So ready for the new season!!! Go NINERS!!!

Back to school

It's been a tough road back but I am so grateful to be back at school. Currently I am trying to play catch-up and getting used to my new plumbing (peg-tube placed a couple weeks ago) but I am adjusting well with fewer ER trips so that is good too. Stephanie is working, going to school full-time, and being a great mom and wife as usual. I'm so grateful to have her support and help and also for all of our family that sacrifice and help us as much as they do. Things are still rough but looking up. I'm cautiously optimistic...

A new chapter in our lives...gastroparesis

Hoping that typing this out will serve a couple purposes, 1 to let everyone know what has been going on and 2 some therapeutic release personally.

The start of unfun symptoms
So over Spring Break we went to DC to visit some family and one morning in particular we were supposed to go to the National Zoo but I was feeling very sick and ended up vomiting. I felt guilty for not feeling well so after vomiting I ended up getting dressed and we went after all. Fast forward a few weeks into April and I remember the day before my birthday on April 13th I had an all day workshop to go to for school but that whole week I had been feeling very nauseous every morning without fail. I didn't want to miss so I went and ended up making it through the day.

I was still probably going to have the condition but menudo probably sped it up a bit...
My mom has spoiled us with a tradition of letting us choose any meal for her to make on our birthdays. So this year I chose menudo. Saturday morning I woke up feeling good (which was a welcomed change) and started eating menudo. I didn't eat anything else that day, and over 3 meals had 5 bowls of menudo. That night and especially the next day I was in horrible pain. I knew the following Monday was my last day of classes so I decided to tough it out and got through Sunday. Monday morning was even worse. There was no way I was going to tough it out and I knew something was wrong. My wife and mom convinced me to go to Urgent Care (I was afraid that if I went to the ER I would be admitted and miss my trial that night) so I did and I was diagnosed with gastritis (inflammation of the lining of the stomach) but even as I was diagnosed "due to extreme stress" I didn't really believe this was it. The worst part of this day was that Mondays that semester I had 3 classes and was at school almost 12 hours. My last class on Mondays was Trial Advocacy and this last day of class we were having our trial. This class was pass/fail and I had a couple key parts in the trial as well as our 2 exhibits. I felt like I really needed to be there so I missed my first two classes and in horrific pain took a 3 hr nap. When I woke up I felt very nauseous and dehydrated. I went to the trial and toughed out the 3 hours to make sure I passed the class. I went home and the next morning the real "fun" began.

Don't go to Banner Gateway...
April 17th. I woke up again in horrible pain. By this time I had been vomiting every morning at least a few times. This day was no different. Sometimes taking a warm shower was helpful so I ended up borrowing my parents' shower and at a low point remember eating a jell-o while showering to try and hold some food down and then curled up laying on the floor of the shower for about 20 minutes because I couldn't take the pain. Finally I was stable/not so nauseous that I could handle Steph taking me to Banner Gateway ER. They couldn't figure out why I was vomiting so much and ended up admitting me to the hospital. The GI dr didn't have time to perform a scope on me for almost 4 or 5 days that I was in there. After x-rays, cat scans, blood work and more tests they said NOTHING was wrong with me! I could not believe that after vomiting almost 100 times this past week that nothing was wrong with me. I was desperate for them to find what was wrong and I think they were too. Even while I was in the hospital my symptoms were not subsiding. I was still vomiting to the point that all I had left to vomit was bile. It took my parents coming to visit me one especially terrible morning to see me in terrible pain and then complaining to some supervisors before the staff was willing to give me medication strong enough to manage my pain and symptoms. They did a different test and found out that my gallbladder was only functioning at 12%. They said because of where my pain was it was very likely that removing my gallbladder would fix the pain and I could get on with the rest of my life. I was all for it. My gallbladder was removed and I started feeling better. Another day later I was set to be discharged. That morning the GI dr.'s rep came in and told me that they could scope me that night and I needed to immediately start fasting to prep for it. I was feeling well and figured my problem was over so I told her to leave. I went home and started trying to recoup from gallbladder surgery. I ended up having to take incompletes in 4 of my classes from the Spring semester because I was in so much pain and dealing with recouping from the surgery (ASU Law has been amazing in working with me through all of this). My healing from the surgery was going well but slowly over the next few weeks the old symptoms of extreme nausea and vomiting started coming back. At first I figured it was just part of the healing process from the surgery I had. I ended up at my primary care one morning especially nauseous and she told me I needed to get to the ER right away because my symptoms were not to do with my surgery.

Apparently I didn't learn my lesson...
I went back to Banner Gateway and dealt with one of the WORST doctors I have ever met. She was extremely rude and unsympathetic. She basically told me nothing was wrong with me, that I was not having an emergency situation so she was going to have to send me home after giving me some basic fluids. I refused the fluids and told her to discharge me immediately. I went home, took a nap and when I woke up my wife and mom again convinced me to try going back to the ER.

Experience with a great hospital 
This time I went to Scottdale Osborn which was one of the better choices I have made so far. The doctors in the ER were very sympathetic and legitimately tried to find out what was going on. I was admitted because they didn't think vomiting uncontrollably was normal after all. While their facilities are not as nice as Banner Gateway and sometime you have to share a room as I did that night, the care I received there was second to none. The worst part of this experience was when they gave me the drug Reglan in the ER. Reglan is used to treat people with extreme nausea. While it almost instantly got rid of my nausea, within 2 or 3 minutes of taking the medicine I started freaking out. I felt like I needed to get out of there. I wanted to rip out my IV and just start running. Stephanie had to get the nurse who gave me some Benadryl and eventually I calmed down. Its called a neurological side effect that they describe as "wanting to crawl out of your own skin." Horrible feeling! And once you have a neurological side effect you can no longer take the medication. If I were to continue taking the medication it would lead to Parkinson's Disease-like symptoms. The first night I was there I had to share a room with an old man who like flirting with all of the nurses and wore no underwear. I definitely saw more than I bargained for a few times as he went to the bathroom but I paid him back with the terrible sounds of my vomiting. The next morning Stephanie came to visit me and through the curtain that separates the patients in the shared room the old guy yells to Stephanie, "Your husband is REALLY sick! He threw up 16 times last night...I counted!" hahaha The staff decided with my terrible vomiting sounds that it would be best if I had a private room so I was transferred that day to my own room.

Finally some answers/Help/Bad news phone call
More tests were ordered and a GI doctor who was willing to do a scope on me finally was able to provide some answers. First he said I didn't need to have my gallbladder removed. He explained that a gallbladder will function at a low level because that is all your body needs it to function at. There is really nothing quite so terrible as hearing that you had a surgery FOR NOTHING! He did a scope on me and ordered a gastric emptying study where they had me eat radioactive oatmeal then over the next 4 hours go back to radiology and take pictures of my stomach to see what the oatmeal was doing in my stomach. After 4 hours I could see the oatmeal was still just sitting in my stomach (which is not normal).  While it was nice to finally find out what was wrong with me, it was kind of a situation where the good news is we know what's wrong but the bad news is what is wrong. I was told that unfortunately treatment for this condition is not an emergency procedure so I would have to go home and follow up with another GI dr in my network.

During this particular stay we were also in the process of moving from my parents' house back to our own place. I hate relying on other people for help but I was very humbled and grateful to family who helped so much and to members of Riverview Ward. I felt so bad leaving all of this to my wife to handle but again it goes to show how lucky I am to have her in my life.

An especially low point of this stay was one day my family was helping my wife finish moving some stuff to our house and I was already feeling guilty because my mom's mom was also in the hospital and I felt bad that my mom was not able to be spending time with her mom. I got a phone call from my brother letting me know that my grandma had suffered a heart attack and passed away. I still cannot adequately describe the guilt I felt and how sad I am that my mom didn't get to spend the last moments of my grandma's life at her side, instead she was busy helping us move because I was stuck in the hospital. Sorry Mom...

Gastroparesis
Fun facts: There is no cure. About 1.5% of all Americans suffer from gastroparesis. Of that number, the majority of people plagued by this condition are overwhelmingly women. Of the people who suffer from gastroparesis, 80% are given some relief by the drug, reglan. In a funny way its kinda weird to calculate how little of a chance I had of getting this and that the only FDA approved drug would not work for me.

Some common symptoms:

• There is a feeling of nausea.
• Pain in the upper abdomen
• Vomiting
• Feeling of fullness
• Feeling of Heartburn
• Weight Loss
• Loss of Appetite
• Bloating of the stomach
• Abdominal Spasms
• Fluctuation in the glucose level

May-mid July

Since being discharged the first time I have been back to the ER 4 times because of symptoms getting out of control. The GI dr I saw at Scottsdale Osborn said that with the advanced, severe gastropareisis I have, that my best bet would be to find a place that does a gastric pacemaker where they insert a pacemaker-like device into your torso and attach the electrodes to your stomach to force it to pump properly. There are only 3 places in AZ (Mayo Clinic, UofA, and 2 drs. out of John C. Lincoln) that perform the surgery. I went and saw another GI dr in my network back at the beginning of June and he agreed that I need the gastric pacemaker. I am still dealing with nausea and pain everyday and I have lost about 20 lbs. since it all started. I ended up finding 2 drs out of John C Lincoln who perform the surgery AND take my insurance. I have been patiently waiting to get a referral to see them and get the pacemaker surgery done because I am now forced to take about 6 different medications to keep my symptoms under control. I have had an amazing opportunity to be interning this summer and I feel like I am wasting the chance because of missing work due to these symptoms. 

My wife is wonderful 

The last few weeks have not been easy. Since getting out of the hospital Stephanie has been amazing. She has been learning and reading up on all things gastroparesis, how to cook, what to stay away from, and general tips. She does this all while juggling her MBA program, taking care of Harley, and me on my really bad days (which seem to be outnumbering my good days). I have been having ups and downs trying to deal with the reality that I will be dealing with this condition the rest of my life. So many things are up in the air. We have read about different people's experiences with gastroparesis and there are so many varying stages that its hard to fully grasp the implications of this in my life and our collective lives as a family including putting off the adoption process that we were so happy to have started (though that's a whole other story). Some people have it "not so bad" like me where we can still eat basically normal food just in smaller amounts more frequently throughout the day. Some people are forced to switch to all-liquid diets, and the worst off seems to be people who have to use feeding tubes to survive. I also have to say how grateful I am to the rest of my family and Stephanie's family. Everyone has been so helpful I honestly can't begin to thank everyone for all the kindness we've been shown.

Breakdown & Viewer Beware...Watch at your own risk!!!

About a week ago on my brother's birthday, Stephanie was telling me about a youtube video she saw about gastroparesis that was really sad. She then quickly stops herself right as she's about to show it to me and says "actually everything I've read says you shouldn't watch this kind of stuff, its not good for you." I laughed it off and said just play the video...

By the end of the video I was crying hysterically and had to walk out and give myself some time to compose myself. It wasn't that the video was horrible or anything it was more that it made it real for me. It scared me to think that these are real possibilities for me. My biggest regret with this dumb video was that I made my parents watch it the next day and it really bummed them out. They weren't even able to sleep that night after watching it.

Things that make me laugh

Random. As I type this in the background I have the tv on and 2 commercials that I absolutely love have come on and really made me laugh and put a smile on my face. I love funny commercials. These two happen to be my current favorites. For some reason Steph really hates the first one and that I laugh hysterically every time I see it! haha

My most Recent stay @ Scottdale Osborn

I have been dealing with nausea and pain every day and each day for the past 2 weeks has been progressively worse. When I first got out of the hospital I was able to manage, albeit drugged up, fairly well. The last few weeks have been horrible. At the beginning of all this I found out that somethings delayed and helped symptoms like showering with really hot water or taking a bath and just soaking in hot water. Even with trying these things along with the medications I take every day the past two weeks has been progressively worse than the last. It got to the point where I would take medication both anti-nausea and pain and it would take 3, 4, or 5 hours before I would start to feel some relief and I was back to vomiting basically every morning. This past Tuesday morning I couldn't get any relief and I vomited blood twice that morning. Back to the ER! I was in horrible pain by the time we got to the hospital. I stayed in the hospital basically all week had another scope done where the GI doctor saw food still in my stomach over 12 hours after the last time I had eaten! 

He still says I need the gastric pacemaker surgery and thought about doing a jejunostomy feeding tube (J-tube) which is a surgically inserted tube through the abdomen into the small intestine. For now we are not going that route but it may be readdressed when I see the other GI specialist on Monday.

Some good news: I was so excited that I got the referral to see the dr who performs the gastric pacemaker for this coming Monday!!! 

Bad, bad, bad news. Did I mention I got some BAD news???: I was basically told that there was nothing else they could do for me and I needed to be discharged once again with stronger meds this time until I can do the gastric pacemaker surgery. Also found out that most insurances do not cover the surgery as it is still commonly considered experimental. So I googled: "gastric pacemaker cost" and to my dismay found out that just for the pacemaker it can cost over $20,000 and the surgery all together can cost as much or more that $70,000!!! I don't know what to do at this point. I have my appointment with the GI dr. who does the surgery I need on Monday so I am trying to stay positive and hopefully she will have some ideas on how to get the insurance on board for this medically necessary procedure. 

Now we're all caught up!

Wow if you're still reading this! I haven't blogged in a couple years and as long as this one is I may not blog again for another few years. Anyways at this point I am starting to feel nauseous and sleepy (its 1:45am) and I'm curious to see how the new, stronger meds are going to work. I am hoping to be able to make it to work on Monday and excited for my gastro appointment on Monday. I am really grateful to all my family and friends who have helped me so much to this point. My wife, parents, and siblings are all amazing. Stephanie does so much for me everyday. I don't know how she does it all. My parents are always there for me and willing to do anything for me. My brothers are always doing nice things like Isaias spending multiple hours mowing our yards and Isaac spending time with me or just talking to me on the phone. I am bring to be positive at this point but its not always so easy. Hopefully the new meds work and hopefully I get some good news on Monday. 

Hey, Hey, Hey...

So we are having so much fun here in Carlisle PA... It is such a charming place! I wrote all about it on my new blog! www.stephanieortega.com/blog ...Love ya!

New Pics Of Harley!!

See more @ my new blog www.stephanieortega.com/blog
Have a Fabulous week!!!

Look at my new blog...

http://stephanieortega.com/blog/... I'm not yet sure how that blog's existence affects this blog...hm?

A New Season

Something that I have always been excited for was to be able to spend some quality time watching sports with my son. It was really cool that he was born just in time for the start of the new baseball season so I told Stephanie that me and Harley would be watching the Braves' home opener together! We got our Braves watching gear on and we were ready!

Unfortunately the Cardinals game went over so by the time the tv station switched over to the Braves game, we were already down 3-0 in the first inning!!! I was a bit scared that Harley's first experience with the Braves would not be a good one but he didn't seem so concerned.

It was a great game and the Braves won 16-5! It was everything I imagined it would be and I'm so grateful to have a son that can't complain about having to watch sports with me yet! Finally when it was all done we were tired from all our rooting for the Braves.

Fin.

Harley... Just Perfect.

I never realized how much I would love being a mom. Harley is just the most perfect thing I ever met. It's fun to do everything with him!!!I love holding him and watching him do anything. I think he is so cute no matter what he's doing, even crying!!! What do you think?

HARLEY has Arrived!

It had been a very busy week full of great things! Isaac and Isabella were married Tuesday and their wedding was just beau- tiful!!! Israel's family had a bunch of great relatives in town that we got to spend time with and We got to party at Is and Is's reception on Friday night! We have just been livin' it up! ...This may have been the coolest weekend of my life... (tied with the one when I married Israel!) Israel and I were so happy and surprised when Harley decided to come early! Israel and I spent a few hours after Isaac's reception finishing some midterms, spending time with the Ortegas and eating Menudo. FUN! We got home and I told Israel that I thought my water broke... we thought about it a bit and decided to see how I was feeling after a bit of sleep. Well Saturday morning we woke up and I thought we really should go into the hospital... so we packed up and went to the hospital. They admitted me and the doctor started me on some inducing drugs. I began having contractions real close together. When they were happening about every minute the baby's heart rate was dropping a lot with each one, the nurses and doctors started worrying that something was wrong and they had us sign permission forms to have the baby cesarean. The doctor decided to give us a chance to have him naturally, but if after a certain amount of time it wasn't happening ...then c-section was the way... Luckily it went well, He was born naturally, and when Harley came his umbilical cord was around his neck. They got it off and he was fine! He is so small and sweet! He was born at 10:21 am and weighed 7lbs 8oz he was 21 inches long. He is just so CUTE!!!! he looks so much like Israel it's crazy! We spent a couple days in the hospital and we got home today with our perfect baby boy! It's fun to have him and get to just hold him! I love watching Israel and him together! Israel is a proud papa! I am so grateful for Harley, We are so happy to have him!

Tuesday, Saturday, Happy Days!

So I had a really great week in February! I turned 27 on Tuesday, My future sister in law came in from Brazil, and We had a baby Shower/Bar-B-Q on Saturday. Israel is SO wonderful and just spoiled me rotten on my Birthday!!! He woke me up and gave me a new little camera.... I so wanted one of those! He took me to breakfast at one of my favorite places... The Waffle House. Israel first took me to the waffle house... we have many times returned and I am so used to the place now that I no longer ask for a stack of pancakes! After that he took me shopping and got me a beautiful Purse and Some sun glasses... Love them! My parents were wonderful and took us all out to my favorite Viet- namese restaurant ... YUMMY! Saturday was also a very eventful day! IT rained a bit... so pretty! We went to the airport around noon to meet Isabella... Isaac's fiance. She is so sweet and Isaac just looked happy and relieved that she is finally here!!! We later had so much fun seeing all of our great friends and family at our Shower Bar-B-Q. It was so nice of everyone to come and celebrate our upcoming baby!!! YA... intense and fun week. I also had lunch with some of my great friends... we went to get Thrifty Ice cream together afterwards and spent lots of time just talking. I love these girls!!!... So February was SO MUCH FUN!!!

Valentines Day...

My husband is so roman-tic!!! For Valentines Evening he kicked me out of the house... and stayed home making a beautiful dinner! We ate lobster on Garlic mashed potatoes with grilled corn on the cob. MMM MM!!! So yummy! He got me flowers and Chocolate. He is so thoughtful! (What else could a prego girl want more than chocolates?) I love it! He is so sweet and I just had to tell everyone that I have such an amazing spouse! It was a wonderful Valentines Day! The dinner was so yummy I just had to photograph it!!!

The First Post of a New Month, Year and Decade.

Well one would probably think that a post of this magnitude (Being the first of the new month Year, Decade) would be full of Excitement and wonder... well it is not. It is as normal a post as most! Israel and I have had loads of fun during this break from ASU. We went caroling on a hay ride and we saw many of the fun new movies that came out at the end of 2009. I enjoyed decorating the house for the holidays and Israel has been loving the cooler weather! Israel and some of our MEN relations went shooting one day and had lots of fun doing that! Israel and I had a really GREAT Christmas day, we spent time with both our families and we both enjoyed the time with them!!! We went on a Trip to Midway, UT with my family to hang together in the cold and snow! This Christmas was the first in four years that my entire family was together for the Holidays. It was a big deal SO we went all together up to my parents house in Utah. Israel and I both have physical restrictions that have kept us from participating in Snowboarding and that stunk, but we have made the best of things. We went and saw Christmas lights at (both the Mesa and the Salt Lake Temples...) SO Beautiful... I think the day we went to SLC was one of the coldest of our trip! We played games and went shopping together we all went sledding and some people went snowboarding. We also helped Jeff and Tori move into their new apartment by BYU. We ate good food the whole trip!! It was fun to see what each couple made for the Dinner and Breakfast that they were in charge of! YUMMY! The trip was pretty relaxed and lots of fun! It was especially fun to spend time all together talking and playing with the "grandchildren". Kids are a blast! The Trip was fun and the Entire vacation has been Good! It ends on Tuesday. School starts again and life gets more complicated! BOth Israel and I have such AWESOME families! I will miss some of them and luckily we live by many of them... so we can hang out often!

My little brother is married.

So crazy! Yesterday my little brother got married. That makes me feel kind of old because now 5 of my seven siblings are married. I got to shoot his wedding and that is always fun. So here's a couple pics from yesterday ... Jeff and Tori looked good and it was especially fun having the entire family in town for the wedding!

Isabella's Video...LOVE IT!

So... my soon to be sister-in-law, Isabella, is AWESOME and made this funny little video for the holidays. I love it and I hope you enjoy it also! I love especially that Isaac and Israel's faces came off a picture where they were eating orange smiles!

Try JibJab Sendables® eCards today!

WOW.

Just had a conversation with Israel and my sisters. I am SO grateful for my health and my family and everything I have!!! I feel so blessed!

A plug for this AMAZING movie!

GO see "The Blind Side"!!! It is SO GOOD!!!! Michael Oher's story is amazing!

Early Xmas/Bday

So for Christmas this year I have my little brother Isaias. I decided as part of his gift and for his birthday gift (his bday is in January) that I would take him to see Phantom of the Opera @ Gammage. It was awesome! Neither of us had seen it so it was a real treat. We were both very impressed with the actor who played the Phantom. He had an amazing voice. I would definitely enjoy seeing this musical again. I'm not sure how I would rank it among other musicals I have seen but it would have to be near the top! ps I have always thought the monkey music box is awesome! hahaha

THe BEST Band Ever!!!

Israel and I went to the U2 concert!!!! Ok... you can all be jealous now! It was AWESOME! My parents and all 7 of their children and spouses went... J&A and D&S went in Washington DC. and the rest of us went here in AZ. Israel found tickets all near each other so that we could sit together through the concert. SO FUN! My siblings all danced the whole time, I wasn't feeling so great so I sat with Israel, we moved up a couple rows because the people directly in-front of us stood the ENTIRE time! We had fun singing along to all the great hits and enjoying the jumbotron! Black eyed Peas opened for U2 they did great! I loved especially when they sang "Boom Boom Pow". My mom sat through the entire Black Eyed Peas performance with her fingers in her ears. It was funny. She didn't do that for U2! I loved the songs U2 chose to sing!!! It was an awesome performance!

Happy Halloween!

Well we had a very fun Halloween!!! Israel and I carved these really cool pumpkins. Israel was a bit disappointed that the pumpkins were fake and so he was limited in what he could carve... but it turned out great! His is the Scary one and mine is the scared one! We really had fun carving these together! We also went to our ward party which was quite the social event! It was way fun. Israel convinced me to go with him through the haunted house that they had.... Not the best idea! I'm a woos and I was totally scared! I came out screaming and running! I would probably have died if big strong Israel hadn't been there! We then went to the play that Marshall Glass was in... "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dream Coat". He did Awesome. He was Joseph. I have never in the past enjoyed that musical... but he did so good that I really liked it! (BTW he looked hot w/o his shirt on :) )After the play we came home made pizza ( heated up the frozen stuff) and watched Ghost Busters #1. The Special effects in that movie were much more intense and realistic when I was younger!! All in all it was a very fun Halloween!

It's a..........

Well Stephanie and I were finally able to find out the gender of our baby! We have thought it was a boy for a while though Stephanie was holding out hope for a girl. Truthfully, we were just excited to know more than anything and now we do.......

As you can see from this awesome picture...IT'S A BOY!!! We are so excited!!! I told Stephanie the reason it would be a boy is because we already had names picked out for a girl. So now we are trying to decide on his name which is proving to be difficult! Any suggestions would be helpful!!!

This is a really cool picture my sister-in-law Jeani did for us. I think it is awesome! Thanks Jeani!!