Veterans Day

These are some of the conversations I had with my students on Veteran’s Day.

Boy- Mrs. Luddeke did you notice I am wearing my Boy Scout shirt?
Me- Yes I see that.  Do you have a meeting today?
Boy- No, I am wearing to honor all of the vegetarians who died in war.

Girl- Is today veterinarians day?  My dad said it was, but I think he’s joking.
Me- No today is Veteran’s Day. Do you know what a veteran is?
Girl- Oh I got it.  Today is just honoring old veterinarians…

In all seriousness, I am very thankful for all of the Veterans who risked and lost their lives defending America.  Thank you for what you did for our country!  And a special thank you to my favorite Veteran, my Papa.  Thanks for fighting for our country and coming back safe and sound to a big part of my life. 

My New Car!!

This weekend Justin and I made our first big purchase as a married couple.  We bought a car!!  I am so excited   My Taurus had seen better days and it was time for me to be in something more reliable.  I got a 2008 Mitsubishi Endeavor.  It is perfect!!

Let me know if you want a ride!

Mondays…

Well my Monday turned out to be quite eventful. 

I got to school Monday morning and the power was out.  Not only did the power go out, but it set off the alarm.  We were finally let inside by a janitor who has an actual key (teachers have badges that we swipe), but once inside I felt like I was at a disco.  The emergency lights were flashing and the 4th grade hallway had no power.  Slowly the power came back on, but our rooms were last.  We spent the morning in different room and the library and around 9:15 power was all back.  What an interesting morning!

Then last night around 8pm Justin and I were doing stuff in the office when all of the sudden the power went out.  We called our friends Katy and Brandon who live in a separate building and their power was not out, so they ran over in the rain and brought us their camping headband flashlights (I immediately though of how proud my Pa would be).  They were really handy.  We have flashlights and candles, but the headband helped me grade 23 math tests and find the rest of the stuff I needed for Tuesday.  We called TXU and they said it should be back on by 11pm.  Since it was dark and we had both had crazy days, we went to bed at 9:30pm!  Nothing else we could really get done in the pitch black.  Justin said he woke up around 1am when he said the light form the kitchen turned on, followed by about 10 others and the TV.  Reese and I must have been sleeping good because we didnt budge. I knew there was a reason I didn’t start laundry last night  

Here is a picture of Justin and I in our flashlight headbands.  Aren’t they stylish?

Fall Happenings

Two weeks ago I got my stitches out and was cleared by the doctor to go back to my everyday routine.  Woo-hoo!  Ever since then Justin and I have been very busy making up for lost time.  Here’s what we’ve been up to.

Plano Game- My best friend Brittany was in town with her boyfriend Jared, so we decided to go on a double date.  We went to the Plano vs. Plano West football game (since Brittany and I are both Plano grads).  It was a lot of fun but VERY cold.

State Fair-  Last Sunday afternoon we went to the fair with Justin’s family.  It was so much fun! Lots of people to watch, food to eat, and things to do.

             

             

Fall Decorations- Since this is our first fall as a married couple we are slowing beginning to get decorations for each season.  I say we because Justin was with me when I bought these items.  He was such a good sport!

The cornucopia I made. 

My new pumpkin center piece.

Our outside decorations. 
(yes I’m paranoid and covered up our house number)

Ok so this is not part of our fall decorations, but we did buy Reese a new toy while we were out shopping and he LOVES it. 

Bingo- Justin and I went to play Bingo a last night and this is what we came home with…2 dotters.  Oh well, it was still fun. 

Mr. Lam

You know you have a great work environment when the janitor comes by to check how you’re doing on your first day back, and offers to sanitize your desk mid-way through the day

Mr. Lam (the janitor at our school) is such a nice guy.  No one else is going to get the swine flu on his watch!

My Lung Collapsed…AGAIN!

On Thursday I was at school when all of the sudden I felt a sharp pain in my chest (same pain as the first time my lung collapsed).  So I did what anyone does when they are sick at school…I went to the nurse :0)  She listened to my chest and told me that my right side did not sound fully inflated.  So as I laid on the bed in the nurses office (that was meant for someone 3 feet tall) and cried, she called Justin who then called my doctor.  The nurse said that I needed to go to out patient radiology immediatly and get a chest x-ray. So I did and guess what…it had collapsed again.  While I was getting the chest x-ray Justin saw my doctor in the hospital in jeans and regular shirt and stopped him.  Dr. Seto was able to go look at my x-ray and get me into a room in no time.  This is such a God thing because he wasn’t even supposed to be in the hospital that day!

So here is the scoop with my lung-

When I was in middle school/high school I went through a big growth spurt and apparently my lungs did not grow as fast as the rest of my body. This caused them to stretch out and create “blebs” or blisters across the tops of my lungs. The first time my lung collapsed they thought it was a spontaneous thing that would never happen again.  When it happened again Thursday they knew something was not right.  A CT Scan showed that these blebs stretched across the top of my lungs so a Thoracic Surgeon had to go in and remove them.  He popped the remaining blebs (3) and stapled them shut.  While in there he also glued the top of my lung to my rib cage to prevent this from happening again.  Now there is only a 1% chance this will ever happen again on my right side.  As far as the left side goes, they did not look at it since they didn’t want to risk something going wrong and both of my lung being damaged.  If my left lung ever does collapse they will immediately do surgery since they know what is causing it.  Let’s just pray I never have to have this surgery again because it is painful. 

As far as how I am doing, I’m ok.  I have 3 incisions down my right side and I am still in quite a bit of pain from the surgery.  For now I am resting at home with Reese and some lovely pink pain pills to keep me company :0)  Justin went back to work today but he has been great!  He stayed at the hospital with me every night and held my hand during all of the scary/painful stuff.  I think he should win a husband of the year award!  Anyone know where I can find him a trophy?

Thank you for all of the prayers, dinners, flowers, and visits.  Please keep me in your prayers as I continue to recover.

Holley

PS- For anyone who is wondering, here is a picture of what a collapsed lung looks like.

 

 

 

A note to dog owners…

If  you are an owner of a dog that belongs in a “dangerous breed” category  and you have a child or a child visiting you home, please take this as  a warning.

Do not leave your dog with a small  child unattended under any circumstances!

Only one little moment was enough for the  following to happen. 

 

Thank you!

Signed-   The Dog

Lung follow-up appointment and a Sock Hop

Before I fill you in on my doctors appointment, I have to give a shout out to all of the FABULOUS people who brought Justin and I dinner, sent goodies, and came to visit.  We feel so loved and thankful for your prayers and support during this not so fun time.      

I also went back to school full-time this week.  Here was the sign I had hung on my whiteboard when I got there.  I’m not going to lie…it was good to be missed. 

      

I also had a goodie basket from the staff waiting for me.  Yum!!

My students had been very concerned about me and had several questions. Two of the most common ones were…
1- Where did you collapse?  (They did not understand that my lung collapsed…not me)

2- Does your new lung fit okay? (They were told that once my lung was good as new I would be able to come back to school, which they translated into- Mrs. Luddeke has a new lung.)

Other questions included:
Did it hurt? Did you cry? Was your mom there to take care of you? Are you going to collapse at school? Was it because of your allergies? Did you get a shot? Did you miss us?

I have such a sweet class!

Ok, on to the updates…
I had a follow-up doctors appointment on Wednesday and it went great!  They said that my lung was 100% inflated and that the hole had completely healed itself.  Woo-hoo!!  I can now return to my regular routine.  Even though I was relieved to hear that, I still had LOTS of questions to ask.  Here are some that people have asked me about.

1- How likely is this to happen again?
I was told that this is no more likely to happen again than it was for it to happen the first time. 

2- Can this be prevented?
No.  Some people had said it could by exercising more, taking certain vitamins, etc. but this is not true-altough those things are still recommended for daily health.   My doctor’s exact words were “Just live your daily life and if it happens again go to the ER.  If it doesn’t I’ll probably never see you again”.  I can handle that!

3- Does the fact that my lung had a small hole affect my immune system at all? (we have several kids at our school with the flu)
Apparently my profession makes me more likely to get the flu, not the fact that I had a collapsed lung.  That was so good to hear. So I will continue to wash my hands like crazy, Clorox wipe everything and take LOTS of vitamin C.

Since I was allowed to go back to my normal routine I was excited about the Sock Hop at our school.  We had a lot of people come and it was really fun.  The teachers, parents, and kids all danced and laughed the entire time.  Here is Kathy (the other 4th grade teacher) and I before the Sock Hop.

This is one of the reasons I love teaching elementary school.  You are encouraged to get to dress up and have fun!

Thanks for all of your prayers during this recovery time.  I am happy to report that I am as good as new!

Labor Day Weekend…not exactly like I had planned

Labor Day weekend started out great.  Justin and I got some things done around the house, ran some errands and had dinner with our good friends Doug & Sara on Saturday night.  After they left of our house I told Justin that my back was hurting really bad, particularly on the right side.  So he rubbed it for me, I took some Advil and went to bed.  At about 4am I woke up in A LOT of pain.  I told Justin my asthma was really bothering me and that my back was still hurting.  Being the sweet husband he is, he got up and found my inhaler for me, put some ice on my back, rubbed it again, gave me 2 Tylenol and back to bed we went.  Sunday morning I was still in pain.  I was having a hard time taking deep breaths and my back was still hurting, but decided I could make it through church.  I thought my asthma was just acting up so I figured I could ask my dad what he does when his asthma is really bad (he has had asthma for a long time).  I found him at church before Sunday School and he told me that asthma would make BOTH of my lungs hurt, not just my right side.  He said I should go the ER because it sounded to him like I had a collapsed lung.  What do you know…I had a collapsed lung.  The x-ray showed that the air and fluid that had leaked out through a small hole and was making a wall between my ribcage and lung. This is what was preventing me from being able to take a deep breath and causing me so much pain! 

My first questions were:
1-How did the hole get there?
The doctor said I must have had a weak spot in my lung that finally gave up and made a hole.  Collapsed lungs are very common in people who are in car accidents (not me), have recently fallen (not me), have a sports related injury (not me), have had pneumonia (not me) or smoke (not me).  So I must be in that “lucky percentage of people who have a collapsed lung for no reason”. Great…
2- How do you fix it? 
The doctors exact words were “We just stick a long needle in your side and let the air out.” If I were a cartoon character my eyes would have shot out of my head.  I don’t even like getting a flu shot!  Thankfully I was put to sleep during all of this.

So… I spent 3 days in the hospital with a large, long tube in my side that was letting out all of the air and fluid that had leaked out of my lung.  It was not fun at all.  To cheer me up I did have some great visitors and pain medicines that helped pass the time Justin stayed the entire time.  He slept on the “guest bed” (really a fold out chair that was about a foot to short for him), brought me food that didn’t taste like dirt, kept me in good spirits, and held my hand during all of the not so fun procedures.  Such a sweet husband! 

Here is a picture of my in my room. Please note the kids gown.  It has tigers on it and reads “Tired Little Tiger”.  The original gown they brought me looked like it had been through WW2 (complete with holes and a stain) and was a “one size fits all” for a man who wears a 3X.  My favorite nurse Huda brought this to me from the pediatric floor.

 

Luckily I got to come home yesterday.  I have been relaxing today and am planning on returning to school on Friday.  The other 4th grade teacher, Kathy, has been awesome about getting things ready for my sub.  Since I didn’t know I was going to need one I didn’t have everything ready for someone else to do. 

I have to go back next Wednesday for a follow-up visit so let’s hope they say I’m good to go!  Until then I can’t lift anything over 5lbs, give or get hugs, or exercise.  We’ll see how that goes!!

Football Season & Chick-fil-A Freebie!

It’s officially football season at our house.  Our flag is hanging proudly from our balcony, our t-shirts are on, and snacks have been bought! I’m not sure Justin could have been more excited.  I’m excited about football season for 3 reasons

1. I don’t have to watch baseball anymore. 
2. Justin and I are going a few Tech games this season and have great seats!  The tickets were a part of Justin’s birthday. This will definitely beat standing shoulder to shoulder on the bleachers in the student section.
3.  Football is just fun to watch and it’s a great excuse to hang out with friends!  Did I mention it is free entertainment…What can beat that?!

Chick-fil-A is just as excited as we are so they are having a Labor Day Give Away.  If you wear a t-shirt with a sports team logo on it, and go to a Chick-fil-A from 10:30am-close you will get a FREE CHICKEN SANDWICH!  No purchase necessary!   We will definitely be going  

I hope everyone enjoys their long weekend!!