Austin, Luke & Savannah's Mommy

Report cards

2009-11-15T09:09:00.000-05:00

I am so proud of my son Luke. He got all A's on his report card. I never even got close to that. School just comes so easy for him and he hasn't even really started to work very hard. I hope he continues to do well. Here is what his teacher had to say:
Luke's super grades this term are a reflection of his hard work in class and at home. I can always count on Luke to give 100% effort, and to ask questions when he doesn't understand something. Luke's behavior is excellent , and he seems to enjoy participating in class. He is a model student and a friend to everyone. You should be very proud of yourself, Luke!

I am also very proud of Austin! He got his report card a couple weeks ago. He is doing amazing in middle school and seems to emjoy it. He got 4 C's, 2 B's and an A!! Here are some of the comments from his teachers:
Possitive attitude / effort
Works well with others
Displays responsibility
Becoming self-directed learner
Work is improving
He is also staying after school two days a week for tutoring. He hasn't once complained about staying until 5:20 pm on Mondays & Thursdays. He is seeing that his hard work is paying off! He is also off all his ADHD meds and doing better without them. He is become quite a young man and so tall!!

Miss Savannah got her very first report card, and she did very well. She is ahead of where she should be is almost everything. Here is what her teacher had to say about her:
Savannah is a very creative student. Her art work is mature and beautiful. She loves to learn and participate in all activites. Please continue to practice letter recognition and sounds at home for more practice. Keep up the good work.

website

2009-11-12T07:14:00.000-05:00

My website is up and running!!

customcraftshop.com

More hospital stuff

2009-11-08T07:38:00.000-05:00

I can't believe how much my recent hospital stay has affected me. It's hard to think about it without getting teary eyed. It's almost like I was a different person when I was there. I guess I had to be strong otherwise I would have gone crazy! I can't tell you how many different people I had to tell my story to before my back was fixed, doctor's, nurses, roomates, friends, family and even the housekeeping lady. I was begininng to think that there wasn't really anything wrong with me and I was just going to have a headache forever. When I woke up from surgery and my headache was gone, I knew I wasn't crazy!!
I think being in the hospital is a huge stresser for anyone. I had never had to stay for 8 days before. I loved all my nurses that took care of me. I look foward to taking them some homemade cookies soon. They went out of their way to make me comfortable. I was so embarrased to have to use a bedpan, but they tried to put my mind at ease.
I have a bag that has all the stuff from the hospital in it that I can't seem to put away. Everytime I get near it I want to just start crying. I'm just going to leave it alone for a while. It was really hard getting through everything without my mom. I miss her so much. It's almost been a year since she passed away.
The kids are all doing great! Austin has been off his ADHD meds for over a month now and he is doing awesome!!! He is working so hard in middle school and we are so proud of him. He is such a good helper and has a heart of gold. Luke is doing super in school, all As on his first report card! He's been growing so much lately, he's not my little boy anymore. He ususlly the one testing us but he can also be very sweet. Savannah loves kindergarten and everything about it. I think she would live there if she could. She loves learning and playing and meeting new friends. She loves to draw pictures, I mean LOVES it!! This girl is always working on some sort of art project.
Matt has been amazing through everything. I love him more everyday. We were made for each other for sure. He listens to all my worries and makes they better. He always seems to know what to say and when to say it. I am so excited that I get to spend the rest of my life with him.

Update & trick-or-treating

2009-11-07T08:17:00.000-05:00

I can't believe that it's already November, where has the year gone? I have to admit that it's been a tough year. The past month is has been the toughtest. The whole time I was in the hospital I had a positive attitude and didn't really worry much. I just did what I had to do to get better. When I got home it all hit me and I have really struggled. Things are getting better thanks to my amazing friends and family. Of course Matt has been my rock and really got me through the tough times. I'm done with all the pain meds and life continues to move on.
Here are a few pictures from Halloween. Matt took Luke and Savannah out trick-or-treating.
Boba Fett

Bunny

Amy Update!

2009-11-01T22:42:00.000-05:00

I wanted to get on here and update about the past couple weeks. My surgery on the 14th went well and I was home the next day, Thursday the 15th. I was up and about and feeling great. But when I woke up on Thursday the 22nd my head was killing me. It got so bad that I asked to call an ambulance to take me to the hospital. There was just no way I could have sat up in the van for the 10-15 minute ride. The pain in my head, neck and upper shoulders was like nothing I've ever felt before....it was hell.

When I got to the hospital I was given some pain meds that helped control the unrelenting pain. I saw a few doctors and it was decided that I would receive a blood patch in my spine to hopefully repair any leak of CSF that might me going on. The procedure was done in my ER room and quite painful. They took some of my blood and put it in my epidural space. The doctor that did it was ready to send me home but I asked to stay overnight to see how I felt the next day. Needless to say the patch didn't work and what came next was a bunch of tests:

MRI of my lumbar spine, with & without contrast

MRI of my brain, with & without contrast

CT scan of my neck, base of my skull and upper shoulders.

X-ray of my chest

Countless blood tests

2 spinal taps

2 blood patches

10 day total inpatient

The first spinal was awful and they weren't able to get any fluid. That was really scary because I had no idea if that was good or bad, I was leaning towards bad. The reason they couldn't find fluid was because it was in the same spot where they did surgery and there was tons of scar tissue. So the next spinal was in my room and they tried another blood patch. They got fluid but the patch didn't help. The fluid showed some abnormal white blood cells so I was in isolation for about 24 hours. They had to rule out meningitis, which they did. If anything it would have been chemical.

My doctor wanted me to try and get up and walk with PT. I did okay with walking but my head started hurting so bad that I had to get back to bed ASAP. That evening my neurosurgeon calls and asked if I would be willing to do surgery to get a really good look and make repairs as needed. So he went in through my scar and was able to sew up the problem and my headaches were gone when I woke up in recovery!! Dr. Jobe said that he had never had a case like mine but had read about it. I told him that he will never forget me. I will see him in the morning and update soon after.

Love, Amy

Doing great!!

2009-10-20T13:37:00.001-04:00

I am doing wonderful after surgery! I am healing well and taking it easy. Matt is doing an amazing job of taking care of the kids and I. We've had all kinds of goodies delivered and picked up some Selmon's for dinner last Friday. Thanks to Jenna and Ryan!! Jenna is bringing Taco salad this evening and Jennifer is getting pizza for us tomorrow. Oh, and Donna brought over some yummy homemade chocolate chip cookies Saturday. The night before surgery our BFF's, the Pippins' brough Pizza over and really helped calm my nerves. I made it through surgery and I see the light at the end of the tunnel!! I want to thank everyone for helping me get through a very difficult time.Matt has been able to spend more time with the kids this week. He took all three kids to the beach on Saturday to enjoy the first waves. Matt took them to pick out a new boogie board that the used all day. Hopefully we will get more good waves so they can surf this winter.
I just wanted to let everyone know that I'm doing great!!

Update about sugery

2009-10-16T17:00:00.000-04:00

My last blog was about what I was expecting and this blog will be what happened after surgery. I want to start off by saying that I had the best care possible this time. Everyone from Beth in pre-op to the housekeeping lady that made me laugh. I told my sad story to everyone I talked to and it really made a difference. I have so much more I want to share but I'll have to do that later. Thank you so much for all your prayers, love and support!

What to expect

2009-10-11T10:51:00.000-04:00

This picture was taken a couple days before my back surgery in February of 2005 at the Daytona 500. We had so much fun. I wasn't really that nervous about surgery because I didn't know what to expect.

The next picture was taken about a week after my surgery.

My back is really hurting and I am scared to death of the future pain. Surgery will be at Noon on Wednesday at Bayfront Medical Center here in St.Pete. When I woke up after my first surgery on the way to the recovery room I thought I was going to die...it was that bad. It didn't help that the nurses in the recovery room were too busy talking about their weekend plans that it took almost an hour to get my pain pump.

The worst part of my hospital stay was my overnight nurse, she was not nice at all. After they pulled my cathier I had to use a bedpan because I wasn't allowed to get up. The nurse gave me the bedpan and left. I had to lay/sit on that thing for 2 hours!! I kept calling and calling for the nurse but she was too busy, By the time she comes to help me she says that she will only help if I stop crying!! It was like a nightmare, my worst night ever!! After I went home we called and complained and the hosptial appoligized and refunded our $300 co-pay. I have made up my mind that I will only accept the best care possible. I'm not so shy and quiet anymore, I speak my mind! So keep me in your prayers so I don't have a nercvous breakdown before surgery!!

Happy Birthday Austin!

2009-09-26T15:15:00.000-04:00

Austin at age 7

Austin at age 8 (he had a black eye)

Austin at age 9

Austin at age 10

Austin at age 11

Austin at age 12

Austin at age 13!!

I love you so much!

Good News!

2009-09-24T20:59:00.000-04:00

For the first time in a year I feel like I'm stepping out of a fog. I'm starting to learn how to live without my grandma and mom. I miss them both so much. I miss being able to call them anytime I wanted. There is so much I miss about them and so much I don't miss. I don't miss wondering if grandma was in pain from the evil cancer that had taken her body hostage. I don't wonder if she's being taken care of or recieving the care she needed. I also don't miss spending so much time worried about my mom. I know that they are both finally home and finally free of the worries of this world.
I still can't believe that I lost both of these women in 4 months and our dog. Talk about having a major pittty party, I was all about that. I guess I've learned that I can do this, I can do anything. I have an amazing life and family. My mom and grandma both died knowing how happy I was. They knew that I was doing what I always wanted to do; be a mom and wife.
Life moves on. I'm not sure that I will ever catch up but I'll give it my best shot. I want to be the best mother, wife and friend that I can possible be. I want to make people feel special and share my gifts with everyone.

Party X4

2009-09-22T08:39:00.003-04:00

We went to celebrate our favorite quads 1st birthday a couple weeks ago.

Here is Matt with Cash.

How sweet is this little man? Cash stole Matt heart!
Here are the quads with the kids.

Jillian, Cameron, Cash & Jack having their cake and eating it too!!

Savannah on the way home with her party favors.

The party was at a splash park.

Here's Luke having a blast!!

Luke, Savannah & Austin getting really wet!

Waiting for the water.

They had so much fun!!

The party was awesome!

My back update!

2009-09-19T08:42:00.003-04:00

I went to see my Neurosurgeon yesterday and we have decided to go ahead with surgery. He said that my disc herniation was still very large and would need surgery to relieve the pain. The surgery will a mircodiskectomy on October 14th. He will go in the same place that I had my prior surgery, so no new scar! He said he should be able to avoid those nasty staples and use a type of skin glue instead.
I have so many different feelings about this surgery. On one hand I can't wait to have it done and over with, and on the other, I'm scared to death. When I woke up from my first back surgery in 2-05, I was introduced to the worst pain I had ever felt. I felt like I had been hit by a Mack truck and lived. Then of course there are the things that can go wrong with the surgery. I am willing to go through all of that stuff to feel better and get my life back. I am way to young to be living with pain all the time so I will do the surgery.
All this started with a ride at Universal Studio's, Jimmy Neutron! It's not even a real ride, but it sure does move around a lot. So no more roller coasters or crazy rides. I love roller coasters and I miss them. This injury happened the last weekend of April, so I've dealt with this pain for 5 months. I've been to 4 different doctors, had 3 extremely painful epidurals, 2 MRI's and I'm over it all.
I do finally see the light at the end of the tunnel, I see an end in sight. What stands in the way is another month of waiting and another couple moths of pain. I'm sure that everyone is sick of hearing me complain so I'll stop now! Please pray that everything will run smooth.

Perkins & September

2009-09-15T10:41:00.003-04:00

This is a picture of Luke and Savannah in front of their school, Perkins Elementary School: Magnet Center for the Arts and International Studies. I LOVE this school and so do the kids. Whenever I'm on campus I just get this awesome feeling of pride. The teachers and staff are amazing men and women that love their school and work so hard to make it a success. Another thing that makes Perkins so wonderful is all the support they receive from parents.

This is Luke & Savannah in Dylan's Butterfly Garden on campus.

This is a Memorial for a former student and artist. His name is Dylan Crane and he had quite an impact on everyone that knew him. He battled the beast of cancer. He had Ewing's Sarcoma, a very powerful bone cancer.

September is National Childhood Cancer Awareness Month.

Dylan was only one of thousands of children that die each year from cancer. Many of the children that beat their cancer are left with a broken and beaten body.

There are many things we can all do to see that one day our children are free of the beast.

* Donate blood & blood products

* Join the National Marrow Donor Program

http://www.marrow.org/

* Support funding for a cure

http://www.fastercure.org/start.htm

*Support Foundations that support families

http://www.katiasolomonfoundation.org/

http://www.childrenscancercenter.org/

http://www.jakesfoundation.org/

http://www.heroesforchildren.org/

Thanks!!

My kids love school!!

2009-09-06T08:54:00.003-04:00

I though I should update since it's been a while. Life is good in the Nasworthy house. Other than Luke being a little sick. He has a sore throat, cough and a fever yesterday, but he feels better today. Hopefully no one else gets sick.
The kids are all loving school!! Savannah thinks kindergarten is the greatest thing ever!! She loves being busy all day and learning. We love her teacher!! Luke is making so many new friends this year and having a blast. He's in 4th grade this year and he's joining the band again this year. I think he's decided on percussion? I just love their school and all the extra things they offer. They get Spanish everyday and all the arts once a week. Austin is doing much better than I thought he would do in middle school!! He's making so many new friends and loving all his classes. His school is working really hard to keep the kids in line. Austin has never been a trouble maker and it's easier for him to focus when other aren't.
My back has been feeling a little better. I'm just tired of complaining about it. My last MRI showed some improvement so I'm not sure what the next step is? I see my neurosurgeon on the 18th and we will go from there.

1st Day of School 09

2009-08-28T07:30:00.001-04:00

Luke 4th grade, Austin 6th grade & Savannah kindergarten

back update

2009-08-25T10:44:00.002-04:00

I'm not sure if anyone still reads this our not but I'll update anyways. I like having a journal so I remember what was going on at a certain time and how I was feeling. This past year has definitely been a rough one. I just never thought that I would lose my mom and grandmother 4 months apart. I working to move on and living again. I'm working on being the best mom and wife that I can right now.
I saw my neurosurgeon yesterday and he's sending me for another MRI because I had a fall and I have new pain. Hopefully I can move forward quickly with surgery. I just want it to stop hurting!! He did say that the surgery he would do is just trimming off the herniated part of the disc. I'm waiting to see the results of the new MRI to make any plans. I'm having it done on Thursday morning so I should get the report and disc early next week.

What's up at the Nasworthy's?

2009-08-13T10:16:00.003-04:00

Savannah working on her first scrapbook!

more scraping
Nana blowing kisses.

Nana & Mommy

Hummer & Dude

This is from our backyard.

Austin in a box.

Luke crushing Austin.

Help!!

Our new grill!!

Nana's new shoes....I love them!!

Luke having a race.

Nana fell asleep on the couch last night.

Nana working on a craft project.

Austin playing with Nana.

I can't believe that summer is almost over and school will be starting so soon. I think the kids are getting sick of hanging out with mom. We haven't done very much because of my back issues. It is really painful right now and I'm so ready to get it fixed. I see neurosurgeon on the 25th to talk about surgery. The steroids didn't help much and it's getting worse everyday. I am taking the kids to Chuckie Cheese this afternoon so they can burn off some energy. My thyroid meds have been helping me feel better and have more energy, so that is great.

Quads & more

2009-07-28T08:02:00.003-04:00

I guess I should update on my health first. The back still hurts and a lot worse now since I busted my butt getting into a pool over the weekend. I have a softball sized bruise on my left cheek. My whole body feels sore today. I also got some news on my thyroid. I saw my doctor last week and I asked if she could check my thyroid level because I wasn't feeling right. Come to find out I should have been taking the meds for the past year and a half!! I took them before but she told me to stop after a few months. So now I'm just thankful that it's being taken care of. It's one of those things that I will most likely need for the rest of my life like the B12. I can't wait to start feeling better. It was affecting so many things depression, tiredness, my nails are all nasty, and even some confession.
I am waiting to see the neurosurgeon to talk about surgery. I see him next month on the 24th. I'm just ready to get it fixed and move on. I hate waking up in pain. I also hate waiting to see a doctor!!! It takes forever to get anything done.
We have been really busy around here with out of town friends and our visit with the Waker quads. I had a friends from high school come visit over the weekend and it was awesome. We hadn't seen each other in 18 years back in Anderson, IN. She lives out west now with her husband and son. We also had another high school friends that lives in Tampa join us on Saturday. We hung out at their hotel pool on Clearwater beach Saturday evening. Then they came over Sunday, we watched their son so they could have a little adult time. Such fun catching up!!

Meet the Walker 4

Mommy Jenna feeding Jillian & Cash

Cameron & Jack
We were really outnumbered!! 7-2

Austin with Cash

Cameron

Luke talking to Jillian

And this is Jack, he's such a ham, and those curles!!

I need some feedback!!

2009-07-17T07:54:00.004-04:00

I have been working really hard on getting my craft stuff ready to sell on my on-line store. These are a couple examples of the decorated pictures frames that I will be selling. Each one I do will be one of a kind and include whatever the buyer wants.

I love the Indianapolis Colt's!
This frame holds a 4x6 pictures and can be any theme.

These are from my last trip to Anderson to visit my Nana.

I did the two's Nana's because we call Savannah Nana and I call my dad's mom, Nana too.

These will be selling for around $20. Would you buy one?

Ruby Fall's & my back

2009-07-15T07:22:00.004-04:00

I had my third and final epidural yesterday. My back has been killing me the past few days so I'm praying for some relief. I will know in 5 days if it will work or not. The next step will most likely be surgery. If it takes away the pain I'll do it!!

We went to visit Ruby Fall's one day while we were on vacation last week. It ended up being about a two hour drive to Chattanooga, TN. from where we were staying in North Carolina. The drive to get there was beautiful with lots of twists and turns through the mountains. Here are a few pictures from our days.

Austin, Savannah & Matt

Me with the kids
Savannah being cute

Matt

Me & the hubby

Tony, Chris, Kelly, Dylan & Josh

(they went with us on vacation)

The waterfall in the middle of the mountain

They do a light show that is amazing

This picture is looking up from under the fall.

This was the view from the top of the mountain.

Chattanooga, Tennessee

checking out the view

This is one of my favorite things from the cave, a little wishing well.

Our family having fun being together!

I'll be posting more pictures from our trip and some stories. We had a great time!! Of course there was a little drama, there was bound to be with 12 relatives together for a week under one roof. I was able to spend a lot of time with Matt's mom, Donna. We always have a good time together no matter what we are doing!! I'm sure missing her now.

Tea time

2009-06-29T08:27:00.002-04:00

This is how we found Savannah the other day in her room. She set the table up and all her stuffed friends. They were having a great time.

Since she was being such a good girl, I pulled out her 'good' tea set.
It was so much fun that the boy's joined in.

Austin will kill me one day for posting this pictures. He doesn't read my blog so I think I'm safe for now.

She wouldn't get anyone pour!

Now that Savannah is 5 we are having so much fun doing girly things!!

Saturday update

2009-06-27T08:32:00.002-04:00

I had my second epidural on Wednesday and it really hurt. When the doctor got close to bone I felt this pain go all the way down my right leg to my foot. It was like hitting your funny bone times 100!! Thankfully the procedure only takes less than 10 minutes. I was sore that day and the next, but now it's feeling a little better. I will see my doctor next Monday to figure out the next step. You can only get three epidurals a year and I've had two so far. He may send me for some physical therapy?
The kids are having a great summer so far. They've been stuck inside a lot because of my back problems but we are having fun. We've been building clubhouses in the living room with blankets. Savannah has this cute porcelain princess tea set that she got for Christmas that we've been using too. Nana likes to set up her little table with stuffed animals all around it for tea parties. She even make paper cookies for the plates. I have takes some pictures but haven't put them on the computer yet.
I need to get up and ready for the day. If you have an extra minute please leave a comment. I love hearing from everyone.

Update

2009-06-24T06:03:00.003-04:00

Today is the day for epidural #2, well it's actually a nerve block I believe. I'm a little nervous because the last one hurt really bad. It was quick but I could feel the pain go through my entire body. I get twight-light sedation but I still feel everything, just makes me a little goofy. I also saw the neurosurgeon on Monday and he told me to give him a call if the pain gets worse because then we will talk surgery. He said that he thought the area with fluid was just blood from when I herniated my disc. He said the herniation was really large and most likely bleed a little when it happened.
We had a great Father's Day weekend. I made Matt a super meal on the grill Saturday and he loved it. Delmonico steaks, mushroom and corn on the cob on the grill and Savannah made the Cesar salad. It was so yummy! We went to the Pippin's on Sunday for a seafood boil. John is an awesome cook and I think he has mastered the boil.
We are getting excited about our upcoming vacation to visit Matt's mom in North Carolina. We are leaving on Friday July the 3rd and staying for a week. Matt's brother Tony and his family are going too. It will be a full house for sure, our 5 and Tony's 5 along with Mom & Ralph. Oh, I almost forgot, were bringing our dogs too!! We just can't bear to leave them behind and we aren't staying in a hotel. I'm ready for a break from this Florida heat!! We've been having heat advisories the past week with feels like temps of 100 plus.
I'm off the grab a bite to eat while I still can and get ready for the day.

Not a good morning

2009-06-17T17:23:00.002-04:00

I was supposed to have my second epidural this morning but I had to cancel. I woke up at 2:15am and threw-up every 15-20 minutes until around 7:30am. I was ready to go to a walk in clinic or the ER because it was so bad. Thankfully I was able to get an hour or so of sleep and woke up feeling much better. I have never been sick like that before, it was awful. The only good part was the 5 lbs. I lost!!
I have a new appointment next Wednesday for the procedure. My right leg is so much better since the first one that I can hardly wait for #2!! I'm still having a lot of back pain so I'm bummed that I have to wait. I'm hoping that good things will come with the wait.
I'm off to relax and have some chicken noodle soup.

Video & thank you's

2009-06-16T12:43:00.006-04:00

Here is my first attempt at posting a video for your viewing pleasure. It's at the pool when we were down south a couple weeks ago. Savannah had just learned how to hold her breath underwater and Luke was diving for coins. Enjoy!!

I also want to thank a couple of wonderful ladies for all their love and support over the past year. Well they have known and loved me since before I was born. They are two of my cousin's that have gone out of their way to make me feel special and always have such good advice. Thank you Rita and Nancy!!