How Ideas are Formed

A couple of months ago, I was going through a new treatment for my illness and was extremely exhausted and weak. My mom knows how much I love magazines, so she brought me about 100 magazines. It was a very funny, over the top statement: it cracked me up when she walked in with an arm full of magazines. Mom took interior design in college and her and my father owned a furniture store when they were married. It’s almost her hobby (expensive), she lives and breathes furniture and decorating “Little Ms. Furniture Aficionado.”

So, we spent the day at the “Magazine Spa!” We had fun both of us in silence saying nothing to each other but reading magazines and showing each other the treasures we found: recipes, articles on health and fitness, she pointed out the fact she bought a particular type of magazine called “More… fabulous over 40”…Not there yet mother! Of course I always enjoy reading the articles and getting new recipes and ideas, but the inadvertent finding which transpired was the best. I ran across this interesting design in the Homes and Garden Magazine that prompted a new task for our household: A photo of a fireplace mantle hanging above a bed (using it like a headboard or wall art). Popping quickly into my head…I have a fireplace mantle in my closet; from the mantle that was in our living room prior to the Austin Stone application!

Brittnee (Bree), our daughter, had been asking for a "New room makeover" for about a year now which I have avoided granting her because her room is in “Texas Tech” theme and I admire and want to hold onto the goal and spirit she has for wanting to attend that college upon graduation. Also the Ericksen’s, some good friends, and the husband’s a fan of Texas Tech, have given her things that are worth quite a bit of money and I felt she should stick with that design for a while. Of course one of the things I both love and hate about my daughter is: she has an argument for everything “I can put the fat-head in my closet or the game-room upstairs.” Pretty good argument!

When I ran across this design, I liked it and thought that we could really embellish the look to create a real modern design which is what Bree was looking for. So, I immediately showed her the picture; not sure how she would react since the mantle was more traditional in the magazine and at this age they are incredibly picky and Bree can be quite precocious when it comes to her independence. She doesn’t want me to have any ideas for her sense of style…or anything to “cramp her style” for that matter. She feels she is very capable of making decisions. Much to my surprise she was ecstatic, (with a few requested ideas of her own), over this new look when I explained to her what we could do with the look she loved it! WOW! She was able to envision the mantle with a different look….guess she is a lot like me after all: argumentative, persuasive and creative…sounds like a good recipe or creation for an “Ambulance Chaser!” She has her great grandfather’s gift, on my mother’s side, Judge Homer Hall.


Design on a Dime (Under $500)

Bree’s b-day is next month and my mom is always trying to figure out what to buy her and she decided to help me buy half of what I spent on her room and helped me put this all together since part of this was caused from the “Magazine Spa Day.” My mother is as strong as an ox. She is 61 years old and you wouldn’t believe the crap she can do. It’s quite embarrassing that your own mother can outwork you. She hung the curtains, helped hang the mantle and Mike painted the room and moved out all the furniture from the guest bedroom (Bree is now in the guest bedroom which made perfect sense because it basically has new carpet). So I was the foreman on the job…poor mom and Mike! Please forgive me for my bossiness and impatience. I love you guys. Thanks for all your help!

Introducing... Our Innovative Results

The Mantle. We hung it a little higher for safety purposes.

The Whole Room...Love the consistent lines.

We plan on getting her a chest or something

to put at the foot of the bed to sit on.

Pirate's of PK

Hell's Gate By Rhonda Ericksen:

I thought I would share some photo's that Rhonda has taken over the years at Possium Kingdom (PK). Our family has been going out to PK for close to a decade and a half, she has many more photo's of sunsets -she needs to make a blog of sunsets. I dedicate this blog to the Ericksen's & the Hayley's.

The Pirate's of Pk

We’ve come to steal back our souls from “Hell’s Gate,” floating on our boats with no fear after a long eight years. Drinking our bloody mary’s and six-pack of beers. Cheering and hollering as the night closes in. With the beer and wind blowing our freedom and flags in mid-wind; higher than hell making our wake, open up “Hell’s Gate,” so Bryan and Rita can blow kisses of sin while the Rain Man’s playing tunes of “Pissin in the Wind.”

Watch out on deck - Mike and Bryan’s throwing swords and swearing at each end. Walking the plank and never wanting the night to end. Rhonda and Jenece bearing their ends and jumping in. Freeing the souls of six Pirate’s of “Hell’s Gate.” Our freedom is won through the water and wind.

-Jenece Austin

I wrote this poem 5 years ago.

Remembering 911

Old Battleship on the Mississippi River

I took this photo while riding in the car…it’s amazing what you can capture while riding in the car. I would love to actually visit this battleship and I love the American Flags blowing steadily and consistently through the wind. Consistency is important in any type of battle.

This blog is dedicated to those that lost their lives in 911 and to the troops and their loved ones who are still fighting. My prayers and thoughts are with you this day and forever. Go America!

Quotes:

The Repulican Perspective:

The art of war is simple enough. Find out where your enemy is. Get at him as soon as you can. Strike him as hard as you can, and keep moving. Ulysses S Grant

It is fatal to enter any war without the will to win it. General Douglas MacArthur

The Democratic Perspective:

All they that take the sword, shall perish with the sword. The Bible..Matthew

War does not determine who is right - only who is left. Bertrand Russell

I happen to agree with all of these quotes.

Dear Parents,

Now Playing - Lions for Lambs

In remembrance and to educate our daughter Brittnee, each year when this week rolls around we try to watch a 911 movie. Last year we watched the The World Trade Center and the Year Before that we watched Flight 93 .

Ready, Set...Bon Voyage!

I took this photo in New Orleans...Action!

Ready, Set and Go, sounds so primary but sometimes when we go back and apply the basics to our lives it can be very rewarding.

Just think democracy started in September 1620 on a boat called the Mayflower. It stared when Pilgrims had a problem with church and state and they took off on the voyager for the new world. The voting system started with 45 men because they wanted a different way of life. It worked because we now have our electoral voting system.

Believing in something means more than just believing in it! It means taking a stand and being methodological and creative in order to set a course of action.

Most of us just believe things should be a particular way or believe in a purpose but don’t know how to get them to manifest or sail.

The methods we could take are quite simple. We use them in our everyday life but forget to apply them when we are in trouble with our lives or things aren’t working out quite like we planned.

Methodological Steps

For example, when going out to fish we methodological set or plan our course of action by getting all of our supplies needed based on circumstances:

• Equipment: rod, bait or lure, boat or ice hut, knives, ice augers, portable ice chest and clothing depending on where and the type of fishing etc…
• Choosing location, location, location
• Fishing License
• And last but not least, food and water to keep your strength up.
  

Creative Steps

The trouble starts when you have taken the time to gather all of the needed equipment, researched the proper bait, location and time to fish….and still nothing happens!

This can be an extremely frustrating process in our life. But as I have said before in my old post it’s important to apply emotional intelligence through the doldrums of your life. Then if there is still no action you must get more creative.

You must change your course or approach! Beginning with the simplest form, for example when fishing just cut the damn line and rebait periodically till you find the magic bait.

In my particular case when trying to get diagnosed, I made some mistakes with the approach of telling my symptoms to the doctors. I kept telling them I hurt all over….this was the wrong approach with doctors because it was non-specific. I then became more specific and left out the fact that I had all over body pain and focused on what hurt the worst on my body at the time and it was my shins. Once I did that the rheumatologist commence to question whether I had some type of viral or cardiovascular problem....instead of depression or Fibromyalgia.

If one approach isn’t working for you in your life cut the line and try a different gadget, tool, location, theory etc...!

Suit the action to the word, the word to the action.
William Shakespeare

Everyone needs to be valued. Everyone has the potential to give something back.
Princess Diana

Now Playing - Styx - Come Sail Away Pirate's of the Caribbean

Personal Inventory

Myrtle Beach, S.C.

It’s interesting how we constantly judge and gauge others yet forget to take our own personal inventory!

Do you feel that you are; street smart, book smart or have common sense? Most people would answer yes to at least one of these. If you have at least two out of the three and still aren’t successful in life, then you should be asking yourself why?

Sometimes we may be very intelligent human beings or have lots of common sense, but a major flaw can destroy all of it. Flaws such as low emotional intelligence, self esteem, arrogance, obsessive controlling or compulsive disorder (OCD), etc. can discredit you and diminish your relationship with others. These flaws can totally discredit and serve as an injustice to your intelligence, therefore preventing you from excelling in several facets of life.

Struggling with a chronic-illness is one major variable that can cause lots of flaws and destroy ones self esteem, ability to deal with stress and process information, therefore inhibiting your ability to communicate to others successfully.

So how or can we rise above this problem without being viewed as inept or self destructing?

From my own experience, I know there are important emotional steps that I must practice. Steps such as: tolerance, patience, forgiveness, perseverance, self-awareness and confidence.

These emotional actions seem simple but when you put them to practice you will find it’s not all that easy. Not easy but you must continually persevere and practice them in order to rise above. I have wiped out several times but I continue to pull myself back-up and try again.

Greatness lies not in being strong, but in the right use of strength.
- Henry Ward Beecher

A mind troubled by doubt cannot focus on the course to victory.
- Arthur Golden

Now Playing Ventures - Wipe-out

Tranquillity

I took this photo in Myrtle Beach S. Carolina

The sand is really brown, I doctored it up with Picasa. But I would love for the sand to be this white....purity and clearness.

The more tranquil a man becomes, the greater is his success, his influence, his power for good. Calmness of mind is one of the beautiful jewels of wisdom.

Author: James Allen

Vasculitis

Update

I want to give you an update on the third ct scan (scan) I had done, to find out why I constantly have blood in my urine as well as flank pain. According to the one urologist I’m seeing, it’s more apparent that the lesions on my kidneys, liver and stones are from Behcets. The lesion on my right kidney is 1 cm (9mm) and is 21-22 Hounsfield units which is just beyond normal range. I had a couple of small kidney stones which could also contribute to the bleeding and the liver has two 4 centimeter lesions. The urologist wants to continue monitoring this by scan every three months. I agree with him to an extent, with the information he gave me. Based on prior experiences with my health and this disease, I believe I need to seek out some different opinions.

I ask for my records which he gracefully gave (incase of an emergency). Upon reviewing the scan results, I noticed errors as well as findings he chose to exclude from telling me. So please, please people, always get your own copy of your scans, people are human they make errors and choices that are not always correct or good choices for your particular case for example, choosing to leave out information that could be specific to your diagnosis while unspecific to someone else.


I found the following Error and Excluded Details in my scan:

Error

• The Findings Section of my scan - Claims there is evidence of hydronephrosis (which is swelling of the kidneys).

• Impression Section – States NO Evidence of hydronephrosis in the kidneys.
  

Excluded Details

• Mild scarring or atelectasis in the left lung base - I’m not a smoker or have never been a smoker (I have never inhaled Haha!), nor have I had pneumonia. Also, keep in mind this was an abdominal scan not a chest scan or a chest x-ray so getting the full picture of the lungs has not been done and this radiologist made errors, obviously I don’t have a lot of faith in their impression of my findings. In my opinion, they have made an error in judgement; they should have ordered an MRI instead of three scans due to the limited ability to see details, the multiple findings in different organs and the risk of my disease….not to mention the cost behind doing three different scans.

I realize for people who smoke or have asthma, this is probably an insignificant finding for them, but for someone who has vasculitis its a very important finding, especially when I have been struggling with chest pain and other symptoms that indicate pulmonary and cardiovascular involvement. It’s the underlying condition causing the lesion, not the lesion itself, that’s cause for concern.

What this urologist doesn’t understand about the scarring or collapse of my lung is, I have been seeing a cardiologist due to an abnormal EKG - which read possible myocardial infract (heart attack) due to right ventricle blockage. The right ventricle feeds the cardio and pulmonary vascular system. Meaning it supplies oxygen and blood from my heart to my brain, neck, lungs, kidneys, liver, legs and feet…the whole body.

As you can see in the above diagram, the right ventricle feeds directly into the left lung. The right ventricle is what came back on my EKG as blocked and the left lung base is scarred. Can you see the cause of my vigilance and the lack of….with my current urologist and radiologist in their errors and poor judgments?

I've had an ECG and it came back normal, meaning my heart looks like a normal size as well as all of my chambers. I probably had lots of inflammation in the chest region but no damage that they can see has been done to the heart yet. When I had my dissecting aneurysm the MRI revealed both arteries in my neck were abnormally small and they deemed it as hypoplasty. But I also have narrowed blood vessels in the eyes (according to retina specialist) and narrowing urethra in the bladder (which I just learned from this urologist). Narrowing tends to be symmetrical just like arthritis. If the eyes are the window's to our health this could be an indicator of what may be happening to the blood vessels in my body.

I realize people have a difficult time grasping and understanding the process of my disease, but doctors? I can’t understand why? Since I have started this blog, I have received some great questions from people which generate new thoughts and is making me a stronger advocate towards Behcet’s. I was talking to my cousin on the phone yesterday and she said to me “Jenece, the Behcet’s website makes this disease seem so simple.” This is an important statement; it’s very true that doctors and medical professions seem to focus on what I like to call “Surface Symptoms” when treating or reviewing test which could be part of the problem. There needs to be more awareness in the different progressions of this disease. Maybe, the Symptoms on the American Behcet’s website need to be rewritten by adding the progession of a vasculitis based on the length of time one has the disease. Maybe, I should write to the President of the Behcet’s website? I don’t know what all this means for my prognosis but I’m hoping that it should shed more light once I get some chest x-rays. I made an appointment with my DO last week. But I missed the appointment because I couldn’t drive last Monday, I was unable to lift my right arm to drive…go figure.

Now Playing How The Body Works

Now Playing Heart of Rocking Roll - Huey Lewis