Oatmeal or Hot Milk?

Last weekend Bryan and I went to Moab to celebrate his birthday and our early-anniversary. We had won a 2 night stay and a sunset jet boat tour and dinner when we were down for Raft for the Cure in their silent auction so we had to take advantage of that before October.

We had a great time together... went to dinner at my friend Randy's resteraunt, went to the Hole in the Rock house/giftshop/zoo, and went on a really fun jet boat tour through Canyonlands.

Saturday morning, we went to breakfast. I wasnt really hungry so I ordered oatmeal, coffee, and a side of sausage. The girl who took my order wasnt from here, had a Russian accent. She just kept repeating to me what sounded like "Hot meal". Uh, sure... oatmeal is hot... maybe they call it "hot meal" where she is from. Then I asked her for some brown sugar and her eyes get all big and she says "You want brown sugar for your hot meal?" Uh, yes please. She told me she wasnt sure if she could do that but would ask.

Little while later she comes back with my coffee and lays down a glass of (hot) milk and a bowl of brown sugar and walks away. I look at Bryan and said "I normally have cold milk with my oatmeal, but ok"... and we wait for the rest of the food. Out comes his meal and my sausage and she walks away.

Then it hits me... she thought I said "HOT MILK" when I said "OATMEAL" and I start laughing hysterically. I call her back over and say "I need some OATTTT MEAL to go with my brown sugar" and she points at my hot milk and says "Hot Milk"... "no, OOOOAAATT Meal". Then you could see the light turn out "Oh! You want OOOOOOAAAAT MEAAAAAL". She starts laughing... rewrites it on the bill and goes and gets me a huge bowl of oatmeal.

Bryan says from now on, oatmeal is now going to be referred as "Hot Milk" at our house!

All About Ty

Wednesday night, Ty tried out for a competition basketball team in West Haven. This team is called the Utah Heat and its coached by Eliot Reynolds, former WSU women's coach. You could tell all week she was excited and nervous. When the coach had all the kids gather around him, he introduced himself and asked who was nervous and Ty's hand shot up! He told her to not be nervous, just go out and have fun. He split the 4th grade girls and boys off into a group of their own while all the older kids went with other coaches.

Ty worked her butt off! She was focused, didnt screw around, and had fun while she was out there. She was so funny... she made a basket during one of her drills and it was when the coach wasnt looking so she ran right up and told him she made it!

She was so happy to have the support she did... Bryan, Drew, Aunt Heather, and I were there cheering her on.

We got word last night that she made the team. Practices start in 2 weeks and the season runs through Dec. Yay for Ty!

Yesterday we went back to PCMC to meet with her ENT. First a resident came in to talk to her, see what was going on, etc. It was a different one from who we saw a couple weeks ago. He kinda looked at her, joked with her, and then said he had to get "the boss".

Dr Muntz came in and we talked. He said it could be 1 of 2 things... that the saliva gland (the little bit thats left) is still working and b/c there isnt enough of it, its causing infection. The other thing is that it could be lymph nodes and not the gland. He is confused b/c where she swelled up was in 2 places and it is evidence of both things, gland and nodes.

A couple months back when Ty was in a car accident she had to have an MRI done. He wants to get a copy of that to see if he can see that area of her head/neck to determine whats going on in there without surgery. If it doesnt show what he wants, then we will go back down there and get another MRI with contrast done. Depending on the results, she may have to have another saliva gland surgery to remove the remaining gland. If its the lymph nodes, he said that they could be upset still from the surgery and he would like to just treat her with antibiotics 2-3 more times before surgically removing them.

Ty told me last night that she trusts Dr Muntz and whatever he says we need to do, we will do. I agree with her 100%. He shared with me that he is frustrated b/c he fully expected the surgery in Feb to take care of this problem. He doesnt want her quality of life to deteriorate b/c of this. He doesnt want her to miss school anymore... especially where this last flare up lasted her almost a week in pain, 5 days is a long time to miss if school was in session so he said that we need to move quickly and really think about whats going to be best in the long run.

My job today is to track down the MRI and get it off to him so I can call him next week and see what our next steps are. Keep her in your prayers!

Erwin-Williams Updates

I have been terrible about blogging lately… I have been busy at work, busy at nights, there just hasn’t been time!

Here are a couple of updates:

The Raptors are almost done with their season… it’s been fun. I love the people we sit around, they are family to us. We got our seats again for next year, but that wont change that fact that some tears will be shed at the last game. I want to blame it only on Ty, but sometimes I get weepy too! LOL

Bryan and I are going on our first “alone” vacation. Everywhere we have been has been with kids… and this weekend we are going to Vegas for a soccer tournament; however no kids will be staying with us. I am so excited!!!

Next weekend we are going to Moab, again just the two of us! Yay! His birthday is September 11 and I have a gift certificate for a hotel that has to be used before the end of the year so we are going to spend the weekend in Moab and do a sunset jet boat tour with cowboy dinner. Moab is one of my fav places and I am excited to hang out there with my honey and celebrate his birthday and our anniversary. We are coming up on our year … and it’s been an amazing year. Parts of me feel like it’s been so much longer than that b/c we just fit together so well. It’s been a great ride and I look forward for many (well… 19!!) more years to come!

The following weekend (our actual anniversary) we have all the kids so I am thinking we will take them out to dinner and celebrate being a family. Taylor has been on opposite weekends this whole time so rarely did the kids get to be together. Starting this month he will be switched so everytime we have him, it will be when my kids are home. They need that... how can they be siblings if they never see each other?

The kids started school last week… they both are enjoying it. Ty has her first little crush and he likes her back… Drew is following some girl around the playground, “but I don’t like her mom, she’s a girl”. LOL- here we go! (


Ty was asked last week to try out for a competitive basketball team that is going to be coached by a former WSU women’s coach. The tryouts are tonight… she is a little nervous but very excited. She loves basketball!! Good luck sis!

and the wait continues...

I ended up taking Ty down to PCMC yesterday. I couldnt get a hold of her dr and ended up having them page the resident on call. I didnt know what else to do and was at my wits end.

The Dr I spoke with was very nice... said that was odd for her to swell up and wanted her to be seen but the ENT dr's werent in clinic. He told me to bring her down to the ER and we'd meet him there.

On the way down our regular Dr's nurse called me and said he called her and told her some different things to do and I told her that we were already heading down there and we were meeting with the resident. She called the Dr back and he said that was a good idea. Right when I got off the phone with her, the resident called back and said he spoke with Dr Muntz and he wanted us to meet the resident in the clinic so we didnt have the wait or the expense. Sounds good to me!

Within 5 minutes of us getting there the Dr came in... looked at her, had her do some facial excersises, etc. He said that the little bit (less than 25%) they had to leave due to where is sat with the nerves didnt shrivel up and die, but instead is trying to work and now has an infection. He wants her on meds for 10 days and then back to see the surgeon in 2 wks and we will see then what he wants to do.

The whole thing is odd... I still dont ever hear of this and of course it's my daughter who has the problem... so I guess nothing should suprise me. I am wondering if he is going to want to go back in and remove the remainder of the gland, but I guess we will cross that bridge when we get there.

Breast Cancer Night at the Raptors

Longtime Ogden Raptor fan raising money to fight cancer costs
By Roy Burton
Standard-Examiner staff

OGDEN -- Kathy Gallegos opened her home to the Ogden Raptors. Now the Raptors are opening their home to her.
Gallegos and a group of fellow cancer patients are raising money to cover medical expenses and related costs by asking for donations for tickets to the Raptors game on Wednesday, Aug. 19, at Lindquist Field.
The Raptors will take on the Helena Brewers at 7 p.m. that night, but the fight against cancer continues every day.
Gallegos, a 51-year-old breast cancer patient from Layton, had a bilateral masectomy last November and began chemotherapy in January. She completed chemo July 1 and began radiation treatments this week.
Gallegos and her husband Mike, longtime Raptors fans and season-ticket holders, hosted Ogden players in their home in 2004 and 2005, including Ramon Troncoso, now a relief pitcher for the Los Angeles Dodgers.
"We've sponsored players, we've sold food from our family restaurant, from (Manuel's) El Burrito, at the Raptors' stadium for one season and we've since then become tailgating fans," Kathy Gallegos said, and they continue to hold tailgate parties at Lindquist Field before Saturday games.
Wednesday's fundraiser will benefit Gallegos and four other families she knows through her employment at the Internal Revenue Service. The group is asking for a $5 donation for each general admission ticket and is starting a foundation called Saving Second Base: Cancer Relief for the Ogden Valley Patients to provide stop-gap assistance until other foundations can step in with help. Donations can be made by calling Kathy at (801) 814-6710 or Mike at (801) 814-6709.

"Some of us have good jobs, we think we have good insurance, but it doesn't cover sometimes everyday living expenses like your lights and your gas," Gallegos said.
The fundraiser allows them to get money immediately into patients' hands "so they can maybe keep the lights on," Gallegos said. "There are other places that you can go to get financial help, but it doesn't seem to come fast enough. It's more like a trickledown."
The event came out of an offer from Raptors team president Dave Baggott to Gallegos.
"Dave came up to me and said that he understood that there are extra costs that go along with cancer treatments," Gallegos said. Baggott offered the tickets and promised he could have them printed in three days. "It was shocking for me to have somebody that's only known me as a fan come up to me and say, 'This is what I have available, I understand that you're not the only one and there's other people out there that need help.'"
Baggott said the Raptors are happy to help.
"We gave them a night at the ballpark, printed up 5,000 tickets and gave it to them to sell at whatever value they want and we have asked for nothing in return," Baggott said. "Hopefully they'll sell them all, raise some money and be in the ballpark to do some awareness for breast cancer. It was the right thing to do."
Cancer patients fight through stacks of paperwork and bureaucracy and have lots of ugly conversations with health care providers, even as they fight the disease, Gallegos said. "What I mean by ugly is, it's like pay now or else we don't treat you. Even though I have a good health insurance and I have a good job. You'd be amazed at how important is for that dollar to come before you get your care. We just want to put some hope someplace, that not everybody in the world is like that."

Reader Comments:
I think this is wonderful. I am proud to be a season ticket holder for the Raptors when I see the owner and team giving back to the community.

My mom has battled breast cancer twice now... has gone through a lumpectomy and mastectomy, has done chemo and radiation... Thankfully, now her hair is coming back and she is on the mend. I can only wish the same for all the others who are going through this.

I hope this fundraiser has a GREAT turnout and the city of Ogden can help support those who are going through this terrible disease.

Good luck and God Bless, Kathy.
Lisa Williams

Huh?

I got a phone call on Saturday morning that started out "Mom, my lump is back on my neck."

This was a call from my 9 yr old who was spending the weekend at her dad's. Immediatly I think she means the left saliva gland has an infection b/c 6 months ago we had the right gland removed. I start rattling off things she needs to do, warm compress... tylenol, decongestant, etc. "Mom, did you hear me? My lump is back... how can I have a lump where there is no gland???" HUH??? Oh, she meant on the right side. Uh, well... I dont know. I told her to keep doing those things and I'd look at it when she got home Sunday night and if needed, I'll call the Dr on Monday morning.

I didnt hear back from them all weekend and honestly I forgot about it. When I went to pick her up last night, she was so swollen. She said the swelling was getting worse but nothing was coming out through the duct (although I am not sure if she has a duct anymore). We drew a line around it so I would know if its getting bigger or not, gave her some medicine, and but her to bed... only to hear her moaning all night. Poor thing.

This morning she woke up and had a hissy fit from hell. She did this "I'm in pain and your not helping" dance around the kitchen. I felt terrible... all I could do was give her more Tylenol and pray.

I am going to call the ENT at Primary Children's first thing this morning... this doesnt make sense to me. Did they not get all the gland during surgery? Does it grow back? What can we do?

Keep little Ty in your prayers... I hate to see her like this and I know she is so frustrated b/c she thought she didnt have to deal with it anymore.

Here's your post, Amy!

Amy reminded me today that I havent blogged in a month. It's not for lack of things to share, I just dont have enough time in my days!

I went to Moab with the "Mamas" at the end of July... just got home from Family Camp at Luther Heights with the kids... spent many a night at the Raptors games... Gonna go to Vegas and Moab in September.

I just need to dedicate some time to share all my stories and pictures... maybe this weekend (don't hold your breath just in case!)