(Re) Welcome to my (our) blog, Why do I have a blog, and Our Vancouver Trip.

Thanks to everyone for wanting to be on my blogging list!! I hope you don't think that I am trying to "celebrate" myself, or anything, but I thought some people may want to know what is going on with us, and my health, etc, and this a more confined, private way to do that. This is more than just a health update on me, it is also about my thoughts, and our life. I don't want to put a lot of my health info on Facebook, so I thought if anyone wants, I would give them an opportunity to be a reader:) If you don't want to be a reader, then please just let me know, and I can take you off the list. I may decide to make this public, but right now, I will just have it private. I usually let ppl know when I have blogged on Facebook, so you don't have to keep looking every day to see if there has been an update. I won't post pics, b/c frankly, I don't know how:) I also just want to let you know that the things I say here, I don't always want everyone on FB to know, so basically, what I say here, stays here:) ( I am sure you won't refer to anything -re:events, health concerns, etc- on my page, anyway..but just want to clarify). I will put SOME things on here..like I have been doing.

Someone asked me why I had a blog. I tried to explain to her why, and to be honest, I couldn't come up w/ an answer. I think it is a way to a) Share some of my thoughts on "paper", not even caring if anyone reads it. b) IF anyone is interested, especially for ppl far away, they can have an update on us. c) Maybe what I am going through (health, finances, etc) will help someone else, to be an encouragement d) IF we end up having a baby, it is a way to document, and update ppl, w/o everyone in Facebook-land knowing!! I hope that helps you understand a bit why I (we) have one:) I don't update this every week..maybe once or twice a month, if anything exciting is going on!

Ok....Let's start off w/ the Vancouver trip. Actually, first, I have to talk about our car. Back before I got sick (February, maybe??), our car started getting really noisy. (As if you were in an airplane.) Well, b/c we are pretty financially strapped, we didn't do anything about it. So, we drove it all summer, with no incident. About a week or so before we left, some lights came on, and they wouldn't come off. I didn't think much about it, since they had done it before, and nothing was wrong. Well, Anker found out that something WAS wrong!After talking w/ a mechanic friend of ours, we found out that the Wheel bearings were going:( So, off to the parts store he went...and nearly $350 later, he fixed our car!! The passenger side was totally shot!! It purrs like a kitty cat now! We now have something else wrong w/ it, but that is for a whole other post!!

Saturday afternoon (August 28), we set out to Vancouver. Since Anker's sister and her family were busy that night, we called up my 2nd cousin and asked to meet up w/ them for the evening. After hanging out at the mall, and getting an iced tea, we met up w/ N, and we drove to her house. We had a lovely evening, visiting, and meeting her husband, J, and their kitties:) Later Saturday night, we went over to Anker's sisters, and spent sometime visiting. This will be probably the last time we stay there, as they are moving to Victoria:( Oh well, at least we have a reason to go there now!!

Sunday, after a nice breakfast, we went to the PNE. I really didn't want to go, since financially, we really couldn't afford it. His sister helped a bit, so that was nice. We didn't do any rides, and bought minimal foods (we realised later that we should have just gone to McD's for supper, oh well), and didn't buy any items. It was a perfect day, w/ minimal sun (which was fine w/ me, since I was wearing pants), and lots of cloud. I walked all over, and the only thing hurting at the end were my feet!! I think the best thing I enjoyed was the RCMP Musical Ride. It was totally worth it!! We also saw the Super Dogs, and some Acrobats:) We ended up staying for the night showing, which was pretty fun. It was their 100th year anniversary, so it was kind of nice to go:)

Monday, was my first day of appointments. I have realized that you can really only fit 2 appts in one day, otherwise, it is too much, and they would get missed (due to timing). We went to BC Women's and Children's Hospital for our first appointment. I saw an internal medicine specialist, specializing in obstetrics (I think that it was she was called). This was because my specialist here wanted me to see them, regarding my having kids. He doesn't think I should (a couple of my dr's don't think the same thing). That appointment took nearly three hours. Nice. They took a lot of time w/ us, and asked us a lot of questions, and we asked them a few. After that, we went for lunch. Quickly grabbed a pizza at "The Flying Wedge", and it was so nice, that we ate outside. We then went to VGH (The Eye Care Centre, but same diff), to a neuro-ophthalmologist. (an eye doctor that specializes in the nervous system) One of the Dr's that saw me while I was at VGH wanted me to see one, b/c she thought my eye was twitching. Again, they took a long time examining me, and they didn't seen anything that wasn't congenital (yes, that is a word..it means from birth). It was there that Anker got sick..his allergies, he thought. So we quickly went to a mall to get some meds. Had a quiet evening...supper, movie, reading at his sisters house.

Tuesday, we got up early, and had to clean up, as they were having a showing at their house that day. We said our good byes that morning. Our appt was at 9 am at BCWCH. Off we went, where Anker found free parking!! Saw Dr. Skoll, a pari-natologist, a Dr. who deals w/ pre-pregnancy patients. She was really great, again asking us questions, and answering the ones we had. We told them that were against abortion, and would carry the baby to term. She did say that I could not have twins, so, b/c we will probably have fertility meds, that is a risk we would take. I hope that is a decision that I won't have to make. (to abort a baby) So...I have to do some tests (ECHO, ECG, over night oxemitry), which can be done while we are there Oct 4, for my MS follow up and for my pulmonologist follow up, and then I will also see a medical geneticist sometime as well. Dr. Skoll was very please that we were making an informed decision. She also told me that I would have the baby at St. Pauls, as that is for high risk pregnancies. There is also a chance that we would move, even if it's the last part of the pregnancy, as I would want/need to be close to the hospital:) (or even be IN the hospital) We would try to let me carry the baby to term, or as long I can. If for some reason that I was absolutely unable to have kids, then we would need to make some decisions, but hopefully won't have to happen.

Some of you may ask "what about adoption?" Well, there are a few reasons.. the main one is that it can take 1- 5 yrs for a child, if adopted through BC ministry. We don't have that long..Anker is almost 48, and I don't to start a family when he is 52. We also would like a baby, or a younger (3 and under) child, and I don't think that there are a lot of children that age that are waiting. Also, you don't really know the child has gone through, or if they have been exposed to drugs, alcohol or abuse...but the last part is really not a huge worry...it's mainly the first two reasons....

So, back to Tuesday..after our first appt...we went to Granville Island, as it was POURING rain! What's a trip Vanc, w/o some rain, right?? We had a fun time, though..looking around, and again..not buying anything!! It was around this time, that I decided that I should cancel meeting up w/ my friend. I felt bad, but as it was raining, and Anker not feeling well, I decided that it would be best to cancel it. I gave her a quick call to let her know that it wouldn't work out. In the end, it was a good decision. I hope we can meet up next time. We then went back to VGH, as I had to see the Neurologist. Unfortunately, I made a mistake and cancelled the first half of my appointment with the metabolic clinic. I didn't realize that was a big part of the appointment. Thankfully, they were still able to take me, and we spent a lot of time answering questions, etc. I also had to have an EMG, but they weren't able to do my diaphragm, b/c of my being on Blood Thinners, so in a way, it was a bit of a waste. We still don't know what caused me to get sick. It could either be respiratory, muscular, or neurological. I think we won't ever find out. Anyhoo...still, more tests, more appts:(

The trip home was trying. We left VGH at 4, and got into Chiliwack at 6. That was thanks to construction, etc. It rained until the Summit, and it was ok after that. Poor Anker got quite sick:( We quickly grabbed some supper when we got home (we hadn't eaten much all day), and got in around 9 or so.

So, that was our trip. Since this is a long post, I will blog again SOON about what we have been doing.

Just a side note..I managed to get Anker's cold, but thankfully, I was able to sleep quite well at night, thanks to "Frank". It acts like a humidifier, so it loosens things up (sorry...TMI??). We are both better now..still have some coughing..but nothing too major.I should also mention that there IS free parking in Vancouver. Anker found a FREE space just across from the hospital..nice:)

ONE LAST THING:) I am getting an abdominal ultra sound in Vernon on the 20th, just to make sure that there is no fluid (I think there could be..one of the drs in Vanc did say there might be a bit). You can get one there in about 2 wks, which makes me wonder..why don't more ppl go to Vernon/Kelowna/Merritt??