PICC Line.

Today I am grateful that my father-in-law had his PICC line removed.

If you're not exactly sure what a picc line is, the definition is as follows:

A PICC line is, by definition and per its acronym, a peripherally inserted central catheter. It is long, slender, small, flexible tube that is inserted into a peripheral vein, typically in the upper arm, and advanced until the catheter tip terminates in a large vein in the chest near the heart to obtain intravenous access.

Yum, right?

He has had a picc line in since just about the time he started chemo at the beginning of the year. it makes having repeated intravenous medications so much easier because he doesn't have to get stuck by a needle everytime he needs something. and while it certainly makes taking all of his treatments more convenient, blech right? I wouldn't want something attached to me 24/7. It's itchy. it has to constantly be covered with gauze and he's been to the hospital before with chest pain, but you know, it was just his picc line moving around. IN HIS CHEST. double blech.

a few weeks ago the doctors decided that Bob (my father-in-law) will be taking a break from chemo for awhile. it's basically done all its going to do for now, so over the next few months the guy doesn't have to be poked or proded or completely sick from all the drugs injected into him. he just gets to be himself.

and yesterday the doctors were kind enough to take his picc line out.

it just seems like such a postitive step, you know. that he's reached a point where he gets to let his body build back up his strength again. that his body gets to be his own again. no more crazy tubes. he also starts physical therapy next week to help get his muscles back in working order again.

The Marsh is happy.

and that makes me happy.

We both know that this could very well be temporary. that things could get bad again fast. but for right now we're so grateful to take the rest of the summer and the fall with Bob feeling well and not so sick from the chemo. it's going to be a special time for The Marsh to have with his father. and precious time for my children to spend with their grandfather.

I am so grateful that he has been such a fighter and champ through this process. I'm grateful for this chance. and grateful for this time.

so yay! no more picc line.

I think the universe knows that my family needs just a little bit of a break.

please.

Thanks for reading!
Lana

We're Still Not Talking About It

Today I am grateful that I can see the floor in my kids classroom again.

Yes. I have a classroom in my house.

No. I don't plan to homeschool my children.

The Marsh and I just have a firm belief that the babes should have an educational space in the house. it's alot easier to concentrate on learning when there aren't 15,000 toys to distract them from it.

No. That wasn't an exaggeration.

Yes. My children really do have 15,000 toys.

I know. I have counted them repeatedly as i pick them up.

So why am I so grateful to see the floor again? well, if you hadn't noticed its sort of been summer. So most if not all classroom activity has sort of consisted of Miss G going in there and tearing shit apart. I'm seriously amazed at how much damage one little person can do. and since it's getting closer to fall I figured it was time to suck it up and get everything in shape for the coming school year, so it's all ready to go for Georgie.
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because Brey is actually going to school this year, so Georgie is the one who will most likely be getting the most use out of it this year.

but we're not talking about it.

about how my baby boy is going to be going to school.

riding the god damn bus.

spending time away from me.

leaving me alone with arch nemesis numero uno.

in like two weeks.

NOPE.

In theory I am actually okay with all of this happening.

but for the next two weeks i am firmly placing it at the back of my mind.

I'm incapable of handling this information.

So even as it gets closer and I keep getting ready for school mode by cleaning up and trying to get the kids wrangled into bed at an earlier time,  i won't be discussing why i am carrying out those tasks.

because you know, we're not talking about it.

So tonight I am just grateful that the classroom is clean again. for absolutely no reason what so ever.

Thanks for reading!
Lana

#346 on my list of "I cannot believe I just said that."

Today I am grateful that my Grandmama is having surgery next week.

You can add that to the list of things I never thought I would say.

But it's true.

I mentioned a couple weeks past that I recently found out my Grandmama has endometrial cancer, and while there seems to be a lot of hope and reassurance that she is most likely in the very early stages, it hasn't made finding out any less scary. but with lots of luck, all she'll need is a hysterectomy and the doctor will manage to get all the cancer out of her.

and she wants all that shit out of her. like yesterday.

the only problem has been that we live in this horribly rural oncologistless part of the country and there is literally only one specialist in our state.

as you can imagine, dude gets kind of busy.

But after a few mix ups with the office dealing with her paper work and her bringing enough attention to the issue, she managed to get in for her consult today. which was pretty amazing because they initially told her she wouldn't even get her consult until mid september, let alone when her actual surgery would be. not good, people. not good. but the specialist's office being as awesome as they are managed to sqeak her in today, and then while she was at the office, the doctor had a change come up in his schedule for next friday and asked my grandmama if she would be interested in taking the appt. um YES?

I'm so grateful that she is getting the surgery done so quickly. I'm so grateful that the doctors seem to think that they've caught the cancer early enough that this surgery will be enough to cure her. and I'm so grateful that right now at this moment, losing my Grandmama isn't something that it seems I have to consider yet.

I know it doesn't seem fair that I still have my grandparents when so many people my age have already lost them. The Marsh never even knew his grandfathers. but call me selfish, thats one club that I'm not ready join. I hope I have her for as long as absolutely possible.

Thanks for reading!
Lana

Ketchup.

Okay lets play a little game called weekend ketchup.

or catch up, rather.

Here goes.

I am grateful that My sister-in-law, Kristin, had an amazing birthday on Saturday. The Marsh and my siblings took her out dancing. It was sooo much fun.

She seemed to have alot of fun, something she doesn't really allow herself to do very often. So i'm grateful that we gave her the chance.

I'm also grateful for the following picture, because it's obviously amazing. and obviously proof that the night did indeed turn out to be great.



I'm also grateful because while we were out and about, My good friend Corey, whom I've blogged about before, was also out and about in the same part of town, and we managed to meet up for some drinks and dancing. something we both have previously wanted to do but somehow have never managed to make it happen.

Awesome.

Let's see what else happened?

OH YES. my car got towed. yup. while we were out dancing.

I'm extremely grateful that the whole process of finding out where the car actually was and getting it back only took about an hour. I'm grateful that my grumpy ass sober designated driver husband handled the whole situation with an eerie sense of calm. i'm grateful that he still hasn't started yelling. i haven't forgotten though. it was $95 to get the car out of the lot. and even though my bro was kind enough to give marsh some money, the next time The Marsh is feeling the money squeeze he'll mention it. I JUST KNOW THESE THINGS.

I'm grateful that my hangover on sunday was brief.

and that i only got sick once.

I'm grateful for anyone who continues to follow this blog after that TMI.

I'm grateful that today The Marsh and I managed to tag team some of the household chores. I got the lawn mowed and he descaled my coffee maker and washed some laundry.

I'm grateful that for the first time since the end of June I got to see my best friend, Kristy, who is finally back in Maine after her extended to trip to Europe. I'm also grateful for the adorable coffee mugs she brought back from London for me. One says "keep calm and eat cupcakes" the other says "keep calm and drink wine" they complete me.

She also got Miss G the CUTEST god damn hat ever. and little miss looks freaking adorable in it.

seriously.

She also got the breyman a tshirt from Spain that has the logo for one of the Barcelona soccer teams on it. Also adorable.

I think thats it for now.

I have some things that I'll be grateful for tomorrow (hopefully) but I think I wait until then to be grateful just in case.

I hope everyone else had a great weekend, and just as much to be grateful for.

Thanks for reading!
Lana



Kristin.

Today I am grateful for my sister-in-law Kristin.

She's a good kid.

I think I'll keep her :0)

And today is Kristin's Birthday! yay Kristin!

To celebrate this awesome occasion Kristin has agreed to let The Marsh and a couple of my sibling take her out tonight for a night of dancing and drinking. it is going to be fabulous.

I consider myself lucky every single day that I ended up with a sister-and-law that I love as much as her. She is literally one of my favorite people in the world. It may have taken a little while for us to warm up to each other. but all the best things in life take time, right?

anyway.

I'm going to keep this short and sweet cause we're going to be leaving in a minute.

But I just wanted to take a minute to appreciate what an awesome person Kristin is. and to say Happy Brthday.

Thanks for reading!
Lana

Addiction.

Today I am grateful that I didn't have to kick my husband's ASS.

Don't tell him I said that.

but it's true.

You see, my computer has been having technical issues. again.

our new tablet is also having some technical issues. In The Marsh's quest to try and remedy both, he completed messed up our wi-fi on my computer.

and even though I knew realistically that he would probably be able to fix it, I seriously started to panic.

I'm sure I played it off very cool. I don't even think he noticed the tears in my eyes. I just kept praying to the big geek squad in the sky that i wasn't going to have to vulcan nerve pinch him for messing up my internet.

and the sad part about all of this? I'm not really kidding.

guys. I think I have I problem.

My Name is Lana and I am an internet addict.

to be fair, I am a stay at home mom. 85% of my life happens in this house. my computer is my access to the outside.

and I just kind of love it. my computer is like one of my children. he even has a name. Toshi.

are you weirded out yet? addict, remember?

Anyway.

Obviously since I am here writing this blog, we managed to get the internet back attached to my computer again. The Marsh just had to reset Toshi a little bit. no big deal. even if i manage to hyperventilate in the process.

So tonight I am extremely grateful that The Marsh didn't break my computer. and that he fixed whatever it was that he did do. I'm also going to take a moment to be grateful for the fact that I'm 24. which means nobody can tell me I can't have this horrible internet addiction. The best part of being an adult? nobody gets to tell me what to do!

I do what I want! (as said in the voice of Loki the God of Mischief) because you know, that obviously way proves how much of an adult I am, right?

right.

Thanks for reading!
Lana

$4.53

Today I am grateful for $4.53

really.

You see today I had to yet again pick up a prescription at the pharmacy.

and yes, I am perfectly fine, for the most part. nothing too crazy to worry about. and hopefully this newest medication will help.

anyway.

Going to the pharmacy generally sucks. I don't have any health insurance and I always feel like a trip to the pharmacy is the equivalent of playing drug company russian roulette. sometimes the prices are slightly terrifying.

but today when checking out the lady said "That will be $4.53" I actually had to repeat it back her to make sure i understood what she was saying. and because she said it as "four fifty-three" without any mention of dollars and cents, even my brother was like "as in four dollars and fifty-three cents!"

we were both pretty shocked.

which is, of course, sad that we were so pleasantly suprised to actually get medication for an affordable price sans insurance. but i was grateful for it today. between trying to get the breyman some school clothes, saving for disney, and the unexpected expense of having to go to the doctor's office yet again, i was especially glad to get some sort of a break at the pharmacy drive-thru.

Sometimes it's the little things that help make the day just a bit better.

$4.53 worth of little things.

also, I'm grateful that the medication i had to take concisted of just one pill and it wasn't even that big. here's hoping that it's one powerful little pill.

Thanks for reading!
Lana