Some Wild Travel

It's nice to finally have a week at home, where I can just return to my family after the day's work, and not have to head off to a hotel for more work and little sleep. The past two weeks I'd spent in North Carolina, and I actually came home over the weekends I was out there. There were some wild travel experiences, so here's the recap.

Week 1:
As I was getting ready to leave North Carolina for Atlanta, freezing rain started to fall. As the plane came in, and re-loaded, and was ready to head back to Atlanta, we say on the tarmac for 2.5 hours waiting for the de-icing. How many planes did they have to de-ice? 2 before us. Apparently, they don't use their de-icing equipment that often, so it was a very slow, very painful process. So, we waste 2.5 hours in North Carolina, and I miss my flight from Atlanta to Minneapolis. In fact, I missed 3 flights from Atlanta to Minneapolis. As I arrive in Atlanta, very distraught over my options being practically eliminated, I went to Delta customer service. Upon arrival, the agent tells me that I could go standby on the 7:00 flight, and still make the 10pm flight in Minneapolis to Sioux Falls. So, looking at my watch, I only had 20 minutes to get to the gate. I raced across the Atlanta airport, just in time to get to the gate and claim the last seat on the 7pm flight. Yes!!! I'm going to make it home on time. So, we fly to Minneapolis, and I get over to the Sioux Falls gate for the late flight home. I was just happy I was getting to go home, I didn't care if it was the late flight. As I went to the ticket counter to have them print me a new boarding pass, the agent comes on the PA system and tells us that the flight to Sioux Falls has now been cancelled. Talk about an angry passenger. All that work, and all those things playing just right so I could still make it home, and now I'm stuck in Minneapolis. I checked when my Saturday flight home was, but since I wouldn't arrive until 2pm on Saturday, and was scheduled to leave at 1pm Sunday afternoon, I knew that I didn't have time to wait. So, I rented a car and drove it, 5 hours home arriving in Mitchell at 3am Saturday morning. Not fun, but I made it. I was just hoping the next week was going to be better.

Week 2:
So, fast forward to Friday of the following week, my boss Sue and I were getting ready to head back to Sioux Falls from North Carolina, and as we leave our client there, we get a message that our flight is now delayed 3 hours. Well, good news for my boss, I'm an expert at these delays! I quickly told her to find a new option, because it's not good to get stuck in Atlanta and Minneapolis. As we're heading away from the client, we move toward the airport and Sue decides to call Delta and see if they have an alternative for us. In looking for food, we drive past the airport, and as Sue talks with the agent, she finds out that there is a flight to Detroit that was slightly delayed and leaves in 30 minutes. So, I flip a u-turn and we race back to the airport arriving 25 minutes from scheduled departure time. We run in to the building, and try to use the new kiosks, and it tells us it cannot print a boarding pass because we are too close to departure time. Of all the times you want the machine to make your life easier, and now it won't do it!! So, we get in line. This doesn't look good. Finally, we get to the counter for an agent, and she checks with the gate, and finds that the plane is still on the ground, and loading. She quickly gets Sue her boarding passes, and Sue heads for security to get to the gate. Meanwhile, when you miss you flight, Delta has an automatic rebooking system. Well, mine had already kicked in and was trying to take me off the plane I was supposed to get on. 10 minutes from departure, and I'm still standing at the ticket counter willing the ticket agent to get my boarding documents. She finally handed them to me and wished me luck. I was going to need it. I raced to security. I get to the officer checking Id, and of all the days for them to be training a new person, it had to be today! It took 3 times longer than necessary. Thankfully, when I got past them, everyone else in line let me skip to the front seeing I was in a hurry. I'm still grateful to those people. I get through security with no issues, and race for the gate. I'm literally sprinting for the door, and as I arrive, they still let me on the plant. Thank goodness! So, we now are headed to Detroit instead of Atlanta. Fine by me, I just want to go home. In Detroit, I was the recipient of a complimentary upgrade. Thanks Delta!! A nice seat and some space to enjoy the flight over. We got a nice 737 that had individual video monitors, so I caught up on some ESPN on the flight, and as we come into Minneapolis, I switch over to watch the flight information that tells me how fast we're going, our altitude, how long we have left, etc. The pilot comes on and tells us we have to circle for a bit due to heavy snow in Minneapolis, air traffic is backed up. Great....delay. So, we circle for about 15 minutes before being cleared to land. As we come in for our landing, I'm watching the altitude, and am seeing us drop to 3000 feet, 2000 feet, and we are seconds from touching down, when all of the sudden, the engines start roaring again, and up we go as if we were actually taking off. The pilot had pulled out of the landing and was now climbing back above Minneapolis and turning us away from the airport. Now I've flown alot in my time, and I've never had that happen before. As we climb and turn away from the airport, I look out my window and see the reason for us having the pull out of the landing. There on the runway sits another plane. Somewhere, someone screwed up and we were on a collision course for the other plane. Not a real great feeling, but I think I'd rather have that be the issue than for the pilot to have just messed up the landing and had to try again. A plane seems like an acceptable reason to go try again. Except, now, we had to circle back around, and go to the back of the line. Fortunately, our flight to Sioux Falls was delayed, and after we went to the back of the line and came around again, we landed without trouble. Quite another adventure though, for a traveller who didn't really want to see any adventure!

One Busy January

So I look at date on the bottom toolbar of my computer and I'm left wondering why it's been nearly 30 days since the last post. I've not had alot to say, so overall, it's been slow posting. But when I look back, it's been quite a January. The weekend following New Years we had to go to Minnesota for a funeral. The following weekend, we had the Fenske Christmas, the week following that I had to be in North Carolina, this week, again I sit here in North Carolina, and next week, I return to North Carolina. Taht's my January. I will spend nearly as much time outside of South Dakota as I will in South Dakota. We are trying to get a project closed out here, so its a busy time of year. We will see what next week brings out here.

Of course, I look ahead hoping the slow down is coming. Tomorrow I will go catch a plane home for a day and a half, and then return again for my final of three weeks here. I'm not totally sure when I'll have to return or go somewhere else, but that's a mystery that will be left for a while. I do know that when I return to SD, the first weekend after being gone is the MCS Auction and I have a soccer meeting in Sioux Falls and the following weekend is a birthday part for my little celiac. February doesn't look much less busy.....

Christmas Time

Merry Christmas to everyone. It comes time to reflect on the year, and as I gave Olivia her bedtime kisses, which she now requests me to give her before she goes to bed, I remember how a few months ago we had a very sick girl on our hands. Now, a few weeks later we are blessed to have our little girl back. This Christmas, Olivia carried the gifts, opened her presents with a child-like delight, and was just all around a wonderful little girl. She got to do one of her favorite activies while she was at grandpa and grandmas, she got to play with Whinny. Trent's chocolate lab is a favorite of Olivia's and very interestingly, is quite gentle around her. Very active and careless otherwise, but when near Olivia, she slows down and is quite careful. It was wonderful to see her excited and joyful this Christmas, and in a three weeks, we'll get to see her again at her other grandparents having the same great time.

It's been quite a year in reflection. We've added three new vehicles to our family, and only gotten rid of one. And, that reminds me, if anyone wants to buy a different vehicle, let me know. Of course, the pickup isn't mine, it's just on loan from Grandpa Elgin, so that one I probably cannot really sell.

We purchased a second home this year. Of course, most people purchase a second home in a tropical climate, not 7 blocks away from each other. I didn't realize when we got this place how much of a fixer-uper it would be, but we're currently still working through that. As soon as the window and trim goes up in the bathroom, that project will be completed. It's almost there! Currently though, two rooms are torn apart (one by choice, one out of necessity). As soon as those are done, we'll continue on projects, and we're still trying to figure out how to keep the heat in this place. Old houses with high ceilings may look cool both inside and out, but right now, it's kind of a pain.

With the purchase of that second home, we are also landlords for the first time. It's not that back of an experience, and our tenant is fine, so it's not too bad, and there is great potential, but I still think I'd really like to scale down and just have one place to worry about.

Well, that's 2012 in a nutshell. Alot has come and gone, and now we approach 2013. You're pry thinking that it's not even new years yet, why reflect. Well, when I get to work tomorrow, it will be a madhouse for me until April. I may not be on here much, but I wanted to reflect and wish everyone what will probably be my final post before I'm 30. Only 4 more days, and then I'm official old. Bummer.....

Olivia's Second Christmas

Well, we are just happy once again that Olivia has the energy she used to have after all she's been through. We're glad she plays, and we're glad she can play with her Christmas presents. We are headed to my parents tomorrow, so we had to get Olivia's gift to her today. It only took me four tries to get the thing ordered, and two hours of setup during nap time today, and since it was big, no wrapping paper, but here was the final product.

The new disaster

Well, it's been a while since my last post, but I've been quite busy with work. I spent two weeks on the road, one in Montana and one in North Carolina. I've been home for a week now, and I feel like its been nothing but work. I was told that my weekend was going to be spent re-plumbing the dish washer so it will drain properly, but Tuesday night that was changed when water was heard and find to be dripping in the office. I believe that we have an issue with water coming in the roofline when snow melts. So, that will be a fun project to tackle, but first, I am searching for that answer inside looking up. Making demo progress, but now I just have a list that keeps growing, and a half destroyed room on the second floor that hasn't been touched in two months. But, for now, it's just one disaster at a time.

Our Little Celiac

I just get a kick out of the various things we are learning. On Saturday, mom and dad watched Olivia while Heather and I went to Sioux Falls to talk and meet with a dietician at HyVee. She was a great resource, and is a diagnosed Celiac her self. I just chuckle every time I hear it now. People with Celiac disease are known as Celiacs. I kind of like it. I think it's got a good ring to it. So, I affectionately call her my little Celiac. So, our trip to Hyvee was very good, and we learned alot. I liked having a good resource, such as a dietician who has the disease, to help us and give us advice on what is good and what she doesn't care for personally.

So, the big adjustment was to how things are labeled and priced. We will be spending a lot of time reading nutricion labels, and looking through ingredients. What we livked is the labels all over the store that indicates what is Gluten free. We learned several things and will probably refer to Hyvee quite often. It's going to take some getting used to, but the adjustment is already in progress. But, Thanksgiving is coming this week. It's going to be tough. It's tough for me when Olivia comes up and wants bites of things she cannot have. Her little voice that says "Bite???" just breaks your heart to say no, you cannot have that. You can't convince a little 21 month old that it's going to make her sick. But, we will survive that too.

Olivia's Road to Recovery

Today we finally got answers. After nearly four weeks of Olivia throwing up food at random times, for what appeared to be no reason, we can quit wondering. Of course, wondering is only the beginning, because the next step is moving forward. Today we found out Olivia was diagnosed with Celiac Disease. We fought many battles and symptoms to come to this conclusion, but finally a pediatric specialist at Avera Children's Hospital in Sioux Falls was able to diagnose her based on the symptoms and a biopsy and blood test performed on Monday. After a little searching today, Olivia matches 100% of the symptoms and descriptions in this WebMD article.

So, now the common questions begin.

She has what? Celiac disease is basically a wheat allergy. So, because of this, she cannot have anything that contains flour, or other forms of wheat germ. If you open your cupboards, you'll probably find around 70% or more of the items contain gluten.

How was she diagnosed? It started with a barium swallow here in Mitchell that showed her intestines were infected. We were then scheduled with a specialist at Avera Children's Hospital who took a camera down Olivia's esophagus to her stomach and verified what the other tests showed. While inside, they took a biopsy and some blood for testing. The tests return that her celiac levels were 25 times the normal level.

Is there a treatment? No, there is nothing you can do, and medical professionals are not even sure what causes it in some people. It is possible that her body could reverse the disease, but it's not likely.

Will she outgrow this like children outgrow other allergies? It has happened that people grow out of the allergy, but it will more than likely affect her for life.

So what are some of the main items she cannot eat? Most flavored potato chips, goldfish, cookies, bread, pizza, stuffing (which is sad for Thanksgiving coming up), crackers, soups, croutons, breaded items (chicken strips), anything that contains flour.

So, what can she eat then? Alot of the items she can eat she will grow into liking. Among them are all unbreaded meats (including steak!), fruits, vegetables, potatoes (not chips), popcorn, some original or non-flavored potato chips, lettuce salads, fruit snacks, pickles, most dairy products.

So, are products readily available for her? Yes, but at a price. Here in town, there are very limited options.

How hard is it to find gluten free products? Depends on the size of the store. Here in Mitchell, there are limited options. In a larger city, the options grow significantly.

So what is the next step? We will soon go to HyVee in Sioux Falls to meet with a dietitian and find the products they have available. Sioux Falls, due to the larger population, has much better options for our menus.

Does she have follow up appointments? Yes, we will follow up in 3 months to monitor her levels, and make sure she's recovering from the effects of the gluten that was in her on Monday. From there, we will follow up every 6 to 12 months for the next several years.

So, we move forward. For the most part, we will adjust to having a mostly gluten free house and we plan to all change over to a mostly gluten free diet (O's will be totally gluten free). It's an adjustment, but considering what tests were coming next, and the diseases those tests were for, we're not going to complain. We look forward to having our little girl back. It is expected she will be back to normal soon.