Happy New Year Everyone!

Who needs a pacifier or formula when I have these tasty fingers!

Today was Andrew's turn to visit Urgent Care.  He has been feeling unwell for a while now.   We thought it was allergies, but it is worsening even with allergy meds and saline.  When the headache and sinus pressure started, he thought he should be seen before the long weekend.  Give how inept our PCP seems to be, Urgent Care seemed to be a better choice.  Diagnosis: Sinus Infection.  So now he is on a Z-Pak.

It's Girls Gone Wild!  

Ellie's hair just cracks me up.  It is like a muppet :-P

Yesterday I went to visit this Chiropractor.  He is awesome and who cannot trust a guy who name is Dr. Hamburger (He is from Austria and knows how to correctly pronounce my last name)?  I have always been a little skeptical of chiropractors.  Let's face it, one bad adjustment to the neck and your vessels can snap and then bam! stroke.  Yet Josh Tonnies educated me over the past few years and now I am sold.

Oh if only my PCP could be like Dr. H.  Dr. H asked me all sorts of questions, explained what he was looking for, and did a thorough exam yesterday.  During the exam he noticed that I had a lot of neck stiffness. He then did X-rays of my spine--a side view and frontal view.  After I quick glance of the X-rays he asked if I have ever fallen or been in an accident in the last 10-15 years.  This guy is clairvoyant! I was in a car wreck at age 14.

This morning I went in and he showed me a model of a normal spine.  He showed me what my spine looked like against a normal spine by setting my X-rays next to normal ones.  He then discussed how these finding affect your back and what needs to be done.  He is so thorough and just how a provider should be.

I think that I know why I have back pain--I have a compressed disc between the L5 (lumbar) and the tailbone.  I then have limited nerve movement at the L3 to L5 vertebrae.  The curvature of where my lumbar spine meets the tailbone is very off.  My neck vertebrae line up in almost a straight line.  There should be a 40-45 degree curve and mine is 7 degrees.

Dr.  H talked to me about the traction table, adjustments, and stretching.  He explained what they are, how they work, and what end goal is.  I never felt scared and he always told me what he was doing at the time.  It seems to me that the muscle relaxers and the pain meds just fix the symptoms as it flares up, but the realignment and stretching get to the root of the problem.

Nap time!

Andrew, Ellie, Tama, Sophie, Amelie, and I would like to wish everyone a safe and happy New Year.  Try not to dwell on all of the bad things from 2009 unless it is to find a way to change them, but rather focus on the good.  I am looking back on all of the wonderful things this past year has brought--ie Ellie, Sophie, Laura & Marty + kids home to USA, many visits from friends & family, successful surgery for a family member, home, job, so forth and so on. . .

Happy New Year!!!

12.30.09 Step On A Crack, Break Your Mother's Back

Snug-A-Bug Ellie

Remember how I wanted my PCP's office to be open on Christmas Eve?  Um, nevermind.  I think I need to switch primary care providers.  The doctor is either omnipotent or asking for a malpractice suit.

While my back was/is steadily improving, I went to my primary care doctor's office yesterday morning as a follow-up to Urgent Care.

My appointment went something like this:

Doc: What brings you here today?

Anna: I hurt my lower back on 12/23.  I went to Urgent Care. . . 

Doc: Where does it hurt? Does it go down the leg?

Anna: [points to lower back] I think it might be because I just had a baby and. . . 

Doc: Yes, the ligaments are loose due to the baby.  You have a muscle sprain.

Anna: I 've tried a muscle relaxer and Urgent. . .

Doc: You must be careful how you bend over the crib and pick up the baby.  Go slow and think about the movement.  {writes prescription for muscle relaxer and for Loratab}


Never once did he let me finish a sentence.  He did not ask me about my Urgent Care visit.  Otherwise he would have known that I was ALREADY taking Loratab and a muscle relaxer.  He never even looked at my back. He didn't ask what I had tried for my back, what meds I was taking, my allergies, etc.  I am allergic to NSAIDs which covers many types of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory pain medications.  AUGH!

Urgent Care at least checked my back and associated joints.  Tested me for a UTI and for infection.

Tomorrow, I am off to the chiropractor.

12.28.09 Good Samaritan becomes Lycanthrope

Let it be known that "no good deed goes unpunished".    Also, go out to Macy's and purchase the Alfani brand of men's jeans.

Gross, yes, but I know that some of you really wanted to see the bite.

Last night, while dressed in Hello Kitty fuzzy PJs, I answered the door to my neighbor whose name now escapes me.  She has 2 houses.  One which lies diagonally across the street from us that is supposed to serve as a rent house and another somewhere else.  This rent house has been abandoned almost as long as I have lived here.  It has a pool.  A nasty, stinky, murky pool that breeds mosquitos year-round.

It has long been decided that this nice woman might be lacking in common sense.  Last night she rings our door bell because she:
1. Forgot the keys to the rent house
2. Dropped her keys to her car & other house into the pool
3. Lost her cellphone

She comes banging on the door asking for a long pole with a magnet.  I guess because everyone has one of these (actually, I wouldn't be surprised if we did have one of these). Being 30 degrees outside, I invite her into my home where I offer my phone to call for help.  She didn't know any of the phone numbers so I had to look all of them up online.  I also had to dial all of these numbers because my phone is confusing.  Andrew comes out and says he has some rake-like tool that might get the keys out.

Andrew stands by the 5 foot end of the pool with a maglight and the rake.  Our neighbor is supposed to be holding one TIGHT to the leases of her two dogs.  She forgets the damn keys to the house but was able to bring 2 large dogs to it? Anyway, just as Andrew is retrieving the keys, he gets bitten hard on the back of his thigh by one of the evil dogs.  The neighbor didn't even cry out a warning.

I am told that this dog is a "Chickensh*t" since he didn't have the courage to bit Andrew in front.  Fortunately the dog did not puncture the skin, but he did snap pretty hard and left some gnarly bruises and abrasions.  The Macy's jeans do not even have teeth marks or holes in them.  Fido did have all of his shots updated in October so we should be good but I have noticed that Andrew has started to howl and scratch more than usual . . .

Merry Christmas from the Bruns-Theurer Family

Santa has been good to the Bruns-Theurer family!

After my parents spent endless hours flying and hanging out at airports, they safely arrived to Austin on Christmas Eve.  There were several factors that affected the flight--they departed STL late, they stopped in Tulsa as the airport was closing due to snow & picked up several new passengers, the layover airport in Houston had a power outage. . .Matt was flying from Madison, WI where there was freezing rain and he connected in Minneapolis where feet of snow were falling yet his flight went like clockwork.  Bruns Family United!  We were too tired to decorate the tree by the time everyone arrived so we went to bed instead.

Ellie wore her very fashionable fuzzy peppermint jammies to greet Santa

Come morning, there is mass and monkey bread.  Yum!  Then the music comes on and the tree is decorated.  Ellie Bear slept through all of this but the furbabies were really excited.

There was a cat in the tree.

There was a cat under the tree.

There was a dog trying to eat the tree.

All 3 wanted to get into the SAME present--one of Ellie's

My parents took the photos of all of us opening presents so they have those on their camera.  I couldn't move around a whole lot due to my back so it was up to Andrew & Matt to hand out the gifts.  My brother thought we all needed unique and Wisconsin-specific gifts--Cheese!  He brought us all specialty cheeses and actually carried them onto the plane and then hid them in the fridge.  His Target plastic bags made impressive gift wrap.  Sorry, Matt, I just had to tease you :-)

We enjoyed a nice dinner using our china dishes for the second time ever.  We broke out the really cheap 12-person set of china that we purchased for a total of $50.  So cheap that I put those puppies in the dishwasher and they still look great.  We are really fancy in at the Bruns-Theurer household.  Andrew smoked a tasty brisket, but the fire went out part of the way.  He then completed the meal in the oven and it turned out perfectly.  We had sweet potatoes, rolls, and green bean casseroles.  Fortunately, I had made these at Dream Dinners and froze them.  My mother was able to do the rest of the work since I couldn't bend down to use the oven.  Also, I was smart and made the cupcakes with homemade vanilla buttercream icing earlier in the week.  Well, that was maybe not so smart since Andrew and I ate half of them before Christmas arrived.

Well, since my parents have the Ellie pics of her presents, I thought I would entertain you with a photo of Tama sitting on her homemade blanky while getting high on her homemade kitty-nip pillow.

Tune in next time for the story of Ellie's Baptism and Andrew playing the good Samaritan and getting a dog bit in return.  Don't fret you rubberneckers!  I got pictures.

12.27.09 Oh PCP Oh PCP . . .

how I wish you were open on Christmas Eve.  My baaaccck reeaaallly hurts.  I need an office visit oh so bad.  Oh PCP oh PCP. . .

Note: PCP = primary care provider

Once upon a time, during the summer of 2008, I injured my lower back picking up a pair of pants.  Laying on the floor, pantsless, I crawled to the phone and called crying to Andrew.  My prince charming swooped in and carried me into Dr. Joe's.  Dear Joe had one of my coworkers stab me with a large needle to deliver steroids and then he gave me muscle relaxers.  Eventually I was able to resume normal exercise with yoga and pilates.

A few months later, I became pregnant and Ellie Bear liked to hibernate on the right side of my uterus.  Oh right-sided sacroiliac/back pain how I loathe thee.  I learned the power of ice packs, heating pads, tylenol, and modified yoga.   I also learned that pregnancy can cause the middle of your abdominal muscles to split.  I am still waiting to learn about when they fuse again.

Then on 9/15/09 I went into labor. . . BACK LABOR.  Oh the pain, but I gained Ellie Bear a few hours later on 9.16.09.

Twas the night before Christmas Eve and the back pain strikes again.  I was naughty and took my old muscle relaxers and some Advil.  Used a heating pad.  Evil back pain persisted into Christmas Eve. In tears, unable to life my darling baby and unable to reach up to give a smack-a-roo to Mr. Sexy Drew, I called the nurse line to my doctor.  Unbeknownst to me, the office was closed.  Oh Urgent Care how I needed you.  Oh Urgent Care, you provide crappy care.  I am tested for infections of the bladder and kidney and told it is muscle strain.  He hands me a script for narcotic pain medicine.  I ask him about steroids and he says I don't need them.  Huh?  Oh yes, I would love to spend Christmas with the family all drugged up, in pain, and unable to drive, drink wine, etc.

Cue in Mr. Josh Tonnies, Jess' baby brother.  Josh is almost a full blown chiropractor.  What heat, ice, massage, muscle relaxers, resting, and anti-inflammatory pain meds & narcotics cannot do is readjust the pelvic-sacroilliac region.  After Ellie's baptism--pictures on a later post, Josh worked on my back and fixed the right side.  I am thankful that Andrew didn't walk in during this adjustment because I imagine it looked like we were misbehaving.  Chiropracting is very intimate work!  Okay, anyway the left side and center still hurt.   That doctor's office better be open tomorrow.  I want to be able to hold Ellie without help.

I do not think Ellie had lack of people to hold her . . .

12.24.09 Twas the Night Before Christmas

Andrew, Ellie, and I would like to wish everyone a Merry Christmas (if you celebrate) and Happy Holidays!  We hope that everyone has a relaxing Holiday that is filled with lots of love, good-natured family bickering, and tasty food.

No pictures yet but I hope to post some soon.

Wishing safe travels to my parents and my brother Matt since they are traveling in horrible weather just to get to Texas.  Safe travels to all who are traveling this Holiday season.

Happy Holidays!

Love & Hugs,

Andrew, Anna, and Ellie

Family Ties

There is family and then there is family.  There is obviously the family that ties us together due to genetic chemistry and sharing of chromosomal material.  Then we add in those legally bound to us via marriage (I now have more brothers and a sister!).  Then there are those people who make us feel loved (and who we love back of course) who treat you like one of "the family".

Today Andrew, myself, and Ellie Bear went to Betty & David Nunnery's house for a lovely lunch.  Jess' parents (aka Mommy & Mr. T) along with her immediate family were also in attendance.  It felt like the Nunnery-Tonnies Christmas that just happened to include a little slice of the Theurer's!  There was a Christmas tree, yummy food, Christmas music, tins filled with goodies, and fudge!  Fudge!

On a side note the master bath has a programable, stainless steel coffee maker and jacuzzi tub. Ooh, I am moving into the Nunnery's master bath.

Andrew got sent to the little kid table with Grant.  He misbehaved. Mike and Josh also ate there.

The rest of us got to eat at the "Adult" table: Linda, Betty, Jess, Alicia, and Hella.  Not pictured: David & Paul

Bert (after Albert Pujols, sigh) and Dakota wanted to join us so badly.  We should have brought the Sophie Puppy.  She would have gotten worn out.

Ellie just loves all the attention from the "Grandmas".  Ellie Bellie also loved hanging out with Paw-Paw David but I failed to get a picture.  Awa Grandma must be jealous :-P

Aunties Alicia and Hella, visiting from Tucson, gave Bear-Bear a grand tour of the house.

Here are the girls, Alicia and Jess, doing all the work of putting the toys together while the boys watch.

Boys will be boys will all of their toy cars and racing.

Happy Holidays!