See you later, Georgia Tech!

Although Mark didn't walk for graduation (he actually missed the last week of classes too, since he had just had his first surgery) we still had to celebrate. Did I mention he graduated with honors from the #4 engineering school in the country? Yeah, he's a smarty.

Yes, I made him borrow a graduation cap so we could take a picture

My parents came into town at the end of July and we had a dinner party with Mark's family. My parents and I also went to the Botanical Gardens and had a great time, although it was h-o-t!

A month later, we celebrated again with some friends. We had a great time (thanks again Melissa and Greg for letting us take over your home).

Some of the guys, playing bocce ball

Logan and Mark

Don't you just love this kid?!

Graduation cap cupcakes - yummy!

Youth Conference Trip to Nauvoo

The Nauvoo Temple

Last year, Mark and I were called to be Stake Youth Specialists and to be in charge of Youth Conference. A few months later, I was called to be the 2nd Counselor in the Stake Young Women's Presidency (I know what you're thinking...I was shocked too). It's be fun to be a part of the youth, since I've never been in an area that has such a diverse group. Our Youth Conference was July 8-11 and we were extremely lucky to be able to travel to Nauvoo. It was a hassle and a headache, but totally worth it. Here's the recap...
Wednesday - Met at the church building at 6:00am. Loaded up the charter bus with 43 youth and 9 leaders. Drove all day. Arrived in Nauvoo around 7:00pm. Played some games, ate dinner, walked around a bit, went to bed.

Where we stayed - The Nauvoo House

Thursday - Got up at 6:00am (not a lot of sleep on this trip). Showered and got ready for the day. Divided into 2 groups to go do baptisms at the temple and watch the movie "Joseph Smith The Prophet of the Restoration".

At the Visitor's Center

Went back to the Nauvoo House for lunch and to change. In the afternoon, we visited Carthage Jail and that night we went to the Nauvoo Pageant. I'm still blown away by how much the kids loved the pre-pageant activities.

The room where Joseph and Hyrum Smith were killed - Carthage Jail

Some of the youth, in front of Carthage Jail

Me and Mark, during the pre-pageant activities

Friday - Divided into groups and toured the Historic sites (ie blacksmith shop, bakery, old schoolhouse, oxen rides, etc) in the pouring rain.

Luckily, the weather cleared up around 1:00, but those 4 hours getting soaked weren't very fun. In the afternoon, we went and saw "High Hopes and Riverboats", which was a nice nap, and had dinner at the state park. We had a testimony meeting at The Seventies Hall, and around 8:00pm took off for the long drive home.

Saturday - Returned to Atlanta around 10:00am safe and sound. What a trip!

Mark Update

Out of necessity, Mark started work last Monday. The doctor said he could only do 4 hour days for the first week, so that was a good way for him to ease into it. Working definitely wore him out (he'd come home and take a LONG nap each afternoon) but being able to leave the apartment really seemed to cheer him up. Other than work, we've pretty much stayed around the apartment, just relaxing and watching lots of movies. Mark will start full time tomorrow, and we're hoping he's able to get through it. He's been able to get around a little better without his walker, and we're eager to get updates from his doctors. He has 2 appointments next week, so we'll know more then.
I wanted to reiterate how appreciative of all our friends and family for helping us out during this hard time. We have really appreciated all of the support, calls, cards, food and gifts and the kindness and has really helped us stay positive.

A 4 Hour, Outpatient Surgery...

Day 10 or so...relaxin' at St. Joe's

First off, I want to say how much Mark and I have appreciated everyone's prayers, calls, texts, emails, etc. We have most definitely had a rough ordeal and appreciate the continued thoughts as Mark is (hopefully!) on the road to recovery. Now for the story...
On Monday July 20, Mark had a microdiscectomy for a herniated disc. It was an outpatient surgery and he was home within 4 hours. He instantly felt relief for the back pain he'd suffered for the last year and a half. He seemed to be recovering as the neurosurgeon had told us he would, so I didn't feel too bad when I left that Friday for a trip to Utah.

On Sunday July 26, the disc reherniated. Mark had to turn just the slightest bit to reach something, and he heard it pop and was instantly in debilitating pain. He called the doctor's office for the next 3 days, but was continually told (by the nurse) that the pain was normal and it wasn't reherniated. He asked to speak with the doctor but never heard from him. He explained to the nurse that the pain was NOT normal and he was sure it was reherniated. Finally, she set him up for another MRI (over a week later, when I was back in town).

When the doctor finally saw him, on Thursday August 6, he confirmed that it was indeed reherniated and told us to check into the hospital that night to prepare for surgery the next day. The second surgery was another success (or so said the doctor) and we went home Friday night. Over the weekend, Mark started getting high fevers (in the 101s and 102s) and chills. The fevers would go up/down within minutes and the chills would be accompanied by horrible painful muscle spasms that could last for hours on end. I called the on call doctor and was told each time that we didn't need to come in; that the doctor would see us on Monday and it was too early to develop an infection. Mark also was unable to walk without my help; Monday morning he collapsed at our apartment and it was horrible. We went back to the doctor on Monday afternoon; we were told that the wound looked great and was showing no signs of infection; that the temperatures were normal after anesthesia and we shouldn't be concerned. The doctor did ask us to call if the fevers got worse, but that was about it.

PICC line number 2. They inserted one on Tuesday, took it out on Friday (they thought it was infected) and put another one in on Monday.

On Tuesday his fever went up about a degree but I thought the doctor would be annoyed if we called again so I waited til Wednesday when it reached 104. The nurse told us to head to the ER and they'd meet us there. Here's where the sh*t hits the fan...
We arrived at the ER at about 3 in the afternoon. Mark's temperature was 97 so they weren't concerned with that. When I told the nurse that it was been 104 earlier in the day she said, "Wow, that's high. Did you know 106 is brain dead?" Very sensitive, that one. Anyway, since his fever was low at the moment, they were mainly concerned that his blood oxygen levels were very low (only 88 when it should have been 95 to 100). The doctor was called in and they immediately did X-Rays and a CAT scan to look for signs of pneumonia or blood clots in his lungs. During this time, his temp went up to 104.6 and stayed there for nearly 2 hours. In this time, the ER nurse did not even come in to check on him. She refused to bring in ice or anything to help him. The tests turned out negative and they moved Mark to a hospital room at around 9:00pm.

At around 10:30pm, Mark started to feel the chills coming on. He'd been dealing with them since Saturday so he could tell when they were coming and was starting to figure out how to deal with them. He asked the nurse to bring him in some blankets and she refused since he still had a fever above 102. He explained to her that he needed them to help with the chills and she flat out said she wouldn't help until his fever was below 100. She was completely unhelpful and Mark was getting really upset at this point. He started having the chills, which caused horrible muscle spasms and pain and I couldn't get anyone to help us. Finally, a different nurse looked in the room and saw him writhing in pain. She yelled for help and 2 other nurses came running in with tons of blankets and piled them on him. They kept telling him to calm down and it would be ok. His heart rate was nearly 200 at this point (something around 70 is normal). Of course he was still furious because we knew that this was going to happen. After about 20 minutes of the chills/spasms, he started looking very strange. The nurse asked him if he knew where he was and he started babbling nonsense. He had a very strange, wide-eyed expression; he was hallucinating and he couldn't speak coherently. One of the nurses took his temp at it was 105.8; she ran out and called for help. About 10-15 doctors and nurses rushed in. They took me out of the room and had the chaplain come be with me (since I was clearly hysterical). Let me tell you having the chaplain come did NOT make me feel better, since I clearly thought Mark was almost dead. I could hear Mark screaming in his room and the nurses yelling that they needed to restrain him. Once they had him restrained, they came out and said he wanted to see me. I went in the room and he looked at me and said, "Hi Wife...Bye." He later told me that during this time, he thought he'd been in a terrible accident and had blood everywhere. He was in tons of pain and knew he was going to die, so he wanted to say bye to me before he died. Did I mention that this was all taking place on our anniversary?!

After he said goodbye, they rushed him to ICU. Once Mark was in the ICU, they had him on a huge ice bed with tons of ice around him. His temperature started going down over the next 5 hours or so until he was stable. The next day (Aug 13) the doctor did a 3rd back surgery to see if the disc was infected. Clearly it was and he removed the infected portion. We later found out that Mark got 2 bacterias from the hospital - pseudomonas and serratia. Both are very serious and also very rare. Over the next week, Mark was under the care of the Infectious Disease doctor, who was trying to figure out how to treat these infections. He underwent more MRIs, blood work, even an echocardiogram. When the doctor finally decided there wasn't anymore she could do for him, he was released, 13 days after checking in.

Finally at home, getting some meds

At this point, we're really unsure how this whole ordeal will pan out. Mark is on numerous pain medications for his back. He isn't able to stand up straight. He has to use a walker and can't go very far. The doctor doesn't know how these 3 surgeries will affect him in the long run. He could have continuing back pain, could need more surgeries, or his back could "self fuse"...whatever the hell that means. We'll just have to hope for the best. He is also on 2 serious antibiotics - one oral and one IV. He has a PICC line in his arm and has to give himself IV meds 3 times a day for the next 2 months. Mark has checkups scheduled with both doctors (the neurosurgeon and the infectious disease doctor) over the next few weeks and we'll see how he's recovering. Hopefully, for the first time, things will actually turn out ok. Keep your fingers crossed for that...and that the bills won't bankrupt us - cause I still don't have a job and he's had to put work on hold with all this insanity.

Welcome to the Brandau Pharmacy

Stay tuned...

It would normally really annoy me to post out of order, but I know many of you are really anxious to hear about Mark; I will update as soon as we are home from the hospital with the story of the whole ordeal. So far, we've been here at St. Joe's since the 12th. We'll try to bust out of this joint asap.

Oh yeah, and after I get that post done, I swear I'll tell you about our Nauvoo Trip, Mark graduating, my amazing trip to Utah and everything else that's happened since early July.

Lake Wedowee

We had a super fun weekend at Lake Wedowee with the Garrison's (Jeff, Jennie, Cassidy, Davis and Beau) and the Westfall's (Chad, Stacey, Khira and Ashton...Ayric couldn't come). The Garrison's lake house was amazing and the lake was gorgeous. Hopefully next time we go the weather will be a bit more agreeable.

Mark, with the lake house in the backgroundDavis and AshtonKhira, Cassidy and JennieJeff

Orlando Trip

I realized earlier this week that if I don't catch up on my blogging immediately, I never will. You'd think I'd have tons of time to blog, since I have no job, but I just don't know where the time goes. Oh wait...yes I do. I spend it reading everyone else's blogs! So this is the first of many catching up posts...let me backtrack a few months.
Over Memorial Day weekend, we took a quick trip to Orlando for Mark's friend Nevada's wedding. We had an awesome weekend doing the following...
Thursday - Drove to Orlando. Arrived early in the evening and checked into our hotel. Went to walk around Downtown Disney. Since it was raining, we decided to eat dinner (at the fun T-Rex restaurant) and then call it a night.Friday - Got up early and went to the Kennedy Space Center all day long. We had a great time, even though the rain continued. Realized that Mark could realistically get a job with NASA...wow! Ran out of time and didn't get to see everything (this is definitely a 2-day trip, for anyone planning to visit). Went to Nevada and Sherine's rehearsal dinner. Partied all night with The Tams.
Saturday - Went to Downtown Disney again (I had to get my Disney fix!). Took some fun pictures, like this one in the candy store.Had lunch at The Rainforest Cafe with Josh and Natalie Findlay (friends we shared a room with). Drove to the wedding. Realized that Coptic Orthodox wedding ceremonies are totally unlike anything I've ever experienced (I'm talking singing, chanting, foreign languages, standing for an hour+...). Headed to the reception and enjoyed an awesome night of great food, bellydancing and fun. Did I mention Sherine is Egyptian? They sure know how to throw a great party. Too bad we forgot out camera! (These are a few that Natalie sent me.)Sunday - Went to Gatorland with Mark and his parents. Loved it. Loved the porcupine the best. Lost at least 5 pounds due to the heat. Drove home the LONG way. Arrived in Atlanta around 3am. Great vacation.