Don't Wait Too Long!!!!!

OK----I already posted this on Facebook, but it can stand to be said again.....................

PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE

if you have chest pains..........GO TO THE ER!!!!!!!!!!!!

Do not----I repeat----DO NOT WAIT!!!!

I received a VERY scary phone call Tuesday afternoon.

Earl's boss, Larry, called to say he had taken Earl to the ER.

I'm not sure I heard the next few sentences.........

Larry probably found himself repeating things because I wasn't processing things very well.

Earl had been having pain at work.  Didn't say anything about it....he is stubborn that way.

Larry noticed he was rubbing his chest and acting like he didn't feel well, so he insisted on taking him to the hospital.

That must have been one INTERESTING trip.

Larry is from out of state....

Neither of them knew where the nearest hospital was....

Thank goodness someone was able to point them in the right direction.

So, I get the phone call and Larry doesn't even know what hospital they are at, just that it is by Bangerter Hwy.  Its a good thing he had me talk to the nurse, because I would have headed to the absolutely wrong place.

Larry said he would stay with Earl until I got there.  The nurse said he was doing OK, and that helped alleviate my fears, but I still had to get there.....and FAST!!!

Luckily my most amazing, wonderful friend, Mindy, was able to come to my rescue.  She was working at the school, but left and practically ran all the way to my house because she didn't have her car.  I don't know what I would do without this amazing woman in my life.

I also called the awesome people who we carpool with (to the charter school) and they made arrangements for someone to pick up all of the kids that afternoon.

I also had to call my sister-in-law, Heather, and ask her to find someone to pick up Calton from Kindergarten. 

Once the logistics were all worked out, I hit the road.

I arrived at Riverton Hospital to find Earl hooked up to an IV and monitors.  True to his word, Larry was still there waiting for me to arrive.

We stayed at the ER for a few hours while they observed Earl and made a few blood draws to evaluate his heart enzymes.  The doctor came in to chat with us just before they let us go.

They had cleared him of heart attack (phew---we got lucky with that one), blood clots and pneumonia.  But did find some pulmonary nodules.  These will have to be evaluated to make sure they don't get any bigger but were not the cause of the pains, and probably won't cause any issues in the future.

Wednesday morning, Earl went to Alta View Hospital for a stress test.

He did GREAT!!!

Since his heart is looking good, we are feeling pretty relieved.  Still a bit nervous....but mostly relieved.

My personal opinion about the cause of the pains?

Earl's asthma has been really bad for the past month or so.

Even with new controller medications from his doctor, it isn't clearing up.

I think his poor chest has just had enough of the coughing and struggling to breathe.

So, we are doing all of the follow-up stuff with his primary care doctor.

Other than being VERY tired (we both are) he is doing MUCH BETTER.

BUT..............

He got a stern lecture from his ER nurse, another from me, and probably more from people at work....

not to ignore those pains.

It just isn't worth it. 

I know it can be a tough decision to make.

You're not sure what the pain is from...

muscle strain, lung issues, even indigestion, but if you feel those pains,

PLEASE GO!

I would rather go to the ER and find out it is his asthma than not go and be trying to find a way to live my life without him here.

And that goes for you all too!!!!

I have truly been amazed by all of the love and concern shown by our family, friends, and ward members.  They are the greatest!

It brings tears to my eyes to think of all of the offers for meals and babysitting.  And mostly.........

ALL OF THE PRAYERS.

That is what gets us through these things.

I wasn't going to tell more people than I ABSOLUTELY had to, but I found myself calling, texting and talking to many more people than I intended. Our sweet neighbor, Jon, came over to talk to us about something else....we had just come home, so I filled him in.....a member of the bishopric happened to be across the street talking with our neighbors....I kind of figure that was Heavenly Father's way of saying----Tell them so they can pray for you!-----I'm trying to listen to the spirit and let it guide me.  Hopefully it doesn't have to hit me over the head too often.

Sometimes we don't tell people the scary things in our lives.

We don't want them to worry, we want to know results before we tell them, we don't want their pity...

but without the strength of all those prayers...........

...neither Earl or I would have slept Tuesday night.  (We were worried about his stress test.)

...our kids wouldn't have been as calm. (They were worried and clingy, but calm and loving.)

So, if you are one of those people that I told when I wasn't sure I wanted to, THANK YOU!!!!

Thank you for praying for us.

Thank you for ALWAYS praying for us.

I need those prayers.

Not only for the scary times, but for the everyday times as well.

THANK YOU, MERCI, GRACIAS!!

Our Disney Vacation

We had a FANTASTIC Disneyland vacation!  As we were enjoying ourselves, I kept making little notes in my phone.  Things I just didn't want to forget.  And my memory is so terrible that if I don't get them typed out now, I know I will forget what they all mean.

First off, I don't know if they'll let Earl and I back in the state of California again.

When we were there many years ago for our 1st Anniversary (1994), we experienced the Northridge Earthquake.  This time, we were there for the Mexicali Earthquake.

Do we bring them with us?  I sure hope not!

During the quake, Earl and Brayden were walking around Cal Adventure while the rest of the kids and I were in line for the Aladdin show.  None of us felt anything.  But they had to evacuate the rides and check for damage.  The Aladdin show started a bit late...Earl and Brayden eventually found a ride to go on (Tower of Terror!).  We didn't know how much it had really effected the park until we left later that night.  There were news crews out on the corner of Harbor and Disney Way interviewing people.  Apparently, when they evacuated the rides in Disneyland, it led to complete gridlock in that park.  People, people everywhere and no place to go.  I'm so grateful we ended up in Cal Adventure that day!

We made some great memories this trip!

Earl and I decided that we are retiring to Disneyland.

We have always talked about what we will do with Brayden once all of the other kids leave home.

He is a great road-trip partner.

He doesn't whine, cry, scream, or complain.

He LOVES being in the car.

It is his HAPPY PLACE.

So we have always thought that we would do lots of roadtrips with him.  Then....I had an epiphany!  Why not have Anaheim (or some other nearby place) be our home-base for those trips?  Then Earl had the BEST idea yet.  We're going to work at Disneyland so we can take Brayden to Disneyland all of the time!

I think that is the best retirement plan ever!

We love all of the cast members at Disneyland.  They are so great with all of the kids.  The girls are always called 'Princess'.  They just love that.  Usually I hear the cast members call the boys 'handsome' or some other cute term.  This year on one of our passes through the security tents, a cast member referred to Brayden as 'Master Jedi'!  So cute.  Spencer and I thought that was pretty awesome.  I don't know anyone who would make a better Jedi than Brayden.

Speaking of the security tents. We had a few interesting interactions with the CMs there.  You know, Brayden really loves his silverware.

  Loves to look at it, throw it, hear it clank...all that good stuff.  So, we ended up taking some with us in the car.  And he also pilfered a fork from one of the Disney eateries.   Apparently, taking a spoon into the park is no problem.  A knife is completely off limits (we didn't have any of those).  But forks were questionable to a few people.  They had to ask and make sure it was OK for him to take a fork into the park.  Thank goodness it was!  Can you imagine the fit he could have thrown if they took away HIS FORK!!?!?!?  Oh man, I'm so glad we didn't have to find out what he would do!

Thanks to my sweet, cute, little girlies, we met lots of new people on our trip.

Andraia is our outgoing, no-fear, people-loving little girl.

She met people at the swimming pool, the breakfast buffet, the elevator....you name it.  She also made sure to say 'HI' to each and every CM she came in contact with.  We even met a lady at Jack in the Box who was so cute with her.  Andraia had said HI to her a few times.  I think she even asked where she was from and a few other of her 'standard' questions.  I'm always worried that she is bothering people, but I try not to interfere unless I can see people becoming pretty uncomfortable.  This lady was very sweet, answering all of the questions.  When this lady left, she tapped on the window and waved at Andraia.  It always melts my heart when I see people react this way.  I don't know why I don't just EXPECT these sweet reactions, but I don't.  I expect people to ignore her or maybe even be rude.  I don't know why....I'm terribly cynical when it comes to things like that.  But it makes me SO HAPPY to see her get a smile, a wave or a tap on the window from someone she has touched.

I'm trying to follow her example.  I am more the 'wait-and-see-if-they-say-HI-first' type.  But Andraia is helping me change my ways and maybe...just maybe...be a little less cynical.  I met some great people and had some interesting conversations while waiting in lines for different rides or waiting to order food.  

And little Miss Chloe is our quiet charmer.  Her smile will make just about anyone smile and say HI.  But she only hides from that point forward.  She's such a silly little girl!  I was worried that she would decide the characters were scary.  But I had nothing to worry about.  She had a great time giving everyone hugs.  Everyone in a costume that is....just don't be a 'normal' person and expect her to say HI to you. :)

One of my FAVORITE activites of the trip was actually walking to and from Disneyland.

We found a great deal at the Ramada Plaza.  A little farther from the park than we like to be, but we decided to try walking it.  The walk turned out to be REALLY enjoyable!  Spencer even said...'Mom, we should talk like this more often.'  It gave us a great chance to talk to each other and enjoy spending time without rushing for a ride or getting jostled by other park-goers.

I never would have guessed that picking this hotel would have such great benefits for our family time!

Thanks for suffering through my trip journal!

More coming!!

Disneyland!!!

I didn't realize how long it had been since I posted.....in my 'defense' I was prepping for and enjoying an awesome vacation to Disneyland.

It is our favorite place to go.  Brayden's smile and giggle on his favorite rides is priceless. 

I find myself not even watching where we are headed on the ride.  I just want to watch his happy little face!

More pictures and stories are coming!!

I'm off to renew my Drivers License.  Fun, Fun!!