We are soon to head into 2011 and we are definitely looking forward to it and praying for a year that continues to get better than the previousone; however, as a nod to the year that was 2010 and to those who would like a playback, we'll recap our lives in the past year for you month-by-month.
January
January started off fairly bleak for us with Rich out of work, but we had faith. It was a month where not a lot happened, but we did ring in the New Year with a glass of champagne, some silly glasses and Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve. And, yes, I have photographic proof.
Happy 2010!
February
February was a much more positive month. We took a trip to Atlanta in the middle of the month for Lynn to audition for America's Got Talent. She didn't make it through, but she did have a blast trying! Upon our return home from the trip, Rich had another job interview and this one turned out to be the right one! He started his new job two days after the return from Atlanta and the day after his interview! Awesome news!
February also brought with it The Great Snow of 2010 (at least for South Georgia).
The most snow we've seen in as far back as Lynn can remember.
March
In March, Rich turned 34! We managed to get away for a mini-break in Savannah for his birthday celebration. It was a good weekend, although we didn't really do much while we were there. One other good bit of news, Lynn was invited by her University to join Alpha Lambda Sigma, the honours society for adult students! This means when she graduates in 2012 with her bachelor's degree, she will have a beautiful set of cords to wear around her shoulders. We were both very pleased with the accomplishment.
April
April was another slow month. The only real news from this month is that a new department opened at Lynn's job that she had basically set up by herself. The hospital implemented a Centralized Scheduling and Prior Authorizations department that Lynn had been working on since the beginning of the year. After many months of hard work, Lynn was named as the Supervisor over the department and it officially opened in April. There would be much more hard work to come, but we chalked it up as another accomplishment!
May
May proved to be a month with some not-such-good-news. It was the first of a summer series of doctors appointments for Lynn. Several things were discussed and looked at, including the possibilities of hypothyroidism, Type II diabetes, sleep apnea and a definite diagnosis of complex endometrial hyperplasia. Bloodwork was done, a six-week round of blood sugar testing was instigated to determine diabetes and an appointment was made with a pulmonologist to determine if sleep apnea was present and how bad it was, prior to a surgery to hopefully correct the hyperplasia. Rich was great! He held Lynn's hand through the appointments and stayed strong for her.
In between doctors visits, Rich also took Lynn to the beach for the first time ever this month.
Wading in the waves.
June
June brought with it the return of the bloodwork, the answer to the diabetes question and the visit to the pulmonologist. The bloodwork showed that Lynn did, indeed, have hypothyroidism and she was started on Synthroid to help with this. Blood sugar monitoring also answered the diabetes question in the affirmative and Lynn began closely monitoring her sugar and diet. As long as her diabetes could be controlled by diet and her regular dose of Metformin, there was nothing to worry about.
The visit with the pulmonologist led to a sleep study being set up and this led to the knowledge that Lynn did have sleep apnea and that it was a very bad case of it, with her breathing stopping 96 times during a 7 hour period of sleeping. Lynn was put on a C-Pap machine to be worn at night when she sleeps and the surgery was postponed until she had been on this for a few weeks. Rich, again, was a gem throughout the whole process! Lynn is really not sure how she would have done it without him.
Wired up for the sleep study.
July
July was a month for surgery for Lynn. A D&C was performed to get rid of the tissue causing the hyperplasia. It was a routine surgery and all went well. Lynn was then put on a 4 month dose of anti-estrogen cancer medication (although no cancer was present) to hopefully rid her body of the hyperplasia for good.
August
In August, we participated in a local musical production called "Beach, Boogie and Blues". Lynn sang and Rich worked the backstage area. We had a great time participating in this and it led us to join our local Arts and Entertainment Council so that we can participate in future events like this.
September
September was a fairly uneventful month. We worked on planning a weekend trip to Atlanta and the anticipation of the trip made for fun in planning it.
October
In October, we made that trip to Atlanta. We had the opportunity to attend an Atlanta Braves game, a first for Rich. We had a great time and, although the Braves lost, it was a momentous game for us to have the pleasure of seeing. We saw a 23-run game, complete with a grand slam home run and a player's first major league at-bat. We had a blast!
Rich rocking his Braves cap!
The day after the game, we visited Zoo Atlanta and the Atlanta Cyclorama. Rich loved visiting the cyclorama! It is a 42 foot high by 358 foot long painting of the Battle of Atlanta and is housed in a museum (also called the Atlanta Cyclorama) right next to Zoo Atlanta. We also had a great time visiting the zoo and getting to see the animals, including a 3-month-old giraffe and a newborn joey kangaroo. It was a great and needed break!
Enjoying Zoo Atlanta!
Also in October, Lynn decided to cut her hair for charity and was able to donate nine inches of hair to Locks of Love to help children with cancer.
Before the hair cut.
After the hair cut. Nine inches of hair off to Locks of Love!
November
November was a big month for us! Lynn had her birthday and is now 32! We also celebrated our anniversary. We have now been married for 8 years! November also saw us off on vacation to Helen, GA. We were able to see the Christmas lights be turned on, do a bit of Christmas shopping and just relax and have a good time. We stayed in a beautiful cabin and, while close enough in the case of an emergency, the neighbouring cabins were still remote enough for us to feel like we were alone in a winter woodland. It was a wonderful holiday!
Rich at Anna Ruby Falls in Helen, GA.
After suffering for two years with pain and swelling in her ankle, Lynn finally gave in in November and had an MRI taken of her ankle. It revealed she had three chronically torn ligaments and a lesion on her talar dome (weight-bearing bone in the ankle) that had the ankle impending collapse. This signifies surgery in Lynn's future, but not until after March 2011. Why, you may ask? Because Rich's boss is taking the office (and spouses are invited as well as long as they purchase their own plane ticket) to Las Vegas in March! We are superexcited for the trip and Lynn certainly wasn't letting Rich go without her :D So surgery will wait until after Vegas.
December
That brings us to the current month. We had a great Christmas, although we missed those relatives we couldn't be with during the holidays. We are hopeful we may see them next Christmas though! This month also brought good news on the medical front for Lynn. A repeat biopsy to determine the current status of the hyperplasia showed it was gone! We are overjoyed and this relieves a medical worry from our minds.
That is a pretty comprehensive round-up of our 2010. It's been a full, if not hugely productive year. We are hopeful that things will continue to improve and that 2011 will give us the opportunity to announce lots of good news to you. We plan to update this blog fairly regularly and, if you're interested in what we're up to, this is probably the best place to check. Wishing you all the best in 2011!
Love and hugs,
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