It's Real

Kind of a late update on things going on in my life.

Late August came around and Noel informed me she was pregnant. HOLY CRAP!! Not in the plans and something that has made me not think about myself so much, which is a nice change. The first feelings of being scared and nervous have changed since then. Now I feel both of those plus excitement.

Every little step forward we take, the more real everything seems to be. Numbness in my legs and Noel's morning sickness. Weakness in my hands and the baby kicking Noel's stomach. Going to the doctors and seeing the ultrasounds, finding out it is a boy, and putting my hand on Noel's stomach so I can finally feel the baby kick....all adds up to a rush of excitement and a little dash of HOLY CRAP.

More doctors appointments coming  up soon. I am hoping to be able to keep adding more and more on here about the life with MS, my baby boy and being a father with MS.

The Diagnosis

My week has been long and stressful. I thought my life was stressful until this week happened. Before this week, I was like most people my age: stressed about money, stressed about the job I am in - normal things. My life is also not normal in the since that my wife has severe asthma and we are always trying to find ways to make it not act up. Also with the ritual of inhaler usage and the nebulizer, we were starting to get back on track. Life felt like it was coming back around for the good. Then this week happened:

I was sitting on the couch on Monday, watching television with my ladies (Noel and the dogs April and Joslyn), when my hand fell asleep and then swelled up. We thought it weird, but then it changed. I started to feel numbness in my hand, then my shoulder, and then my face. So we ventured to the hospital to see what was going on. After numerous tests, the results came back undefined with a couple of options available. The options are: slight stroke, seizures, migraines or Multiple Sclerosis (MS). I was told to follow up with the neurologist the next day and left the hospital with the unknowing of what is wrong with me.

Tuesday comes about and we are lucky enough to get in to the Neurologist. We show up and he runs a few tests on numbness and reaction. He informed me that he doesn't think I have MS or seizures. He said more then likely it is migraines that are causing these problems, but we will need an MRI done to figure it all out. This however does bring the stroke back into play which is now a higher possibility then the seizure or the MS. Once again we go away with the unknown of what is going on.

Wednesday and Thursday pass and nothing changes with my symptoms. Weird feelings happening, sometimes the symptoms were acting more more and others were going away. All in all, no change.

Today brings us a new adventure. Today I wake up with the same symptoms, but something new happens. I go to grab the Orange Juice out of the refrigerator like I would on a normal basis - BAM - OJ down on the ground and me trying to figure out how in the world my hand didn't squeeze enough to hold the OJ container. Noel, my wonderful wife, decides to call the doctor right away and he informed her that we need to go the ER again. So, back we go, same story to all of the doctors, RNs and PAs. My file form Monday was misplaced when we get there and everything is not going well. The doctor we spoke with today, however was very surprised that we were sent home on Monday after everything that happened. We inform him of the tests that were ran and now he wants to have an MRI done. 30 minutes shoved into a big magnetic tube and we finally have our answer. I left eh hospital with a diagnosis and some prednisone.

I was officially diagnosed with MS. My life is going to change. For good or bad, I don't know. We will see what the future holds for me. I am feeling confident that with the people I have on my team, I will walk tall during this new adventure in my life. However, on the back side of things, I am scared. I was scared during the week because of the unknown, not knowing what is wrong with me and what I can do to fix it. Now I am scared because of the known. I am not a doctor, but I have heard of MS. I have heard many people have it and it reacts differently in everyone. I don't want to read online about MS because I feel it will scare me even more. Which leaves me back in the world of the unknown again. This is going to be an adventure and I hope I can keep the time to keep writing this blog about my adventure so it could possibly help someone who is diagnosed in the future.

For now, thanks for reading. If you have any information about MS, I would love to hear it.

Augie

Rock-tember

As the Colorado Rockies entered September, fans were starting to write them off for the playoffs. With a month left in the season, the team was 6 1/2 games behind in both races: the N.L. West and the N.L. Wildcard. Today, the team has reeled off 10 wins in a row bringing back memories of the 2007 playoff run. In fact, since 2007, the Rockies have the second best record in September, behind the New York Yankees, going 58-33 in that time (Ringolsby, 2010).

With 19 games left in the season, nine of which are played in Coors Field and three games against each of the teams ahead in the N.L. West (S.D. Padres and S. F. Giants), the Rockies have the playoffs in their grasp. Only time will tell if the Rockies can pull off another miracle ending like the "Once upon a time..." story they gave Colorado in 2007.

Source: Ringolsby, Tracy. 2010. "Tracy gave Rockies renewed motivation", Retrieved from: http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/story/Rockies-on-a-roll-in-September-again.

Sixth Annual Frank G. Edmonson Golf Tournament and Silent Auction

Come one, come all! The 6th Annual Frank G. Edmonson Golf Tournament Fundraiser will occur on July 26, 2009, 8:00 shotgun start.

New Location: Indian Tree Golf Course

Entrance Fee: $100

Includes greens fees, cart, range balls,

The tournament includes a BBQ and silent auction after the competition open to all. E-mail me at augie.maestas@gmail.com for the flyer and entry form for the Tournament.

The proceeds from the tournament benefit a scholarship in the MSCD Music Department.

Please contact me with any questions or if you would like to commit to playing. If you need a foursome, other fun golfers for you to play with can be found.

Project Calendar

Thursday greatness

I know it is a joke, but work with me here and read it. You will not regret it.



A stranger was seated next to a little girl on the airplane when the stranger turned to her and said, 'Let's talk. I've heard that flights go quicker if you strike up a conversation with your fellow passenger.'

The little girl, who had just opened her book, closed it slowly and said to the stranger, 'What would you like to talk about?'

'Oh, I don't know,' said the stranger. 'How about nuclear power?' and he smiles.

OK, ' she said. 'That could be an interesting topic. But let me ask you a question first. A horse, a cow, and a deer all eat the same stuff - grass - . Yet a deer excretes little pellets, while a cow turns out a flat patty, and a horse produces clumps of dried grass. Why do you suppose that is?'

The stranger, visibly surprised by the little girl's intelligence, thinks about it and says, 'Hmmm, I have no idea.'

To which the little girl replies, 'Do you really feel qualified to discuss nuclear power when you don't know shit?

One last baseball article

Now that the season is over and the Phillies won the World Series, we can say good bye to 2008 and look forward to the 2009 season which starts in April. I am not a big fan of Philly, and with the low ratings the World Series received, I am guessing not a lot of people are. I can understand that a lot of people are not big Rays fans as they are still a young team in comparison and do not have a strong following down in Tampa, but Philly has had a team for a long time. Congrats to both teams and way to ruin my season with a lackluster October.

With that said, one question to ponder: Why do people get so out of control after a team wins a championship? In Philly after the last out, fans celebrated in the streets and ended with people damn near rioting. Can anyone explain this for me? I have been excited for Broncos and Avalanche winning their respective titles, however, it doesn't make me want to go out and destroy another person's property. If you have an answer, please let me know.

On another note, I found something fantastic on the Internet this past 24 hours that will please you baseball fans out there. Dr. Ben Fry's Salary vs Performance sketch is a wonderful tool to really look at the relationship between a teams salary and their performance during the season. Here is his explanation of the piece:

"This sketch looks at all 30 Major League Baseball Teams and ranks them on the left according to their day-to-day standings. The lines connect each team to their 2008 salary, listed on the right.

Drag the date at the top to move through the season. The first few days of the season are omitted because the rankings to (at least) that point are statistically silly. You can also use the arrow keys on the keyboard to move forward or backward one day.

A steep blue line means that the team is doing well for its money, which reflects well on the team's General Manager. A steep red line implies that the team is throwing away money. The thickness of the line is proportional to the team's salary relative to the others."

Looking at this tool makes me realize that money doesn't make the team a winner, it is the management/coaching and dedication of the players that makes the team winners. A team can spend all the money they want, and still not make it to the playoffs (i.e. New York teams in 200 had the top 2 highest payrolls and neither team made it into the post-season).

Looking ahead, I will let everyone know when the Colorado Rockies put the Guys Night Out tickets and Opening Day tickets on sale.

Until next time!