It's Almost JULIO!!!

This post is an update of a couple of things going on in my life that I've posted about but haven't....well, updated.

First of all my aneurysm. I did go to see a Doctor who I found to be much more informative than the Doctor that I saw last year. He actually told me exactly where my aneurysm is located and I was surprised, it wasn't anywhere near where I thought it was. I had my testing done the week after I returned from the beach and I just got my results a few days ago. My aneurysm is un-changed. I consider that to be the best news. Remember, the previous Doctor told me that it would never go away, so I'd rather it stayed the same than get bigger.

Our house has been for sale for just over 3 months now. June was a slow month, we only showed the house 3 times. It seems things are picking up with July, last week we showed it 3 times. Michael, Jeremy, and I went to see the house we want to buy. It is completely finished and ready to move into. We made an offer contingent on the sale of our home and expect to hear if it was accepted next week. Here are a few pictures of the house.

The smaller garage (windows facing the front of the house) will be Michael's music studio, the door leading into the house is in there. The bigger garage is where the cars will go, of course. The window above the garage will be Caitlin's room.

I love the kitchen; there is a lot of cabinet space and lots of drawers. The entire center island is big, deep drawers. Notice the 5 little drawers underneath the cabinet next to the stove. What would you put in those?

Hiding in the corner of the kitchen is a walk-in pantry.

This is a view from the family room, if you follow along the side of the stairs you will reach the front door and the living room. On the other side of the wall where you see the door (I think my yellow hutch will fit perfectly next to that door) is a hallway that leads to the laundry room, bathroom, and the smaller of the garages.

A view from the front door towards the back of the house; immediately to the left of where the photo is being taken is the living room.

A view from the living room towards the entryway.

Another view of the family room and kitchen, I love the transom window. There are mini blinds between the panes of glass in the french doors.

Michael and Jeremy in the family room.

This is one of Michael's favorite spots in the house; "come in!" From where the photo is being taken you can turn to the right to go to the master bedroom, and if you turn to the left it leads to the other 3 bedrooms, a bathroom, and the upstairs laundry room.

The sinks in the master bath; if you look in the mirror you can see the reflection of the tub.

This is the master bedroom. The door on the right leads to the upstairs hallway, the other door leads into the master bath. I've never had a master bath, in fact I've never lived in a house that has more than 1 bath/shower combination in it.

Another view of the master bedroom.

A closet in one of the bedrooms.

A view of the upstairs laundry room; the door to the right leads into Caitlin's room (hopefully).

I guess that was more than a few pictures, it was more like a tour. I've been wanting to post pictures, but I've hesitated because I could be setting myself up for let down. I really do want this home....but I will be okay if I don't get it (after my meltdown of course). We still feel very positive. We just need the family that needs our house to find it. As JULIO approaches, my birthday wish would be for some good news, like a contract....or two.

My Aneurysm

It was on June 4th of last year that I found out that I have a 2mm aneurysm in my head. The circumstances leading up to that revelation were that on three separate occasions I experienced a headache-like-none-other. The onset was quick and violent, and I felt like my head was literally going to explode. These three headaches occurred several months apart, it was after the third headache that I knew I needed to seek help, so I went to see a Neurologist.

Mike was with me when I visited the Doctor on the Wednesday (May 21, 2008) before Memorial Day. I explained to the Doctor what had occurred on these three occasions and after listening to what I had to say and then asking me some questions, he had me do some motor skills testing. One of the things that I had to do was to close my eyes and touch my nose with my finger; but hey, I figured I couldn't lose because if I messed up and touched my forehead I could just say, "my forehead is on my nose." I passed the tests. The Doctor was confident that I didn't have a tumor.

The Doctor wanted me to have an MRI and an MRA. I'd never heard of an MRA before. Have any of you? The MRA is performed at the same time as the MRI, but in the MRA they are looking specifically at your blood vessels. I had these tests done on the Friday before Memorial Day, just two days following my first meeting with the Doctor. He had assured me that if there was anything wrong he would know right away, and that he would call me. I'm not sure what part of that that I didn't understand. When he hadn't called by Friday night I figured that I was home free. I felt great and didn't worry about it.

Now I really wasn't being neglectful, I knew that I would receive some kind of report from the Doctor. I thought for sure that he would have called by now if there was a problem, after all that's what he had told me he would do. On Mike's insistence I finally called the Doctor's office on June 3. You can imagine my shock when I was told that they hadn't yet received my report from LDS Radiology (it had been almost two weeks). Maybe I wasn't home free after all.

The next morning I received a phone call from the Doctor telling me that I had a 2mm aneurysm in my head. WHAT!! He basically told me that there is nothing that can be done. If it were at least 11mm or 12mm I could have surgery (I really don't want surgery on my head). The aneurysm could also just sit there for years and do nothing. But....he said that it wouldn't get smaller and that it won't go away. So he sent me home and said to come back in a year for a repeat test so that we could see if the aneurysm had changed.

So....here I am a year later. I don't want to go back to the same Doctor, and I'd really like to get a second opinion. So, on the recommendation of a Doctor I recently saw at Instacare (I'm really not falling apart, I just had a sinus infection) I called Western Neurological Associates. I was quite surprised when I was told that they don't give second opinions. I had actually tried another Neurologist after my initial diagnosis and was told the same thing. I don't get it. I understand that when I had something like....my sinus infection....you don't need a second opinion. But an ANEURYSM!?! I was also told that the Doctor's would look at my case, review it, and decide if they would take me on. And guess what!?! They are taking me on. So I have my appointment all set up. I went to LDS Hospital on Thursday and got a copy of my scans from last year to take with me. I'm really not worried, 2mm is only little (although I don't like being in that big MRI/MRA tube), but....I wouldn't mind a few prayers headed in my direction. Love you all, mean it!!