Cellulitis Take 2?

The saga continues... So as I mentioned in much earlier posts, I had thought that I had cellulitis in my big toenail but after seeing my podiatrist he said that it was not cellulitis but just an infected ingrown toenail. Well, he fixes ingrown toenails a little differently... He cuts out the ingrown part first and then 4-8 weeks later he goes back in, cuts out more, and kills the nailbed... Everyone I've ever talked to who has had it done has said that they have had this all done in the same visit. So this last time I went to him, I explained that I was moving out of state in a week and my insurance won't cover anything pre-existing blah blah blah but he still wouldn't do it and said he could code it so they wouldn't think it was pre-existing. So I get my new insurance card and fax a copy of it to them so the MA there calls to verify they'll cover and mentions it's pre-exisiting... Yeah, thanks for that one genius! So she calls me and asks if I have a letter of prior coverage, which at the time I didn't but now I do... Although it does me absolutely no good because I'm an Americorps volunteer and we don't have "employer-sponsored" health coverage... I think it's total crap that the Federal Government will pass a law (HIPAA) that they will make everyone else follow but exclude themselves from! So anyway, I do not have my toenail completed because they've now been tipped off by both the Dr's office and myself when I raised the ruccus about the pre-existing thing (which is when they told me they were HIPAA exempt... B.S. I say and I think insurance companies should be suing the hell out of the feds for that one!!!) Anyway so my toenail is looking pretty bad and this past week started to hurt so on Saturday I went into Urgent Care (I'm going to quit doing that). He told me I need to get it killed and that I have cellulitis... So back on an antibiotic I went! I'm not sure if it's the antibiotic or if I caught some stomach bug but I have been really sick since Saturday night. I figured it was the antibiotic (although I was on it the first cellulitis diagnoses and was fine!) but after speaking to my mom tonight, she told me there is some stomach bug going around in Utah so maybe it's out here too... Who knows? Both Derek Jeter and Johnny Damon were benched this weekend with the stomach flu so maybe it's nation wide??? Well, since I feel every post needs a pic and I don't think anyone wants to see a picture of my toenail, I will post a couple of Derek Jeter and the backshot is him and Johnny Damon. This was last Thursday, right before he got sick... And celebrated his 35th birthday. Happy Birthday again Derek!

2 month anniversary!

Well I haven't posted a new entry in quite a while so I thought I would do that now. It's especially fitting that today is my two month anniversary of living in Denver. As I have mentioned in previous posts, I go back and forth between loving it and hating it here and this week I have been hating it... I'm not really sure why, maybe because the place I live doesn't have air conditioning and it's been really hot! I have been EXTREMELY grateful for the rain we've had this week to cool everything down! It was hailing so badly this afternoon you couldn't see outside the windows at work. Here's to hoping for more rain! I just hope the tornadoes don't come back... There were at least three a week it seemed for several weeks! I may have found a roommate so everyone keep your fingers crossed that I am out of here by August 1st and into somewhere clean and cool!
Work continues to improve and I'm starting to be able to use the skills as a health educator that I went to school and paid thousands of dollars for, as well as picked up during my many years of employment at the Utah Department of Health. Although I have been somewhat stumped as to what exciting things are out there for mental health to use at health fairs, so if anyone has any ideas let me know!
I have no new updates on Logan... They took him to the Children's Hospital in Fresno last week where they ran a ton of tests on him but won't get the results of until next month when they will have to take him back. It's about a 2 1/2 hour drive from their home in Nipomo and they took Christian with them and he did not do well on the trip so they've decided that Phillip (my brother) will take Logan by himself when he goes back. Anna would do it but she has really bad back problems and has a hard time driving that far. Logan is well behaved and will take a bottle and pacifier so they think it will be fine. Christian would not take either a pacifier or a bottle but because Logan was in the NICU for so long, he had no other choice. He does breastfeed well and he only gets breastmilk if he does get a bottle. He seems like a normal baby so they're still waiting and hoping for the best.
Well I have rambled on long enough. I always feel like I need to post pics so here are some of City Park I took this week when I was bored stiff.

Logan, blanket, and randomness...

It was finally determined the other day that my nephew Logan has had a stroke at some point and that has more than likely been his problem the entire time... He saw a neurologist who determined the three blood clots on his brain had dissolved and gave him the okay to go home. He still has clots in his Renal Vein and a small one in his Vena Cava but they are starting to dissolve as well. The Dr's believe he has a blood disorder that is causing all of the clots and he will be seeing a hematologist and pulmonologist in Fresno in a couple of weeks. It is not known what the long-term effects of his stroke but the neurologist said most of her patients go on to lead normal lives. About 30% of infants who experience an Ischemic Perinatal Stroke suffer from a form of hemiplegic cerebral palsy but it doesn't show up for quite some time so for now they're just going to wait and see while hoping for the best. My parents flew out on Memorial Day and spent the week out there so I'm attaching some pics of him and one of my other nephew, Christian.
I finally finished the blanket I was knitting for him so I will send it to them sometime this week since they can finally use it. I am attaching pictures of it as well as the outfit my mom bought for him that matches it.
As for finding a new place... Most large apartment complexes in Denver require that you make three times the monthly payment each month so I will more than likely not be living alone... My landlady kind of talked me into staying here too and it is really cheap... I need to find things to do so I am not ever home. This weekend I did okay with that... Friday night we played Frisbee in Cheeseman park (which is a really big park here in Denver that I guess was built on an old cemetery or something) then went to dinner at Chipotle (a little burrito joint that is not nearly as good as Cafe Rio) and then I was supposed to volunteer at an ice cream social put on by one of the politicians here in Denver but it was raining/hailing so we watched a movie at one of my friends house. Yesterday I went to a concert in Loveland, CO with my friend who lives in Fort Collins, CO so I was gone for most of the day. Our tickets were free and the acts were: Josh Hoge, Eric Hutchinson, We the Kings, Plain White T's, and some guy I don't remember... We actually didn't stay for the last two acts but had fun for the other three!

Back by popular demand!

Although I didn't really think anybody was reading this, I found out today that people actually are and have been waiting for my updates... I have now been in Denver for over a month! It's hard to believe! I vary between loving it and hating it... Today was probably the best day at work I've had since I've been here! I am in charge of creating the volunteer management system and it's been sort of slow going... But we had a meeting today to discuss what I've done and everyone seemed impressed so that was a good re-enforcement as I have been second-guessing my decision to come out here lately... I have not really been enjoying where I'm living so yesterday morning I gave my landlady my 30 days notice that I'm leaving. I don't think she was too happy but oh well. I think I'd like to live by myself so I'm going to look at a studio tomorrow. It's more per month than I'd like to pay and I don't have any furniture but I would really like to live alone! I may change my mind though and just find another roommate or something... Last weekend, some of my friends I met at pre-service orientation and I went up to Fort Collins to spend the day with one of our other PSO friends on her birthday. We ate at Beau Jo's for lunch which is a local Pizza joint that is a Colorado classic apparently. Then we toured New Belgium Brewery which I knew this before but I can now say from firsthand experience that if you don't drink then brewery tours are no fun! So here are some photos from last weekend... You can tell in the second one how much I was enjoying the tour...