All Alone

I am working on my second day of aloneness. I must say that I am not a fan. Yep, there are times when all I want is some time to myself, but Layne and Heath can be downstairs playing Wii. I can hear them and I know they are close. When they are both gone, I feel really lost. I don't know what to do with myself--it is actually almost scary. The good news is that it will only be a week until Layne is back--that will make the 22 days Heath will be gone much more bearable.

So, it is me--I am typing and sitting in front of the computer. I am not quite to 100% and it is STILL mostly my left eye. The other irregularity is my mouth--the left side still doesn't pull back as far as the right. I also don't feel like I have my taste back just yet. I am pretty confident that everything will go back to normal or normal enough that I can live with it.

Now, I am just trying to productivly negotiate my return to work. It is really hard for me to evaluate myself and do what I should. The normal me would just push myself and go back full time. I have to stop and remember that I have done NO work in 3 weeks and to sit in front of a computer all day would be too much. So, my plan to is to go in on Monday morning and work for at least 2 hours. Maybe even just make myself leave after two hours--try that for a few days and then start a half day?? I have been sleeping so much with this thing--I don't know at this point if it is from the Bell's or if it is more of a habit. For instance, this morning I didn't wake up until 11:30am--that doesn't seem normal. So, I guess I just have to try and see what happens--listen to my body and go from there.

Besides just being home alone, I have been doing a little reading--actual books. I really did enjoy the audio books but I kept falling asleep. It is a little harder to keep your place. I have also had the joy of disposing of a few dead birds. Since Heath left yesterday morning, Sully has come up with 3. I honestly don't really enjoy dealing with his dead birds. I am not sure where he is getting them--I think that maybe they are young and falling out of a nest?? I can hardly imagine he is catching them--he isn't that smart. It is also not that easy to get them out of his mouth. I, of course, will not touch them--so I tell him to "Drop It" and he really doesn't listen to that command well. We eventually get them out--but while they are in his mouth, all you can see are their little feet sticking out. I really hope there are no more--it is not enjoyable. Below is Sully--under the dishwasher door.



Well, I finished my first post in 3 weeks. It took several sittings--trying to still rest the eye as much as possible. I want to personally thank everyone for their thoughts, emails, cards, flowers, boxes of goodies, meals, etc...... I have so many wonderful family and friends and it has been so helpful during all of this.

THANK YOU!!

I hope everyone has a great week and and Happy Father's Day to all the dads out there.

Tori

Without Layne

Saturday morning Layne left for Iowa. That is always a sad day here. She will enjoy her time there but we will miss her a lot, especially her blogging talent. In the mean time you will have to tolerate my contribution to the blog.

This past week Joyce and Gordon were here. It was great to have them visit. The week was uneventful, but it is always great to spend time with them. We definitely ate well last week. We are still eating left over’s.

Monday Tori had a follow-up appointment. The doctor thought her progress was promising. He anticipates in 4-6 week she could be 100%. It is slow and frustrating for her, but she really is getting better. The past two days her eye is quite irritated and she has had some pains similar to when everything started. We hope it isn’t serious. I am sure my overworking doesn’t help her stress. He recommended that she limit her work for another week or two.

I leave this Friday for nearly a month. First to San Diego, where the Youth National Team is training and then off to Thailand for the World Championships. I am not looking forward to leaving her. Layne will be back on the 28th but that is a long time at home on restriction. Sometime my “super cool job” isn’t cool at all.

Tori has received several get well soon cards, care packages and flowers. They have been real uplifting. Thanks to everyone for the support.

Heath

So Many Thanks

It was really nice to get some surprises today. First, I got a plate of delicious chocolate chip cookies from a great volleyball player, Maddie Beal.

Then I woke up from my afternoon nap to find two bouquets of flowers, and a box.

The first set of flowers was from the wonderful ladies from the Iowa Region Volleyball office. The second set of flowers were from Doug and Noni Beal. And the box--from the Osterbergs--contained shower gel and lotion.

And here is just a picture of me and Pedro for your enjoyment. :) I think I look a little crazy. He has been staying pretty close to move over the last two weeks--I think he knows. He is also going to Iowa, who will I snuggle with now?

So there seems to be a few more wrinkles on my brow which would mean muscle control is returning in my face. But I don't think it would really feel like improvement until my eye heels. I am hanging in there and trying to stay positive. I know I will fully recover.

Layne is starting to pack for her trip to Iowa and I know by Saturday afternoon I will be missing her.

Thanks for checking in--Layne

Eight Questions

Since I've been sitting here, doing all of this stuff for my mum, mum, mum, mum, mummy, mumma, mum, it's been causing me to become cantankerous (and it’s also been causing me to use the synonym tool on Microsoft Word!).

My mom is getting better, but the healing process is SO STINKING SLOW! We don’t want to just tell you the same thing EVERYDAY, but this time we have a picture. Yippee!





For this blog we have decided to do a question and answer session—an interview if you will! So, here we go!!!

KEY:
Layne (me) = Question/Q.
Tori (her) = Answer/A.

Q. What’s wrong with your face??? (There was quite a bit of laughter occurring during this question.)
A. Um, I have Bell’s Palsy…
(If you ever get the chance to see us together ask us to do “the skit” for you!)

Q. How does it affect your living style??? (With a hushed, Mexican accent.)
A. [Hahahahahaha!] Life is good, reeeaaally good. ~Nacho Libre

Q. How does it affect your closet space??
A. Well, the left side of my closet is kind of messy. But the right side is fine!

Q. Hmmm… Let’s see… Is it hard to blow your nose?
A. YES! That’s a stupid question. Next!

Q. Okay, okay!! Watch the ‘tude! Sheesh. So, how can you bear to look at your crooked face in the mirror???
A. That’s another stupid question! And it’s mean!! I refuse to answer that!

Q. How do you like your new pink eye-patch??
A. Well, now that I bought a matching pink and black velvet sweat suit, it’s aaawesome.

Q. Again with the ‘tude!! Now, who do you think will win “I’m A Celebrity, Get Me Out Of Here”?
A. Speidi, I know they’ll be back.

Q. Now, to finish it off, how old are you?
A. 25.

I know these questions are the ones some of you have been dying to ask! But, if you have any others, feel free to send them our way! [Two dollar process fee; payable to Layne Hoke. Thanks.]

Update--Again

Things haven't really been changing that much, except... There is, slight movement, in the left, side, of, her, face. And, a Little bit of a wrinkle, on her left, forehead, when she "scrunches" her face. Duh duh duuuh!!!
So maybe these are the good signs we are looking for in the whole recovery process.

Our weekend has been, well, uneventful. We went shopping a little, but nothing too major. And we also worked on our front yard--like planting flowers and landscaping. Heath fixed a dead spot around a tree, and dug-up a man-eating cactus.

We don't have any pictures :'( but just wanted to review a little.

She also wants to thank everybody for the wonderful notes and messages. Its wonderful to have so much support!

She's not going to work this week either, or at least until the eye starts blinking. So feel free to send her e-mails, anything on Facebook, I'll be helping her check.

Thanks
~Layne

Almost a Week...

It's almost a week, and things don't seem to be getting noticeably better. I guess this is the unknown period of time when we don't know how long things will take.. One hundred percent recovery is known to take at least ten days, to nine months.

The eye doctor was successful, in that he suggested a different type of eye gel/ointment. It seems that maybe she was slightly allergic to the previous drops. Who knew eye drops could contain preservatives?

She's gotten a few cool things. Mariann, the receptionist at USA Volleyball, made a wonderful meal and muffins for us. It was very nice of her to do that. Everyone at work also sent flowers and a cute bear with an eye patch just like my mom's! My grandma--Cheri--sent a big box of goodies for my mom as well.

To top it all off, grandma Joyce and grandpa Gordon are on their way to visit, in fact they should be half way here right about now! They should be pulling in tomorrow around noon. It will be nice to have them here for the week, so I won't have to do all the work for my mom. :P Then I will be going back to Iowa with them next weekend.

Hopefully we will see some progress this weekend, and thanks for checking in again. We'll try to update a lot.

~Layne

Bell's Palsy Update

Hello everyone, it is Layne. I am helping my mom keep everyone updated on her progress (since she can't spend much time in front of the computer screen). Things seem to not be getting worse but are not really improving either. Her eye seems to be the biggest issue. Today it is a little swollen and maybe getting infected. So dad and I are taking her to the eye doctor later. We hear she is going to get a pink eye patch, she is super excited about that. Hopefully the magical eye doctor will be able to provide some relief.

Yesterday she was treated with a massage. It didn't necessarily help her condition but she said "it sure felt great". She did get out of the house last night, and went to a birthday dinner for a coworker. She said it was nice to get out and nice to see friends, but the evil eye got very angry. It was her first real public appearance, and everyone was nice considering the occasional joke about her droopy face.

Below I took some photos of her (yesterday) so we could show everyone how "crazy" she looks. (It's ok to send her funny comments.)

In this picture, my mom is wearing a "fake eye" that I made her for her plain eye patch. I took a picture of her right eye, flipped it, then printed it and cut it out for her. It looks pretty creepy, but it's still funny.

We also took her to the library, where she may have found her new favorite thing to do--listen to audio books. We can put them onto iTunes for her iPod, and she can listen to them anywhere. If anyone has any good book recommendations, send them our way!

Thanks for checking up on her today. We will try to update again tomorrow.

Layne

Thanks to all..........

I just wanted to give all of you a quick update. I am keeping my fingers crossed that I have peaked and it is as bad as it will get. I guess we technically have one more day that it could get worse, according to the doctor. It seems that every day something is worse and something seems better--very strange. Food still has no taste, my mouth only half works and I continually have trouble with my eye. I would say that, after waking up this morning, the eye is not good today. I think there must have been something in it when we patched it up last night, so it feels scratched today. So, it wasn't bad enough before--wonderful. Besides that, it seems that my reaction to the medication is tiredness--but I guess that isn't bad. When I sleep nothing hurts.

I also wanted to take a second to tell everyone thanks for all the wonderful notes, emails, texts and phone calls. I really appreciate it. Also a special thanks to my nephew, Hayes, niece, Camrin and sister for the wonderful get well picture they sent me the other day. I must explain alittle--Hayes calls me Aunt Dor (I guess like Tor??). That is why they did what they did below. Thanks guys.


Because of my eye, I have started to have Layne help me with my emails. It seems that I can't spend more than a few minutes in front of the computer before my eye gets mad at me. She is also helping me blog--it is nice that we are both home, although she may not feel the same. I am a little bossy.

Thanks again--I hope today will be better.

Bells schmells..............

Things can be going great and wonderful and then bam--maybe just to remind us to be thankful?? As most of you know Sunday Heath and I celebrated our 12 year wedding anniversary--that is the good--now the not so good. So, since I got back from Minneapolis I haven't been feeling great but nothing that seems out of the ordinary. I was having some pain in my neck (on the left side), I had noticed that food wasn't tasking the same for the last few days. Then on Friday (5/29) I was complaining about my left eye--it was scratchy and watering. So, Saturday I got up and we left the house for awhile but came home because I was tired. I took a nap and woke up to eat. I was eating and told Heath that my mouth felt funny. He looked at me and had me smile and make crazy faces and said it didn't look right. We kinda just left it at that--I had just woken up and thought maybe I had slept on it weird. I fell back to sleep and when I woke up again and went into the bathroom--I could tell something was wrong. When I smiled the left side of my face drooped and my left eye was weird.


We called the nurse hot line and she suggested we go to Urgent care. We were seem quickly and the Dr has diagnosed me with Bell's Palsy. Very scary at first and even thinking about this unknown things worries me. I have done some research and it seems that it isn't super serious and will just run it's course. Right now, it just seems that the left side of my face isn't working. My eye doesn't want to blink so it is very red and irritated. Hopefully this is as bad as it will get.


So, if I look like a crazy lady the next time you see me--at least you will know why. I am going to do more research and see another doctor next week and hope it doesn't progress any further.I just wanted to tell my friends--it is easier to go through stuff with friends!! :) I really do believe that this will all be fine in time. Just take a few minutes to be thankful..........


Because of this development we had a rather low-key anniversary. I really wasn't up for much so we had some Sushi, went to REI (Heath's favorite) and then to the mall to have my wedding ring cleaned. We ended up at the grocery store to get food for dinner and just hung out at home. I must say, it was a great day.

This is my face Sunday--just slight drooping on the left side. I would say that it is 4 times as bad today.

Monday I went to doctor. It seems that things will peak in the next 24-48 hours and then very slowly get better. It could be 3 weeks or 9 months--they just don't know. I will go back to the doctor in two weeks to see if any progress is being made. My face is worse today and droopier. My eye is very dry and irritated—I can put a patch on to keep it shut and give it a break, but then you have no depth perception.

I will probably stay home the next few days while it peaks, then see if I can work a few hours a day—that is what the doctor has recommend until I see him again in two weeks. It does not seem that I have the worst of this thing and I should recover completely—it will just be irritating and uncomfortable. I very much appreciate all he messages and positive thoughts. Thanks so much!! Keep it coming!! I will try to keep all of you posted.