Vacation

We just booked a family vacation to...DISNEYLAND!!! I am so excited I can't hardly stand it. It is less than a month away, so not much more waiting. I can't wait to spend time with Mickey and his

friends. We are flying down on on Thursday 2/16/12 and meeting Caleb, Kacey and Reyna down there for 3 days in the park. Then back home we come. Happiest place on earth, here we come!

PRK

This upcoming Thursday I am scheduled to have a procedure called Photorefractive Keratectomy (PRK). I have a degenerative medical condition on my eyes, which is not something usually diagnosed in someone my age, however I was diagnosed about 8 years ago. As a result I am not a candidate for Lasik surgery and actually have to have scraping done to my cornea's to remove dead cells that do not remove themselves, as they do in people without my condition. Eye doctor thinks that as a result he would like to to PRK, which will remove the cells and then correct my current vision. I am nervous, because it is my vision we are talking about and because the nurses and doctors continue to talk about 4 days of "pain"' that follow this procedure. I left my pre-op appointment with a month's supply of antibiotic eye drops, a month's supply of anti-inflammatory and pain killers. I was told day of surgery I will leave also with a bottle of numbing drops. YIKES! I also do not tolerate pain medicine well, so hoping Tylenol will treat me right for those 4 days. Here is a little info on PRK.
PRK uses a laser to sculpt the surface of the cornea. This contrasts with LASIK, which sculpts tissue deeper within the cornea, under a corneal flap.
PRK is useful for treating low to moderate levels of myopia or hyperopia with and without astigmatism. It is often the laser vision correction procedure of choice for people with thinner corneas and for individuals who may have certain corneal dystrophies, certain corneal scars, or a condition called "recurrent corneal erosion". Some refractive surgeons prefer PRK over LASIK for all their patients because there is no risk of a flap complication with PRK.
PRK differs from LASIK only in the first step of the procedure. In PRK, instead of creating a corneal flap, the surgeon completely removes the thin outer layer of the cornea (called the epithelium) over the treatment area. This can be done mechanically with a rotating surgical brush (usually after a dilute alcohol solution is applied to soften the epithelium) or with an excimer laser. The second step of PRK is identical to LASIK: an excimer laser is used to reshape the underlying corneal tissue.
A soft contact lens is placed over the eye after the laser ablation to serve as a bandage while the corneal epithelium grows back in place, which usually takes about 3 to 5 days. During this period, the patient usually experiences marked discomfort with blurry vision. Because of the greater amount of tissue healing that needs to take place after PRK, it can take several weeks before vision is clear and stable after the procedure. If you experience complications during PRK, an enhancement surgery may be performed to try to correct your vision to the best possible acuity.
The post-operative discomfort and longer time required for corneal healing and visual recovery are reasons why PRK is not as popular as LASIK. Still, in some cases PRK offers advantages over LASIK, and the final visual outcomes of PRK are usually equal to those of LASIK.

Our New Year

2012 is starting off as a whirlwind. On January 1, 2012 our church ward was split into fourths and we became part of a new ward in a new building, at a new time, with lots of new people. This also brought about a new church calling for my husband...ward clerk. This means lots of meetings and lots of work. This means he sits up on the stand at church and I am officially a Sunday widow. I think it will be a good calling for him and a blessing for our family, but it will be a challenge for a little while just getting use to everything. Then the next day, Madeline fell at her gymnastics class and hurt her hand. She had to return to her dad's house that night, so I took her there immediately following. Thursday, January 5, 2012, 10 months of a ridiculous custody battle ended. The girls' dad was trying to change their schools, as driving them to Nampa was an "inconvenience" to him. The day before the trial he settled and the girls remain where they have been established. I picked them up that night, based on the new custody schedule (1 week on with me, then 1 week with their dad). As Madeline walked out to the car I could see her hand was very swollen. Upon further looking it was also deeply bruised and very sore. The next morning we took her for an x-ray and they reported she broke her 3rd metacarpal (which is a bone in her hand of the middle finger). She was splinted that night by her pediatrician and has now been casted in a beautiful purple cast for the next 3 weeks by the orthopedic doctor. Can't wait to see what the rest of the year brings for our family.

Christmas 2011

Christmas 2011 at the Palfreyman house, told by pictures. Christmas morning we had Cassandra and Madeline, so it was fun times seeing what Santa brought and opening pictures.

Chase got lots of Cars toys and Toy Story toys. He was in heaven. Cassie opening gifts
I got lots of NY Giants attire. Just in time for them to make it to the playoffs :)
More toys
Madeline excited over gifts
Caleb, Kacey and Reyna came the day after Christmas, so we got to extend out the holiday and opening gifts.


Just a funny story...Christmas morning I had to take the girls to their dad's house. This is what I cam home to. Mark was asleep on the couch and Chase had been playing right by him with all his new Cars toys.