Life in the hospital take 1!

Day 2 at Stanford!

Before his haircut, he was hanging out with Brayden & Dylan Jim's favorite son in law going to town on his hair!

The finished product! I think we look pretty good!

On our way to dinner in the cafeteria!

The past week has been a total blur for me. I literally feel dazed and confused. My Stepdad Jim is still in the hospital. He was brought to Stanford Medical Center from Fresno because apparently they are notorious for being capable of removing massive brain tumors successfully. I like that he is here because Palo Alto is only 20 minutes from my house. My Aunt Cindy has been seriously amazing. She is my stepdads sister and health advocate and she truly holds up her end of the bargain! Tonight was the first time that she has left his side, and it was to run to my house to take a shower! My stepdad is super lucky to have her. He has a VERY supportive family so he is definitely blessed that all of his siblings, his Mom, and my little brother all want the very best for him. We have been told for a few days that the head neurosurgeon Dr. Chang, will be coming by the room to chat with us. HOWEVER, he has been a no show as of now. Just got word that FOR SURE tomorrow he will visit us "mid-day". I definitely won't hold my breath...My first reaction is to be super rude because I am so irritable because I am exhausted mentally and physically and also that so many of our questions are unanswered and that his customer service skills SUCK by keeping us waiting, but at the same time I sure don't want to piss of the surgeon that is going to be cutting into my loved ones brain! =) I think I will just suck it up and be a sweetheart! I definitely feel like it is easy to get "forgotten" when you are in the hospital. None of the staff TRULY cares for you or your family like you do. This is where they work so you gotta be proactive to get stuff taken care of because this is just "their job" and they do not have any emotional attachment to your situation. Even at the so-called "best hospital" around, you gotta fight to make them take your situation personal so that they will be more apt to helping you! My stepdad has his ups and downs. He is at his best during the day and as he gets more tired throughout the day, the brain tumor starts revealing itself more and more. For example, we will have a conversation with him about how he is at Stanford hospital because he has a brain tumor. 10 minutes later he will tell you that he wants to go in the kitchen to make coffee. We have to constantly bring him back to reality and test his memory by asking him questions. My hubby brought my boys by to pay their Grandpa Jim a visit today. He also brought his hair clippers so he could give Jim a nice hair cut to prepare him for his brain surgery. It turned out really well and afterwards Jim was doing so great that we got him a wheel chair to take him to the cafeteria to eat. This was his first time leaving the hospital room!!!! You could really tell that the "real Jim" began slipping away as dinner went on. He began to get confused and we could just tell it was time to get him back into his room. He has been asleep for awhile now, but randomly woke up and told me he wanted to go into his bedroom to sleep. He got up and walked out into the hallway and I had to remind him that he was in the hospital and that he already was sleeping. Finally got him back to sleep so hopefully he will stay put and will remember where he is. I will update everyone tomorrow! Goodnight! XOXO

Stress, stress, and more stress

I seriously don't even know how I have time to update this blog. I am making myself do it because I always feel better after I write and right now I am in desperate need of some stress relief. On Tuesday we found out that my stepdad Jim's brain tumor is back. When I was younger he had a brain tumor but the doctors successfully removed it. I guess it has since grown back. Over the past 3 days things have gotten so much worse...his behavior is odd and his memory or lack there of, is really noticeable. It really stresses me out and frustrates me because for months now some of us have really noticed that something was wrong but nothing was done to prove it. This morning, he fell down and wasn't found for a couple hours. Apparently he broke his collar bone or some other bones. He is in the hospital now and they are trying to figure out exactly what is broken. He might have to be moved to a different hospital because his neurosurgeon has no rights at the hospital he is currently at. I have anxiety about driving home to Fresno because it brings back bad memories about me constantly traveling to Fresno to visit my biological dad when he was dying....My hubby will be away at the Police Academy all weekend so it looks like the twins and I are making a trip. I hope they behave and don't cause too much chaos! =) To top it off Aaron's old employer called asking him to come back to work because they had "TONS" of work...so he made the switch and guess what? He has been sitting at home for 8 days now without any work...just lovely when you live check to check and you have tons of bills... I need a VACATION!

Bacon Ranch Chicken=NOM NOM NOM!!

Bacon Ranch Chicken was pretty freakin delicious if you ask me! It was sooo easy to prepare and everyone in my house devoured it!!! This was one of my favorites! Here is what you need to make this amazing dish:

4 boneless skinless chicken breasts

1 cup real bacon bits

1 garlic clove minced

1 packet of ranch dressing mix

1 can cream of chicken soup

1 cup sour cream

white rice

Put chicken at the bottom of the crock pot. Combine all of the ingredients (minus the white rice) and pour over the chicken. Cook on high for 4 hours or low for 6 or so hours! After cooking the white rice separately, put a spoonful of rice on your plate and put the chicken and sauce over it! Serve with a dinner roll and salad and your dinner is complete!!!

Beef Stroganoff!

I have been lagging on my crock pot posts! So on Thursday I made Beef stroganoff in the crock pot. Let me just say the meat came out AMAZING however the sauce had a "funny" taste to it. I think that the cream cheese made it taste funny, so maybe next time I will omit that or maybe just use a little of it to see how it comes out! I will NEVER make this again this way, but I will share it anyway! This is what you need and what you do:

In slow cooker, combine uncooked meat and all ingredients EXCEPT cream cheese & noodles.

Cook on low setting for 8 hrs or high for about 5 hrs. Approx. 15-20 min before serving, add the cream cheese; stir occasionally until melted. Approx. 10 minutes before serving, add uncooked noodles, push down in sauce to get lightly coated; replace lid, but stir occasionally until noodles are soft & ready to eat.

1 & 1/4 pound cubed beef stew meat

2 can condensed cream of mushroom soup (98% fat free for a healthier choice)

1 chopped onion

2 Tbsp Worcestershire Sauce

1/4 c. water (or a little more if you want saucy) I use beef broth or red wine or a mixture of both

dash of garlic salt (I use Garlic-Garlic from Tastefully Simple)

8 oz cream cheese (cut up) and 1 package of egg noodles

End result: