Cholesteatoma

Sort of an odd post to start off with, but it's something I am currently going through. So I figured I'd give a little info. 

What is a Cholesteatoma?- it is a benign growth in the ear. You can be born with it, or you can develop it. It is unclear as to what actually causes the growth. It is a progressive growth. It eats anything in its path and continues to grow bigger. It will eat bone and eventually will eat through the bone holding your brain in your head. When that happens there's problems! For me personally it ate away all 3 hearing bones, ate at a tasting nerve and was all wrapped around my nerve to my left side of my face, but luckily it did not result in any paralysis. It also ate away at the bone to my brain thinning it but no damage was done, Thank God! They found this growth after 5 doctors couldn't treat my ear infection and my ear canal was closing. They sent me to the ENT and in 2 mins flat he knew what was wrong. This was September 2015. That ENT sent me to a specialist at the University of Minnesota. She removed my Cholesteatoma in November 2015. They had to open up my mastoid bone and also take down my ear canal. Procedure called canal wall down tympano mastoidectomy. So I have an enlarged ear canal with no canal (open cavity) that needs to be cleaned out every 6 months by and ENT. Well exactly 1 year later I was having minor issues and its believed to be back..... so November 2016 they are going in again to remove either scar tissue growth or what is more than likely more Cholesteatoma! ugh!!! But I will also be getting titanium hearing bone prosthetics. I'm hoping that will give me a bit more hearing in my left ear. Here are a few pictures of my journey last year. I will keep everyone updated on Novembers outcome!

 This was the first time seeing my baby girl in 2 days. She was 2.5 almost 3 here. Sleep overs at anyones house is quite rare. She spent the night with her Grandma 2 nights in a row she was oh so happy to see momma. Not really understanding what in the world is going on!

 This picture is the scar behind my ear from opening my mastoid bone. This is the cleanest scar I have seen!!

This picture shows my left ear compared to my right ear. You can see how the ear canal is enlarged here.

Introduction

Well I suppose I am not really sure why I wanted to start a blog! I've always wanted to. It'd be like a dream come true to be a successful mommy blogger. Though I suppose the reality of that happening with the little amount of time I have in a day is slim to none! SO I figured I'm going to start anyways. Maybe it will bring some motivation and inspiration into my daily life. I do well with goals and aspirations. What better to inspire yourself right!? SO here we are :)

My thoughts for this blog -
 I am wanting this to just be about anything I want it to be about a recipe I loved, lessons of life I learned, a successful moms group night, my planer spread, organizational method I found and loved, and maybe some youtube videos I make. Daycare is a huge part of my life, I'm thinking lots of lessons and trials and accomplishments about that, or cool crafts. I just want it to be anything pertaining to my life and my world from my perspective. No one to impress just whatever is inspiring me at the moment. Maybe it will be health and weight loss or trying to conceive...... who knows..... we'll have to wait and see :)

A little about me-
I am Randi. I am the oldest of 5 kids. I grew up with just me and my sister in a smaller town in the south west metro area of Minnesota with our Mom and our Dad (technically step dad but he raised us as his own and the best dad EVER). My sister is 22.5 months younger than me and we are absolutely best friends. I'd call her my soul mate only shes my soul sister. I couldn't do life with out her! We have 3 half siblings living 4 hours away in South Dakota they are about 10 years younger than us and we love them to pieces!!! They are loves of my life as well. Speaking of Loves of my life I've been  with my husband since 2007 and married since 2010. I knew I had fertility issues so we started trying for a little bambino years before we were married and with the grace of God leading me to a doctor that hooked me up with the right drugs we conceived Bryn in  2012. We found out I was pregnant 1 week after moving into our first house. She was Born in February 2013. We've been naturally trying for number 2 since August 2014. Thats another post another day. We also have 3 cats. Yep I'm a crazy cat lady!! I am a lover of all animals actually. But funny enough I'm not into the icky maintenance of animals. My husband does the litter box ;) I used to volunteer for a local rescue and found out I am slightly scared of dogs I don't know well!! I couldn't believe it! I also volunteered for the Rabit Society (local rabbit rescue) Yep not into picking up prey animals that don't know me and try to bite me while I clean their poop! I commend all volunteers! I hope one day I can do my animal rescue community well and volunteer again. But for now I will keep my memories :) I also am a daycare provider. This was my dream job!!! My entire life I said when I have kids I'm going to open an in home daycare. Well I did that. When my daughter was 7 months old. It was  the hardest job transition of my LIFE! I was so naive. I thought it would be rainbows and lollipops. Nope it was super duper hard!!! Ive been at it over 3 years now, and I love it! But boy oh boy did I learn a lot along the way! Again that will be another post another day ;) I am new to coordinating a moms group for my church and I am loving it! I am always on a journey to better my life and improve as a person. I've been through a lot of ups and downs (just like everyone else) and I'm hoping I can learn from my journey and share those lessons and be an inspiration to others. I want more than anything to good in my life and make God proud! I am sinner of course. I struggle to stay on a righteous path, but I hope I will only grow stronger along the way!

So anyways that's me in a nutshell and here's a few pictures of my family :) Photo Credit to my amazing photographer (my sister! I'm lucky I know) www.tgbphotography.com