I've got good news and bad news...

...Let's go with the good news first! Sandra's neurologist called with the awesome news that the only thing that her latest MRI shows is a little arthritis in her spine (no big deal)--so all is clear! I know she feels like the weight of the world is off of her shoulders and she will go back to the neurologist for an appointment at the end of October. So, we still don't know what caused her episodes, but whatever it was, it is gone now! Isn't that awesome?!

Now, for the bad news. My Georgia Bulldogs got a good old-fashioned butt kicking by the Crimson Tide on Saturday night. We were there for the game, and the only fun part was the third quarter. But, the Dawgs did not give up, so that speaks for something...right? We had a great time with Andrea and Hunter (who came down for the game)--and most of the day was a blast! SEC football is crazy!!! Everyone was impressed by how nice and polite the Bama fans were--but I knew that anyway, since half of my friends Roll with the Tide.
Kudos to Alabama...I suppose.

Junior League and The Women

In an attempt to spread my wings out further in Gainesville--well, actually, to get completely out of my comfort zone, I have joined the Junior League in town. For those of you who do not know what Junior League is (or if you have preconceived notions)--let me tell you a little about it. It is a service organization for women, which requires a 7 year commitment (yes, 7 years, folks!). Each year, each member must volunteer in a charitable organization for a minumum of 40 hours. The first year (my provisional year)--we are not placed, but learn all about "The League" as some people call it in several different meetings. I am really excited about it, and I have met a lot of new women in the community. Our provisional class has about 36 women in it, and I am feeling a little bit like I am back in the pledging world--but a little more grown up. I always thought Junior League was made up of people that could be kind of snotty--but that before I had ever met anyone in it:)! So far, there is not a snob in the bunch! Thanks to Carol Ann for opening my eyes!

Back in the summer, I recommended the "Twilight" series of books--and many people have now gotten addicted to them. I apologize to your husbands and children if you were one of my victims--but they are just that good. Now, I am going to recommend a movie. Last night, I went with a bunch of girls to see "The Women" starring, well, basically half the famous women in Hollywood: Meg Ryan, Annette Benning, Jada Pinkett Smith, Debra Messing, etc. You have to get a group of girls together to go see it--it is a total chick flick--and there is not ONE man in the entire movie, I guess that is why it is called "The Women". We all really enjoyed it! Well, I'm off to eat supper, then watch UGA take on Arizona State--GO DAWGS!! You've gotta love college football season!

Still No News

Sandra had her MRI yesterday afternoon--but her follow up doctor's appointment is not until the end of October! Yeah, that is ridiculous! We had another family friend who had the same MRI done, and found out the results by the end of the week, so we're not sure if the doctor's office will call with the results, or just try to move her appointment up (both options would be good!). Thanks for all the emails and prayers--keep going with those. I'll keep you updated!

Not much of an update

Well, I guess no news is good news so far. Sandra went to the neurologist on Friday, and he said that her MRI looked better than his personal MRI:). She is scheduled for a more in-depth MRI on September 15th. She continues to be episode free, so that is great news, but we are still anxious for the doctors to figure out exactly what is the cause of all this stuff. Your prayers are much appreciated!

On a humorous note, I had to take Callie to the vet on Tuesday because her ear was swollen to about 3 times it's normal size. The diagnosis? BUG BITE!!! I'm not even kidding! The treatment was either a cortisone shot, or Benadryl at home...I chose the Benadryl route. Andy says that she is having sympathy bug bite swelling because of my fire ant episode. Like mother, like doggie-daughter!

I know many of you prayed for my friend, Katie, when she was going through her sickness at the end of last year--and that you continue to pray for her family. A fund has been started in Katie's memory. I have been meaning to post the website so here it is! It's main purpose is to spread the gospel! Please take some time to check it out:
http://khwfund.org/

Love to all!

A New Family Tradition

It seems that the Nix family has come up with a new tradition for Thursday nights, visits to the emergency room! I don't recommend trying this tradition for your family, since it can be quite tiring and costly, but you do get to see a much different group of people than you ever have before! Two Thursdays ago, I was leaving a dinner at someone's house, when my toe began to burn. I realized that I had been bitten by something, but did not think much about it, until I got home and was itching from head to toe! Everywhere I scratched, hives started to break out, until I was covered in them, and my entire body was beginning to swell! I quickly downed a Benadryl, and picked up the phone to call Andy, who was walking in the door (fortunately). To put it mildly, I was freaking my freak, and looking more and more like Will Smith in 'Hitch' by the minute. I downed another Benadryl and headed for the ER. Apparently, Acute Anaphylactic Shock is not a good enough excuse to be seen in the ER before a 2 hour wait. The nurse told me that if I began to be unable to breathe, to let her know, and they would take me back. Well, I could breathe, but the wait in the ER made me wish just a teensy bit that I couldn't. There were people coming through high and drunk off their rear ends, people with 2 year olds that were not sick, and then there was me, the swollen-blimp-head, who waited patiently. When we were finally taken to the back, I was looking much better thanks to the overdose of Benadryl, but the doctor was shocked and upset that I had to wait--I hope someone got their booty chewed out for that one! So, one EpiPen and IV drug later, I was headed home with a prescription for steroids and an EpiPen. I now have to carry an EpiPen at all times, just in case another ravenous fire ant bites my toe. You read it right, folks, FIRE ANT! Andy wants me to pretend that it was some killer African wasp that got me, he thinks that sounds cooler, but "cooler" is not the story of my life! I have never even been stung by a bee, wasp, yellow jacket, etc., but a fire ant is now my undoing!

Now on to the next Thursday night, and this visit was much more serious: All of Andy's brothers and wives were hanging out watching the opening college football game of the season, when we received a phone call from Chris, Andy's dad. My mother-in-law, Sandra was having a conversation with my father-in-law at home, when she started to have trouble talking and began choking. Chris called an ambulance, and they transported her to the ER, where we all met them. Her vital signs were good, and by the time she got to the hospital, she was able to communicate and breathe with no problems. When Andy and his brothers were in the back talking with her, she had another episode of being unable to communicate. The ER did a CT scan which came back negative (no tumors, bleeding, etc.) so the doctors put her on a blood thinner to keep her from having any more of what they were calling “mini-strokes” and admitted her to the hospital. On Friday morning, she had another episode right before she had an MRI done. The MRI came back clear, the only thing on there was a small bit of calcification and plaque on some random blood vessel. The doctors did not appear concerned with this, and still do not know the cause of her episodes. She was dismissed from the hospital on Saturday morning, and will see a neurologist this Friday to see if they can figure out what is causing all of this. To add to everything, Andy's dad had sinus surgery a few weeks ago, and towards the end of last week and while Sandra was in the hospital, his nose would start to bleed and he couldn't get it to stop. He had to go to the ER Saturday morning, and my dad took him to the doctor on Saturday afternoon to have it cauterized (sp?). My parents and Eli came down this weekend, and Eli went to the UGA game with all of us and my parents stayed with Chris and Sandra to watch the game on TV. We wanted to stay with them, but Chris and Sandra wanted us to all go to the game and get away for a little while. As of this post, things are still going well, we're just up in the air about what is the cause of Sandra's episodes, so we would appreciate your prayers!

I'm going to try to post some promised pictures if Blogger will let me! Have a great week!

Here is my best picture of all The Ones from our weekend in Chattanooga

We had to wait in the boiling heat for everyone to return to the car, I made everyone look ill so that I could take a funny picture!

Annie, Shane, Keyla, and me!

Annie, Maggie, and Merriwether at the shower

The hostesses and Annie (Jesse, Whitney, Annie, me)

Keyla and her baby boy, Cal

Maggie & Merriwether "Cheese!"

Annie and I at the reunion

Andy, me, and Eli at the UGA game

Me and Eli!

Me, Alesha, and Sherry

At the game, the newest UGA mascot, UGA VII, was introduced to much hoopla...here's a close-up

Here is where he stays during the games, in his air-conditioned, iced-down dog house--Jillina, please show Mark these pictures!

Here was our view of the 'dog'-arazzi taking pictures of UGA VII--we were really far away!