Christmas at Dad and Abbie's

As promised, here are the rest of the pictures from my Christmas afternoon at Dad and Abbie's house. 

I've started a new medication called midodrine that raises blood pressure. I had tried this medication in the past (many, many years ago when I first go sick) without success. 

The short version is that when the medication is in my system I feel significantly better and much less sick. The problem has been figuring out dosing, timing of doses, and whether to combine it with other medications. So there have been many ups and downs--literally and figuratively--in the past three weeks since I started the medication. When I feel good on it, it's great. When it wears off, I feel crappy. 

The biggest problem is that when the medication wears off--especially after a 'big day' like an outing for Christmas, I often crash pretty badly--with low blood pressure and and 'autonomic storm'.  So, while I felt really well at Dad and Abbie's during my visit, I ended up sick all night last night. I had to cancel a visit with my friend Angela that was planned for today. Fortunately, she was able to reschedule for tomorrow. So, I'm praying for a good night's sleep tonight and a better day tomorrow.

I'm long overdue for a medical update on my blog, but that's a quick look at the latest trial! 

Now, for more fun stuff. I'm sticking to fun and fluff for a few days.

Here we are....the human beans present Christmas day (Asher wasn't the only guest of honor!). This is me with my step-sisters, Meredith and Monica. Poor Meredith had a miserable cold (note large pile of Kleenex next to her!). You can also really see her pregnant belly now! Yeah!

This is the first time in four years that I have spent part of Christmas day at Dad and Abbie's house. This year I was there for part of Easter and Christmas. The last time I was at Dad and Abbie's for Christmas? The day before my last major gallbladder attack and surgery! It's been a long road since then. Thankfully my crash last night wasn't that drastic!

Although I was only there for a little under two hours and just stayed for the gift exchange (Dad's house is only about a 15-20 minute drive from ours), it was a major milestone that I was able to go and feel decent. I just wish I hadn't crashed out so badly afterwards.

I've already been munching on my gluten-free, dairy-free goodies from a local bakery. Yum. Now, I can finally have some holiday cookies like everyone else! I've been going a bit crazy listening to everyone talk about Christmas cookies. I'm also ready with new fuzzy socks, new turtlenecks, new gloves and new crayola markers. In my old age, I'm all about stuff being practical (or edible, as in the case of the yummy cookies!). Boring, I know. But I really need to be getting rid of stuff, not accumulating anymore of it!

The girls with their men (my date being Asher). Jon, Meredith, Monica, me, Bill, and Asher.

Me with Dad and Abbie. And Asher, of course. Abbie loves having her picture taken, can you tell? Haha. You can't tell so much from the picture, but I think Abbie was really happy to have all her 'kids' there for the holiday. She really loves Christmas.

Dad--always ready for a photo opportunity! He likes having his picture taken as much as Asher does. Maybe Asher learned from him how to ham it up for the camera? 

Blessings,

Emily

Photos:  Christmas Day 2008 at Dad and Abbie's