edisto beach

Before all doctor's appointments and the surgery .... I went to my favorite place .... EDISTO!!!

It was absolutely wonderful!  I spent time with my family, ate tons of amazing food, played in the waves, napped on the beach, watch dolphins, and relaxed!  It was exactly what I needed!

I left Minot on the 13th of August and flew into Charleston.  Ryan, Cassie (Ryan's Girlfriend), and Josh were there to meet me at the airport.  After watching my bag go around the baggage claim about seven times we finally decided to pick it up and head to the beach.  (Or....I forgot what mine looked like....)  The smell of the Ocean, the thick air, and the instantly frizzy hair were all very exciting reminders that I was finally back in the south and at Edisto...it had been two years since I had been!  Mom, Dad, Morgan, Aunt Arline, Mrs. Darla, Mr. Jon, Aunt Fawn, Uncle Dave, and Kyle were all at the house already when we got there.  It only took about 30 seconds (if that long) before we were all joking and laughing as if no time had past since we were all together.
That night it was salmon for dinner...and it was amazing! I don't know how they do it, but the Pernelli's always manage to make the best salmon! Cassie and I stayed up for several hours that night...you wouldn't have know by listening to the conversation but this was the first time we spent any time together!!!

Saturday and Sunday we all hung out on the beach.  There was a lot of kayaking, reading on the beach, and botchy ball...you know, the normal beach activities! 

Early afternoon on Sunday a HUGE storm rolled in...and it came in fast.  Poor Aunt Arline was down at the gazebo watching everyone and got stuck in the rain!  It was a neat storm and some of us even went out in the water during it...however quickly came in because it was raining so hard!

Late on Sunday afternoon both Morgan and Kyle had to go back home.  They were both able to wait out the storms and get safely on the road.  Grandpa Tom got in a little later.  We also got to talk to Sean!!!  Sean and I both managed to get on facebook chat at the same time which was wonderful.  We passed around the computer so everyone could talk to him...even Aunt Arline and Grandpa Tom.  That evening JR and Christi came in.  We had a wonderful dinner of Beauford Boil followed with a night of playing beer pong. 

Monday we spent more time on the beach and hanging out.  That evening everyone brought out the instruments and we all hung out in the living room. 

On Tuesday, the adults took a walk to the point...of course they invited everyone but most people were tired and I wasn't feeling well.  The point is the end of Edisto...about a mile and a half from the last spot you can park.  It is a great walk to find sharks teeth and funky beach things.

 That afternoon I joined Aunt Fawn and Uncle Dave on a quick trip into Charleston and Nana and Papa came to Edisto for the evening!  When we got back from Charleston a few of us went down to the condo to watch the sunset...although we didn't see one. 

We also managed to get a picture of the group while Aunt Fawn, Uncle Dave, and Grandpa were still at the beach.  Then settled down to a dinner of lasagna.  

Aunt Fawn, Uncle Dave, and Grandpa all headed out on Wednesday morning.  We spent the rest of the day hanging out and even got in some volleyball in the afternoon.  

On Thursday, our last day at Edisto, some of us went on a point walk in the morning. 

On the way back we saw these two adorable German Shepard puppies!

In the afternoon we played more volleyball and botchy ball, hung out, feed the seagulls, and took tons of last day pictures. 

On Friday we left Edisto and I went back to Virginia with Mom and Dad.  I spent the next few days in the area.  I spent time with the McPhersons, got to see Grammy, went to lunch with Mrs. Graham, and saw the Hannah's.  I also went to dinner with the girls one night. 

Mostly, I hung out with Mom, Dad, and Cassie.  It was great to see everyone and get away for a few weeks!
.katherine.

surgery is done

As I mentioned in the last blog...I had a laparoscopy done yesterday morning.  Overall it went well...here is how things happened:

The day before :
4:15 - Went to my pre-op appointment with Dr. Fischbach.  He talked us through the procedure, what he expected to find, what would happen from there, and the recovery.  He gave me a prescription to take that night that would open my cervix and also asked me to get magnesium citrate to clear my bowels.  After asking all the questions we could think of we dropped off the prescription and headed over to the hospital.  At the hospital we got all my lab work done and talked to admissions.  They got all my food preferences, family history, prescription, and allergies documented.  About 5:45 we went back to get the prescription and headed home.

11:00 - We headed to bed and I was prepared for a night of good sleep.  However, I didn't sleep a whole lot.  I kept waking up to check the clock and the medication gave me cramps.  I slept for about two hour sections...in between the sleeping I took a shower, straightened the bathroom, did my hair, and stared at the ceiling.  I was ready to get up when the alarm went off in the morning.

Day of: 
8:00 - We went to the hospital.  Once we got there we checked in downstairs and headed up to my room on the third floor.  It was a four person room but I was only sharing it with one other person at that time.  I got changed into my very fashionable hospital gown, robe, and teal socks!  The anesthesiologist came in to see if I had any questions and talk me through that part of the surgery.  Several different nurses proceeded him to get my vitals, make sure I was ok, and hook me up to a machine that kept the blood flowing in my legs.

9:20 - They came to take me to the pre-op room.  Matt rode down in the elevator with me but that is where we parted ways.  He went to the waiting room and I went to the pre-op room.  The room was large with lots of different beds and a desk in the center.  The guy who took me to the room, Matt, got me ready for the nurses.  The anesthesiologist stopped by and the nurses introduced themselves.  Sarah was the nurse with me most of the day.  She and another nurse prepped me: they hooked up the monitors, put in my IV, and gave me the "happy drugs".  Apparently the first dose didn't make me sleepy enough so they gave me another.    I don't remember much after that....just some big lights, a few different people walking around, a green mask, and a door....those of course were all intermingled.

11:30ish - I woke up in the post-op room.  This room is the same as the pre-op room.  Sarah was there when I woke up and told me what was going on.  She gave me some ice chips for my sore throat and pain meds.  Dr. Fishbach came by and let me know that it wasn't endometrosis!  Instead I have a large fibroid that he wasn't able to remove at that time but he would give me all the details when I had my appointment on Thursday.  He also gave me a picture...I will share it with you when I know what everything is.  After making sure my pain was under control and all my vitals were good, Sarah took me down to my recovery room.

12:45 - I got back to the recovery room where Matt was waiting for me.  He had a little bag of treats for me and a really cute card!  Patty, another nurse, came in with water and to check on me.  She went over what was required of me before I could go home...drink water, walk, manage my pain, and go to the restroom.  She also offered me some lunch.  Matt had asked before I got to the room if they had any tomato soup so an order was on the way.  I drank two glasses of water, ate half the soup, and a few saltines.  After a little while I was able to walk and go to the restroom so Matt went to fill my prescription and we got ready to go home.

3:00 - We got back to the house and the dogs were very excited to see us.  I went upstairs and fell back asleep. 

5:15 - I woke up from my nap and came downstairs to sit.  Abbey came over about 5:30 and brought us dinner...we had pork chops, mac&cheese, and green beans.  She also brought ice cream and a trashy magazine!  Even though I couldn't eat much, dinner was wonderful! 

6:30 - Nap again

7:45 - I woke up and went downstairs for a little while.  I ate more dinner, read, checked the computer, and hung out.  I was a little surprised by how swollen my stomach was!  I didn't expect that...check it out:

 

10:30 - Bed time.  I slept pretty well.  I had to wake up a few times to go to the restroom and Matt was wonderful about helping me get into and out of bed. 

Today:
I slept until about 10:30 this morning.  Matt again, offered to help me sit up but I was able to do it by myself.  We removed my bandages and Matt helped me get a shower.  It went well...I just couldn't reach very far so Matt had to hand me everything!  I took another nap after the shower.  After the nap and this afternoon Matt has been taking good care of me.  I got some lunch, have been working on some things for the spouse's group, reading, and we even went on a walk.  Overall I am feeling well...just a little tired and a little sore.  I will share more information after my appointment on Thursday!
.katherine.

doctor update

Well...I landed in Minot yesterday at 12:40 and hit the ground running.  The first stop was an appointment with Dr. Fischbach.  (If you didn't read the last blog - click here.)  I was very glad that Matt was able to be at the appointment with me.  We talked to Dr. Fischbach about what has been going on since I finished Lupron, the emergency room visits, the blood work, and my long-term history.  He wants to do a robotic laproscopic procedure to make sure we know exactly what we are dealing with before we move forward with any possible procedures/medications.  I will be having the procedure on the 3rd of September...yes, next Friday!  It is the route Matt and I were planning for and wanting to happen.  We think this will be a great next step and are hoping it will be the solution.  We will continue to keep you updated.
.katherine. 

Holy Buffalo!!!

We did it. We did what everyone says you HAVE to do if you are stationed at Minot. We left Minot. Not for good, just for a quick 3-day weekend of sorts. We travelled to North Dakota's number one tourist attraction, Medora. We didn't partake in the Bully Pulpit golf course or the Chateau de Mores, any of the horse back riding or even the famous musical. Heck, we didn't even go for the pitchfork steak fondue. What we did do was far more like what you would expect the Matt and Kat of 2005 to do: we camped.

Our travels were largely uneventful.
I drove.

Kat photographed.

We arrived.

We arrived early at the campground and were the first and only tent campers. After picking the very best spot, we started assembling our site.

While I was putting up our new tent, Katherine unloaded the car and took care of the essentials.

Before it got too dark we were able to go scout out the next day's hiking trail head. When we pulled up, while there were no other cars, we were certainly not alone. HOLY BUFFALO!!! No more than 80 feet away was a single buffalo just chillin'. Katherine freaked out, then took some pictures.

Oh, and there were prairie dogs too. LOTS of prairie dogs.

We ended the day with a perfect view, a comfy home, some great food, and some relaxation ladder-ball style.

After a good night's rest we woke up and before we could even get back to the trail head this happened:

7 feet from the car!!

So we FINALLY got to the trail head and started our hike.

We made great time and after a whopping 400ft down the trail we saw 3 horses playing.

So we went up the hill to see if they were still there and instead we met Katherine's nightmare:

These buffalo were only about 400 feet away. Even I was a little wary of some of the bigger ones. So we went off trail to avoid any beef with the buffalo. On our way back to the trail we ran into buffalo herd number 2. THIS guy was about 70 feet from us. He was just as shocked to see us as we were to see him. We took advantage of his shock to calmly (kinda) walk a wide circle around him and what turned out to be his 30 or so closest buffalo buddies.

As if that wasn't exciting enough, we could just see buffalo herd number three coming up the next ridge.

Shown next are some beautiful scenic photos Katherine was able to take standing quite still while I went ahead to find a path decidedly buffalo-free.

From here on out we were much more buffalo and worry free. It was refreshing to see a more scenic and beautiful side of North Dakota. Even more exciting was the topography.

As the hike wore on we happened across a very rude buffalo that was walking along our trail just a little bit slower than we were. Our options were to quit, risk walking too close to him, or go around him and up one of several large hills. We went with option three, but by the time we made it to the top we were beat. We stopped for a quick lunch break then headed back to the car.

We made good time on the way back and saw a bird hunting and several prairie dogs on the way.

To our surprise, when we got back to the car, all three herds of buffalo had converged about 800 ft from the parking lot. When we got back to the car we were filthy and exhausted but had a great hike.

We drove around the outside of the whole park to catch any last scenery we might have missed.

Of course, we couldn't make it out of the park without seeing one last buffalo, only 30 ft from the road.

Brats and s'mores for dinner and another game of ladder-ball wrapped up our last evening at the campground.

Before we left in the morning we packed up all of our gear, did a quick shopping loop through town, and played a quick round of mini-golf. It was a great relaxing 3 day break. So relaxing in fact that Katherine decided that she needed a break from it and ran off to the beach and Virginia for two weeks, but that is her next blog.
-matt

air force academy quilt

As many of you know, Matt has been gone for the last week.  I didn't have too many plans for the week but I wanted to work on the quilt top I started for Matt over three years ago! 

When I dug out the bag (which I first had to find) I had the beginning of the centerpiece and the stars completed...that was it.  Everything else was just a pile of fabric and uniforms and a vague memory of the pattern I was going to do.  After sorting everything and laying it all out I planned out the rest of the top and got started.  First I ironed on the pieces I had cut out for the center "block."  There will also be a plane and "Cadet McPherson, Class of 2007" on here...but those have not been done. 

Next I began on the boarder of old uniforms.  I took Matt's BDUs, PT shirt, blues shirt, a hat, and a glove that he wore at the academy as well as a t-shirt he got me from the academy apart and sewed them into a boarders.  

 

When I finished sewing the pieces together and trimming the excess off, I laid it all out to see how it would look. 

I sewed the two boarders onto the center block only to notice that the center piece was not even.  It was not laying correctly, so I took the boarders off, fixed it as best as I could, and resewed on boarders.  Even with that set-back, I was still on track to get the top put together before Matt got home.  I started adding another small boarder of white before the stars when my needle broke.  It was about noon then and I decided not to make a run to the store, instead I put everything away and did some cleaning around the house. 

When Matt came home he was very excited to see the top sitting on the table and all of the different pieces put together.  I am planning on getting the quilt done before another three years goes by but we will just have to see...

 .katherine.