Good and bad news coming from the Bucklen home:

(Kinda old, just been busy and forgot to update here. This is from July)

GOOD NEWS: I had an MRI on Friday the 3rd to see how my body was responding to my MS medication. On the following Monday we found out that my MRI was stable. Meaning I had no new or active lesions and in fact a few lesions had gotten smaller. This means that the medication is doing its job. It won’t cure my MS but it slows the progression of it down. 

BAD NEWS: Darren had a big 4th of July double header race consisting of a 30 lap main followed by a 50 lap main. We had a great start to the night and the car was on rails. Darren qualified 5th, won the fast dash and started 9th in the first main. Just prior to the start of the main, the track had had a motor cross race for intermission which kicked up tons of rocks and dirt from the infield onto the high groove of the track. We went green for about 12 laps until the first caution. On the restart Darren was starting 5th row outside. Normally Darren loves the outside lane but not tonight. He had just previously stated over the radio that the outside lane was like driving on marbles and there was no traction. The drivers are coming through turns 3 and 4 on the restart and as soon as the green flag drops, Darren’s  car goes into the turn 4 wall, all the way down the front stretch. He makes another lap so we can view the damage from the back straightaway to see if its still raceable. When we see that theres just been too much damage to the car, he pulls off the track. At this time, we are thinking we can either try and fix it before the 2ndmain, or hopefully have enough time to pull the second car out of the trailer to try and make up some ground from the back. We get back to the pit and it’s silent. Which is pretty normal when we have an event like what just happened, but tonightwas different. No one was racing to get the second car out of the trailer. Everyone was just kind of standing around. Then I noticed while the crew was standing in the trailer talking, Darren had snuck off to the car. He grabbed his helmet and I watched him check it out and turn it all over. He was clearly looking for something. It was at that moment I realized he had hit his head. He then came up to me and asked me a question. I replied and asked him a question back. He looked at me, shook his head and asked me “Wait, what were we talking about?” Little did we know that the race he just raced and hit the wall in was the last race he would race. I am still kicking myself in the butt for not having the ambulance come and look at him. But we just didn’t really realize it was that bad. I was able to finally talk him into going to the ER last Thursday. They did a CT scan and determined it was a concussion. This is his 3rdone in 3 years just from racing alone. He is still feeling the effects of the hit with dizziness, headaches, and light sensitivity, plus occasional back spasms. We decided that we can't chance another one. He was ok, for the most part, after this one, although he's still feeling the effects. We don’t know if he gets another one if there will be more damage, but it's not a chance we're willing to take. We've been talking a lot about it these last couple weeks and decided this is what's best for our family. We appreciate all your thoughts and prayers. If you are interested in any of our cars, parts, or rig, please contact Randy at 970-590-8121

Vacations, Remodels, MS, & a 1st Birthday... Oh My! (January 2014 - June2014)

     Long time no talk! Literally! Sorry that it's been so long since the last update. We've been nothing but go-go-go lately, and you'll soon understand why. In January, we decided to finally remodel our kitchen! I had a blast designing the layout, and picking out cabinets, cupboards, and floors, but let's just say I'm happy it's done. What was once a teeny tiny kitchen and living room on one of our 4 levels is now the perfect kitchen to have lots of friends over. But since it was an entire level (the main level to be more specific) we had to move in with my parents while it was under construction. I know they just had a blast having Brynlee under the same roof. And I'm not gonna lie, it was pretty nice having my mom steal her in the morning on the weekends to let us sleep in a bit. Thanks mom!

In March we went to Las Vegas. Every 3 years there's a huge con expo show that we go to with Darren's business. We get to see the latest and greatest machines. The biggest and baddest companies that brought out the best of the best. We always have fun seeing the huge pieces of machinery, and we may or may not enjoy walking up the strip, shopping, and riding rides also... it's always a nice 3 day getaway.

April came along and I (Stephanie) was getting some pretty intense headaches. A couple were so bad that I ended up going to the ER for one of them. With my past (HELLP syndrome leading to a 12 week early delivery and a brain bleed) they gave me a CT scan. Everything checked out normal and they sent me home. A week or two later I got a crazy headache that was positional. Any way I leaned it just felt like a ton of pressure and that my eyes were going to explode out of my head. I was concerned not only because of my past but because we were traveling the next day to North Carolina and I didn't know if the pressure from the plane was going to make it worse or not. The doctor said I would be fine to fly and that we would do an MRI when we got back. I was glad she was taking extra precautions and actually listening to me because back in November I had had an MRI done to check my brain bleed. The neurologist said everything looked good. There was one "spot" but he wasn't concerned about it. One spot? What does that even mean? So I was still "ify" about that. 

The following day we had begun our travels to Duck, North Carolina. Darren had a race so they were coming up in a couple of days. The travel was great (especially with an 11 month old) and our beach house was beautiful! It was in walking distance from the beach! We also had a pool not too far from our house. Shopping was pretty close as well, considering you can see the ocean on both sides of you almost at all times. There was literally only one road in and out, which at times, seems like it could be kinda freaky. The boys golfed, the girls shopped. We spent lots of time on the beach and at the pool. I found out I'm allergic to the sun. Well at least we think. I broke out in a crazy red, itchy, raised, bumpy rash thing on my chest and shoulders the very first day there and every second in the sun and heat only made it worse. And it didn't go away for like 2 weeks. So I should re-word that. Everyone else spent lots if time at the beach and pool while I tried to stay hidden in the shade and not over heat myself. A couple days after my "sun allergy attack", the back of my neck had started going numb. As days passed, the numbness slowly began to creep down my arms. It was a very strange feeling but we thought for sure it was because of my intense sun burn. Which I guess in a way it sorta was. We went on a wild horse hummer ride along the beach. That was pretty cool to drive down the beach after the highway had ended searching for wild horses. We climbed to the top of a lighthouse or two and also experienced a crazy thunderstorm while lightning was lighting up the night sky. All while there were tornado warnings going off back home. All in all, we had a lot of fun in Duck, NC and recommend it to anyone wanting to travel to the Outer Banks.

When we got home, I promised my old boss that I would help graduation weekend. The busiest time of year for them. How could I say no? Getting paid to blow up balloons? Ummm hello! Thats my favorite part! 😃 

That following Tuesday morning I had my MRI to check what was going on with my crazy headaches. Wednesday afternoon I get a call from the doctor who had ordered the MRI (she's not my normal PCP but she was the one that had the soonest opening for me to be seen and I really liked her because she didn't blow me off or think I was crazy). She told me "Stephanie, I'm not a neurologist.. But it's looking like you have MS. I could be wrong but your MRI is showing all the signs, plus your symptoms, of Multiple Sclerosis. I just wanted to prepare you for what the neurologist might say when you go in tomorrow." Thank goodness I was busy and was working at the time because I'm pretty sure I would have just lost it. All I knew about MS is that it puts people in wheelchairs. I had a not even 1 year old at the time. I can't be in a wheelchair. So after my client left, I called Darren and told him. I think I was still kind of in shock because I didn't think someone, especially me, could have MS at 23 years old. He rushed home from work and we just sat and googled anything and everything we could about it. We watched YouTube videos and compiled a list of questions. When we went in the next day, the neurologist had a sad look on his face as he tells us to have a seat. You could tell he was upset with what he had to share with us as he says "your MRI shows that you have MS. I'm so sorry", and continued to state how he thinks we caught it early. As fast as he was done telling us, we had a list of questions we just laid on him all at once. With a confused look on his face, he looks at me and says "your taking this extremely well". I had to tell him how happy I was to finally have an answer to everything unexplainable going on inside my body. I was tired of not being listened to or looked at like I was some sort of crazy person. Yes, MS is not what I wanted but it's an answer. It's the reason half my body goes numb out of no where. Or part of the reason I'm so exhausted all the time. I'm tired of going to the hospitals and doctors and people telling me what I'm feeling is just a virus and will pass. Or that they don't know why I can't feel my feet. I'm happy because I know why everything is happening now. I know I'm not crazy! He put me on a medication ($4000+ a month I might add. Thank goodness for insurance). They only thing about the medicine was that I can't get pregnant while on it. Which in turn is reminding me to just put all my trust in God because now all these loose ends are starting to get tied. I was having a hard time getting my tubes blocked because I couldn't imagine not having more kids. But with almost losing both Brynlee and I, I knew it was best for our family. Now come to find out, I can't get pregnant while I'm using this medication. God has a funny way of teaching you to just trust that his plans are always much better than anything we can imagine. 

Fast forward a month and I have a 1 year old. Ummmm hello?! Where has time gone?! I just brought this perfect little baby home from the hospital. How on earth is she already 1? She had an owl themed birthday party and we were able to share it with lots of special family and friends. This little girl sure is loved! That is for sure!!!