In Like a Lion

Last night I was talking to my Dad, and he asked if we had spring weather here yet.  I said no, as it has been colder here the past couple of days compared to what it has been the past couple of weeks.  He then said, so March is coming in like a lion.  I had never heard that expression before, as I have always lived in Arizona.  However, I heard on the news multiple times today that March is coming in like a lion.  I walked to Gristedes (think Fry's or Safeway) a couple of hours ago, and it was snowing pretty hard - I heard we could get up to 12" tonight.  I guess this means that it will go out like a lamb???

Good-bye, Audios, Sayonara, Bon Voyage

I just said good-bye to Kyle via skype. He will be spending the next two years in Honduras with the Peace Corps. You can read all about it on his blog, Honduras Happenings. We will keep in contact via email and skype - thank goodness for technology these days. Kellyn is the only sibling in Arizona now - I think my parents are sad. At least it is only temporary though.

On another note, one year ago today I had my surgery where they removed 8" of my intestine. I will let prior year emails tell the story again.

February 20, 2008

Well after three weeks now of having this drain to get rid of the abscesses, I am back in the hospital for surgery on Friday. The drain has done its job as the abscesses are pretty much gone. However, there is a hole in my intestine (which caused the abscesses in the first place) and that is not healing. I had a test on Monday where they put a dye into the drain and followed it through. That is how they discovered the fistula (tunnel from the hole) which is hitting my abdominal wall and going back to my intestine. (If you are a little confused so am I but that is how it was described to me). Anyway, on Monday after the test the surgeon called me and said that he had bad news and that he thought that surgery would be the best route at this point.
They are going to be taking about a foot of my small intestine known as the illeium (that is where Crohn's most often attacks). They still don't know if they will be able to reattach my intestine immediately or if it will be three months down the road :(. The surgeon (Dr. Terazi) was in tonight and he said that he is going to do his best to leave as little scars as possible - he has been a huge blessing in this whole process. I have his cell number and I had to call him on both Saturday and Sunday and he answered both times.
Surgery is scheduled for noon on Friday and it should last about 2-3 hours. Prayers would be appreciated :) Everyone is asking me how I am doing and granted I am frustrated with this whole thing. My friend Katie said that she was going to make a shirt that says "I hate intestines" and I told her I would buy one :) However Romans 8:18 does say that the "sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us." Faith isn't faith without fire. I am just trying to focus on the big picture.
I will keep you all posted.
Kristin
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That Really Happened

One of my clients has operations in Atlanta, so I have been spending some time there lately.  This client owns a cookie factory, and as part of our audit process, we needed to visit the cookie factory to understand the operations that took place there (and get some cookies).  The client had told us that the factory was not in that great of an area, and to be careful - don't stop to ask for directions, lock the doors, eat lunch before we got close, etc.  So, the seniors and staff picked me up from the airport and we made our way to the cookie factory.  We thought we were going to be dodging bullets to get there, but made it there fine and we were commenting on how we did not really think it was that bad.  We go to leave the cookie factory, and we see what we think is a prostitute in the distance.  As we get closer, we confirmed that yes, she looks like a hooker - short black skirt with go-go boots.  The guy in the car next to us noticed her as well, because he slammed on his brakes and backed up.  That's Atlanta for you I guess.

Two-day Spring Teaser

Yesterday and today we have had "warmer" weather in NYC.  I put warmer in quotations, because I think it is odd that I associate temperatures in the high 40's as being warm.  However, when it has been in the teens and twenties, 45 degrees feels like summer (maybe not quite).  Yesterday I walked two blocks from work to get lunch with NO COAT!  It was so nice to be walking around and not wanting to get back into a building.  Last night I went to the gym and then I went to Bed, Bath & Beyond to return something.  Usually, I would take the bus the 20 blocks to BBB, but last night it was so nice out that I decided to walk.  I was amazed at the number of people out and about.  Almost every restaurant I walked by was full of people and there were lots of people on the streets as well.  I did wear a coat last night, but no scarf or gloves.  This morning was just as nice, so after church I only took the subway to 53rd Street and was going to walk back to my apartment.  I walked about 10 blocks but it had started to get windy and cold so I decided to hop on the bus.

I am so looking forward to spring and summer in this city.  Everyone tells me don't expect consistently good weather until May, so I will have to wait until then.  Hopefully we will have these "warm" days every so often until then.

Pop, Soda, Coke - Whatever You Want To Call It

I do not drink a lot of pop, never have.  When I was growing up, it was not something that my mom would let us drink very often.  We only were allowed to have it for special events, like birthdays, holidays and after swim meets.  Dr. Pepper was always my favorite, and if that was not available, I would resort to Root Beer.  I have given up pop twice in my life - once in 2001 for Mikele's wedding and once in 2007 for Kelly's wedding.  In 2007, I started my "no pop" streak on January 20 because the client that I was auditing at the time had a soda fountain, and I was drinking way too much Mr. Pibb.  After Kelly's wedding in May 2007, I did not have pop until January 1, 2009.  The longer I went with no pop, it became more like a challenge.  On New Year's Day my family was here in NYC, and we went to Staten Island to visit an old neighbor.  She had Cherry Pepsi, so I decided to have a can.  After not drinking it for a while, it tasted like I was drinking pure sugar.  I have had pop a few more times since January 1, and every time I have any I regret even drinking the stuff.  It is just water and high fructose corn syrup, which I try to avoid anyway.  So, as of today, I am done with it for good.  Here goes the start of another long streak, probably a permanent streak.

Last year at this time...

...I was not enjoying life. I will let my daily emails that I sent out tell the story.

January 29th - Off To the Hospital

Just wanted to let you girls know that I am getting admitted to the hospital tonight. I had a CT scan this morning and I have a 10cm abcess on my intestine. They want to start IV antibiotics tonight and then the surgeon is coming tomorrow to determine if they can drain it or if I actually need surgery. I should know more tomorrow.
...Kristin
Jenn, will you send this to Jaime? I don't have her address in my Treo.
Sent from my GoodLink synchronized handheld (www.good.com)

January 30th - Update as of this morning...

Hi everyone...
I just wanted to give you an update as of today. Actually I will start with last night since I have only been talking to Scott. So yesterday morning I had the CT scan done. That was awful in itself drinking the disguisting contrast and then they had trouble finding a vein for the iodine. Yesterday late afternoon the Dr. called and he said that I have a 10cm abcess on my intestine. He put me in touch with a surgeon so I talked to him and he said that it needed to be drained and that he wanted me to check into the hospital immediately to get started on IV antibiotics. Last night when we got to the hospital the surgeon was here and it seemed like his story completely changed from when I had talked to him two hours prior on the phone. He immediately was talking surgrery and saying if I did have surgery they probably would not be able to re-attach my intestine immediately and that would reqiure a bag for 3-6 months (sorry, probably TMI but now you what I am dealing with here and what I am most freaked about). He said that he would know more this morning after he had read the scan with the radiologist. So, he came back today and said that he talked with the radiologist this morning and that it looks like draining the large abcess will work (mostly because I am pushing for the drain over surgery) but there are two other abcesses and one has developed a fistula (tunnel) that has attached to my abdominal wall. So, I am scheduled to have the drain put in sometime this afternoon and have a PICC line put in because they want me to go home on IV antibiotics. After we see how the drain works over the next 4-5 days then we are going to go from there.
Definitely not fun stuff but I guess it could be worse. I wish I was at Chang's:) Melinda, I included you on this email since you know first hand what I am going through.
...Kristin
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January 31st - Thursday

Hi all...
Yesterday I initially sent my co-workers an email and I was forwarding that all day so I decided to include everyone on one email this time. First of all I wanted to say thanks to everyone for your prayers, emails, phone calls, visits, flowers, magazines, books and CDs.
So last night at about 6pm they finally came and got me for the drain procedure. That was a quick thing - they used an x-ray screen to insert a needle into the abcess. I think that my first answer to prayer was when I got down to the procedure. They did one more quick scan to make sure they were at the right spot and they came and said that they were going to hold off for a minute because it didn't look as bad as what was described to him from the previous day scan. He came back and said that there was no change but that I probably had an "over zealous" report reader. He was planning on doing 2 drains but said that one would be sufficient. Now it is a "wait and see" game. They originally said this drain would be in 4-5 days but now they say that maybe they can pull it tomorrow. They have also decided to hold off on the PICC line too so that is good - the fewer the procedures the better. My goal is to get out of here tomorrow which I think is totally do-able. Everyone that comes in tells me I look like I am ready to escape :).
I never expected to be in the hospital this week but I know that God is in control and He has given me His peace that surpasses all understanding.
Hope you all have a good day and thank you for your support!
Kristin
Sent from my GoodLink synchronized handheld (www.good.com)

February 1st - Friday Night Update

Hello again...
Well, I didn't make it out of here today. Yesterday afternoon it was determined this drain would stay for 7 days as that would be most effective. So I will be going home with that. This afternoon they also put in the mid-line (like a PICC line). I will go home with that for about two weeks and right now the plan is to do IV antibiotics once per day. Right now the bacteria that is growing is gram negative bacilli and I guess they need to do a couple more tests on that to determine the best antibiotic needed. If they get that done tonight then I have been cleared to leave tomorrow.
I think that is everything for today. Kristin
Sent from my GoodLink synchronized handheld (www.good.com)

February 2nd - Saturday Night - HOME

Well, I did make it out of the hospital today. I thought I was going to be leaving around noon but there was one doctor who needed to sign-off on my release and he did not show up until 6pm. It was so nice to come home and take a shower and see my cats :).
There was (and has not been since Thursday) no discussion of surgery with checking out with the doctors. Everyone keeps saying how well this drain is working so I am very thankful for that. The nurse is coming to my house in the morning to show me how to work this midline in my arm for the IV antibiotics. The plan is to keep that in for about two weeks. I have to go for another CTscan on Wednesday to see how everything looks and then I think I get the drain pulled a week from Monday.
Thanks again for your prayers over the last 4 days. Continued prayers would be appreciated that the antibiotics and drain continue to work so as to avoid surgery.
Looking forward to sleeping tonight without someone coming in my room every hour :) Kristin
Sent from my GoodLink synchronized handheld (www.good.com)

So thankful it is not 2008 :) I had no idea what I was in for 3 weeks down the road.

**This is my first attempt at a scheduled post. If this posts at 8am on January 29th, I was successful!

Scottsdale vs. NYC

Living in this crazy city, I have noticed quite a few differences between my lifestyle in Scottsdale and my lifestyle in NYC. I wanted to take a minute to document some of those. Here they are, in no particular order:

1. Weather.com. One of the first things I do everyday is check weather.com. The weather here fluctuates like crazy (in the winter anyway), and it can be 20 degrees one day and 40 degrees the next. If it is below 30, I will generally throw on an extra layer under my coat and grab a hat. My scarf, gloves and coat is an essential everyday.

2. Camera. I carry my camera everywhere. There have been many times I have been somewhere and wished I had my camera so I could get a picture of something crazy/weird that was going on. Specifically, twice in the Union Square subway station when I was on my way to the grocery store I would have liked to have my camera.

3. No car. I walk or take public transportation everywhere I go. I have about a half mile walk from my apartment to the subway (6 train) and that gets me pretty much anywhere I need to be if I am going somewhere on the east side. If I am going somewhere on the west side, I either take a cross town bus or I will transfer off the 4, 5 or 6 at Grand Central station. The public transportation is very efficient here, and for the most part I wouldn't even want to have a car in this city. However, there are times when it would be nice to hop in my car - see 6 and 10 below.

4. UGGs. I was never into UGGs in Arizona, but here I wear my UGGs almost every day. They are very warm and my feet are never cold in them. They are also extremely comfortable. I was glad to find a pair at Last Chance though, because they already have a "salt line" around them from walking around around after they put salt on the ground.

5. Gypsy cabs. I have taken a gypsy cab twice now - once home from Costco in Queens and once home from Ikea in Brooklyn. A gypsy cab is just an unmarked cab. There are no yellow cabs outside of Costco or Ikea, so people who want to earn a little extra money stand outside of these wholesale type places and offer people rides for a fee. When you walk out of the door with large items (in my case a TV and a dresser), you get swarmed by these guys. The first one to get to you takes you over to the side and will give you a price. I negotiate just because there are so many other options there - law of supply and demand working in my favor.

6. Bed, Bath and Beyond. There is no Target in the city, so BBB has taken their place and carries everything you would think of buying at Target (well, maybe not everything, but most everything). The BBB that I go to is on 61st and 1st, which is 20 blocks from my apartment. The first couple of trips I made there, I walked the 20 blocks. When my dad came, he enjoyed taking the bus so I started utilizing the bus to BBB. I take the 2nd Avenue bus there, and the 1st Avenue bus home. BBB is on 3 stories (there is not enough room here to have a huge store like the ones in AZ), and they have escalators for your shopping cart right next to the escalator for yourself.

7. Layers. I wear layers everywhere. It takes forever to get ready to go to work in the morning, by the time I put on my sweater, coat, scarf, gloves, hat, thick socks and UGGs.

8. Crowded subway trains. The Upper East Side is where a lot of the young business professionals live, and the 6 train is the only line to midtown/downtown which is pretty much where all the office buildings are located. As you can imagine, the trains are packed in the morning. Most days I don't even have to hold on when we go and stop, because I have people on every side of me. Don't even think about getting a seat on the train. Sometimes it takes two or three trains before there is even room to get on. By the time I do get on the train, I am usually sweating pretty good. It is so cold outside so I dress warm, but the train cars are heated and with all the body heat, it gets pretty warm on the cars. Sounds pleasant, right? This is probably the least fun thing about getting to work in the morning. However, if I leave my apartment by 8am, I can avoid the rush hour. That is another difference - I would say the average work start time here is 9 or 9:30am.

9. Carrying shoes. I wear my UGGs to work, and change into my work shoes when I arrive at work. There is no way I would walk the half mile or more in my heels.

10. Grocery shopping. Whole Foods has everything I need, but there is not a Whole Foods on the Upper East Side. The closest location to me is Columbus Circle, but the most convenient location is Union Square. If I take an express train, it is only 3 stops and the store is right outside the subway station. I always think I can carry more than I really can, so the half-mile walk back to my apartment gets to be a little long. There is a company here called FreshDirect.com, so I need to check them out but haven't had a chance. In the meantime, I guess I will just keep dragging those groceries home :) This is probably why most people here just get take-out for all their meals.

11. Rain boots. I also bought rain boots at Last Chance before I moved here as I was told I would need them. These have been a lifesaver. If it is raining, I can tuck the bottom of my pants in my boots and they are still dry by the time I get to work.

12. "Warm weather." Last week after it was in the single to no digits, it warmed up to about 35 degrees on Sunday. I was on the phone to my mom while walking home from church, and she asked about the weather. My response: "It is pretty warm today." When did I start associating temperatures just above freezing as being warm???