Our Hospital Visit

As many of you know, Derek has been having some issues lately, and has been going through some testing for these issues - about 6 months ago, he had lots of blood tests done, and a barium enema (unpleasant experience at best..) and nothing was found; so they scheduled him for a colonoscopy ... 6 months later! The wait list for such a procedure around here is just crazy! If you aren't of any concern, but need a routine procedure done, the wait list can be about 3 years!!

The day finally arrived - after much waiting, and much anticipation. On Tuesday afternoon, we arrived at the hospital, waay in the North end of Calgary, got Derek checked in and into a bed, and waited for about 45 minutes. Derek was nervous, and VERY hungry, as he had to fast for the 2 days ahead of time. At 2:15, the doctor rolled him away for the procedure, and half an hour later, rolled him back into the room where I was waiting patiently!

Derek was quite out of it when he came back, so the doctor let me know the results. He has Ulcerative Colitis, which as I've read is "a chronic inflammation of the large intestine". He was given a prescription which should settle things down - the dosage is quite high to start, but we'll meet with the doctor several times in the next year or so, and the dosage could eventually be lowered.

This diagnosis is actually quite a blessing - our greatest fears were Colon Cancer or Crohn's disease; I had been praying that it would end up being something that would just take a pill to settle down, and could possibly go away - my prayers were answered! There's no need for a change in diet, or any type of surgery - and it could possibly go into remission! We're of course learning what this is all about - Derek has a doctor's appointment again on Tuesday to discuss the results, so we should have a better idea by then what to expect for the next while!

So, once Derek rested for about an hour, and finally got to eat (what he says was the best blueberry muffin he's ever had) :), we headed back home! Derek slept the evening away - and I completed the painting project!!

Another busy weekend ...

Another weekend has past! We are keeping so busy with renovations on Mom and Dad Janzen's basement - they've been kind enough to offer their basement to us, and on top of it all, are doing extensive renovations (fun project for me!!) to make the space more functional for us!

It all started with ripping up the old orange carpet - Mom and Dad were so glad to see that finally go - along with tearing old orange shag carpet off of the walls; next, we tore down wall panelling, and knocked off ugly slop mortar from the big brick fireplace.

It seemed like a long wait between framing, putting up drywall, taping and mudding drywall, electrical work, etc - until I finally had some work to do! We picked out some Ikea cabinets for a small kitchenette (putting my kitchen design experience to some good use), new laminate flooring, carpeting, and last but certainly not least - paint colours! We're now in the middle of painting everywhere, and I'm enjoying every last minute of it!

We found out that the carpet is scheduled to be installed in 2 weeks - we've got ourselves a deadline! This week: Finish painting, start installing cabinets & laminate ... there is a light at the end of the renovation tunnel!

My First Official Blog

So here it is - my first official blog. I always enjoy reading up on other peoples' lives, so I figure I'll take some time so people can read up on the life of the Janzen family! Stay tuned for the latest happenings ...