Three years

It's hard to believe it's been three years already. Some days it feels like a lifetime. We've lived a lot and learned a lot the last few years. 

Ronnie took me on a surprise anniversary/New Years eve date. How sweet is he?!?  It started by  visiting the spot where we got engaged. We got there right at sunset. Breathtaking. Then we went to Prime 47 Steak House downtown. It was delicious!  And they even gave us a free dessert!

I'm lucky to have married the man of my dreams.  I love you, babe.

I'm sure this will make for a story later....

Well, I've survived my first week of work.  And when I say survived, I mean it.  I started the week with two days of orientation.  At the end of the second day, the Wishard computer system crashed and was down for more than 36 hours.  The WHOLE computer system.  No way to register patients, order tests, view histories or results, nothing.  While  "down time" creates a problem for almost every area of the hospital, it creates a very chaotic and incomprehensible problem for the lab.  Everyone handled the mess gracefully but the backlog of work, manual processing, and endless phone calls meant no one had time to deal with new employees.  They were all very apologetic but I spent most of the week sorting papers and doing what I could to help and stay out of the way.  The majority of my processing training has been rescheduled for Monday and Tuesday, then I can finally begin training to be a generalist tech in the core lab's chemistry and hematology departments!  Yippee!

It's a boy!

Yes, it's true!  We've adopted another little bundle of fur and this time he is extra fuzzy.  We have named our new 8 week old Kind Charles Cavalier Spaniel Sulley.  We have been thinking for a while that Mia needed a little play mate and we fell in love with this little guy when we went to take our niece to see the puppies at the pet shop.  We were so excited to bring him home and happy that our family could enjoy him too!  The adjustment has been a little more difficult for Mia than we had hoped.  Her little feelings seemed to be a bit hurt and she ignored me and the puppy altogether for a couple days.  She seems to be coming around now though.  They run around the house and tackle each other for hours on end.  We are still working on sharing chew sticks though.  Sulley keeps trying to take Mia's beloved chew sticks.  Mia gets her little feelings hurt and sulks.  haha.  It's a doggie world in our house these days, but it is fun nonetheless.  

Leave of Absence- Done with School

HELLO OUT THERE!  I'm back in blogger world and am excited to post about some of the amazing things I have experienced over the last few months.  I know It has been a long while since I have posted anything.  School left me with very little free time this year as it was my senior year in the IU School of Medicine, Clinical Laboratory Science program.  So I guess we will just start off there.  To all my frequent followers, I apologize for the number of posts coming up in the next few days/weeks as I try to catch up.  I've tried to post most of them ahead of this post

I finally graduated!  We had our IUPUI graduation in May, but it didn't feel "real".  After all, we still had like 6 weeks of school left.  On top of it, our program is made up of 12 IUPUI students and 12 IU Health Methodist students, so it was hard celebrating without half of our friends.  Nonetheless, here are a few pics:

My Instructors

I was surprised at the graduation with an Honor's Cord!  

Our "real" graduation was at the end of June when we had our program dinner.

sorry, I will find a better pic later

Here it is!  All done.  I passed my certification last week so I am now Kristyn McCulley, BS MLS(ASCP).  That is "Bachelor of Science, Medical Laboratory Scientist (American Society of Clinical Pathologists).

A virtual tour

We are all settled into our new place and we have pictures to prove it! Click HERE to see the rest of our pictures via facebook!

Whirl Wind Week

The last week has been a tornado of chaos, but such an amazing adventure. Ronnie and I loaded up the UHAUL with the help of amazing San Antonio friends on Wednesday morning. I was amazed at how quickly we got everything loaded up! We were out of the apartment by about 2pm! I flew out of Texas on Wednesday night and Ronnie and his dad (and Mia) began the 22 hour drive with the UHAUL towing my car. They made great time and made it into Indy Thursday evening.

Closing went without a hitch on Friday morning and by 11:30am, we were unloading the truck with the help of our Indy friends. Now... I have to brag for a second. With all of our amazing help, we were unpacked by mid afternoon and nearly COMPLETELY UNPACKED by evening! I'm talking every room having the necessities unpacked and almost all boxes emptied! Impressive? I thought so. And just in time!

Saturday morning began our nearly nonstop guest hosting with Ronnie's Nana and Grandpa. They stayed through the weekend and my grandma came down from Ft. Wayne to visit too. After a grand time with the grandparents, my Uncle Erwin, Aunt Janett, and cousins Lindsay and Hailey came to stay for a week. We divided them up and my sisters and cousins stayed at our place (Ronnie was very outnumbered). We've had fun with 4th of July fireworks, playing games, and hanging out. It has been a busy first week in Indy, but it has been fun seeing so many relatives and opening up our new home to them for the first time.

Prayer Request

As some of you know, we are in the process of buying a house in Franklin Township, Indianapolis and we could use your prayers. Nothing is finalized until closing but until then, there are A LOT of details that need to fall into place. Moving from San Antonio to Indy is a big task and to make it harder, Ronnie will continue to live in Texas for a little while while I go back to school at IU. But God is faithful! Please pray with us as we enter this new chapter of our lives.

April Surgery

Ronnie had surgery on Wednesday, April 25th. It lasted about 5.5 hours and they did quite a bit. They did a total of 5 Z-plasties on his right arm ranging from his shoulder all the way to his elbow. It looks more like one long zig-zag but Ronnie says he can already feel the difference. He also had a scar band excised from his right hand and a full thickness skin graft from his left arm put in its place. Two pins are currently holding his hand open and a large bolster is tied tightly to his palm.

They did not do any work on his torso or leg this time which meant no a slightly shorter hospital stay. He got out this morning and is relaxing on the couch. While his pain is tolerable enough to be discharged, it is by no means gone, so pray that it would continue to diminish.

Our biggest prayer request at this point is for Ronnie's hand. We knew going into the surgery that there was high risk for nerve damage since his hand has been operated on so many times. When he woke up in ICU, he immediately had the doctor called in because he had numbness in his fingers (mainly his pointer). After anesthetics wore off and feeling was still absent, the doctor said that he believes that the bolster is putting pressure on the nerves but there is no way to know if there is damage, permanent or otherwise, or to what extent until the bolster is removed next week. Understandably, this has worried Ronnie a lot as he does not know to what extent his hand will be able to function later in life. I am reassured that the doctors do not anticipate permanent damage, but there is no way to be sure. We know that God is the ultimate healer and we are praying that, whatever the outcome, his grace will be sufficient.

A week of yuck

This last week has been the worst. After not feeling well for over a week, I finally came down with a fever at the same time as Ronnie started having symptoms. He went to the ER a couple times at the end of last week and I went in on Saturday. Though I went in for a fever and stomach stuff, I felt relatively fine. However, I was admitted for having an incredibly high heart rate that wouldn't go down even with fluids. I stayed until Sunday and on both Monday and Tuesday, Ronnie was back in the ER. We got the news on Monday that my lab results came back positive for salmonella poisoning, so we discontinued our previous meds and started taking Cipro. My fever immediately improved and, though tired and a bit weak, I started to improve. Ronnie however was throwing up nonstop and couldn't keep either the antibiotic or pain meds down, let alone food and water. After a full week of throwing up, he finally started to feel a little better after his Tuesday ER trip. They gave him some antibiotics and nausea medication via IV which seemed to jump-start the healing process. We are both on the upswing now with only a couple symptoms remaining. The goal this weekend has been to take it easy and finally start eating again. We dont know where we picked up the Salmonella but the type D that we have is most commonly found in raw eggs (which we haven't cooked with here in a while). Thank you all so much for your prayers during our awful week. We know that God is the healer and will never give us more than we can handle.

The travel bug

Ronnie and I caught the travel bug last week after Ronnie got out of the hospital so we decided to take a spur-of-the-moment trip to see his family. After a late night at the rodeo on Friday, we woke up early on Saturday and drove to Dallas. We had a great day with Ronnie's Uncle Ken, Aunt Tracy, and cousins Samantha and Zane. It is hard to believe almost exactly a year ago, we were in Dallas picking up our little Mia bug! Mia had a great time playing with all their little Chihuahuas, too. It is always so great to spend time with Uncle Ken and Fam.

The morning came too early on Sunday as we headed toward Tulsa at about 4:30am. We made it into town before church and even had enough time to have breakfast with our great friends Logan and Haylee. What an unexpected surprise! We stayed in Tulsa from Sunday until Wednesday morning.

Here are the highlights:
*Sunday morning breakfast with our amazing friend's Logan and Haylee-- couldnot have asked for a better start to the trip
*Seeing Jake sing at church on Sunday
*Lunch with Grandma and Papa McCulley followed by a visit with Great Grandma Owens in the nursing home
*Watching Lauren ride her horse, Patriot, and then getting a chance to ride ourselves!
*Having dinner with Aunt Jan and listening to all of her funny stories from China
*Stopping by Tulsa Bible Church to say thank you to all the wonderful staff there for their prayers and support
*Taco Bueno lunch with family (this was a high point for Ronnie)
*Pizza dinner at Jessica and Ryan's house filled with wrestling, funny stories, ferrite fun, and family time with the McCulley's and Nana and Grandpa
*Late night movie's (for us girls) and whatever-it-was that the boys did during that time...
*Watching Mia and Boomer fight over the multitude of chew-sticks around the house
*Dressing Mia and Boomer in their clothes


All and all, it was a very fast but fun trip.

Discharged!

Ronnie was discharged unexpectedly on Thursday evening. We knew he would be getting out within the next few days, but had not spoken to the doctor to find out when. Since then he hasnt had time to slow down. He is feeling pretty well and is continuing to heal up.

Mia was excited to pick Ronnie up at the hospital. She sat on his lap, the whole way home.

A year with you, my love

So I just realized today that our Anniversary post never posted for some reason! So bummed! So I am moving it to the top to share it for now. :)

Ronnie and I had a wonderful first anniversary while my family was in town. We were even able to eat the cake from our wedding ceremony in November (which I'm sure was much better than waiting a full year!). On New Years Day, Ronnie and I went to the Tower of the Americas in downtown San Antonio. It has been on our list of things to do for a while and it made for a great Anniversary surprise. The view from the top of the tower at sunset made dinner even more romantic and spectacular. The Chart House Restaurant's steak helped a lot too ;)

It has been one year... It hardly seems possible. It has not been your typical year, that is for sure. Ronnie has gone through several surgeries and extended hospital visits in our first year. We have made trips all over the country visiting family and friends and housed visitors in our first home together as well. We have moved a total of 4 times here in TX and even managed to have two weddings! But through it all, I know I am blessed to be married to my best friend.

Surgery: Part 2

Today, Ronnie had the second half of his surgery that began in January. Back in January, surgeons made incisions in his right hand and right knee and filled them in with Integra®. Today, they took skin grafts from all along his left leg and filled in the open areas. Even though donor sites are quite painful, the results of the surgery should prove to be well worth it as Ronnie should be able to use his right hand more and also walk and bend easier.

Ronnie spent the afternoon in the ICU to get his pain under control. They expected him to only stay for about an hour but the loss of an IV, and the medication subsequently not making it to his blood stream, caused higher than anticipated pain and therefore a longer stay. He was moved out of ICU at about 7pm tonight and called me right away to bring him some dinner. Good to see that his appetite has not suffered! He is getting some rest now and will hopefully not have too much pain tonight as he sleeps. Thank you all for your prayers!

The Saddest Day of My Life Thus Far

Today was PawPaw's funeral. It has been a hard couple days, but Grandma has been holding up really well. I think she likes having so many people to talk to her and occupy her. She has always been a social butterfly. The service today was beautiful. It was fun to hear so many stories about PawPaw: playing basketball with neighbor kids, hearing about his high school days, learning the fun trivia facts he told everyone else... He was a fun guy. I liked how Pastor Brad summed it up.
PawPaw was: a Collector; a man of Character; Compassionate; Cool-Calm-Collected; a Connoisseur of Trivia, Science, and sci-fi; Competitive, Captured by God.

I will always miss my PawPaw, but know that one day I will see him again in heaven.

Below is a link to PawPaw's obituary.
http://hosting-24267.tributes.com/show/Raymond-N.-Meyers-92973581

New Car

We FINALLY got our new car today!!!

Our New 2011 Honda CRV-EX!

Try, Try Again

Ronnie had another follow up appointment this morning to look over his chronically open donor site from his last surgery. Initially, they just restitched the incision, but when it came open again, they found that there was a large open area under the surface. Stuffing the wound with anti-infection cloth did not seem to help so today the PA attached a Wound-Vac to the site. The Wound-Vac provides suction which not only removes the infection but helps the skin to heal. We are praying that no surgery is needed to close up the incision. :(

Ronnie Turns 22

A few months ago, we all wondered if this day would come. Life seems so much more precious now. We spent Ronnie's birthday in downtown San Antonio. We had a two night hotel pass to use, so we did some site-seeing. We were able to walk along the river, visit the Alamo, shop at the mall, see a movie, take a river boat tour, and go through Ripley's Believe It Or Not Museum. It was an action packed early weekend. Happy Birthday, Ronnie!!

The Wax Museum at Ripley's

The Alamo

River Tour

Ronnie's Surgery 7-6-11

Ronnie had surgery to open up the palm of his hand that had been pulled closed by a scar band. Dr. L used full thickness skin grafts taken from Ronnie's left and right groin to fill in the gap in his hand. While the 3.5 hour surgery went very well, the nerve block put in place during the operation did not take leaving Ronnie in excruciating pain when he woke up. An increase in meds however brought on the unwanted side effect of unbearable itching. Anesthetists soon came into the ICU and again put in a nerve block.

The new nerve block however was short lived and soon Ronnie needed more pain meds and more itching meds. It took a couple days to get the meds right and the pain under control. It was not until Ronnie's fourth day in the hospital that he began to see a noticeable decrease in pain and could begin to decrease his meds.

Today is day six in the hospital and also the last day. Ronnie will be discharged this afternoon.

Ronnie's hand after surgery. The bolster will stay on for another few days.

Moving Right Along

Ronnie has always loved to drive. Because of his injuries and medications, he has not been able to drive; until now. Ronnie passed his driving simulation test at the Center for the Intrepid and was cleared to drive depending on where he is in his med cycle. It was neat for me (as a pre-OT) to see how the therapist tested Ronnie's reflexes, mental perceptions, and muscle ability using tests and and a huge driving simulator complete with surrounding screens and real truck.