Med Board Update

I know it's been a while since I last updated the blog.  I'm not sure where the month of May went.  It flew by super fast.  Probably because we were so busy.  Ben had tons of appointments.  And it felt like we were always on the go.  Which isn't neccessarily a bad thing, but it can be exhausting.
But anyway, an update on where we are in the whole med board process.  We finished all the doctor appointments for the VA.  He had to have a complete head to toe physical done, xrays done, eye and ear exams/tests done, and a psych eval.  All of those were done in a week.  And most of them were downtown Honolulu.  Have I ever told you how much I hate driving down there?! That's another story for another time though.  So now that the appointments are all done, we are just waiting on the results/write up from the VA.  We should have that anytime now.  We were told it typically takes about two weeks from the last appointment, and it's been about three now, so we should have it any day now.  Hopefully next week.  Once we get that though, our Army doctor can finish his write up.  When he finishes that, we get a copy that we can take to legal to have them review to make sure we aren't being screwed over.  Once we are happy with it, everything is sent off to Seattle where it is reviewed by the Army and VA.  And that's when the real waiting begins.  The average wait time to get our rating back is about 8 months right now.  Of course that can be shorter or longer.  It really depends on who you talk to.  We've had people say we'll be done by October/November, and others say it will be February/March.  I'm hoping it's on the shorter end.  But with how complex Ben's case is, it may take a bit longer.  The VA doctor who did Ben's physical said his case is one of the worst he's seen, and he's been doing it a while.  Just goes to show how much the Army has beat him up.  They never would have let him join with all the problems he has now.  Anyway, sorry, I got of track again.  So we are just waiting now.  I'm hoping we'll be home by Christmas.  But I'm not making any promises.  We really won't have a good timeline until we get our rating back.  And even then, that's as long as we agree with the findings.  We can always send it back if we don't agree with what they say.  As long as we get at least a 30% disability rating though, we'll be happy.  Because that means it will be a medical retirement and we'll be getting a monthly paycheck the rest of his life.  The higher the rating the better, since that's more money, but we'll take the 30% if that's what they give us.  I'm sure it will be more though, just because of all the problems he has.
So that's where we are.  Just waiting.  It's always hurry up and wait.  Hopefully we'll have more news soon though.

Easter 2012

Easter was pretty quite around here.  We went to church and heard a nice Easter Sacrament program.  I was a bit confused when we started singing Christmas hymns in April, but then realized that the program was covering the whole life of Christ, not just the resurrection.  It was a nice reminder that this season isn't just about his death, but really his whole life.

Of course we couldn't have Easter and not color eggs.  I found the dye at Walmart, and really got it just for the stickers.  Who wouldn't want to open up the fridge and see a dozen eggs looking back at them?! Haha!  We ended up having dinner with some friends.  We had planned on doing the traditional ham and everything, but they invited us over at church so we went there.  It's always nice to have someone to spend holidays with. So we went over there and had homemade lasagna.  Visited and watched a couple movies, and just had an enjoyable time.  We've kind of had a hard time making friends over here, so it was nice to have some friends we could go hang out with. 

 We also did some Easter baskets.  Mommy and Daddy's baskets just had some candy in them.  And Kaylin's had some bubbles, a new swimsuit, some little swimmers diapers, and a little floaty tube that we can take to the beach and pool for her to sit in.

I think she liked the basket the best... Although she does love the bubbles.  She likes watching them float across the room and popping them when the land on the carpet.  And she looks pretty cute in her swimsuit.  So now we just need it to stop raining so we can go to the beach one of these days...

And I can't forget her dress.  Isn't she gorgeous?! She got a lot of compliments on it at church.  I wanted to take some pictures of her outside on the "grass" but it was raining.  So maybe one of these days if the sun decides to shine again we'll have a photo shoot outside.

Although it was a quiet holiday, it is one I am thankful for.  I am thankful for my Savior, Jesus Christ, and his sacrifice for me.  I'm not perfect, but through Him I can be.  I know He lives.  I have felt His love and comfort many times, especially in the past year with all we've been through, and I am so grateful for that.  I don't know what I would do without that love. It's such a comfort to know that there is someone who understands my feelings and what we are going through. I love my Savior!

7 Months

Okay, so she won't be 7 months until Thursday, but it's close enough.  I can't believe how big my baby is getting! We had our 6 month WIC appointment last Thursday, and they did her height/weight.  She is now over 26" long and was 16 lbs 2 oz (with her clothes and diaper on).  Holy cow! 

So here's some updates and things she's up to now...

She loves food! And she loves to try feeding herself (as seen in the above photo).  Her favorites are bananas and sweet potatoes.  We've started meats, but she still prefers the fruits and veggies.  I won't complain right now though.  The first poopy diaper I changed after she had some chicken... YUCK! They just seem to be getting stinkier and stinkier! Haha! She also loves apple juice.

 We got her ears pierced back in February.  She did great and only cried because we had to hold her head still.  She was fine after that.  And she looks so cute in them! Before leaving Boise we got her some that are her birthstone- sapphires. Beautiful earrings for a beautiful baby girl!

She's almost always a happy girl.  We've had some rough days lately, but overall she's usually pretty happy. She loves her puppies!  Misty has no problem letting her climb on her, pull her ears, poke her eyes, give her kisses.  Smokey doesn't like it very much though.  He'll go over and smell her and give her kisses, but he doesn't like it if she goes over to him and touches him.  Misty couldn't care less, as long as she is getting attention. 

She is moving around a lot more now.  She sits up by herself.  Scoots around on her bottom.  Can push herself up on her hands and knees but hasn't quite figured out how to get them to work together to move around.  She can go backwards, but usually ends up on her face when trying to go forward.  Which isn't so fun when you have wood floors and the rug doesn't have any padding under it.  She has only fallen off the bed once.  Thank goodness there were no serious injuries.  She had a little scrape on her wrist, but that was all we found.  I think it scared her more than anything. She's a quick little thing.  Daddy had just turned his back for literally a second and she was on the floor from the middle of the bed. Needless to say we don't leave her on the bed alone any more...

I took this picture while we were back home.  She loves to be outside.  We were having a rough day yesterday, and the only way I could get her to stop screaming was by going for a walk.  So I put her in the stroller and we went for a walk in the rain. She eventually stopped screaming and fell asleep.  But she loves being outside any time.  I wish we had more grass than weeds in our yard. And I wish the playgrounds around here were more little kid friendly.  I haven't seen any parks with baby swings. :(  I think I'm going to have to get one that we can just hang from the back patio...

So that's what she's up to right now.  Getting bigger and trying to be more helpful.  She thinks she needs to help me type now, which really isn't so helpful.  But I still love her.  We still hear how cute and beautiful she is everywhere we go.  And it's the truth! She is a doll!  

Family Vacation

We FINALLY made it home the beginning of March.  And it was a much needed vacation for all of us.  The first few days were super busy.  We flew in Thursday morning, Friday we went to Twin Falls to take my brother through the temple, Saturday we blessed Kaylin, and Sunday was my brother's mission farewell at church.  So lots of family time the first few days, which was great.  After that, things were pretty laid back and we didn't do a whole lot. It was a nice change from our busy lives here in Hawaii. 

But here's a few thoughts on that first busy weekend... 

Our trip to the temple was wonderful! It had been a while since we had been through a session.  With Ben's pain it's hard for him to sit that long.  And having a baby, well we just never made it.  So it was nice to be able to go.  My sister watched Kaylin for us, and she did fine up until the last 10 - 15 minutes or so.  Which is great since that's the first time we've left her with a babysitter.  Anyway, the temple session was nice. It was our first time in the Twin Falls Temple (Boise is closed for renovations right now).  Bryn is the first of my siblings to go through, so it was nice that we could be there.  Both sets of our grandparents were there, along with several aunts and uncles.  It was so nice being there with so much family.  The only other time we have been with that much family in the temple was when we were sealed, so it's been a while.  It was nice having them all there though.  Afterwards most of us went to IHOP for lunch, which is always yummy!

We were finally able to get Kaylin blessed.  Granted she was almost 6 months by the time we got it done, but we really felt we needed to do it back home.  We had lots of family there for that too.  Ben did a great job with the blessing.  It was short and sweet and got done what needed to be done.  It didn't help that she wanted to squirm around and see what was going on.  We had my dad and brother, two grandpas, a close family friend, and the bishop stand in the circle with Ben.  We are so grateful for the love and support they have all given us! And for everyone else that was there.  We had a nice turnout. And afterwards we had some cake and ice cream and did some visiting with everyone.  Before we left though, we had to get a special picture.

It's not often you get a five generation photo.  I LOVE this picture! Besides Great Grandma (Kaylin's Great Great Grandma), we are all the first born.  And Kaylin, me, and my mom all share the same middle name. My favorite thing when we were taking this picture though happened when Kaylin wanted to go see GG Grandma.  So she switched laps, took Grandma's cheeks in her hands, and gave her a "kiss" right on the forehead.  It was the sweetest thing ever! We are so blessed to have such an awesome close family!

Bryn's farewell was the following day (even though he didn't report to the MTC for another 3 weeks).  He did an awesome job though.  He's been in the MTC for about a week now, and he'll be headed to the New York Utica Mission.  It covers Upstate New York, including Fort Drum.  So if we had gone there like our original orders had been, we would have been in the same area! But instead we'll be on opposite sides of the country.  I'm so proud of him though! He's going to be a great missionary! 

So that was our busy weekend.  The rest of the time was spent visiting and hanging out with family.  Kaylin loved all the attention she got.  There was always some around to hold her and play with her.  

I LOVE this picture of her with her Uncle Bryn.  She really loves her uncles and aunt.  It happened more than a few times that she would be upset, and one of her uncles would walk in the room and suddenly everything was okay again.  

She has her grandpa wrapped around her little fingers too.  She loves Grandpa! Especially the funny faces and noises.  He could always get her to smile and giggle.  And I loved watching them play together.  It was great seeing my dad so happy.  He is such an awesome dad and grandpa!

And who doesn't love their grandma?! Kaylin could totally be a scrub tech like Grandma when she gets older.  She loves her grandma, and Grandma definitely loves her! Grandma spoiled her while we were there.  Toys, clothes, attention.  And Kaylin loved it all!

Towards the end of our trip we had some family pictures done.  We wanted to get some taken before we headed back to Hawaii and Bryn left for his mission.  We were just missing my oldest brother.  But we did them anyway.  We headed to the Boise Train Depot, and my cousin came and snapped the camera for us.  

 Our "matching" attire was jeans and sweatshirts.  So not really matching, but kinda.  It fit us though. :)

 And of course, a shot of our little family.

My birthday was the day before we left to come back to Hawaii.  Ben, Kaylin, and I went to lunch at Olive Garden which was yummy.  We had the grandparents over for some cake and home made ice cream later that night.  Yum! Home made ice cream! It was a good day.  I got some new stamps and craft stuff, and a new camera! Well new to me. It's a Nikon D3000.  My dad found it on Craigslist, and paid for half of it as my birthday present from them.  Thank you again! I love it! And Ben loves it! He likes using it just as much as I do.  It was a great birthday!

So that pretty much sums up our vacation.  It was much needed.  Seeing how as soon as we got back we were thrown back into the busy schedule of doctor appointments and Army life.  That's okay though.  This is the final stretch.  The next time we go home, we'll be home for good! 

Progress Report

It's been just over two months since Ben's last surgery, and so far everything is still going alright. The leads haven't moved, though one of them isn't hitting as well as it used to. But he's still getting good coverage from the other, so it's hard to say what's going on. We saw his pain doctor on Tuesday, and even he is dumbfounded as to why he still hurts. It's not as bad as it used to be. Instead of his pain being up around 8-9 like it used to be, it's now more around a 5 (or 6 when it's bad). So definatly better that what it used to be, but still not completely pain free. We decided to try another procedure, which will be done on the 18th. I can't remember the exact name of it. It was kinda long and complicated. But basically the doctor is going to go in and burn the ends of the nerves so they stop sending the pain signals. It's a riskier procedure, but the doctor has done it several times and feels comfortable doing it. So I should probably be more concerned than I am, but meh, it's just another procedure. He's had a million done before. This one's not much different. So that's where we are with the pain. He's still hurting, and we're still trying to make it stop. We FINALLY got the med board started. YAY! Now it's just a hurry up and wait thing. We are still waiting to hear when his first appointment with his med board doctor will be, but once that happens things are going to get super busy. The first part is all doctor appointments. At the first appointment we'll go in and go over all his aches and pains with the doctor. So we'll talk about his stomach pains, his back pains, his kidney stones, his carpal tunnel, and every other little thing that bothers him. And then the doctor puts in referals to get all those different problems checked out if needed. We have 100 days to get all those appointments done. So the next 3 months-ish will be full of doctor apointments. And that will include VA appointments too. Then once all those are done, they send all their findings and paperwork to Fort Lewis. They come up with whatever they decide, then send it out to the VA headquarters in Seattle and the VA decides what their rating will be. The VA sends it back to Fort Lewis, who then sends it back to us in Hawaii. When things are running smoothly, that part takes about 120 days. Things aren't going smoothly right now, and it's taking over 200 days. But once we get the results/ratings back, we can either agree with their decisions, or if we don't agree we can appeal and have them look at it again. Once we get results that we are happy with though, we will have no more than 90 days left in the Army. So it's a very long and confusing process. Luckily we have our liason person who will help and guide us through each step. But it's looking like it will be about a year before we are done with it all. Could be shorter, could be longer. We'll just have to wait and see. At least things are started though. And we can say this is finally the beginning of the end. :)

Finished Product

I finally finished my quilt! It was been a work in progress for quite a while. I started gathering the fabric while Ben was deployed (all the way back in 2008). And then I just kept putting it off. I'd work on it a little bit, and then put it off again. I finally finished it though! It's nothing too special. Just blocks sewn together, and tied with multi-colored yarn. I used a king size sheet for the back. I didn't have a frame or anything to tie it on so there are wrinkles and uneven spots, and by no means is it perfect. But I love it. It's big enough that we don't have to steal the covers from each other at night, and Kaylin loves the bright colors and grabbing the yarn. It was pretty easy and really didn't take that long once I sat down and did it. It was just a matter of finding the motivation to sit down and do it. But it's done now! And perhaps I'll do another one of these days....

Final Surgery?!

Ben had his surgery last Friday, January 27th. I meant to update this sooner, but things have been a little crazy. We had to be up at the hospital at 530 am. Yuck! He was the first case, which was nice. But like everything else when it comes to his medical care, nothing can go as planned. The plan was to just go in, move the leads back down into place, and be done. Hahaha! They spent an hour just trying to get the leads, which they couldn't. So they ended up taking the whole unit out (leads and battery pack), replacing one of the leads, and then putting them all back in. So what was supposed to be an hour surgery, actually ended up being three hours. The good news is he didn't stop breathing this time! But he was in a lot more pain. They gave him about double the local anesthetic they usually use and he was still hurting. On the upside though, because he wasn't so out of it, they were able to get the leads in a really good spot. As the doctor was saying at his follow up appointment the other day, he has a very small window where he gets the coverage he needs. Even a tiny bit higher or lower, he doesn't get the same relief. So they got the leads positioned, and he's getting great coverage now. The pain isn't completely gone, but it's better than it was even after the last surgery. He's still hurting, but most of the pain is just the post-op pain right now. We are now working on getting him off the narcotics. He's been taking dilaudid and morphine since before Christmas, so we are slowly cutting back on them. No one wants to be on that stuff anyway, and in the long run they can actually make the pain worse because the body just needs more of it. So we are getting away from those, and then we'll start working on getting him off all the other pills he's on. He takes like 7 different pills right now. It's going to be a long slow process because some of them have some nasty withdrawal side effects, but we'll do what it takes.
So all in all things are starting to look up a little bit. The big thing now is just making sure he takes it easy for the next little while and takes the time to heal so the leads don't move again. We are looking at starting the whole med board process in March. We could probably start it a bit sooner, but we're going to wait a little bit so that we can take some leave and go home for a bit. Because once the process starts, we won't be able to take leave. And it's definitely time for a vacation. And as long as the commander approves Ben's leave, we'll be home for about 3 weeks in March. Yay!