37 days ...

I first told you about my sweet and dear friend Dayna on a previous post called "Strength" . After my blog post I recieved a ton of emails sending their prayers for her. I wanted to update her story and I will keep updating until the day the doctors get her walking and well again. It has been 37 days since my friend has had the ability to sit up, stand up straight, or walk. After being discharged from the second hospital for insurance reasons, Dayna was sent home with a hospital bed for her mother to care for her and pray for some kind of help. Every time I see Dayna she has a smile on her face. When you go for visits she greets you with a big smile and she acts like her condition is no big deal. Seeing her pass pass out and stop breathing still shakes my soul, you never get use to it. I want to scream so loud for someone to PLEASE HELP HER!! She has seen countless doctors, been given drugs that don't seem to work and never a answer on how to get her well. Recently, her doctor suggested that Dayna be sent to Tennessee and talk to someone about her condition. Her family and Dayna is optimistic about the possibility of some kind of answers.

My hope is that all the facebook posts, her caringbridge website and my blog can maybe reach someone that can help her or this new hospital gives her the miracle we have all been praying for.  I ask that whatever god  you pray to; ask for a answer for my dear friend. She is really hurting and I just want to see her well again.

Dayna.

Her new set of wheels.

Best Friends.

My Little Kiddos with Dayna for a visit!

Wordless Wednesday

This is my all time favorite picture of me and my dad. Since the loss of my mother I have come to realize that our parents aren't here forever and we should cherish the times we do have. I am lucky and blessed to have the dad that I do, he is strong and has taught me how to be strong. He always protects me even now that I am getting into my thirties. Here's to you Daddy ..

Happy Valentine's Day!!

Ahh  it's a beautiful  time of year! Love is in the air, hearts floating up above, today is not just a created holiday for the greeting card industry, its that time for L-O-V-E. I am so lucky this year to have 3 Valentine's to celebrate with. I am so excited to have so much love to give and get back in return. When I was younger both of my parents made Valentine's Day very special, we woke up to candy and gifts and it became something I looked forward to year after year. So, this year I decided to start that tradition with my kids. I told Addi last night before she went to bed that "baby cupid" was going to pass while she was asleep and leave her some goodies for her and her baby brother. When she woke up this morning she screamed "Happy Day Mommy!!" and ran into the kitchen and was so delighted with what she saw, so delighted in fact, that she ran into her room with a box of chocolates while I wasn't looking and devoured it all. But in the spirit of love and excitement I let her without fussing. I hope you all have a special day no matter how you celebrate and spread the love of this beautiful day!

Happy Valentine's Day to you all!

So excited that cupid passed!

My stud on this special day.

Cupcake batter.

Special Treats.

Table is Set!

YUMMY!!

Hot Pink Shoes Today, I'm feeling the  love.

Flowers and Candy! I love my husband.

My Special Valentine in Heaven. Love You Mom.

Today I am grateful for ..

So lately I have been going through alot of personal turmoil that is surrounding my mom and her death. So today instead of posting my rambling about how life just sucks, I am posting somethings I am grateful for.

                                                              Addi's fun personality.

                                                                         My Dad & My Sister.

New Haircuts

Sick Friends that inspire.

Funny Faces. Good Times.

Baby Smiles.

Random Text Pictures to Make me Smile.

Traditions.

Spreading the love of our favorite team to our son.

Best Friends.

The People You Can't Live Without.

The One Person Who Has Never Left My Side.

 

My Mother. (RIP)

** I think this will be a reoccurring post. There are so many people I am blessed to have in my life and things I am grateful everyday. For now, I hope you enjoy.

Isn't this America?

Let me start off my saying, this is NOT a political post of any kind, nor do I intend a debate on any hot button political issue. What this post is about is how UNFAIR our health care system is for someone I love dearly.




So my last post was about my sweet and close friend Dayna who right now is battling a unknown illness that is affecting her entire life. Her illness is a complete mystery to everyone including her doctors. Dayna can not sit up, stand up, or lift her head higher than 20 degrees without passing out and while she is out she quits breathing all together, and I am describing this mild. You would think that doctors would be around her like they do on Grey's Anatomy and trying to find out what is wrong with our sweet girl. Never in a million years would you think that just because of insurance she would be discharged to her home with just a bed and a wheelchair, right! Wrong. That is EXACTLY what is happening. I am disgusted, angry and a bunch of other colorful words I rather not say on a family friendly blog.


This is the UNITED STATES OF AMERICA last time I checked, and every American deserves the right to be cared for. I really don't care if your Republican, Democrat or whatever, we can all agree that anyone with a medical emergency should be cared for. Dayna's mother, last week, had to hear that her daughter's doctors wanted and needed to keep her in the hospital for observation but couldn't because BLUE CROSS/BLUE SHIELDS decided that it was too expensive to keep her, so they sent her home by ambulance for her mother to take care of her. No monitors, no help, just a swift kick out the door and a "good luck to ya"! Never in my short 29 years of living have I been so appalled at the lack of care and concern from a company that is making MILLIONS of dollars each year. They crudely stated  that "narcoleptic's get sent home every day", but see here is the problem, Mr. Insurance Company, Dayna has a unknown illness, you could be helping diagnose a new illness that could help someone else but instead you throw her out like day old milk and  you claim to want to help people? I think not.


What's the point of insurance and paying premiums if all you get is half a** treatment and the boot? People say they want change nationally but how about we start with changing the policy's of insurance company's that care more about the bottom line then the health of our citizens. You sent home a very sick person, for her single mother to take home and care for. She can't be alone, she has to be monitored 24/7, so tell me how you expect her to do ALL that and hold a job to keep your dumb insurance? Are you going to pay for assistance? No, I didn't think so.


With all that said I am DAMN PROUD of her mother. She isn't a nurse and is taking care of her daughter better than the most high rated hospitals in this country. She is holding it  together for her daughter and not stopping just because someone gave her a road block. She is studying about Dayna, finding new research and theories to help her daughter. I see now more than ever why Dayna is so strong and so beautiful, she gets it from a equally strong and beautiful person. Your a wonderful mother and I thank god daily for blessing me into your lives!


I will end by saying this, WE ARE AMERICA AND WE DESERVE BETTER, DAYNA DESERVES BETTER, SO DAMMIT GIVE HER BETTER!

Strength

I will admit, I am a pretty strong person, I am a natural born leader and I am sure my husband would say that I am too hard headed for my own good. But, I do wonder sometimes if with any situation I could be as strong as I am. For the most part my life hasn't thrown too many test my way, lately I have found myself in situations that I have never faced before, like my mother dying. I think with everything that has been thrown my way, I have handled it with a strong backbone and kept myself together, but what if I was really challenged, I mean what if something was thrown my way that I couldn't deal with, how would I react??

 We often don't put ourselves in other people's shoes, we don't have to test our abilities to handle situations until we are forced to. I think back to my mother's sudden death and I am amazed how the last 3 months have been. Her death has changed my life for sure but I was surprised how it didn't break me completely. There are days where I just think of her non stop and it's hard to breath but for the most part I am doing "okay", well, better than I expected. But how would I face my own strength when I pushed to the limit?

 This brings me to my friend Dayna. Dayna is the true definition of sweet. She is kind to anyone she meets, you love her from the moment you meet her and the fact that she is a BOMB SHELL would make you want to hate her but you can't because she is truly that wonderful. Up till about a month ago she was living her life, she just won a big festival title here in Louisiana (and if you lived here you would know what a big deal it really is ..lol) and was gearing up for our version of Miss USA called Queen of Queens. She was also getting ready to travel to Washington DC for the annual Mardi Gras Ball which is one of the premier events to attend and the fact that she was able to go is a HUGE deal. Let's just say, she was getting ready for some GREAT adventures. Around Christmas she had a virus, shortly after she started having these "episodes" of fainting spells. They began to happen more and more frequent and she was staying under for longer periods of time, so she was admitted into the hospital and hasn't left since. 30 days have gone by and my friend can no longer walk, sit up in a bed, or even put her feet on the floor without passing out and sometimes all together stops breathing. And still with ALL that, she maintains a smile every time I see her. She jokes and laughs and I think to myself, I would be FALLING APART. I guess that's just the drama queen in me.. But her strength inspires me. Every time I see her I leave wanting  to do better in my own life. I mean, if someone like her can get past her own pain just to crack a smile then what the hell do I have to be so bitchy for? I would like to think I am strong but it doesn't hold a candle to her and people like her.

Everyday someone somewhere is going  through something big in  their life, they aren't complaining, they surviving. The survive loss, sickness, tragedy and sometimes I complain that I have  to get up at 5 am, when I should just be lucky to stand up on my own two feet. I use to think of myself as strong but if I am honest with myself, I am really not all that strong, but as I age and face challenges I know my strength will grow. I hope that my children see the people around them in their lives and grow stronger from the people they know, so that one day when they are faced with their own challenges they can be just like the Dayna's in the world, strong and beautiful.

Wordless Wednesday!

So my Wordless Wednesday Post is somewhat cheesy so just try not to laugh .. My picture got the cover of our major magazine here in town about the way Facebook has changed our city .. (Yes is micro mini but I am proud! Can't you tell .. lol)