Friday Night Leftovers

• I had my CT Scan on Monday. It wasn't a terrible procedure but it was time consuming. I had to arrive 90 minutes before my appointment time to go through a questionairre, then drink 32 oz of fluid with a contrast dye solution. It didn't taste terrible but it wasn't great either. It sort of tasted like "puddle water"- water that tasted "earthy" or like it had dirt in it. Then I had to have an IV so that dye could be injected into my veins during the scan.  They warned me that the dye was warm and I might feel really hot when it was injected (I didn't) and that I would have the sensation of peeing myself because of the warmth. I totally got this feeling and it was terrible. I really did feel like I was peeing and had to check afterwards just to be sure that it was just the sensation of the dye! Other than that, the procedure was quick and uneventful. I layed in a donut looking machine and it whirred to life, took a few pictures and that was it.

• My doctor called me on Tuesday with the results- everything looked just fine.  They couldn't see anything that might be causing me the pelvic pain or bowel disfunction. We did, however talk aboot the possibility of there being adhesions on my bowel, which can cause pain and affect function. This does not show up on a CT scan.  Basically, adhesions are bands of tissue that are formed after surgery, sort of like scar tissue. They are not as soft and flexible than "normal" tissue so can restrict movement of organs and can actually pull organs into the wrong position or cause them to twist a bit. So, depending on where the adhesions are, they can be causing my bowel to be a bit sluggish.  Since I have had abdominal surgery AND have had a large amount of blood pooled in my abdomen (from an emergency surgery in 2005), it is likely that adhesions have formed.  The unfortunate part about just guessing that this is the cause of my issues is that it can't be confirmed without a surgeon physically going in and checking, but this would lead to more adhesions from the new surgery. It sort of becomes a vicious circle- if they become very problematic, surgery can break them apart, but then new ones will probably form. So in the meantime, stool softeners have now become part of my daily diet in the hopes that it will make the job of my bowel a bit easier.  A long way to say that I don't have any conclusive answers.

• Halloween is only a few days away and Luca is beside himself with excitement. They have been doing Halloween activities at school this week so he is definitely in the Halloween mood. He can't wait for Monday when he gets to dress up in his costume (Captain America) for school.

• Speaking of Halloween activities, I had volunteered to go into Luca's class to help with pumpkin carving yesterday. At 5:45am, I got a call that one of my mama's was in labour. So, Chris got delegated to go to kindergarten. I think he was scared. But, duty called so I had to throw him to the wolves. It turns out that he actually had a good time with the kids- he just had Luca and Adelynn in his group- they estimated the size and weight of their pumpkin and then carved it together.  I think he actually quite enjoyed himself and Luca was pretty impressed that his dad got to be a helper that day.

• Tomorrow is our annual town pumpkin hunt. They number pumpkins and hide them in the "forrest" behind our house. Each kid is assigned a number and has to search for their pumpkin. Once they have found it, we all head to the community hall and carve them. There are also other activities for the kids to do as well as a treat bag for each child. Its a fun, community wide family activity. And we'll have Donny with us to take part. The boys are so excited to have their cousin stay wtih us for the weekend and come to the pumpkin hunt.

• The weather is definitely starting to feel like fall. Touques and mitts are required for walking to and from school as the wind is quite chilly. But, when we are able, which is most days, we are walking the 5 or 6 blocks to and from school. Before we know it, winter will be here and walking won't be so much fun- especially when its the mom that HATES the cold and snow!

• The boys are registered for a gymnastics class starting November 15th for 8 weeks. We have a small gymnastics studio here in town and it is a good opportunity to get the boys involved in something while still supporting our town businesses.

• Happy Halloween weekend! What are your kids dressing up as? Do you dress up?