Holidays 2020- Part 2

After spending a wonderful Christmas together, Dan and the boys had another adventure planned. As I mentioned in the last blog, because we might be moving overseas this summer we are feeling the need to connect with family before leaving for three years. Dan's parents and a fair amount of his family have settled in the Boise area. There's no direct flights from San Antonio to Boise, but there are from Denver! I knew with my fatigue that doing a road trip and then flying to Boise, hanging with his family, flying back, and driving back to TX would be way too much. So Dan and the boys took off on Dec 26th and returned to Denver on New Year's Eve.

The boys were super excited not only to see more family, but to fly there! They took turns having a window seat and had fun experiencing flying in a Covid world. They hadn't flown since 2017.

Alex used his new Snoopy as a phone mount, lol

There are 4 families and 3 houses that they live in in the Boise area, and a big shift is about to happen with who lives where. Because of that, they gave each house a nickname. The biggest house has 2 families in it, and is called the Compound. Dan's parents live in what is called The Cottage. And the house that Dan and the boys slept in is called The Sanctuary. Lol. I have a bunch of pictures from their time in Idaho with only a little backstory. From what I understand they started off their days at the Sanctuary, enjoying delicious breakfasts from Sarah and even played games, loved their pets, and fed their snake. During the day they hung out at the Compound, and then ended their evenings with some one on one time with his parents at the Cottage. It was just what Dan was needing. :)

The nieces and nephews all love their Uncle Daniel

Alex is almost as tall as Nana Dee!

Ready to feed the snake?

Dan couldn't resist snapping a picture of his dad with his beard hanging out of his mask :)

I love this picture of the two of them <3

While they were spending quality time with family, so was I! I know his family wished I had been there, but I'm very glad I stayed in Colorado. The truth is that the altitude affected my ability to breathe a lot more than I expected. Like, as the altitude rose as we drove I could feel it. I was pretty worn out, and it was nice to just be able to sleep in, nap as needed, and have no agenda for the day. Some of the things I did with my mom and brother were watch movies, work on puzzles, play guitar hero, play card games and take funny pictures of the dog.

I also spent one more day in the Springs visiting with my good friend Scott who I worked with at Mesa Ridge High School. Not only was the drive to the Springs picture perfect, but so was our time catching up. He's still at the high school trying his best to teach choir in a virtual world. Man, what a crazy time.

Also, coincidentally on the day I visited with Scott I had a virtual follow-up appointment with my Cardiologist. I had had a cardiac angiogram in mid-November and never heard any results back. Turns out my heart is in great shape, but in the angiogram they could see something in the base of my lungs that has worsened since my chest CT in August. In august they told me it was non-specific inflammation, possibly infection that wasn't enough of anything to treat. This time, well here's the quote of what they found. 

"Scattered tree-in-bud opacification in the basal right lower lobe

with endobronchial debris within the right lower lobe anterior basal bronchus. There is associated atelectasis of the right lower lobe anterior basal segment. These findings have progressed in comparison to 08/06/2020 examination. Previously seen groundglass nodules within the right lower and left upper lobes are unchanged. No new nodules identified. Diagnostic considerations include infectious and inflammatory etiologies. Follow-up CT in 3-6 months after appropriate treatment."

So what the cardiologist suggested was to refer me back to pulmonology. This worried me a little bit because all this time my main complaint other than fatigue has been difficulty breathing. Despite this there has been no treatment offered. When I got back from Colorado I was able to get a virtual appointment quickly and they FINALLY came up with a treatment plan for getting this mucus out of my lungs. I am really hoping it will help. Deep in my gut I've felt that if I can get breathing better, my fatigue should improve. Cross your fingers for me!

Now back to the final celebration of our vacation. New Year's Eve was not only the official end of 2020, but it was my mom's birthday! Dan and the boys flew back in from Idaho, and as soon as they were home Alex got to work on Grandma's cake. Her request was a spice cake with cream cheese frosting, yum! 

We spent the evening eating spaghetti, watching the new movie Greenland, and then partying until the New York ball dropped. (we had to drive home the next day, so we didn't stay up until midnight like the firework exploding neighbors did!)

About 10 days after we arrived, it was time to leave Colorado. We managed to get out the door early (again!) and decided to make the drive all in one day. This time we lost an hour as we got back into Texas, so our arrival was super late. This allowed us a few days to recover before the kids had to go back to school and Dan back to work. 

We had a wonderful holiday break filled with quality time with family. I truly hope you were able to take advantage of the extra home time to spend it together. As we already know, 2021 has had a rocky start politically, and the vaccine isn't rolling out as fast as anticipated. Still, I'm hopeful that this year has to be better than the last. Happy New Year!