IT'S A GIRL

Stacey & Jereud Uscola are the proud parents of a precious new baby girl. Not sure what the final name decision is... She was born tonight around 8:00. Stacey has been at the hospital since 8:00am, and didn't get her epidural until 7:30pm. Poor girl was in labor for 11.5 hours, but she said it was defiantly worth it. I have not seen her yet, but have some camera phone pics. She is stunning. She weighed 6 lb 6 oz, and 18 in long. She has a little bit of dark hair (she gets that from me) and I hear her lips are her best feature. The time wont pass fast enough until I get to see her tomorrow. Hopefully, my 3 and half hour drive will remain speeding ticket free. Congrats to the new parents and those lucky big brothers who can't wait to see their baby sister. I will have lot's of photos to post when I get home. I'm simply beside myself with excitement and anticipation.

Update

So it's 1:15am and I can't sleep. It's been another long week. As usual some great things happened, and some not so great things too. Skylier has had no change in his Bell's Palsy symptoms. The headaches and the sensitivity to light and sound are much better. He's working at 100% so that is great news. Skylier recently had some changes in his job, and is really happy about it. Now he wont have to be on call and he gets off 30 minutes earlier (not that it matters much, he always beats me home). So that means a few more movie nights and maybe even a short getaway.

I'm so excited that my very best friend, Stacey, is scheduled to have her first baby girl tomorrow. She calls the hospital at 7:30am to make sure that there is an open bed. If history repeats itself (she has two little boys already) she will have her precious little girl by 3:00 tomorrow. Her name will be Kaebree .... Uscola (last I heard). Last time I asked, the middle name was undecided. She momentarily considered Rose (my middle name) which naturally I thought was a great idea. I was able to be in the room when her youngest, Brogan, was born on June 16, 2003. It was so amazing to be there, and I toke almost 2 weeks off work to spend time with them. We joked that Brogan had no idea which one was the real mom, since I held him as much, if not more, then Stacey. I miss her and her family very much, when I moved in 2004, that was the first time we ever lived more then 45 minutes apart, she's like a sister! I'm excited and nervous for her, although I know everything will go great. I'm heading to Rupert ASAP to see the newest addition to her family. I can't stop thinking about PINK!! Good luck Stacey and Jereud, can't wait to see you!!

Skylier's Birthday... Sky's bday was November 6th. I didn't have my camera, left it at work, which he prefers. He was on call, so our options were limited. We just spent the evening at home. He opened a few gifts, I think he really liked his wallet. Then Friday night we had some friends over and played poker. It was really fun! The last few months, even more then usual, I feel so lucky to have Skylier in my life. He makes me laugh all the time, he is so patient, he will let me talk about teeth for hours, let me complain about my day and always agrees with me when it's important. He is my BEST FRIEND and probably the only thing keeping me sane. I can't imagine my life without him in it. I am so lucky.

Things I love about My Sky: His sense of humor, his family, his unbelievably high body temperature (a human furnace, reminds me of my dad), he's taller then me, eats my cooking with a smile, looks great in blue, he laughs so hard at movies he cries, we have a secret hand shake, he will answer my questions about sports for hours, he created a quiz of all NFL teams and their mascot (so I could get better), he cleans house with the best of them, he excuses my obsessive compulsive tendencies (even having bath towels folded a certain way and in the closet by color), he gives amazing hugs (that way we fit together, like a custom puzzle), how much he loves are dogs (you would think they were actually his children), the way he loves kids. I could go on and on, but this is a good start. I know it's late, but Hope You Had A Great Day, I Love You!!

Halloween

Halloween ended up being a lot more fun then anticipated. Skylier is still the same, and very hypersensitive to light and sound, so I wasn't sure what he would be up for. We had talked earlier about hosting the second annual Halloween Party with our friends, but decided not to, in case Sky wasn't going to be up for it. Well at 6:00 Chad called and wanted to know what the plan was. Before long, the very under planned Halloween Party was on at our house. We didn't have costumes, but others did. We played rock band, cranium and poker. We didn't have the actual rules to cranium, so it was especially fun, we were laughing so hard we were in tears. One card I had was to act out the heimlich maneuver... I proceeded to get on the ground and act out a very accurate CPR. When I realized what I had done, I jumped up and yelled "Wrong One!!" I was laughing so hard I could hardly act out the correct word. The girls guest it, so no harm done, but it was hilarious. We had fondue (the hit of the party) and lots of other snacks. We also had the most trick or treater's we have ever had. I didn't take a single picture, but Ashley won for best costume with her super cute strawberry shortcake. Next year I promise we will host a better party, but considering we had 2 hours to prepare it was A TON OF FUN!!

DENTAL FRUSTRATION, 1 OF MANY....

I love my job, anyone who knows me has had a Slightly forced conversation about dentistry. In my defense, I’m usually not the first one to bring it up, but do have a hard time stopping. I work for an AMAZING dentist. Not only is he a down to earth, great guy, but he really is an insanely talented individual. This last summer he has spent HOURS and HOURS taking continuing education courses, so he can offer more comprehensive care to his patients. The things about my job that have caused uncountable hours of frustration have nothing to do with “My Job” or our practice, but dentistry has a whole.

STANDARD OF CARE: Dentistry does not have a united standard of care, and this is a growing problem. Dentist’s are permitted to practice as long as they want, only needing to maintain minimal CE credits, which can often be gained through reading articles and listening to CD’s. There is no regulation on the actual skill level or results dentists produce. Patients, even the most educated, choose their dentist based on personality, not skill or ability. It’s not their fault, what else would they do. Very few people can interpret x-rays and understand the importance of materials, margins, open contacts/floss-ability, and the importance of being conservative while providing longevity. I am stunned at the dentistry being done everyday. It should be UNACCEPTABLE! I feel like there should be something dental professionals should do, similar to board exams, to insure they have what it takes to produce predictable and acceptable restorations. The only one’s loosing are the patients. Now, the need for dentistry or even the need to periodically update the dentistry you have is not necessarily the fault of the dentist, in fact a majority of the responsibility belongs to the patient. But if a dentist does unsatisfactory work (work that is actually making the tooth worse and lasts less then 5 years) and continues to see that patient back for hygiene exams and chooses to say nothing, ignores the EXCEPTIONALLY obvious problems, this is WRONG, ethically and legally. Supervised neglect is cause for a malpractice suit. I’m not recommending or condoning law suits, but maybe that is what it will take to make dentists open their eyes and take responsibility for the work they produce. Telling a patient everything looks good, and knowing you would never have that dentistry in your mouth, is wrong.

So to anyone who had the patience to read this, I’m not saying your dentistry or dentist is bad, but I am warning the people I care about to be aware. Some of the worst dentistry I have seen has come from the nicest, most honest professionals. Although few people have the passion for dentistry that I do, we all have to deal with our teeth and TRUST ME, you don’t want to be on the other side of this conversation, a frustrating and often emotional one I have with new patients everyday. So if you’re close enough to come to our office (I now have friends and fam traveling 4 hours) please consider a free consult. This is not an advertisement; I really do want to help the people I love find the right dentist, and avoid a future of bad dental experiences.

Skylier Update

It's been 12 days since Skylier got sick. He tried going to work today (he has been off all last week) but they sent him home again. The lights and noise are just too much... Not really much to report, no changes in the paralysis, the head aches are still hard to handle. For some reason it's not as scary, more frustrating at this point (I think we are just getting used to it). This last week I had some time off, which was great timing since Sky has about had it with being home alone all day. It's still hard for him to talk, but I think just having someone siting next to him makes him less lonely. I know I feel better being home to take care of him. He finishes his steroids in 3 days, if there is still no improvement we will make an appointment to see another doctor. I'll post again when I have more info. Thanks for all the nice comments and e-mails. I read them to Skylier and he smiles (lopsided) :/

Scary and Hopefully Over Soon

So things have been a little tough around our house the last week. Skylier was diagnosed with Bell's Palsy last Thursday. It really puts things in perspective. He has complete paralysis of the right side of his face. It started with cold sores, then pink eye (which I got) and then within a few days we knew something was really wrong. Joe's brother-in-law (doctor) was so nice to see Sky at his house at 10:30 at night. The good news is 95% of the time symptoms subside and most patients have a complete or almost complete recovery. The frustrating and scary part is it can be permanent. We aren't dwelling on that, but it's very hard for him. He can hardly eat, your lips and jaw muscles play a big part in that. Talking is difficult since almost all pronunciation comes from the lips. His eye sight and hearing are very hypersensitive. The medication he takes makes him hungry, which makes the inability to eat even worse. He has had all the soup he can handle. He was sent home form work today because the lights and noise give him a terrible headache. He can't move his eye lid, so it's hard to sleep and his eye becomes dry and sensitive. We have eye drops now and are trying to tape his eye shut at night. It is a helpless feeling knowing how scared and miserable he is, and I can do nothing. Everyday we monitor the muscle movement, or lack of it, and are hoping his eye lids don't get worse. He thinks they are. The paralysis can't be spread since it's a unilateral inflamed nerved, so at least there is no concern of that. I will keep babying him, and trying to come up with more food that he can eat. I wont post pics, don't think that would help his self esteem. I hope this post serves as only a bad experience, that passes. But it does remind me how unbelievably lucky we are to have our health. I love him very much and am praying for a speedy recovery. Normal recovery is 2 weeks to 3 months and up to a year. Were sure hoping for 2 weeks, his birthday is November 6th... Sad if he can't have a good b-day dinner. Wish him luck!

What happened to fall??

Friday was my brother's birthday, so in addition to Stacey's shower, we also had birthday celebrations. My parents, and my brother and I went to Jackpot Friday night. We had a ton of fun. I could play craps for hours (and have). My mom and I tried some new card games and did really well. All in all I lost money, but that's not what it's about for me. My brother got us compt a suite, it was really nice, and free! First thing Saturday morning my dad woke me up to show me the snow. It had snowed 2-3 inches by 8:30 am. We figured since the pass can get bad, we would head home early and we were glad we did. From that point on, it NEVER STOPPED SNOWING. For 24 hours it snowed on the 11th of OCTOBER.... The total snow fall was estimated at 18 inches. WOW, that was something I had never seen, 18 inches in one day in mid October. The roads to Utah were closed, I thought I was stuck. But Sunday morning the sun came out, the roads cleared and the freeway opened. I loved being home, but I was anxious to get back to check on Skylier. The snow was still every where of course but it really was a site to see.

These pictures were taken at 4:00 in the afternoon, about 11 1/2 inches. Imagine it was still snowing at 3:00 am and ended up 7 inches taller then this...