach a point where they are literally wasting tons of money on their car.
Honestly, why would someone spend almost $70 K on a Cadillac Escalade when they could buy a VERY similar SUV from Ford or Chevy for less than half the price? Do the luxuries in the Caddy really warrant spending twice as much? Really? I highly doubt it. And I dont care that people buy it based on the fact that they can afford it. Thats a stupid reason to spend way too much money on a vehicle. There was a Bently convertable there at the car show... I $#!* you not, the MSRP was $370,000. Dont get me wrong, it looked like a nice car from where I could see it (they wouldnt let anyone get closer than about 10 feet from any of the Bentey's) but not $370K worth of "nice". Still... It was a lot of fun. We then all got back together for frozen yogurt. All in all, a good Saturday.

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Sick Again.

Last night was a rather long one. I guess its what I need to gear up for when the baby comes. A little after midnight, Maya woke up and wanted to use the restroom. She had been coughing earlier yesterday, but when she woke up in the middle of the night she couldnt stop coughing. I stayed up with her, trying to get her to go back to sleep. Everytime I would lay her back down she would put her hand on my shoulder and say "you're a good daddy". Cute!

Em took her to see the Dr. This afternoon. He says she has bacterial pneumonia, but he says we caught it suprisingly early. Whenever she is sick and you ask her how she feels. She has the cutest response.... "not So very good". Poor girlie!

Also, she has come to love helping Em clip coupons. So we got her some saftey scissors, and she has a ball. She essentially cuts the advertisements into confetti. Very cute to watch.

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No Longer Feeling Comcastic

We have been talking about it for a couple of months, and putting it off for just as long. Today Em called Comcast and cancelled our service.
In October, we were looking at our bill and noticed that the bill for our cable had nearly DOUBLED! We had set up automatic bill-pay so we wouldnt have to worry about it, which only made it less painful when the rate went through the roof. Keep in mind that we had only the most basic channels they offer + a DVR. When I opened the account they specified that the $44 per month was the continual price, not some introductory offer. Now we were paying $78... Ummmmm, hello? We dont watch $78 worth of TV per month. So, in our continual effort to save money, we dropped Comcast today and signed up for a free month subscription of Netflix... $9.99 Per month. In addition to the DVDs they will mail to us, we can stream unlimited movies/tv shows through our Wii. We will give it a go, and I will let you know how it goes.

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Testing the water...

I know its been a long time... But this year will have me blogging again. I will start posting some real material soon, but for today I wanted toh try out the blogger application I downloadeed to my phone.
Anyone who read/reads blog probably already knows this, but a lot has changed since the last time I wrote. Maya is pushing 3, and we have a baby boy on the way, due around her birthday. Im finished with my orthotics residency, and am just starting prosthetics while I continue to see my orthotic patients.
So, anyhow... Like I said, short and sweet. Here is a picture from earlier today. I was trying to teach tic-tac-toe to Maya... Admitedly a bit beyond her attentions span/interest level. Still, we had fun.
Alright then... Lets see if this App works! Thanks for reading.

-Branch

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Yeah... Im Really Writing.

Don't have a heart attack or anything, though it should be a big surprise that I am finally blogging. I guess I really didn't feel like it for the last few weeks before leaving Dallas, plus there's the fact that we only just got internet in our home today (I tried to "borrow" a neighbors wireless signal, but they all have passwords). It was hard leaving Texas, but it didn't take much to make me happy we moved. The friends and city were great, but being so close to family and the lack of humidity wins. tomorrow I start my Orthotic residency for the next year, and I couldn't be more excited. A few days ago, I took Emily and Maya down to the office to introduce them to my co-workers. Em is really excited for me, and she can't believe how nice of a place this is. I have been in a few P&O offices in Dallas, and there is only one that holds a comparison. *Funny Story* Ok, background info first. Someone had told me that If I was serious about applying for a residency at Shriners, I should learn to speak Spanish, so my mom offered to buy the Rosetta Stone (spanish obviously) so I could learn. I found a used set (ended up being a copy) and never got serious about trying to learn. My mom has given me some crap (rightfully so) about not putting in the effort. I didn't get a residency at Shriners, but by the time I went for interviews, I had realized that I didn't want to work there anyhow. OK... now the story. After taking Em & Maya down to my new workplace, a few hours later Phil (the residency director) called to ask if I can speak Spanish. He paused for a few seconds "..... you still have a job either way...... but it would be really great if you spoke Spanish". I told him I would dust off the Rosetta Stone CDs and see what I could do. So anyway, soon I will hopefully be able to speak spanish. Typing that story out made it not sound nearly as interesting or funny as I thought it was before... sorry. Anyhow, Im going to study some spanish and then head to bed. Talk to you all later!

Branch

Wow...Im a Sucky Blogger

WARNING: This is a random blog, and I started it about a week ago, so the date is wrong. I actually I know you are not interested in my apologies, but I'm sorry for going so long without writing anything. Time keeps getting away from me, and school is almost over. The fact that we are moving in about 3 weeks was a vague concept to me until just the other day. We decided we could start packing some things that we don't have to have handy. We started with all the pictures and decorations in the whole house. Looking around, it looks like someone sucked the soul out of our apartment. Anyhoo.... time for an undate of everything going on here. 2 weekends ago, we went a couple hours south to Clifton, Tx for a class retreat. We stayed in a little bunkhouse, got tons of fresh air, cooked over a fire, relaxed and just enjoyed each others company. My friend Alan brought his bow for some target practice. Here is Emily's first shot...


Last week Himaya turned 1! I can't believe how fast the last year has flown by, and I can't believe how much she has grown and changed. Of course we had to let her go crazy with a cake, so here is another video of that.

Yesterday we finally took some traditional pictures of Maya down in Ennis, Tx. Probably every kid who grows up in Texas has pictures taken out in the bluebonnets. Thanks to the Doyle family, we had an ideal spot to take the pice, so here they are.

What a Week!

What a great week! Spring break finally came and I was able to fly back to Utah/Wyoming to see Em and Maya. Em is way too thin, and Maya was grown so much, but I couldn't be more happy now that we are back together. Maya is now amazing at walking around, dancing and she is getting a decent sized vocabulary for an 11 month old girl. Though I didn't think it was possible, she has gotten even cuter. I have some amazing pictures of her, but I can't post them yet. Em took her to a friend from Rock Springs who took super-cute pics of Maya in her tutu. We have gotten the proofs, but I won't put them up until we order the prints... you will all say "awwwww" when you see them.
While in Utah, I had the opportunity to have an interview at Hanger Orthotics and Prosthetics (which I felt went really well), and I was able to visit Shriner's Hospital. Shriner's wouldn't let me have an interview, because not all applicants can go for an interview in person. So they only do interviews over the phone to elliminate bias. It was good sitting down with the residency director though (interview or none). Em said that while sitting there, I should have pulled out my phone, asked for the number to his office, called and requested an interview right then(technically over the phone).
Wednesday night we headed to Wyoming for a short trip to see more family, and so I could go fishing with my dad and my brother Keelen. We went to the Flaming Gorge Resevior, and had a great time. There were times we had to reel in to allow large floating sheets of ice to drift by, and it was a bit chilly every now and then, but it was a great day. In case you were concerned, yes... I did catch the biggest fish. The true trick is a secret I have taken an oath not to divulge, but it is effective. I had so much fun, especially since I never get to hang out with just my dad and brother. We totally bonded.
Friday we headed back to Utah, though it took us 4 hours to really get on the way. My brother got a flat tire about 12 miles out of Green River (my home town). Having preformance tires and no spare, it took a long time, and 3 trips to the car/town to get everything together. Once we had the tire and the right jack, it only took 5-10 minutes to actually change the tire. Under normal circumstances this would have been really annoying, and everyone would have been at each others throats, but we laughed at it and made it fun.
Saturday night Emily and I got to go on our first date since Maya was born. My mom and aunt watched her and her cousins while Em and I went with my sister, her husband, my brother, and our cousins with their husbands to a comedy show (crappy sentance structure... I know). We went to a place called Comedy Sportz, which is an improvizational show that has locations all over (can't wait to go to the one in Dallas). It was hillarious and wasn't crude/vulgar. We all had a great time.
Yesterday, we came home and just relaxed. Today I had to go to school and then to clinic rotation. While there I recieved a call from the resident liason for Hanger P&O, and she offered me a position at the Hanger in Salt Lake City, UT! I am so excited!!! My first day will be June 1st. It was a HUGE weight off my shoulders, because there were only 2 places in Utah I could possibly go. We celebrated with seafood, capping the day off on a high note.

Upswing

All in all, things are definitely on the upswing around here. Even though Em and Maya are still in Wyoming, things are getting better. Emily had an appointment with her neurologist last Tuesday... they deemed her healthy and decided to start weaning her off the meds. I will be flying there a week from Friday for spring break, and they are coming home with me the next week. I sent my resume to quite a few places in Utah, a place in Idaho and another in Denver. I heard back from one practice in Salt Lake (Hanger prosthetics and orthotics) and I have an interview set up for the 10th... Im really excited, and I am hoping to hear back from other facilitiles this week. I really miss Em and Maya, s I can't wait to see them. Here are a few videos Em sent me of our little girl.


This is Maya's first Balloon ever




She loves suckers!



Just a video of her eating.

Gonna keep on keepin' on

So... I haven't blogged for a few weeks (mostly due to my lack of blog-worthy material), but here we go again. I am still holding down the fort (or apartment) while Em and Maya are in Wyoming. Em has been getting steadily better, and has now gone a month without a seizure. Though the recovery seems near complete, she is still easily fatigued and doesn't know if she is yet able to be alone with the little-girly all day while I'm at school/clinic. People keep asking when they are coming home; the answer is...well...I don't have an answer. We origionally planned that they would come home after the neurology appointment on Feb. 17th; but if she does that, less than 2 weeks later, I will be gone for 10 days interviewing for a residency position. We are thinking that she may just stay there until after I interview, and we can just all come home together. We will see.
So after a lot of complaining, I finally got a video of Maya taking a few steps. This is from a few days ago...I think Em said 4 steps in a row is her personal best.


This one is Maya doing a little dance while playing with her toy dog.

Lately, we have been able to communicate despite the distance thanks to the magic of technology.

1200 miles have never sucked so bad...

School has started for me again, and with clinic hours this semester I am gonna be really busy. Emily and Maya are still in Wyoming until Em is recovered enough to come home. Yesterday the headaches had gotten bad, and she was vomiting again, so her mom took her back to the ER. They did yet another lumbar puncture (spinal tap) to check the pressure in her head/spine. Normal pressure is apparently 15 or so mm/hg. Last week the pressure was up to 47, and yesterday it was 52! After the LP her headaches get a lot better. This time her white cell count is finally normal, so her body is actually winning the battle. She was released with more medication (this one to bring down the pressure). She went home and slept most of the day and night (ativan is a good drug). She is feeling a little better today, but exhausted as usual. Maya has been getting better and better at standing in one place, and today actually strung 2 steps together. Unfortunately, nobody had a camera turned on, so I will have to wait to see it. Her favorite words are: mama, dada, kitty, wow, and almost says uh-oh. She is learning patt-a-cake too. Even though this sucks for me, our parents are really enjoying the bonus time with Maya. 1200 miles is way too far away!
-Branch

Stagefright...

I get the feeling that Emily has stagefright, and is shy about having a seizure here. She has been off her Kepra for 2 days now, and has not had an "event". The Doctors think she looks a lot better now, and I agree. She is about to go for one last MRI, and if nothing comes back abnormal (besides the usual abnormal mind she has always had) they will release her. They are going to put her back on Keppra again to prevent future seizures... I can't help but think she is going to have one just after they cut her loose. They took off the EEG leads, and she has a lot of work to do getting all the glue out of her hair. She actually allowed me to take this picture full-well knowing it was going to end up here on my blog. Em is in good spirits, and though it will be a few weeks or more until recovery, she will be fine. Thank you all for caring, calling, texting, praying for, or just thinking of us.... It will (without a doubt) be a Christmas vacation to remember forever.
-Branch

Change of Plans...

So this morning the doctors came by for rounds as usual, and the plan for Emily was changed a bit. As I had said in the last blog, Emily is on twice the Kepra (anti-seizure medication) as she was before this round started, but they were looking for seizure activity on her EEG. This morning the docs said that they were going to cut her Kepra by half so she could have a seizure or two. They ran this by the epileptologist (a neurologist who specializes in seizures) who told them that it was a stupid idea, and they should just take her off Kepra completely so she will just have one. Unfortunately, she had already taken 1000 mg of Kepra just before rounds, so she may not have one until tomorrow. If they catch a seizure on the EEG, they will be able to see where they are starting. Then they can do a focused MRI on that area of the brain to see if there is a problem. They were looking at her getting out of here tomorrow, but now it is looking more like Tues. or Wed. I would put up another pic, but nothing much has changed since the last one. Thanks for following our story, I will keep you all updated!
-Branch

EEG Head... or is it EGG Head (maybe both)

Emily is doing a lot better again. She is more with-it, and hasn't had any seizures since yesterday. Actually... the neurologists won't accept that she has had any seizures at all until they see one show up on the EEG (electroencephalogram). So the plan is to keep her head covered in little sensors that monitor her brain activity until Monday or so. We see holes in this plan though. They are keeping Emily on anti-seizure medication (double what she was prescribed last time we left the hospital), but they want to see her have a seizure so they know what is going on... How is she supposed to have one, when meds are working hard to prevent it??? We have asked, but their answer doesn't make sense. Both Emily's mom and I are a little annoyed that they won't accept that she has been having seizures. She is an ER nurse, I have a lot of experience working with epileptics. We have both seen our share of seizure activity. So if they weren't seizures, then what were they?
Emily has this white hat made of bandage to cover the EEG leads, so we decided to make it more fun. Her sister used my sharpie to lighten-up the situation. Emily and I want to thank you all for reading and caring about her.

Round Four

Heres to the longest day I can ever remember. Emily had been feeling a lot better, so we headed down to Wyoming to visit more of our family. On New Years Day, Emily and I took it easy in the morning, and we went to my parents house to watch football and to visit. Emily took about a 3 hour nap, and didn't seem to feel well, so we just took things easy. Later on that night (back at her mom's house) Emily started to experience some different symptoms. She started to have right arm/leg weakness, tingling and numbness. She started having difficulty finding the right word for things, and was confusing names and things. She had ataxic gait (meaning she walked like she was drunk), and she was really upset about everything that is happening to her. Within 15 minutes or so, the numbness resolved, and she was pretty-much back to normal again. We went to bed, but I decided to just keep an eye on her for a while. Just before mpdnight she woke up with intense back pain and headache, and shortly thereafter she had another seizure. We took her to the hospital in Rock Springs (where her mom works) by ambulance. Some time in the ambulance after she left Green River, she started speaking nonsensically. For about 30-45 minutes she would look right at and talk to us, but she was stringing together random words making no sense whatsoever. The look on her face made me think that what she was saying made perfect sense to her, though it was gobbledygook to everyone else. She then had a long seizure, and was thought to have gone back into status epilepticus (constant state of seizure) which is dangerous. She had a CT scan, and was given lots of meds to try to stop the seizures, but she really needed to see a neurologist. There is no neurologist in Rock Springs, so protocol was to get her back to Salt Lake City. She went in an ambulance to the little Rock Springs airport, where she flew by airplane to SLC. She then took another ambulance from the SLC airport to the University of Utah Hospital. Emily's mother and I left Rock Springs as they were about to load her into the ambulance, and we got to the Neuro Critical Care ward as she came in (great timing) She has had more tests (i.e. another spinal tap, a chest X-ray, blood tests, and she is back on another EEG). The doctor just came in to tell me that the preliminary results for the spinal tap show high white blood cell count, and they are still seeing viral meningitis. She either has relapsed, or (more likely) it never was fully delt with. We should have some more results in the morning, and hopefully some answers. For those who don't know, Emily and Himaya will not be coming back with me to Texas next week. They are going to stay here between Utah and Wyoming... we have a lot of family to keep an eye on her and Maya while she continues to recover until she gets her strength back.

One Day at a Time

Emily is doing better now and is back out of the hospital again... we are just going to take things one day at a time. We have little plans for the remainder of our vacation, because we just need to see how things work out. Emily is on better anti-seizure medication now and I am making sure she gets it. The recovery from meningitis can take a while, especially if it gets as bad as hers did. She is weak and tired, but sick of laying around. It turns out her kidney is just fine, leaving us with one less thing to worry about. She does still have a significant amount of pain in her back, and it may take some time to resolve. She has set a goal to steer clear of all hospitals until Himaya gets a baby brother or sister... sounds like a good goal to me. We are again thankful for all the calls, messages and prayers, as well as the blessings from heaven. Emily will be okay, but it will take some time. Thanks again! -Branch

Round 3... and the scariest day of my life

First off, let me wish everyone a merry Christmas; cause if I don't throw it out now, I am likely to forget.
Round 3 you ask? Yes... round 3. Emily was released from the hospital Tuesday afternoon with only a prescription for anti-seizure medication, even though she was complaining of headaches and a lot of back pain. That night and the next morning the pain got worse and worse. We decided Em needed to go back to the hospital because she was in constant pain, and couldn't find a comfortable position. while getting ready to go she kinda blacked out, and wouldn't talk to us for about 10 seconds or so. So she went back to the hospital by ambulance. They tried morphine for the pain. When that wouldn't take the pain away they gave her dilated (about 10 times more powerful than morphine) which also didn't work. A little while later, they gave her caffeine which worked like a charm. She was let go with a prescription for red-bull, coffee, monster or whatever kind of caffeine she wanted.
Christmas day was a lovely hospital-free day, though Em had to keep up the red-bull and no-doze. She woke up this morning in extreme pain, and instead of waking me up, she layed moaning on the living room floor. The moaning eventually woke me up, and when I got out there I was sure she was just finishing up having a small seizure. *note: I have a few years experience working with people who have chronic seizures. I called the on-call neurologist, who said we should come to the ER later when she felt a little better... meaning after she got her caffeine fix. *another note: Emily had forgotten to take her anti-seizure meds last night. Emily had a pretty bad 10-20 sec. seizure on the couch, and after she recovered, we got ready to go. She said she felt ok, and she didn't want me to call for an ambulance. On the way to the ER (her dad drove while I sat in the back seat with Em) I experienced the scariest few minutes of my life. Emily had another smaller seizure, but she stopped breathing. After 5-10 seconds of completly losing my cool, I pinched her nose, tilted her head back and gave her a couple of breaths. She started breathing on her own again, but it was short shallow breathing. I kept my ear on her nose/mouth while I called 911. They wanted us to stop and wait for them to get to us, but the roads were HORRIBLE, and I kept telling them that they couldn't get to us and get Em to the hospital as fast as we could get her there if we kept driving. Emily stopped breathing again, and restarted after 2 more rescue breaths. We made it to the hospital, and she has had a bunch more tests an MRI and a couple of CT (cat) scans. They found that the back pain may be due to the compression fracture to one of her vertebrae. It was hypothesized that she may have arched her back so far during a seizure last Friday, that she damaged the T11 vertebrae. The MRI showed a few small infarctions in her left kidney (this means a few small parts of the kidney lost blood supply, and essentially died). They don't know exactly when it happened, or what caused it yet, but she just came back from another CT scan of that kidney, so we hope for more info in the morning.
They are going to keep her overnight, and we will see what they have to say when the CT and other test results come back. Thank you all for your prayers, calls, texts or thoughts. I know that Emily will be ok, and that the Lord is watching over her and our family. I will keep you in the know. -Branch

Much Better

The doctor cleared Emily, and we left the hospital just after noon. They were still not able to determine what virus caused the meningitis, but they ruled out the ones that require long-term antibiotics. Emily Himaya and I are staying with her dad in Murray Utah for a few days until Em recovers. Thank you all again for your comments, thoughts and prayers... It meant a lot, and it made a difference. -Branch

Improvements

Emily is doing better all the time. Today they moved her out of the ICU and into a room. She is still on a restricted diet for now (since she pulled out her ventilator tube and may have hurt her throat), and her back hurts from laying down for days. She is walking around some, and we may be looking at being released sometime tomorrow. I want to thank everyone again for all the help and the prayers. I am especially grateful to those who stepped in and took care of Himaya while I have been here with Emily... I can't thank you enough!

Doing a lot Better

Emily is doing better now, but not completely out of the woods. She had been on sedation (basically a medically induced coma) for 2 days, but this morning we got good news. The EEG showed no signs of seizure, and Em was doing almost all the breathing on her own (the ventilator was only kicking in when she took a breath). The doctors decided that they would cut her sedation medication by half and we would see how she does. Right after the nurses left the room, Emily pulled a gumby-like move and pulled out her breathing/feeding tubes. They are a little concerned that she may have damaged her throat by pulling the balloon through, but they haven't done a swallowing test yet. They have turned her sedation meds off completely now, and Emily is talking (through a raspy voice). She was a little confused and upset that she lost a couple of days, but things are looking up. Thank you all for your prayers and for keeping our family in your thoughts... It means more to me than you vould ever know. She is likely to be angry at me later for the pictures, but I wanted to show the improvement. -Branch