His two BM's yesterday confirmed that he REALLY doesn't need a laxative. We bought some disposable diapers to keep him in until he shows us his intestines are normal again. So that gets me to wondering what else could they be seeing on that x-ray that looked like constipation? Was Dallas just holding it (he doesn't seem to like to have messy diapers when we are out and about)? Is there some other explanation?
I didn't stay home yesterday, but that may have been a mistake I had a headache all day and felt very drained. So I took a sick day today. The headache is doing better and I have been able to relax, and got to go to playgroup with Dallas which is something I never got to do before.
Dallas still doesn't enjoy taking the antibiotics but they are doing him a WORLD of good. He is sleeping through the entire night and his mood has improved dramatically. The pharmacy didn't have enough amoxicillin so we got to go back Friday and pick up the next dose!
Showing posts with label Sickies. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Sickies. Show all posts
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
Monday, May 18, 2009
I Am Tired
Dallas has had this on-again, off-again relationship with a fever most of this weekend (starting on Thursday actually) so we decided to take him to the doctor today. I called in sick and we scheduled an appointment with his regular doctor (well the doctor he has seen once since we moved up here, but he is to be Dallas' primary care physician) for 10am. We left the house right around 9:30 only to find of DSHS switched insurance on us and Valley Medical won't take it. So we drive to Covington Multicare Urgent Care and discover some more "fun" things about the new insurance we were assigned to. After some phone calls and me getting close to shedding tears of frustration, finally Dallas gets into see a doctor around 11:30.
Dallas screamed when they tried to take his temperature, he screamed when they tried to look in his ears, he screamed when they tried to listen to his heart (I trust you are beginning to see the pattern). They wanted to take x-rays so I held him down during those. Of course there is a long wait in our room after the x-ray because it has to be developed, I think we all fell asleep (did I mention Dallas didn't give us much more that 3 hours of interrupted sleep last night?). They came back wanting to do a stomach x-ray to verify something they thought they saw in the chest x-ray, they also want to take a urine sample, and probably do some blood tests... It is getting close to 1pm so I tell Cam to take Chelane home and I'll call him to come pick me up (I am thinking around 5pm at the rate this is all going, the x-ray place is WAY on the other side of the clinic).
Of course Dallas won't pee in a cup, so they tape a "wee bag" to him (poor kid) and I need to get him to drink to try and encourage the urinating part... but Cam took the diaper bag with him, doh! After waiting a half hour or something to try to get Dallas to do his thing in the "wee bag" the doctor comes back to talk about all the things we have learned about Dallas today:
1) the fever isn't due to an ear infection... at least I don't think so, I can't be sure because he has some waxy build-up in his ear... but the parts I can see don't look inflamed at all
2) the fever isn't due to strep of another throat inflammation-thingy because his throat looks fine (she got a pretty good view of it with the aid of a tongue depressor while he was screaming his head off when we first got there)
3) he doesn't have any pneumonia that I can see, although his body was slightly twisted in the x-ray so his heart is covering a portion of one of his lungs so it could be in that area
4)he doesn't seem to have appendicitis or another abdominal problem because he laughs when his belly is pushed on
5) he has lots of gas in his intestines and quite a bit of blockage; in short he is constipated (which I wouldn't have guessed, the kid has a BM everyday, more than one sometimes, and he never seems to strain and the BM's aren't overly firm or anything...)
The doctor decides to fore go doing bloodwork but still wants us to get a urine sample (to check for a UTI or any weird bacteria in his system), but we can just bring it back in when he does decide to go. We need to keep the fevers down if they happen and she gave us a prescription for amoxicilin and a laxative, but don't start the medicine until after the urine sample is taken. By now is it close to 2:30, so I call Cam to come get me, we need to get Jadon off the bus at 3:45...
I wasn't able to get to the store until around 7pm to get the prescriptions filled and when I get home Dallas is asleep, when he wakes up he is running a fever so he has turned into Mr. Noncooperative. With Cam's help we manage to Oreo-bribe some fever-reducing medicine and the antibiotics into him but he won't take the laxative mixed up in root beer. We did finally get that into him about a hour later (by making him cuddle with us and telling him we wouldn't put him down until he drank all the pop...).
Luckily Chelane has been her usual way laid-back, I-will-just-sit-here-and-look-cute,-get-to-me-whenever-you-have-the-time self. She had the same sort of cold Dallas did, but hopefully she won't develop a fever at all, she isn't getting amazing food with built in antibodies (provided by me) that Dallas isn't, that may be part of the difference.
Chelane has been in bed for an hour or so now and I just looked over at Dallas and he is finally asleep on the couch... I wonder how long that will last. It is very possible I may take a sick day tomorrow to recover from my sick day today.
Dallas screamed when they tried to take his temperature, he screamed when they tried to look in his ears, he screamed when they tried to listen to his heart (I trust you are beginning to see the pattern). They wanted to take x-rays so I held him down during those. Of course there is a long wait in our room after the x-ray because it has to be developed, I think we all fell asleep (did I mention Dallas didn't give us much more that 3 hours of interrupted sleep last night?). They came back wanting to do a stomach x-ray to verify something they thought they saw in the chest x-ray, they also want to take a urine sample, and probably do some blood tests... It is getting close to 1pm so I tell Cam to take Chelane home and I'll call him to come pick me up (I am thinking around 5pm at the rate this is all going, the x-ray place is WAY on the other side of the clinic).
Of course Dallas won't pee in a cup, so they tape a "wee bag" to him (poor kid) and I need to get him to drink to try and encourage the urinating part... but Cam took the diaper bag with him, doh! After waiting a half hour or something to try to get Dallas to do his thing in the "wee bag" the doctor comes back to talk about all the things we have learned about Dallas today:
1) the fever isn't due to an ear infection... at least I don't think so, I can't be sure because he has some waxy build-up in his ear... but the parts I can see don't look inflamed at all
2) the fever isn't due to strep of another throat inflammation-thingy because his throat looks fine (she got a pretty good view of it with the aid of a tongue depressor while he was screaming his head off when we first got there)
3) he doesn't have any pneumonia that I can see, although his body was slightly twisted in the x-ray so his heart is covering a portion of one of his lungs so it could be in that area
4)he doesn't seem to have appendicitis or another abdominal problem because he laughs when his belly is pushed on
5) he has lots of gas in his intestines and quite a bit of blockage; in short he is constipated (which I wouldn't have guessed, the kid has a BM everyday, more than one sometimes, and he never seems to strain and the BM's aren't overly firm or anything...)
The doctor decides to fore go doing bloodwork but still wants us to get a urine sample (to check for a UTI or any weird bacteria in his system), but we can just bring it back in when he does decide to go. We need to keep the fevers down if they happen and she gave us a prescription for amoxicilin and a laxative, but don't start the medicine until after the urine sample is taken. By now is it close to 2:30, so I call Cam to come get me, we need to get Jadon off the bus at 3:45...
I wasn't able to get to the store until around 7pm to get the prescriptions filled and when I get home Dallas is asleep, when he wakes up he is running a fever so he has turned into Mr. Noncooperative. With Cam's help we manage to Oreo-bribe some fever-reducing medicine and the antibiotics into him but he won't take the laxative mixed up in root beer. We did finally get that into him about a hour later (by making him cuddle with us and telling him we wouldn't put him down until he drank all the pop...).
Luckily Chelane has been her usual way laid-back, I-will-just-sit-here-and-look-cute,-get-to-me-whenever-you-have-the-time self. She had the same sort of cold Dallas did, but hopefully she won't develop a fever at all, she isn't getting amazing food with built in antibodies (provided by me) that Dallas isn't, that may be part of the difference.
Chelane has been in bed for an hour or so now and I just looked over at Dallas and he is finally asleep on the couch... I wonder how long that will last. It is very possible I may take a sick day tomorrow to recover from my sick day today.
Monday, May 4, 2009
Enlightenment
Or "the post in which Kassie talks about herself." Don't worry, I won't do this often.
Meniere's Disease is a disorder of the inner ear. It is characterized by four symptoms. It has no clear cause and it seems to worsen or disappear at its leisure. I have always thought it would be better off called a 'syndrome' since it has no known cause and is defined by symptoms; but maybe the real reason I want it called a 'syndrome' is I don't like thinking myself as having some 'disease.' If you haven't guessed or didn't know, I have Meniere's Disease.
Like I said it is characterized by four symptoms:
1. fullness or pressure in the ears
2. periods of vertigo
3. some hearing loss in one or both ears
4. tinnitus (ringing or other noise) in one or both ears
The real kicker is you don't have to have all of these symptoms to have Meniere's Disease. I seem to have all but the fullness or pressure (although I do have that on occasion, usually before/during the vertigo episodes).
This disease occurs slightly more frequently in men and is most common in the 40-60 age group. My start of Meniere's Disease was vertigo episodes when I was sixteen. I had them pretty often and would go weeks with my head being sensitive to movement, noise, and light (but it wasn't a migraine). Other times I was vomiting. There wasn't much the doctor could do, only suggest that I come in when I was actually having an attack, but the last thing I wanna do when the room is spinning so hard I am vomiting is to get in a car. The hard attacks aside, I could function pretty normally with the vertigo. I still went to work and school and drove myself around if necessary (being extra careful and super alert to my surroundings). It has tapered itself down. I am at one or two bad episodes a year now. I can't go on carnival or amusement park rides anymore (although roller coasters seem to be ok for the most part which is good, those are my favorite). I also get car sick easily. But lots of people have those problems.
I first noticed the hearing loss my first semester of college. I came home and told mom I was having hearing trouble; she took me to the doctor who administered a typical hearing test (raise your hand when you hear the 'beep') and I passed with flying colors. The next semester I took a math course from an old retiree who resembled yoda and talked softly with a low voice. He really was a great teacher and a very cute old man, but I went from sitting in the back of the classroom to the front-right in order to hear. I can home that summer and mom sent me to specialists. They determined I had a moderate hearing loss in my left ear, took MRIs to rule out tumors and other scary things, gave me balancing tests (really hard ones like standing on one foot with your eye closed... ok so not that hard, but apparently I only did about as good as a five year-old), and did other tests to determine I had problems.
I have the tinnitus and hearing loss in my left ear. The tinnitus for me is more of a 'rushing' rather than a ringing (like a TV is on but not plugged into the cable) and the hearing loss is on the moderate/severe side. Because of the white noise I constantly have in my ear, low tones (men's voices) and places with lots of background noise make hearing harder for me. I have figured out how to compensate. Tricks like turning my head or watching someones lips and trying to fit things they may be saying into the current context of the conversation. I also ask people to repeat themselves A LOT (just ask Cam).
The inner ear is pretty much a black box to scientists and doctors. They don't know how to fix inner ear problems. So now I know what I have but there isn't a way to fix it unless it goes away or stabilizes on its own - which I think it has (stabilized I mean).
I don't tell these stories to get sympathy. I know how to deal with the vertigo when it happens (which isn't too often), I hardly notice the noise in my ear unless I focus on it, and I honestly don't remember what it was like before I couldn't hear very well. I tell you this to ask you to cut my some slack once and a while. I don't hear everything. Sometimes I can be looking right at you and not realize you are talking to me because I can't hear what is going on (especially if there is lots of noise). Once in a while I won't look at you when you are talking to me so I can point my good ear at you. Other times I will be staring at your mouth (I don't think I am too obvious with that though). I may ask you to repeat yourself... a lot... Please just humor me, I am trying.
Meniere's Disease is a disorder of the inner ear. It is characterized by four symptoms. It has no clear cause and it seems to worsen or disappear at its leisure. I have always thought it would be better off called a 'syndrome' since it has no known cause and is defined by symptoms; but maybe the real reason I want it called a 'syndrome' is I don't like thinking myself as having some 'disease.' If you haven't guessed or didn't know, I have Meniere's Disease.
Like I said it is characterized by four symptoms:
1. fullness or pressure in the ears
2. periods of vertigo
3. some hearing loss in one or both ears
4. tinnitus (ringing or other noise) in one or both ears
The real kicker is you don't have to have all of these symptoms to have Meniere's Disease. I seem to have all but the fullness or pressure (although I do have that on occasion, usually before/during the vertigo episodes).
This disease occurs slightly more frequently in men and is most common in the 40-60 age group. My start of Meniere's Disease was vertigo episodes when I was sixteen. I had them pretty often and would go weeks with my head being sensitive to movement, noise, and light (but it wasn't a migraine). Other times I was vomiting. There wasn't much the doctor could do, only suggest that I come in when I was actually having an attack, but the last thing I wanna do when the room is spinning so hard I am vomiting is to get in a car. The hard attacks aside, I could function pretty normally with the vertigo. I still went to work and school and drove myself around if necessary (being extra careful and super alert to my surroundings). It has tapered itself down. I am at one or two bad episodes a year now. I can't go on carnival or amusement park rides anymore (although roller coasters seem to be ok for the most part which is good, those are my favorite). I also get car sick easily. But lots of people have those problems.
I first noticed the hearing loss my first semester of college. I came home and told mom I was having hearing trouble; she took me to the doctor who administered a typical hearing test (raise your hand when you hear the 'beep') and I passed with flying colors. The next semester I took a math course from an old retiree who resembled yoda and talked softly with a low voice. He really was a great teacher and a very cute old man, but I went from sitting in the back of the classroom to the front-right in order to hear. I can home that summer and mom sent me to specialists. They determined I had a moderate hearing loss in my left ear, took MRIs to rule out tumors and other scary things, gave me balancing tests (really hard ones like standing on one foot with your eye closed... ok so not that hard, but apparently I only did about as good as a five year-old), and did other tests to determine I had problems.
I have the tinnitus and hearing loss in my left ear. The tinnitus for me is more of a 'rushing' rather than a ringing (like a TV is on but not plugged into the cable) and the hearing loss is on the moderate/severe side. Because of the white noise I constantly have in my ear, low tones (men's voices) and places with lots of background noise make hearing harder for me. I have figured out how to compensate. Tricks like turning my head or watching someones lips and trying to fit things they may be saying into the current context of the conversation. I also ask people to repeat themselves A LOT (just ask Cam).
The inner ear is pretty much a black box to scientists and doctors. They don't know how to fix inner ear problems. So now I know what I have but there isn't a way to fix it unless it goes away or stabilizes on its own - which I think it has (stabilized I mean).
I don't tell these stories to get sympathy. I know how to deal with the vertigo when it happens (which isn't too often), I hardly notice the noise in my ear unless I focus on it, and I honestly don't remember what it was like before I couldn't hear very well. I tell you this to ask you to cut my some slack once and a while. I don't hear everything. Sometimes I can be looking right at you and not realize you are talking to me because I can't hear what is going on (especially if there is lots of noise). Once in a while I won't look at you when you are talking to me so I can point my good ear at you. Other times I will be staring at your mouth (I don't think I am too obvious with that though). I may ask you to repeat yourself... a lot... Please just humor me, I am trying.
Sunday, April 5, 2009
Benefits
In the Auburn School District benefits kick in the 1st of the month after you have worked ten days. I only worked four days in Febraury so I have been waiting ALL March for the 1st of April and my dental benefits to kick in.
I had a filling fall out in the back of my mouth in December. It really hadn't been that bad until the end(ish) of February but has been steadily getting worse and more sensetive. I can't eat cold cereal because the cold milk ends up in every nook and crany of my mouth and I have massive sensitivity issues. Also food loves to get stuck in that gaping chasm in my mouth. I use to be able to play with it with my tongue and stuck the inside of my check and that would remove alot of stuck food. Now sucking the inside of my mouth causes a huge pain in my tooth (and jaw. It has gotten bad enough that I have to be careful how badly I suck my spit together before I swallow... I know you really didn't want to hear that but, too bad, you got to anyway.) Floss does jack, and a tooth brush doesn't do too much either. The best I can do is swish with body temperature water (it can't be too cold or too hot or it hurts).
So imagine my elation when APRIL finally rolls around. Well my health card arrived promptly on the 1st but nothing from the dental company... so I email the person in HR that deals with benefits. They gist of her response was to wait until the end of the month and then call if I hadn't gotten my card; they usually tell new employees not to expect to schedule anything the first month of having their benefits because it takes a while to get new employees in their systems. Well I wasn't taking that. I had already waited a month and I had those benefits NOW dang it! It wasn't the end of the month yet but I want that root canal ASAP (never thought you would hear someone who wanted a root canal, did you?)
I called the dental company Friday after school. I wasn't in the system yet... but my name was on the new list they got from the school district that day. The operator quickly put me in the system and transfered me over to make an appointment. I go in Wednesday morning for my new patient exam and hopefully I can get the root canal soon thereafter; both of my back teeth are shot all to heck I fear. I will let you know if a root canal is all I hope and dream it will be...
I had a filling fall out in the back of my mouth in December. It really hadn't been that bad until the end(ish) of February but has been steadily getting worse and more sensetive. I can't eat cold cereal because the cold milk ends up in every nook and crany of my mouth and I have massive sensitivity issues. Also food loves to get stuck in that gaping chasm in my mouth. I use to be able to play with it with my tongue and stuck the inside of my check and that would remove alot of stuck food. Now sucking the inside of my mouth causes a huge pain in my tooth (and jaw. It has gotten bad enough that I have to be careful how badly I suck my spit together before I swallow... I know you really didn't want to hear that but, too bad, you got to anyway.) Floss does jack, and a tooth brush doesn't do too much either. The best I can do is swish with body temperature water (it can't be too cold or too hot or it hurts).
So imagine my elation when APRIL finally rolls around. Well my health card arrived promptly on the 1st but nothing from the dental company... so I email the person in HR that deals with benefits. They gist of her response was to wait until the end of the month and then call if I hadn't gotten my card; they usually tell new employees not to expect to schedule anything the first month of having their benefits because it takes a while to get new employees in their systems. Well I wasn't taking that. I had already waited a month and I had those benefits NOW dang it! It wasn't the end of the month yet but I want that root canal ASAP (never thought you would hear someone who wanted a root canal, did you?)
I called the dental company Friday after school. I wasn't in the system yet... but my name was on the new list they got from the school district that day. The operator quickly put me in the system and transfered me over to make an appointment. I go in Wednesday morning for my new patient exam and hopefully I can get the root canal soon thereafter; both of my back teeth are shot all to heck I fear. I will let you know if a root canal is all I hope and dream it will be...
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
My Excuse
I am sick. I started getting a cold day before yesterday. I felt tired all day and couldn't figure out why (I had gotten enough sleep, it had been a relaxing weekend, etc.) then woke up the next morning with a sore throat and felt just as tired. Today I feel MORE tired (I am almost done whining, hang in there with me) and the cold is moving. Today I had a slightly drippy nose and a sore throat again and one or two throat-ripping, nasty, phlegmy coughs. It is on its way to settle in my chest, I just know it...
Anyway, it makes me feel good becasue I know I will soon feel better. I am washing my hands like a maniac trying to keep anyone else from getting sick. And this is by far NOT the worse cold I have had (it is actually very mild as far as my colds go) so don't fear to be near me.
I will blog about something worth-while soon. I have a few really good stories and pictures just waiting to be published on the world-wide web. You will just have to wait with bated breath for a few more days until I feel like I have enough energy after the kids go to bed to do something other than fall asleep myself.
Anyway, it makes me feel good becasue I know I will soon feel better. I am washing my hands like a maniac trying to keep anyone else from getting sick. And this is by far NOT the worse cold I have had (it is actually very mild as far as my colds go) so don't fear to be near me.
I will blog about something worth-while soon. I have a few really good stories and pictures just waiting to be published on the world-wide web. You will just have to wait with bated breath for a few more days until I feel like I have enough energy after the kids go to bed to do something other than fall asleep myself.
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
For those of you cursing us right now...
Cam and I didn't stay immune from the flu bug. Neither did Grandma, Grandpa, and Jadon. In the last 72 hours since Dallas threw up, all of us have had one form or another of it (except Chelane, thankfully). If it is any consolation it seems to be a 24hour bug, although it is a particularly nasty one.
Again, sorry for contaminating all your kids (and by association, yourselves) with this virus.
We really should be cursing whoever gave this to Dallas...
Again, sorry for contaminating all your kids (and by association, yourselves) with this virus.
We really should be cursing whoever gave this to Dallas...
Sunday, February 15, 2009
Valentine's Day
Yesterday was one of the most memorable Valentine's Days I think I will EVER have! I apologize that there are no picutres with this post, but then again you are probably happy I didn't post any after you hear about the day...
Cameron's brother was coming into town with his new flame. The plan was to go out to lunch, maybe spend the afternoon around the mall, and then attend a church sponsored dinner/dance in the evening. Nothing fancy but I was looking forward to it (plus there were some clothes I needed to return to the mall, we had a gift card to the restaurant, and the church function would be free; really how could you get a better, relaxing Saturday than that?).
I will have to say I am so happy we had kids, it keeps life interesting. I am now either ready way in advance which allows me to be early/on-time to things, or we are embarrassingly late. Something always seems to come up and the only way to deal is to plan for the unexpected (which requires you to give yourself 10-20 extra minutes) and be flexible.
Two kids make this much more fun.
We were riding to the restaurant in two separate cars (having two kids also allows for only one (very small and quite uncomfortable) extra passenger in our compact car) when Dallas decides he needs to throw-up. I will spare you all the details for those with weak stomachs, but let me say there was a LOT of it. We pulled over to assess the damage and deemed it inappropriate to continue on to a restaurant. Cam stayed with his brother and company (who hadn't eaten any lunch yet) while I turned around and took Dallas home (with all the windows rolled down and the heater turned on full blast). Mercifully, Chelane fell asleep.
I stripped Dallas down to his diaper in the backyard, wiping off his hands, mouth, and neck with a clean corner of his undershirt. Grandma was nice enough to take him inside to bathe him while I hosed down (literally) his clothes and completely dismantled carseat (I took out the straps and everything). Then I tackled the small amount that leaked through the carseat onto the car seat. After coming inside I started a batch of laundry and let my frozen feet thaw out (I did all the hosing off barefoot).
We figured Dallas throwing up was a fluke. He had been sticking his whole hand in his mouth and practically down his throat the last few weeks and gagging himself (darn adventurous kids). We thought he had just gotten really bored in the car and gone all the way this time. We were still planning on the dinner/dance (and maybe a little bit of mall going). Jeremy brought some pizza to the house for lunch/afternoon snack/dinner (it was about 5pm) and Dallas ate it just fine. Ten minutes later Cam starts yelling at me to hurry upstairs.
Regurgitated pizza is not a fun sight, nor fun to clean-up, but it sure can clear seven people out of a room quickly. Cam isn't much help when kids start to chuck their cookies. He is a little empathetic and it starts his gag reflex up. I was trying to decide if I should bathe off Dallas first or tackle the carpet when Jeremy started to clean up the carpet without any provocation and I was able to bathe Dallas and start (another) batch of laundry. (As a little side note here I am SO thankful for washing machines and running water. I think episodes like this really put things like that into perspective. Since I am talking about being grateful for inanimate objects I should express love for family that helps unselfishly with things like this too!). After his bath Dallas threw up again downstairs (we caught most of it in a bowl) and he was banished to the bathroom (Grandma was tired of throw-up landing on her carpet, and really, who could blame her?).
Well we pretty much wrote off doing anything that night. The dinner was suppose to start at 6:30pm (seating at 6:15) and 7pm was rolling around. If you know anything about me you could figure that I was stressed not to mention tired. Dallas' last bout was pretty much just clear liquid and we figured his tummy was empty. He wasn't running a temperature either. He was doing a good job not throwing up while playing in the bathroom so we eventually let him out.
At about 7:30pm Cam's brother and company were trying to decide if they should just go when Grandma insisted that we all go to the dinner/dance, the dance wouldn't be starting yet anyway, and enjoy ourselves; she would watch Dallas. So we did. They were still serving dinner when we got there, so those of us that were hungry were able to eat. We even spent a few hours dancing afterwards. Cam says he has no sense of rhythem, but he is a good enough sport to dance with me anyway. We really did have a great time after all was said and done (I even was laughing, which after a day like that is an achievment for me), although I don't know how much fun Grandma and Grandpa had with Dallas.
I am so thankful for a loving and close family. And I apologize profusly to my brother's and sister's kids that Grandma and Grandpa were watching yesterday if any of them get sick. We didn't plan this, we swear!
(And incase you are worried, Dallas didn't throw up all night (and slept really well) and has eaten some toast, a tiny bit of egg, and some cheerios today with great success. Hopefully the throwing up is over.)
Cameron's brother was coming into town with his new flame. The plan was to go out to lunch, maybe spend the afternoon around the mall, and then attend a church sponsored dinner/dance in the evening. Nothing fancy but I was looking forward to it (plus there were some clothes I needed to return to the mall, we had a gift card to the restaurant, and the church function would be free; really how could you get a better, relaxing Saturday than that?).
I will have to say I am so happy we had kids, it keeps life interesting. I am now either ready way in advance which allows me to be early/on-time to things, or we are embarrassingly late. Something always seems to come up and the only way to deal is to plan for the unexpected (which requires you to give yourself 10-20 extra minutes) and be flexible.
Two kids make this much more fun.
We were riding to the restaurant in two separate cars (having two kids also allows for only one (very small and quite uncomfortable) extra passenger in our compact car) when Dallas decides he needs to throw-up. I will spare you all the details for those with weak stomachs, but let me say there was a LOT of it. We pulled over to assess the damage and deemed it inappropriate to continue on to a restaurant. Cam stayed with his brother and company (who hadn't eaten any lunch yet) while I turned around and took Dallas home (with all the windows rolled down and the heater turned on full blast). Mercifully, Chelane fell asleep.
I stripped Dallas down to his diaper in the backyard, wiping off his hands, mouth, and neck with a clean corner of his undershirt. Grandma was nice enough to take him inside to bathe him while I hosed down (literally) his clothes and completely dismantled carseat (I took out the straps and everything). Then I tackled the small amount that leaked through the carseat onto the car seat. After coming inside I started a batch of laundry and let my frozen feet thaw out (I did all the hosing off barefoot).
We figured Dallas throwing up was a fluke. He had been sticking his whole hand in his mouth and practically down his throat the last few weeks and gagging himself (darn adventurous kids). We thought he had just gotten really bored in the car and gone all the way this time. We were still planning on the dinner/dance (and maybe a little bit of mall going). Jeremy brought some pizza to the house for lunch/afternoon snack/dinner (it was about 5pm) and Dallas ate it just fine. Ten minutes later Cam starts yelling at me to hurry upstairs.
Regurgitated pizza is not a fun sight, nor fun to clean-up, but it sure can clear seven people out of a room quickly. Cam isn't much help when kids start to chuck their cookies. He is a little empathetic and it starts his gag reflex up. I was trying to decide if I should bathe off Dallas first or tackle the carpet when Jeremy started to clean up the carpet without any provocation and I was able to bathe Dallas and start (another) batch of laundry. (As a little side note here I am SO thankful for washing machines and running water. I think episodes like this really put things like that into perspective. Since I am talking about being grateful for inanimate objects I should express love for family that helps unselfishly with things like this too!). After his bath Dallas threw up again downstairs (we caught most of it in a bowl) and he was banished to the bathroom (Grandma was tired of throw-up landing on her carpet, and really, who could blame her?).
Well we pretty much wrote off doing anything that night. The dinner was suppose to start at 6:30pm (seating at 6:15) and 7pm was rolling around. If you know anything about me you could figure that I was stressed not to mention tired. Dallas' last bout was pretty much just clear liquid and we figured his tummy was empty. He wasn't running a temperature either. He was doing a good job not throwing up while playing in the bathroom so we eventually let him out.
At about 7:30pm Cam's brother and company were trying to decide if they should just go when Grandma insisted that we all go to the dinner/dance, the dance wouldn't be starting yet anyway, and enjoy ourselves; she would watch Dallas. So we did. They were still serving dinner when we got there, so those of us that were hungry were able to eat. We even spent a few hours dancing afterwards. Cam says he has no sense of rhythem, but he is a good enough sport to dance with me anyway. We really did have a great time after all was said and done (I even was laughing, which after a day like that is an achievment for me), although I don't know how much fun Grandma and Grandpa had with Dallas.
I am so thankful for a loving and close family. And I apologize profusly to my brother's and sister's kids that Grandma and Grandpa were watching yesterday if any of them get sick. We didn't plan this, we swear!
(And incase you are worried, Dallas didn't throw up all night (and slept really well) and has eaten some toast, a tiny bit of egg, and some cheerios today with great success. Hopefully the throwing up is over.)
Saturday, December 6, 2008
Hot Zone
It is one of my favorite books. For those of you that don't know much about it here is the jist. It talks about the Ebola virus, a disease related loosely to HIV that attacks blood cells and turns your insides to mush through massive hemorrhaging. The "Hot Zone" refers to the area in Africa it is thought to originate (I think).
Well our house is a pretty bad Hot Zone right now. We had my mom, dad, little brother, little sister, and one of my older sisters at our house for Thanksgiving (we more than doubled our "family" size that week, it was so fun!). Sunday after Thanksgiving (right before everyone was going home) my little sister woke up feeling very weak and sick. Monday morning Dallas woke up at 5am throwing up. Monday afternoon Cam came home from work early with a sore throat.
I was thinking Chelane and I were going to skip out on the sickness altogether until Thursday afternoon when I started on a sore throat. Friday I woke up with a fever, body aches, absolutely zero energy, a HUGE headache, and the inability to keep myself warm. When Cam got home I went to bed for a little bit and apparently broke my fever. When I woke up I felt like I had much more energy, but still a massive headache. My body was also quite weak from not feeding myself that day. I took some ibprophen that night (without consulting a physician, bad me) to try to stem the headache and lower backache I had so that I could sleep easier (and sit or lay down without my back protesting). I am happy to say that today I am feeling much better (although the sore throat is still around, but I can deal with that).
Cam has pretty much had an off-and-on mild sore throat all week. Dallas didn't throw up after Monday morning (he really only threw up once) but started on a runny nose Tuesday and now that that has eased up he has a pretty nasty cough. Chlane has still stayed all but immune. She sounds like she has a little of it (her nose is a little cloggy and she coughs once and a while) but, other than those mild symptoms, she seems great. I would happily take another day of the fever from h-e-double-hockey-sticks if it meant Chelane didn't get sick.
I started a few packing projects on Friday and Thursday that I obviously didn't finish on Friday so the house is also a complete mess. So maybe "Hot Zone" isn't the correct term to use... maybe something more like "War zone where biological weapons were used"...
Well our house is a pretty bad Hot Zone right now. We had my mom, dad, little brother, little sister, and one of my older sisters at our house for Thanksgiving (we more than doubled our "family" size that week, it was so fun!). Sunday after Thanksgiving (right before everyone was going home) my little sister woke up feeling very weak and sick. Monday morning Dallas woke up at 5am throwing up. Monday afternoon Cam came home from work early with a sore throat.
I was thinking Chelane and I were going to skip out on the sickness altogether until Thursday afternoon when I started on a sore throat. Friday I woke up with a fever, body aches, absolutely zero energy, a HUGE headache, and the inability to keep myself warm. When Cam got home I went to bed for a little bit and apparently broke my fever. When I woke up I felt like I had much more energy, but still a massive headache. My body was also quite weak from not feeding myself that day. I took some ibprophen that night (without consulting a physician, bad me) to try to stem the headache and lower backache I had so that I could sleep easier (and sit or lay down without my back protesting). I am happy to say that today I am feeling much better (although the sore throat is still around, but I can deal with that).
Cam has pretty much had an off-and-on mild sore throat all week. Dallas didn't throw up after Monday morning (he really only threw up once) but started on a runny nose Tuesday and now that that has eased up he has a pretty nasty cough. Chlane has still stayed all but immune. She sounds like she has a little of it (her nose is a little cloggy and she coughs once and a while) but, other than those mild symptoms, she seems great. I would happily take another day of the fever from h-e-double-hockey-sticks if it meant Chelane didn't get sick.
I started a few packing projects on Friday and Thursday that I obviously didn't finish on Friday so the house is also a complete mess. So maybe "Hot Zone" isn't the correct term to use... maybe something more like "War zone where biological weapons were used"...
Sunday, November 2, 2008
Our Halloween
Halloween this year was a little different than you would expect from a family with an almost-two-year- old and semi-new born.
First of all Cam took the day off to go in for some dentist work at 9 in the morning. He needed a bit of work done (why not take advantage of the dental insurance we may not have for a while, right?) and they estimated 4 hours. They gave him a pill to take an hour before he went in and would "administer more as needed." It is basically a sedative that would make him loopy enough to pass out during the work. Well, I went down to Provo to hang out with Karma for a while before she had class and when 1 o'clock rolled around I went to get Cam from the dentist.
The dentist work went fine but, oh boy, was Cam out of it. His speech was very slurred, he talked very quietly, his eyes were never more than half open, and he would take long pauses while talking to you or take a long while before answering any questions. He insisted that he could get himself in the house and upstairs by himself, that I should just take care of the kids (after I let him go by himself and read the post-operation stuff I found out I should always hold his arm while he walks and help him upstairs if stairs aren't completely avoidable... oops, I am glad he didn't hurt himself).
I let him sleep until about 6 then woke him up to eat something and see what he wanted me to make/get for him (he wanted a smoothie and me to make pudding) I also told him I was going out for a few hours, Dallas was getting ansy (I wouldn't let him in the room with Daddy while he was sleeping and that is where the TV is, so he was watching movies on the computer when he wanted too, and he just had too much energy for me to keep up with him). So I fed Chelane, left Cam (who was seeming a little less drugged), and navagated out of the neighborhood full of early trick-or-treaters to go to the nearest large store that had the best possibility of entertaining me for at least an hour and a half: Wal*mart.
If anyone is wondering the best time of the year to go to Wal*mart, it is Halloween night. The parking lot (which I haven't seen less than half empty before no matter when I come) was only about 10 cars deep, they didn't have many registers open but I still only waited for 2 minutes to get to the front of a line. We did a little shopping, purused the DVD's, called Karma to see if she wanted to come up and hang out with me (I needed non-drugged adult contact) and people watched. Like I said, there weren't many people at Wal*mart, but almost all the people that were there (including employees) were dressed up in honor of the holiday. I came across one person dressed up (well make-up'd) like the Joker in "Dark Knight" and the resembalance was pretty scary. I actually tracked him down after I passed him and asked if I could take a picture, unfortunatly the camera on my phone isn't very good and the lens is dirty so all my pictures come out grainy and unclear, but here is the picture anyway (I sorta think the bad-ness of the camera adds to the affect (or is that effect?)).
When I got home around 8 Cam was asleep again and I woke him up to administer the smoothie (I had gotten a smoothie too which Dallas took the lid off while I was tending to Cam and knocked on the floor... so I ended up with half a smoothie). Then Karma called me and told me her tentative Halloween plans had fallen through and to come get her for the weekend (yippee!).
I left the house close to 9 to go get her and navigated through the mostly deserted neighborhood (I guess when you have small kids the night ends early) to kidnap Karma from Provo. And by the time we got back Cam was almost completly normal... Happy Halloween!
First of all Cam took the day off to go in for some dentist work at 9 in the morning. He needed a bit of work done (why not take advantage of the dental insurance we may not have for a while, right?) and they estimated 4 hours. They gave him a pill to take an hour before he went in and would "administer more as needed." It is basically a sedative that would make him loopy enough to pass out during the work. Well, I went down to Provo to hang out with Karma for a while before she had class and when 1 o'clock rolled around I went to get Cam from the dentist.
The dentist work went fine but, oh boy, was Cam out of it. His speech was very slurred, he talked very quietly, his eyes were never more than half open, and he would take long pauses while talking to you or take a long while before answering any questions. He insisted that he could get himself in the house and upstairs by himself, that I should just take care of the kids (after I let him go by himself and read the post-operation stuff I found out I should always hold his arm while he walks and help him upstairs if stairs aren't completely avoidable... oops, I am glad he didn't hurt himself).
I let him sleep until about 6 then woke him up to eat something and see what he wanted me to make/get for him (he wanted a smoothie and me to make pudding) I also told him I was going out for a few hours, Dallas was getting ansy (I wouldn't let him in the room with Daddy while he was sleeping and that is where the TV is, so he was watching movies on the computer when he wanted too, and he just had too much energy for me to keep up with him). So I fed Chelane, left Cam (who was seeming a little less drugged), and navagated out of the neighborhood full of early trick-or-treaters to go to the nearest large store that had the best possibility of entertaining me for at least an hour and a half: Wal*mart.
If anyone is wondering the best time of the year to go to Wal*mart, it is Halloween night. The parking lot (which I haven't seen less than half empty before no matter when I come) was only about 10 cars deep, they didn't have many registers open but I still only waited for 2 minutes to get to the front of a line. We did a little shopping, purused the DVD's, called Karma to see if she wanted to come up and hang out with me (I needed non-drugged adult contact) and people watched. Like I said, there weren't many people at Wal*mart, but almost all the people that were there (including employees) were dressed up in honor of the holiday. I came across one person dressed up (well make-up'd) like the Joker in "Dark Knight" and the resembalance was pretty scary. I actually tracked him down after I passed him and asked if I could take a picture, unfortunatly the camera on my phone isn't very good and the lens is dirty so all my pictures come out grainy and unclear, but here is the picture anyway (I sorta think the bad-ness of the camera adds to the affect (or is that effect?)).
When I got home around 8 Cam was asleep again and I woke him up to administer the smoothie (I had gotten a smoothie too which Dallas took the lid off while I was tending to Cam and knocked on the floor... so I ended up with half a smoothie). Then Karma called me and told me her tentative Halloween plans had fallen through and to come get her for the weekend (yippee!).
I left the house close to 9 to go get her and navigated through the mostly deserted neighborhood (I guess when you have small kids the night ends early) to kidnap Karma from Provo. And by the time we got back Cam was almost completly normal... Happy Halloween!
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