(43-83) Taking Care Of Business

I don't know why it's always so much easier for me to put  everyone else's needs before mine.  If I know that one of my kids or Luis needs something done; I'm Jenny on the spot; and I'm trying to be better about taking care of  myself as well. 

October is the month that I typically have my physical and mammogram; and I have both of those scheduled.  I always take both exams very seriously and this year ESPECIALLY.  My physical is on Wednesday; and I wouldn't say that I'm nervous, because like I've said before; other than being overweight, I believe that I'm in perfect health.  BUT, I really don't want to have to address my weight with the doctor; since I KNOW what I need to do.  My mammogram will be one week later; and I'm not concerned about that either; because I'm sure that as always, everything will be fine.  So OK, I've got the physical covered and the mammogram attended to; so what's that leave; ahh yes; the dreaded, dentist.

As much as I fear, hate, despise, going to the dentist; I do go for my check up and cleaning every six months.  My last check up was in July, and I was told that I had a tiny cavity in one tooth.  Now if the kid's dentist had told me this about one of them; I would have scheduled an appointment on the spot, and for as soon as possible; but because it was for me; I put it off.  Now don't get me wrong, I didn't BLOW IT OFF, I just didn't make an appointment; but not doing so was very much on my mind; since I am the Queen of FOLLOWING THE RULES; and I knew that this was something that I had to do.

Fearing that the cavity would get worse, the longer that I let it go; I decided that it was time to take care of business; and I made the appointment for this morning, at 8am.

Although I still go to the office of the dentist that I wrote about in "A New Crown For The Queen;"  I now, see Dr. V; and she is the kindest, most gentle, dentist that I have ever met.  Dr. V and her assistant, Laura; always go out of their way to make sure that I am comfortable because they know that I have a larger than average dental anxiety.  I've mentioned before that going to the dentist is excruciating for me because, due to problematic sinuses I'm a mouth breather; I have a physically small mouth; AND I have a terrible, fear of needles.  Add all of these things up and they do NOT spell good dental patient; although I try; I really do; and I have gotten better.

Today's filling was actually rather speedy.  I was out of the office within 45 minutes and that includes the extra time that I spent chatting with Dr. V and Laura. They seem to find me amusing; and you know that any time I have a responsive audience; I'm just like the Energizer Rabbit; I keep going and going and going...

I won't go into any details about the filling etc; because really, who wants to read about that; but suffice it to say, that if you live in my area and you're in need of a dentist; I highly recommend Dr. V at Your Family Dentist which is at 83rd Avenue and Cactus; in the Safeway shopping Center.  If you have any questions; feel free to email me.

So, what have I learned today.  Once again I've been reminded that things aren't always as bad as we seem.  I was apprehensive about going to the dentist, but in the long run; it really wasn't bad at all and I wasted precious time being nervous about it.  I also reminded myself that just as I'm responsible to take care of my family; I also have to take care of myself; because I am just as important as they are #1 and #2, if I'm ill or less than; then I'm not going to be as helpful and available to them.  I hope that you all  realize the same.  Take care of YOUR business; so that you can be the best you that you can be.

Till next time...

Queen of EVERYTHING

And The Saga Continues...

Just as I have previously promised that this was not going to be an all political blog, or an all scrapbooking blog, or an all Maks blog; I also promise that this is not becoming an all family health update blog; however, under the heading of "who could make this stuff up," I feel that I have to share the details of my last week with you.

So when last we left off, Kelsie had the croup; which was just the latest of illnesses to afflict my household. SO Thursday morning I woke Nicky up at 530AM because he had to be at school by 615 for his Outdoor Ed field trip to Flagstaff. I had volunteered Luis to chaperon, but so many people had volunteered that they had to have a lottery; and Luis just wasn't that lucky; (or was he?) I was a little nervous about Nicky going on the trip because they were going to be doing a lot of hiking; and not only does he have asthma; but he's his mother's son; so he is a little klutzy. Nicky on the other hand was not nervous at all (thankfully,) and he was beyond excited to go.

A few minutes after Nicky came downstairs we were joined by Lyndzi, which was highly unusual because she typically likes to sleep as long as possible and she didn't have to get up for another hour and a half. I said "Good morning!" And immediately asked what was wrong. I'm sure that you can probably guess that she said, "My throat hurts." To which I LOVINGLY replied "Of course it does." I gave her some Ibuprofen and told her to lay down on the couch. We drove Nicky to school for his field trip and by the time 7AM rolled around, she was feeling well enough to go to school. At 2pm when I picked her up, she looked like she had been through the ringer. She was extremely congested but her biggest concern was that she didn't want to cancel the girl's night that (upon Kelsie's suggestion) we had planned with my friend Tina and her daughter Kristin.

Lyndzi, Kelsie and I sat outside Shane's BBQ waiting for our friends, all the while Lyndzi's nose was dripping down her face. I knew that Tina would not be able to believe her eyes when she saw Lyndzi because she was aware of all the illnesses that we have been plagued with during the past few months; and sure enough when Tina saw Lyndzi she was just amazed.

We were standing in line to order when my cell phone rang. I didn't recognize the number and I thought I heard Nicky say "Mom," but then no one was there. Two minutes later the phone rang again and the voice on the other end said "Is this Nicky's Mom?" My heart must have skipped a beat as I nervously answered "yes." The voice then explained that she was Nicky's chaperon and that their bus had broken down. Say it with me, "Of course it did." And they expected to be delayed about 2 hours getting home. WHEW! What a relief; but again Tina was amazed. I think that she may have even said "Who could make this stuff up" and if she didn't I'm sure she was thinking it. Lyndzi's nose continued to run but the promise of Cold Stone ice cream kept her going. We had a really nice girl's night with Tina and Kristin and as we got in the car to leave, I commented to my girls that I missed my Nicky and I wanted him to come home. They echoed that sentiment and then the phone rang - it was Luis asking if I'd heard from Nicky again and as soon as I said "No;" my phone beeped and it was Nicky. He said "Mom, I know I've been gone many hours and you probably missed me, but I'll be back at school in a few minutes." Were we in sync or what?

On Friday, Nicky and Lyndzi had the day off from school for a testing break and Kelsie stayed home with the Croup. I went to work in my office and Luis got a call from a friend our friend Russell, asking if he could watch his 2 kids because I had kind of said that he could. When I called to check on every ones health Luis' report made me feel confident that we could skip a Doctor's appointment for at least one day. Luis asked what to give the kids for lunch and I suggested that he run over to Little Cesar's pizza and pick up 2 pizzas for just $10. Shortly thereafter, Luis called to tell me that he couldn't go to Little Cesar's because the minivan was dead. Say it with me "Of course it was." I told Luis to wait for Russell to come over to pick up the kids and to get a jump. They followed my advice, took the car to Autozone, got a new battery since ours was under warranty and we were back in business.

Saturday morning Luis woke up complaining of a sore throat. (Do I even have to say it this time?) He tried resting, but he just didn't feel well. I kept telling him to take some Tylenol for his fever, but he put it off as long as possible. He rested most of the day; but he still felt lousy. He took a class until noon on Sunday and then asked me if there was someplace that was open to see a doctor on Sundays; so I directed him to Urgent Care, to which he responded, "And they're open on Sunday?" To which I replied "Yes, that's why they call it Urgent Care." I took the kids to a birthday party at Chuck E Cheese and Luis called to let em know that he did indeed have Strep throat. OF COURSE!

On Monday morning both Lyndzi and Kelsie woke up complaining of sore throats. I made appointments for both girls to be seen at the Pediatrician's office and even stopped by to see my friend who swore that she hadn't been thinking about me. Both girls endured throat cultures and both came back negative, though both had red throats and Kelsie still had a bronchial mess from the Croup. Kelsie was given yet another antibiotic after saying to the nurse practitioner "Can't we just get this over with already." I'd like to think that she meant being sick all the time, but I know that she really can be just that fresh; God help me. I'm still waitng for the lab to call back to confirm that neither has Strep; so please keep your fingers crossed.

Now the question that seems to be on most people's minds is how I've avoided getting sick myself; and my answer is, I just might be sick, but I am too busy to pay attention to it; so I just keep go, go, going. I am getting on a plane by myself on Friday though. I'm going to Santa Monica for Rachel K's 40th birthday weekend; and I must admit that although I don't want to have a self-fulfilling prophecy; I'm afraid that once I have 5 minutes to myself; i'll be sick as a dog.

Well, what more can I say? I wouldn't dare tempt fate by asking the most natural of questions. I'm just going to continue taking everything in stride and trying to make everyone as comfortable as possible. And hopefully next week I can move on from these dreary reports and finally share some other thoughts.

Please keep us all in your prayers.

Till next time...

Queen of EVERYTHING