Makenna Scored!!!

After last weeks mess of a soccer game I was truly hoping that we would have a good game tonight. The weather was awesome and the girls were in a great mood. It was close to half-time before we finally scored a goal. The other team soon scored as well so we were tied for awhile. The girls were playing awesome. I was very proud of them. The potential in all of them is huge. I have a good mix of players. On Makenna's last turn in she worked her way up to the goal and hesitated a second. Finally she drew back and kicked the ball. It went right past the goalie into the net. I screamed and probably looked like a fool. She just looked over at me for a second and then had the biggest smile on her face. She has never made a goal since she started playing soccer last year. She does great in practice and has come close a million times but never scored a point. Her team screamed for her too which was awesome. I was and am so happy for her. We stopped at McDonald's on the way home and got her a chocolate sundae. We ended up winning the game 3-1. It was a great night.

Sick

Yesterday afternoon I started to feel a slight tickle in my throat. I had a cold/sinus issue in the beginning of September so I was hoping that I wouldn't have any more issues before the marathon. It started out the same way so I was worried. I had some chicken noodle soup for dinner to try and help the situation. When I got up this morning I was stuffed up and blowing nasty stuff out my nose. Not good. I dropped Makenna off at school and then took Kinley to preschool. Last week I ran around Chehalis and then on the track at the high school while she was there. I figured I'd give it a go since I really wanted to run today. I ended up running 9.35 miles. After that I went to Thorbecke's to do a few weights, stretch, and get a shower before Wal-Mart. I bought the Wal-Mart brand of the Air Borne stuff. You have to put a tablet in water and drink it. Not too bad but nasty just the same. I'll keep doing it. At this point I need to do whatever I can to not be sick for the marathon. Rain is in the forecast for Portland too for Saturday and Sunday. It looks like I'm in for an experience :)

Makenna's Photo Shoot

Makenna won a photo shoot with Horizon Photo. These were taken on September 11th. Here's the link to her slideshow.

http://horizonphoto.net/slideshows/Makenna/

10 Days & Counting

Time is going by so fast. I can't believe that the marathon is almost here. I'm feeling very nervous and excited. I really want to break my 5 hour 12 minute PR. My goal is to someday get closer to 4 hours 30 minutes but if I could just get under 5 hours I would be thrilled. I really wish I could get with someone who could coach me a little and give me some training tips to possibly whip my body into going a little faster. I know that I'm never going to be a world record holder but improving some would be awesome. I have been running a lot more this year than I have leading up to the other two marathons. I've also been able to work out at Thorbecke's which I think has helped a ton.

Last year was so great. Even though I was 6 minutes slower than my first marathon I had friends and family there. The first year I didn't. It makes a huge difference. I was motivated a lot by all the people who had helped support my charities. My friends Julie & Barry were able to come last year and hang out with Jason from the beginning. They were with him around mile 6, drove him to roughly mile 16 before the St. Johns Bridge, and then again they showed up around mile 24. They somehow made it back to the finish line by the time I got there to see me finish. My friends Susie and Heidi also came down for the finish. Getting to the finish line is a very emotional thing anyway. Unless you've done it I don't know how to describe it. To run 26.2 miles and then have people who love you there to support you and be excited for you is wonderful. To hear my friends cheering for me makes me emotional even now thinking about it. Knowing that I'm running for Brian this year has me even more motivated. I've felt like I haven't been able to do much to help. I want to run, I want to finish, and I want to do it well.

Today there is a blood drive which I always participate in. I have read several articles and spoken to a few people who have advised me not to do it. If I had about two weeks or more until the marathon I would still do it. If it was a smaller distance I would too. I just don't think I should risk doing something to my body that it won't fully recover from and then run that far. I have trained too hard to do that. I'm very bummed regardless. It's something that I really like to do.

Soccer Game

Every Monday and Wednesday night we have soccer games. In case you missed an earlier post I am the coach for Makenna's team. We are sponsored by Security State Bank this year. We started out the season with a jamboree where we won 3 out of the 4 games. We lost our first official game and then came back to win three in a row. This week hasn't been a very good week. The girls seem to be tired and just not paying attention as much. They are however doing a great job besides that. They have learned and improved a ton. The coaches usually have to referee their own games. Tonight the other teams coach refereed and I kept time. I liked that since I'm still learning all the rules. Toward the end of the game we had an incident where the other coach made a bad call and family on our side got involved. Before I knew it there were many childish things said and the other coach was screaming at people behind me. I've already had a taste of parents, etc. screaming at me about a call or a play that was started wrong. I have asked for volunteers to help referee but no one wants to help. Luckily the game continued and we ended up losing 3-0. The girls still had fun so as long as that is happening I'm not to worried about it. After the games we huddle and cheer for the other team. Then we meet in the middle to run down and say "good game" as we high five. The coaches end up together last and the other coach was brutal. He told me that he didn't want to play us again and if he did then he wouldn't be a referee. The whole thing is frustrating to me since I can't control the parents/family that come to the games. If I could I would have them helping me out and not screaming at me too. This is why I really didn't want to do this. I'm embarrassed for my team and the fact that the girls had to hear what happened. I really hope things turn back around again.

18 Miles

I just finished my longest training run ever. I've ran 13-14 miles before but I've just not had time to run more than that. Today I planned to run 16 and managed to fit in 18 miles. I feel really good except for my left calf feels a little tight. I've been doing some stretches and just got out of a shower and it already feels better. Makinley was my coach. She handed me whatever I needed to drink, etc. as I ran. She was good the whole time. I can't believe I only have a little over 2 weeks left.

Here's a pic of me and my coach right after my 18 miles :)

First Day Of Preschool

Makinley started her second year of preschool today. She is once again a Baby Bearcat. The classroom is located at the W.F. West High School in Chehalis. Her teacher is Mrs. Hylton. She goes every Monday and Wednesday from 9-11 a.m. She loves school and could hardly wait to go back. I can't believe how grown up she looks.

Makenna also had her school pictures taken today. I ran over to her school at picture time to help out and make sure she wasn't a mess. We have had to do re-takes the past two years so I was hoping to save some time later :) I'll post them when we get them.

Surgery Date

I was surprised to get a phone call from Seattle Children's Hospital today. They actually have Makinley's surgery date scheduled already. The big day will be Monday, November 24th. We won't have exact times until the Friday before. I guess since we will have to be there for 3-5 days anyway it doesn't make a big difference on what time of day the surgery is. It does make things harder for me since I will have to be up in Seattle the whole time Kinley is there. I have no idea how we are going to work Makenna and school into things. Jason can drop her off but he doesn't get off in time to get her. At least soccer will be over by then so that will be a help.

On top of everything I got a letter in the mail confirming that our secondary insurance is indeed gone. We also have to get pre-approval from Jason's new insurance for this procedure. There aren't any options in this though. Makinley has to have the surgery. She is top priority. It's just really hard for me not to worry about money when I'm already so worried about her. I'm just going to try and stay as positive as I can.

Seattle Children's Hospital Appointment

A lot of you know that Makinley was diagnosed last year with a kidney/bladder reflux issue. Here is the definition/explanation to help.

Urine is produced in the kidneys and flows through the ureter, the tube that carries urine from each kidney to the bladder. A valve mechanism prevents urine from backing up into the kidneys as the bladder gets full. Urine leaves the bladder through the urethra and is eliminated from the body during urination.

In some children, an abnormality in the valve or the ureters allows urine to flow backwards, a condition called vesicoureteral (VUR) reflux. In mild cases urine backs up into the lower ureter. In severe cases it can back up into a swollen kidney. Usually, children with this condition are born with it.

Reflux is graded according to its severity:

Grade I results in urine reflux into the ureter only.
Grade II results in urine reflux into the ureter and the renal pelvis, without distention (hydronephrosis).
Grade III results in urine reflux into the ureter and the renal pelvis, causing mild hydronephrosis.
Grade IV results in moderate hydronephrosis.
Grade V results in severe hydronephrosis and twisting of the ureter.

Makinley was diagnosed with a Grade III on the right and Grade IV on the left. She was over 3 when diagnosed so we were extremely lucky that she didn't have kidney damage. She was put on a preventative medication to help protect her kidneys. We did that for a year hoping that she would outgrow it. She had to go back June 3, 2008 for her second VCUG. That is where she has to be medicated, a catheter used, and a dye injected that fills up her bladder and in her case also shows how far it flows back up into her kidneys. I was hoping for good news at that appointment. She ended up the right side improving to a Grade II but the left side became a very high Grade IV and her kidney had actually started to shrink up. Very bad news. Dr. Joyner is her urologist. He wanted to try a non-invasive procedure first. It was called Deflux. On June 12th she was put under anesthetic and he used an instrument through a catheter to inject a polymer type material around the bottom of both sides of each ureter that was attached to the bladder. His hopes were that it would prevent urine from going up the ureter into the kidneys. About a month after that we were back just to have an ultrasound. It showed that the implants were still there but we didn't get any other information at that time.

Today was the big day. We were up at 5 a.m. for the drive to Seattle. We got to the hospital with about 15 minutes to spare. We got checked in and called back to our room to wait for the nurses to medicate Makinley. She measures in at 38 pounds and 3 feet 8 inches tall :) The nurse came in and gave me the medicine in a syringe to give to Makinley. She took it with no complaints. I then had to hurry and get her changed into her hospital gown. The loopy medicine works fast on her. After she was silly and limp a nurse helped me transfer her to a wheelchair and then we got her down to the x-ray room for the VCUG. Even with the help of the sedation each VCUG gets harder. The catheter really burns and hurts her so you can imagine it's not a pleasant experience for anyone in the room. She also had a hard time when her bladder was filled with the dye. She was just overly uncomfortable this time. I'm really proud of her though. After that was done we went back to our room for her to recover some. Our appointment with Dr. Joyner wasn't until 2:15 p.m. so we had awhile to wait. Makinley had to be in the wheelchair for about 2 hours anyway. She was really tired and off balance. We went to wait for the appointment and ended up not getting in a room until an hour after our scheduled time. It was after 4:00 p.m. by the time we saw the Dr. and got outside.

The results from today were not good. Even now I can't seem to get my mind around it. The right side that was a Grade II seemed to have improved. The left side being optimistic is a high Grade III. Urine is still going back up the ureter and filling up that kidney at least halfway. Urine in the ureter at all is bad. So now even after all this time and the Deflux procedure it isn't fixed. Our only option now is surgery. To put it in easy terms they call it a Ureter Reimplant Surgery. Dr. Joyner will either do it from the outside of the bladder or from the inside depending on what he finds when he gets in there. Makinley will have a 6-8 inch incision just above her pelvic bone. He will go in and with either option will basically take the ureter and surgically reimplant it to the inside of the bladder wall. This should stop the urine from traveling back to her kidneys. He is doing the left side for sure and will do the right at the same time if needed. The surgery will take around 3 hours. After the surgery she will go to recovery and then be taken to a room where she will have to stay for 3-5 days. Some of the things she might deal with after surgery our bladder spasms, cramping, incontinence, pain, and a whole other list of scary things I won't share with you now. The list of complications are overwhelming too.

Makinley will have a month where she can't climb, ride bikes, ride scooters, etc. 6-8 weeks after the surgery she will have an ultrasound. This will only check for blockage or something wrong. We won't know if the surgery was successful until she has her 4th VCUG which will take place 4-6 months after surgery. During all this time Makinley will remain on her antibiotics. If her VCUG shows the reflux is gone then we will be done with it at that point.

I have to wait until Thursday to get a surgery date for her. Once we get that we can plan out the rest of the schedule more. I am completely overwhelmed thinking about it all right now. I'm scared that my baby has to have surgery and go through this. I'm freaked out because our medical doesn't cover much. I'm just exhausted.

On a good note Makinley starts preschool tomorrow. She is very excited about that. We have to do that, I have to work out, get a training run in, paint Jason's Grandma's garage, help at Makenna's school for school pictures, have a small soccer practice and then coach the game. I really can't imagine why I've been tired lately.....

26.2 For Brian

My fundraising for Brian has officially began. I was up until midnight last night making my fundraiser flyer. I'm pretty happy how it turned out. I used a new program called iWork and it was awesome. I'm sure I could have spent days making it perfect. I sent out all my e-mails last night and managed to stop at a few places today. I'm really hoping I can get some good sponsorship. I'm so excited to run the marathon this year. Only 23 days left.

Running Log

I decided that I would add something new to my blog. Since I am training for my 3rd Portland Marathon and also running it to raise money for the Conrad's, I figured I would be more accountable for my training if I posted my mileage each day I run. Knowing that people are checking out my blog and seeing how I am doing is great motivation. It's on the top right of my blog if you'd like to keep an eye on me :)

Unofficial Soccer Photos

Tonight before our soccer practice we had team and individual photos. Jason snapped a couple while they were doing it. We have our Jamboree on Saturday where they will scrimmage against all the other teams for 2 hours. That should be interesting for all of us. I still can't believe I'm a soccer coach.

Makenna At School

Today Makenna started the second grade at R.E. Bennett in Chehalis. I can't believe she is already in second grade and looking so grown up. She already has her own locker. She is such a good girl. She is very smart and loves school so I hope that will continue. She has Mrs. Williams for a teacher this year. It is a looping class so depending on where we live next year she would have her for 3rd grade also. The funny thing is that Mrs. Williams was Jason's 2nd grade teacher too.

My Second Grader

Makenna before her first day of 2nd grade.