Jorja's Gum Surgery

Jorja had gum surgery today. It was a gum graft actually. They took part of the roof of her mouth and grafted that piece under her front tooth. The gum had receded from her front tooth and it was starting to hurt. Maysen and Stockton both had this surgery when they were in 4th grade. Jorja was hoping to get away without having it, but no such luck. Obviously this is hereditary. Jorja did great. Once I got her home I spent the rest of the day giving her medicine and ice packs at the appropriate time. Very similar to wisdom teeth. Somehow I didn't get any pictures of Jorja, but look at these amazing pictures I did get!

At the periodontist. #1 they have to say it #2 the have to 'insure' it??? Notice someone tried to change it to 'ensure'

Wasn't brave enough to try these.

Jorja managed to drag herself to Jake's house so she could watch him open his mission call. He got called to Johannesburg, South Africa.

Jorja & Jake

All Negative

We are all officially done with quarantine! Jorja got out of quarantine this morning and was able to go to school. She was so happy! I spent the day bleaching all the things. I washed Jorja's sheets, bleached doorknobs and light switches. Bleached the downstairs bathroom. Everything, including walls and ceiling. I probably spent two hours cleaning the downstairs bathroom. All should be well now. We had our covid tests this afternoon. We drove down to Mike's work and then went to different drive thrus, just like last time. They called us and said everyone was negative, except my test was inconclusive. I had to go back and retake the test. I was a little nervous. Everyone would have to restart quarantine if I was positive, except Jorja. Also, all of my bleaching would be pointless if I actually had the disease. So, about thirty minutes later we got word that I was negative also. My second test they made me do to nose swabs, so I had three in total today. Not horrible, but didn't like it.

I'm also annoyed. I know covid has been horrible for many, many people. Our experience with it has been different. Jorja was sick. Sick enough I would have kept her home from school for at least one day, probably two; but not sick enough to take her to the doctor. Also no one in my family got this super contagious disease that shut down the world for an entire year. This is after being at the cabin, Stockton sleeping head to head with her for three days, Michael driving us to Utah, bringing her food....all the things. No one at the cabin got it, and no one here got it. I know Jorja isolated herself once she started feeling sick, but still. I can't believe Jorja lost her high school experience to this disease. So frustrating. Jorja is excited that she has the 90 day immunity. She won't get quarantined again for the rest of school. She thinks the immunity is longer for other things, but our school district says 90 days. 

Jorja had a periodontist appointment today. Maysen and Stockton both had gum grafts when they were in fourth grade. Jorja has avoided it. Until this year. She will need to get one. We have it scheduled for April, after spring break. We have to go to the office in Sugarhouse because the first appointment available at this one would be the week of her high school graduation. It might have even been the same day. Don't want to do that.

Jorja got to go to the last day of the musical tonight. It was The Little Mermaid. She has two really good friends in it. Sami was a mermaid and Giselle was Jetsom the eel. This was performed in the new fine arts center and Jorja said it was super cool. Ursula was hanging from the ceiling with her tentacles dangling. Boats were able to float around. I think the robotics team designed those. I'm glad she was able to get out just in time to be there for this. I'm glad she had fun. I'm glad quarantine is done!!!!!

Sami & Jorja

Giselle & Jorja

Oral Surgery

That is what Preston got to do today. He got rid of the extra tooth above his front permanent teeth, a baby tooth that didn't want to fall out and three wisdom teeth. According to Mike, this is what they did to remove the extra tooth. (He sent me this awhile ago and I did not want Preston to see it before the actual surgery!)

From Mike: He'll be fine. Just don't give him the details of what they will actually be doing...like pulling back the tissue on the palate then drilling away palatal bone to expose the tooth then take it out and stitching him back up.

So, that is what Preston had done today! Preston did great and I'm glad we got this over with. He has big stitches you can see through his front teeth. Didn't get a picture of that though. Jorja texted me and asked how Preston was doing. I snapped this picture and showed her. My little boy looks so nervous! He was brave though! He never complained one bit.

Preston

The surgery took about an hour. We weren't allowed to wait in the waiting room because of corona. This started at noon, so Mike and I went to grab lunch. We were down in Provo. Usually we go to this doctor in South Jordan, but they had to do Preston's surgery here with the fancy pediatric anesthesiologist. He was put all the way under and needed a breathing tube. Soooo glad everything went well. Anyway, Mike and I drove around and I saw this little place Jorja and I love to go to. It is called Bowl of Heaven. Mike stopped at Firehouse Subs and I walked over to the other store. There was a sign on the door saying they closed because of corona. Booooo!!!!! So, Firehouse Subs it was. The office had special surgery parking lots, so we waited there for the nurse to wave us in. I sat next to Preston on the way home. He wanted to honk his nose and honk my nose. We faceted Jorja and he tried to honk her nose through the phone. Didn't expect that! Hahaha

We got Preston home and tried to give him food like instructed. He couldn't swallow anything. Not even water. I went to the store and got his medicine. I also got ointment and bandages for Mike's leg. His blisters are really bad. He only got blisters in areas where he has no pigment. Interesting. He will have to be super careful about sunscreen in the future.

Mike's leg

Jorja hung out with her student government girls tonight. They went to some rolled ice-cream place.

Paige, Ella, Jorja

Janelle, Grace Giselle

Jorja called up Mike and asked if she could use his number for a Venmo account. It is for the student government girls and they are supposed to venmo a dollar every time they kiss someone throughout the year. At the end of the year they want to go to dinner with the money. How many people are they planning on kissing!!! Anyway, they decided to make a lemonade stand and go to the Corner Canyon parking lot. I was not happy about this. Tons of high school kids hang out at this parking lot and kiss random people. Like the Pepperwood party all year long. It's ridiculous. Jorja has never gone before, then she does this! She told me she kissed one person. I asked who. She didn't even know. I tried not being angry, but I was. She went seven months without kissing one person, then now she is going down this road? I'm worried that because she did everything right with Riley and it went so bad that she isn't going to care anymore. She asked me why she was mad. She did nothing wrong. It was the quickest kiss in history. She has the rest of her life to kiss one person, so why can't she have fun now? I told her that I understand she should be able to have fun and do crazy things like kissing booths. Except, we are in the middle of a pandemic! It's not fair, but it is reality. I have been letting her hang out with friends, but kissing a total stranger is not smart right now. She doesn't have the best immune system and Preston has just had surgery... you just can't do things like that right now.

After Corner Canyon they went to Alta and hung out on the football field. She did get home before midnight, so at least she is doing well with her curfew. That hasn't always been the case.

V neck, Jake, T hat, Giselle, Bode, Joe Cool

Janelle, Ella, Jorja, Grace

Jake, T hat, Giselle, V neck

Janelle, Ella, Jorja, Grace, Bode, Joe Cool

Cousin Bonding

Preston woke up feeling sick today. He went to church, but we didn't have him pass the sacrament. He rested a lot when he got home.

Some of my cousins came over today. Savannah is having a mastectomy tomorrow. She wanted to have a chance to talk with Heather and I before her surgery since both of us have had one. It was so much fun being with them. Savannah told us that the doctor said to her, "It sounds like you have been preparing all your life for this." Yep. Just part of being in our family. Heather has been retested for the gene mutations. They also found an ATM gene that causes breast cancer in her. I don't know if that is from our side of the family or from her dad's side. It wouldn't surprise me if it was our side. We got hit hard. I am so mad that I was so behind on the blog, because I can't remember much about this night. I just know I loved every second with these girls.

Heather, Larkin, Savannah, Jordyn, Debie, Stephanie

TMI

I had a doctor appointment today. I haven't had one for a couple of years. I really liked my doctor, but then our insurance changed and I had to find a new one. I went to the new doctor once and didn't like her at all. She made me feel guilty for taking my estrogen pills. Like now I was putting myself at a risk for cancer. So, I stopped taking them cold turkey. A couple of weeks ago I started wondering if a lot of my struggles had to do with not taking my pills. I have struggled with not feeling myself, feeling sad for awhile now. I just assumed it was because of things going on. For example, Maysen going to college. I went to college then my mom died. I want Maysen to be there, it just adds painful memories for me. My mom also reached her 20 year death milestone, now 21 years. I am getting closer and closer to the age my mom was when she died. If I were her I would be getting cancer in a little over two years from now and I would be dead in four. These dates have been bothering me. I know I shouldn't think about it, yet I still do. Have I done enough? Have I taught my children everything they need to know? Will they be okay without me? Will Mike marry someone that will be nice to them? Will my family fall apart? --Anyway, not the most pleasant thoughts. This is probably why it took me so long to realize part of my problem is not taking the estrogen pills I should be taking. I was anxious to talk to my doctor about it. (Our insurance switched again, and now I can go to the doctor I like.) Dr. Smith (great name) couldn't believe the other doctor told me to stop taking them. He said that my body now thinks I am 30 years older than I am, so I am really confusing it. He said, "Why are you making yourself miserable for no reason?" Then he told me to get back on the pills as soon as possible. That is good. I hope it helps.

I also asked him about my implants. ---Let us pause for a minute and take a moment to be thankful that my blog didn't exist when I was going through all my surgeries. I think it would be fascinating to look back on everything I went through. I don't think my brothers would think that. I'm sure we could all admit I would post things that would make my brothers feel awkward. Mostly photos. It used to drive Mike nuts. I would show my breasts to everyone. For example, we had a big black dude that lived across the street from us in Georgia named Winston. I saw him outside. Granted, I was still on heavy medication at the time. I ran over to talk to him. His wife works at the hospital where I was at for five days. While I was there I kept asking everyone if they knew Joan. I never found her and was upset I didn't tell her I was going to be there. Anyway, I ran across the street and yelled, "Winston! I was just at Northridge hospital for a week!" He said, "Really? That's wear Joan works." I said, "Yep, I was there. See?" Then I lifted up my shirt and showed him my implants. Hahahahaha! Mike about died. To me it was super interesting because they did not look normal. They were yellow, the color of tennis balls, because of all the bruising. I also had my nipples removed, so there was just stitching, so that for sure made them look like tennis balls. I wish I had pictures. (I'm sure everyone is thankful I don't.) This happened way before it was super common to have a camera with you everywhere you went.--- I had my hysterectomy and double mastectomy on October 30, 2007. Almost 10 years ago. I have been worried that something is wrong with my implants. They ache a lot. Well, one side does. The doctor said that there was no sign of cancer, so that is good. He wants me to go to a plastic surgeon to make sure everything is good. I'll have to figure out that one later. He also wants me to see an orthopedic doctor, or something like that, for my back. I'm sure I'll put that one off.

Okay, that was more information than anyone wanted to know. I stopped by my dad's house to pick up the CDs Sam got for me. My dad was outside with Jeff. We went inside and my dad kept falling asleep every two seconds. I thought, there is no way he is going to make it until 2:00. I ended up staying with my dad and running errands with him. My dad hurt his back and isn't supposed to lift anything more than 20 pounds, so I was able to take Jeff in and out of his car seat. While my dad was gathering up the things he needed for his errands, Jeff got in Phineas' cage.

Jeff

I made it home a few minutes before Stockton and Jorja did. Jorja was a bit sad when she came home. I asked her how her day was. She said, "Good, until the end." She says this often. That is what she said yesterday too. That girl! I told her she could go shopping with Hailey. My dad had given me a birthday card to bring to Jorja. I let her open that. It had some money inside. Along with a Chinese phrase my dad had done with google translate. Haha! My dad's the best!

The problem with letting Jorja go to the mall was I forgot the missionaries were coming over for dinner. Jorja loves the missionaries and they love her right back. We sent messages to each other through the Marco Polo app though. Not quite the same as being there. Jorja had a great time with Hailey. They are both looking forward to me leaving. I'm glad Hailey will be able to watch out for Jorja while I am gone.

Mina's Surgery

Rachel and Mina left early this morning. They had to be at Primary Children's Hospital at 6:00. Brett sent us this picture of Mina waiting for her surgery.

Mina

The purple plaid blanket was given to her by the hospital. She is very attached to it already. The other three girls were great while Rachel was gone. Grace and Eve loved playing with the Pet Shop. Marie used to call this Pet City. When we were cleaning out things to give away Mike wanted to get rid of this. I told him we couldn't because Marie loved it so much! It has been awesome to have this week. Kept the girls entertained for hours!

Eve & Grace

Rachel and Mina got back from the hospital right as we were walking out the door to church. Preston and I hopped in the car with them. Rachel stayed for sacrament, then slipped out and took the three little girls home. Marie stayed and went to class with us. Mina would have been in my class if stayed. I usually only have three girls. Sharing time was kind of crazy because they had everyone sit on the floor on blankets. They had a pretend fire and Sister Madson dressed as a pioneer and read them a book. They handed out pioneer treats too. My girls were thirsty and asked for a drink. I took them to the drinking fountain and the library where I grabbed crayons and scissors. When I got to my room I was shocked to find five other kids! An adult was with them and was kind of upset I took too long. I'm thinking, "I'm not late! I have ALL my kids with me! How was I to know that my class would almost triple!" It was a little stressful, but I made it through.

Rachel and the girls left soon after we got home. Mina was cute with her purple cast. They even put a purple cast on the stuffed animal she had brought with her.

Grace & Mina

We just relaxed the rest of the day. I was able to convince everyone to watch a Dr. Who with me, which they hate. Then we watched Strange Brew. That was one of Mike's favorite movies growing up. Kind of like how my brothers loved Mystery Men. I fell asleep during the movie. I don't know why I can't stay awake during movies. In my defense, I did have an exhausting week.