What's Goin' On

Hello family and friends!!! A blog solution was offered to me by my dear friend Allison. It would be a great way to keep people updated with news and photos. So here we are...a brand new blogger is born. I'd also like this blog to serve as means for medical updates for members of the PSC community, family, and friends.

So here's what's goin' on this month:

Allison turned 3 1/2 months. She is smiling and cooing away. Andrew likes to show off his cooing skills now as well. She is developing curly hair and still has those bright blue eyes. Andrew is getting sassy with his constant 'NO'. His vocabulary is developing beyond 'no'. We are working on farm animals and their sounds right now. He likes to repeat back what we say. During church, this past week, when doing the sign of the cross, Andrew said 'In the name of my daddy, the son, and the holy spirit, Amen'...it was super cute. Oh, and he can do the motions of the sign of the cross! Go Andrew!! This month he had a field trip to the local Home Depot where we worked on a planter box project. He got a mini apron, he loves to wear it and carry is Handy Manny tool box.

Jacob and I are good. We are looking forward to some camping trips in the upcoming month. Our weekends are being consumed by toddler birthday parties...they seem to be never ending. I finally finished my Master's degree in Education in June!!! This has taken me a year and a half, I am super excited to finally be done. One day, I get a job again in teaching and make that Masters worth all the effort.

My health: This month I was diagnosed with PSC (primary sclerosing cholangitis). I complained of itching during my pregnancy and after it as well. The doctors thought it was cholestasis during the pregnancy, but when it didn't go away after Allie was born (as it should have), they put me into further testing. I've had blood work done weekly, an ultra sound, which lead to the MRI, which lead to the ERCP, which lead to the liver biopsy, a sequential ERCP (to remove the stint), and will lead to a colonoscopy next month. The first ERCP triggered pancreatitis and a nice 3 day hospital stay (we just got the bill...ouch!) The news was quite shocking for my family and me. All the information I read on line seemed like I was just given my death sentence. Luckily, I'm smarter than that to believe in all of the negative. I cried on and off for three days and then I decided to get over it and organize a team to join in the Liver Walk taking place Sept. 26 in Santa Monica. My Stroller Strides group is going to walk with me and we already reached our fundraising goal. The support and love is astounding! We are also going to have a fundraising yard sale to raise funds for PSC Partners. Those funds will go directly towards finding a cure for PSC...which currently has no cure. As you can tell, this month was quite uneventful. I can wait to get back to the 'norm'. So, that is it for this month. I will write again next month, after the colonoscopy so I can tell you how fun it was!