THE BEST WORST HALLOWEEN EVER!

The title says it all. End of blog post.

THE END!

Just kidding. Well, not about the worst part. It really was the worst, at least for us!

You see, Mike LOVES Halloween. It is one of his most favorite holidays. He loves the spooky part of it. He loves the kids dressing up. He loves taking them trick or treating (well, for the most part). He loves greeting other kids at the door.

And so do I.

This year, we kicked off the holiday celebration by attending our wards annual Trunk or Treat & Chili Cook-off. If you missed it, too bad for you because it was A LOT of FUN! Even though Mike's chili with squirrel meat didn't win. Just kidding. He kept telling everyone that he put squirrel in it, but TRUST ME--there was no harming of squirrels in the chili.

Here are a few pics:

Ariel, the gypsy, and Dorothy a.k.a Cecily

This is Cecily and Grant. Grant was a scarecrow and I just had to snap this picture, although neither one of them really wanted too. They were having way too much fun making s'mores. When Ariel wore this costume a LONG time ago, Cecily was the scarecrow. They were so cute this year. and I think Cecily and Grant are way too cute too!

Lucky we took pictures that night because that is all we have of the Odom Halloween 2008. And for those of you that know me, it was not because we forgot the camera.

Here is were the BEST WORST part comes in.

The night before Halloween, I was busy getting Cecily's class special treat together: The Ghoulish Trail Mix. When I realized I could not find the bags that I was going to put them in anywhere. It was about 9pm, and I did NOT want to go to Wal-Mart! Oh, no, Oh, no--please don't make me go.

So, I asked Mike. He did not want to go either, so I threw a little tantrum fit, but decided the bags were needed, so I would go. Off, I went around the corner to Wal-mart to buy some clear cellophane party bags because they were sold out of the Halloween ones.

When I got back, Mike was in the bathroom screaming in pain.

My little selfish self did not take pity and thought it was an act so that I would not be mad about him not going to the store for me. I said, "Come on, get off it. It's not going to work. I don't feel sorry for you and you are making me more mad acting all sick."

And I walked out. Well, all of a sudden I hear this crash and Mike is yelling in pain. Then I got a bit scared and was like, "Oh MY, he's not faking." I know, I know...I'm a BAD wife!

By this time, it is almost 10pm and Mike is in severe pain. He decides to self diagnose himself with having a kidney stone (which he had never had before, but had heard about them). However, I thought he was dying. Mike is not one to let pain show, and he was SHOWING it!

So, I called the Jordan's, who live around the corner, and asked if we could bring the girls to them. They were so nice and offered to come to our house since the girls were sleeping in their beds. When Jason arrived, Mike was out the door.

When we got the emergency room, Mike told me to drop him off and he would walk himself in while I parked the car.

While I was parking the car for some reason this video that was sent to me by Dewayne Newburn came into my mind (For those of you who want to see the clip, and I hope you do because maybe then you might see why I found the situation so comical, please go to the bottom of my blog and shut off the music from my playlist):



I know, I'm bad, but I started to laugh. After finding a parking spot and running up the hill, I had managed to compose myself.
I found Mike at the front desk in a wheel chair moaning in pain every other word. We finally got him checked in. I guess it helps to be in an employee at the hospital because Mike was taken right back--- or maybe they just want to get the man yelling away from the people who were managing their pain. Either way, it was the shortest time I ever remember spending in an ER waiting room.

When we went back to the examining room, the nurse started taking Mike's blood pressure and asking him all sorts of questions. From how does he feel? When did the pain begin? What symptoms has he been experiencing? When was the last time he had a bowel or "pee" (their words).

I don't know what it is, but I just don't take things like this well. I guess I'm the worst person to have around in a crisis emergency. I know I'm not the one in pain, but it makes me nervous and something just happens to me--I either freak out or laugh.

Then the inevitable happened. The nurse asked Mike to rate his pain 1 to 10 with 1 being the least pain and 10 being the worst. I had to literally turn my head and hold my breath to keep from laughing out loud because this came to my mind:

All I could think of was DON'T SAY 2 MIKE, DON'T SAY 2! Luckily, Mike SHRIEKED OUT "10"! Followed by, "Just Shoot ME, Please just shoot Me!"

I know I'm A HORRIBLY, BAD wife, but Brian Regan's comedy act was a little bit of a blessing. It took my mind off of what was happening. It really did help me to not TOTALLY FREAK out.
I don't know why I sometimes laugh when people are in pain. I don't always do it, but sometimes I do. I know, I know it's a bit weird, strange, odd okay, maybe psychotic! It is is HORRIBLE, and if the tables were turned and I were the one in pain--I would be CRAZY mad if Mike were to laugh or find even the slightest bit of humor in the situation. But thankfully, Mike GETS me. He just does. He has known that I have had this oddity since one of our first dates, and HE STILL MARRIED ME. So who is the CRAZY one?

Anyway, after all the questioning, the nurse quickly moved him to a room and hooked him up to an IV to give him fluids and pain medicine. The medicine made him a bit loopy, which was kind of funny too.

I think the nurse and doctor found me a bit odd--the wife who seemed to be laughing at the situation, but maybe that helped Mike's situation. They really took good care of him.

After the CT scan and some blood work, it was confirmed that Mike INDEED had a KIDNEY STONE 2mm 2.4 mm BIG (Mike made me add the .4 because apparently that makes a HUGE difference)!

It's funny how something so small could cause so much pain. However, I know that it was painful because like I said Mike is not one to complain or react to pain--maybe it's because he's afraid I will laugh. I don't know.

So when the fluid emptied out of the IV, they discharged Mike and sent us home on our merry tired way with a prescription for a pain killer and orders to call our primary physician for a follow-up, and a strainer to "catch" the stone. Can you say, "YUCK!" We filled the prescription on the way home (which Mike refused to take).

We arrived home at about 12:30am Halloween morning. Again, which was not bad for going to the ER. I've stood in line at Wal-Mart longer than that (just kidding).

Anyway, let's just say it was a long, sleepless night and by morning, Mike still had not passed the stone, but was feeling a bit better. I took the girls to school and stayed for their Honors Day and then came back home to take Mike to his appointment with the doctor.

By that night, Halloween night, Mike had still not passed the stone, the pain had come back, and he was in no shape to go Trick-or-Treating, which made him feel more sick. I did not want to leave him alone either (hey, I may be slightly psychotic, but I'm not heartless).

Luckily for us, the Jordan's offered to take the girls Trick-or-Treating with them (we originally had plans to have dinner with them and go trick or treating after). The girls had a BLAST!

NOT SO MUCH FUN FOR US, however! By the next morning, Mike had passed the stone, and we felt relieved like LOSER parents. This was the first Halloween night that we did not spend with the girls.

Although we did feel bad not to be together as a family on what is usually a FUN-filled night, we also realize that it was a night full of blessings. Mike could have been more seriously ill, the doctors took care of him quickly and we have great friends.

The great thing, or at least we hope, is that there is always next year.

It is our hope that Halloween 2009 and all those to follow will truly be the BEST one's EVER!