Saturday, September 27, 2008

He's not a bad kid

Bubba is often considered "the bad kid" because of his poor impulse control and his limited ability of knowing when to STOP doing certain things when grown ups are looking. For example, his peers know to look innocent and to hide the spit balls when an adult glances their way. Bubba, on the other hand, will do what his peers are doing if it looks like fun, but will keep on doing it no matter who is looking! Guess who gets in trouble?

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Bubba was trying to help some kids on a slide, and apparently moved something out of the way that they had not wanted moved.

"You're an idiot!" the boy stated loudly.

Bubba paused, while daddy and I gawked from below.

"That's not a nice way to say that," Bubba said softly as he scratched his head.

"You know what's not nice?" the other boy retorted "Your face. It's ugly."

"Don't say that," Bubba said, and he walked to the edge of the slide and exclaimed "Mom! Someone called my face ugly!"

I told him that if he didn't like what someone was saying to him, he could say "That's not very nice" and walk away. The parent of the other boy said nothing.

Later, me and Hubby talked to Bubba and told him how well he handled the situation. We explained further that you can disagree with someone and still talk, but if they are just saying things to hurt you, it is better to ignore them. In the past, Bubba would've yelled, hit, screamed, pushed, or something to that nature. Not because he was offended, but because he didn't know how to respond. He didn't have many responses in his bag of tricks. So this was a big deal on so many levels.

The hard part for mommy is that it is clear Bubba understands insults and they hurt his feelings. I know daddy secretly wished that Bubba had decked the kid, but I was proud of Bubba for not giving the kid any power and walking away.

Thursday, September 25, 2008

Drainage

Bubba has been picking at his nose a lot lately and seems to have a irritating cough. Thinking maybe he has postnasal drip, I asked him if he felt anything going down his throat. He pondered for a moment and then stated matter of factly: "Just my spit. And my brain. That's it." I'm guessing that is a "yes" to the postnasal drip question.

Monday, September 22, 2008

Roller Coaster Ride

I am kind of emotional, I think because of the pain meds, but for family, here's an update. For those of you who have no idea what's going on, well lucky you, you don't have to ride the worry train like the rest of us did!

Last week I was having moderate chest pain. Since I had been coughing for a few weeks I went in and the doctor did a chest x-ray, which ruled out pneumonia or a cracked rib. I figured it was a pulled muscle or something, took Advil, and went on with my life.

By Friday I was in excruciating pain. I had tender areas that would cause me to scream if touched, I could barely walk, and it hurt to breathe. I felt like large knives were stabbing me over and over again, in multiple places. I called Hubby and one of my friends crying, I could barely speak.

They took me to the doctor who sent me to the ER. Since the pain was so intense, and because of the presentation and location, my doctor, and then the ER staff believed it to be my gallbladder. They sent me for an ultrasound, and prepared me mentally for the possibility of gallbladder removal.

Upon returning from the ultrasound, I was in so much pain, they doped me up. The pain never went away, but at some point I was so sleepy and dizzy, I didn't care.

At some point, the ER doc came in and told us that the ultrasound indicated that my gallbladder was fine, but that I had a small adenoma on my liver that appeared to be bleeding.

The ER was going to send me home with pain meds, but my doctor wanted a surgical consult. The surgeon wanted a CAT scan. So they did the CAT scan, which was inconclusive apparently, and then someone ordered an MRI. Since they couldn't do the MRI until Saturday, I was admitted. For that night and most of Saturday it was difficult to get out of bed to walk to the bathroom, but by Saturday evening I was feeling better.

Anyhow, after being placed on anxiety medicine so I could make it through the hour and a half hold-my-breath-even though-it-hurt-like-hell MRI, we waited, and waited, and waited. At this point I didn't know if what I was feeling was my original complaint or side effects from all of the medications, not being able to move my arm since my IV was in my elbow crease, the hard bed and not being able to get comfortable (the bulging disk I have in my lower back started to flare up), blood being drawn, being kept on a clear liquid diet "just in case," etc.

Since the ultrasound indicated bleeding, the one doctor would not let me go home. The surgeon on staff that weekend wanted to send me home and said nothing need to be done to my liver "yet" (we never did figure out what that meant). And NO ONE READ THE MRI until Monday morning, so there I sat in the hospital all weekend.

Finally on Monday, the MRI was read and it was determined that I have some (I never got a clear answer as to how many) hemangiomas, which are around 5cm, on some part of my liver. Apparently vascular tumors aren't that rare and aren't that big of a deal unless they get too big to cause symptoms. The GI doctor that finally saw me did not believe from the test reports and his assessment (where he pushed on all of my insides and on my tender areas) did not believe the hemangiomas were the source of my pain. He believes since I was coughing for so long, that I had chest inflammation, muscle issues or something to do with my ribs. The surgeon said he "didn't think it was my ribs", and my primary care didn't think my original presentation (when the pain went from bearable to excruciating) indicated chest inflammation, but they I described how the pain moved when I went from sitting to laying flat, that it was liver/gallbladder.

So really we never did find out what was wrong, but the pain is much better after being immobile for 4 days and doped up. I am now resting at home, trying to move around but not over do it. The pain is back to bearable, I am just dizzy. I go back to the doctor on Friday.

The plan is to request all of my records from my ridiculous hospital stay and take them to a liver specialist for a second opinion just to make sure.

My poor kids were shuttled everywhere and were so stressed. At one point Bubba screamed at me on the phone: "I am so angry! I am so angry mom!" He apparently crumpled up a picture of me and daddy and also asked Ma-ma if I was going to die. Poor guy. It was really hard to hear him so upset.

I felt awful for the roller coaster ride we put family and friends through, but you never know what to tell people or if you should hold back until you know more. So to family and friends, I am so sorry you had to worry along with us. The amount of support we got with the boys and all of the prayers and well-wishes were amazing. We are very lucky to have that kind of support and love in our lives. And as someone else said, gave my dad something else to think about, so all of a sudden he started doing much better. I guess there's always an upside! I also know to tell my OB that hormonal therapy might not be the best way to address the hormonal issues I have going on.

Good news, for now I am OK, no surgery is needed, and I am back home. And a word of warning: hope to God you never get admitted to a hospital on a Friday afternoon.

Monday, September 15, 2008

I got nothin'

A quick update as to why I am silent here:

1) Third grade sucks.
2) We are broke.
3) I am working, a lot.
4) Hubby is allergic to Sally (the cat).
5) I want to keep the cat, so I am cleaning, brushing, sanitizing, a lot.
6) Hubby is working 12 to 14 hours a day. (So who cares if he is allergic to the cat. He's NEVER home!)
7) I only have 2-3 hours a day to work without my kids at home, until Hubby gets home (at 9PM). (Thank goodness I have my mother-in-law and some respite funds to help me out when I think I am going to cave in. Unfortunately, when the boys are gone, there's still no resting.)
8) I am still fucking coughing (this is the fourth week I believe), and now I have a sharp pain in the right side of my chest when I breathe(I am hoping it is gas).
9) I am writing a lot of emails to teachers to document things, and planning for another IEP meeting (see number 1).
10) The one part of our basement floor we didn't need to replace when our kitchen pipes ruined our basement? Yeah, guess whose basement leaked RIGHT THERE thanks to Tropical Storm Ike? Yep, ours. The floor is ruined.(Yes, I am thankful we weren't in the actual hurricane and I know it could've been so much worse.)
11)My dad is staying hydrated and getting some nutrition, but he is having a lot of bad "reactions" to the LapBand. Worrying about him is a full-time job in itself. Plus he's crabby, which makes me crabby.
12)When the boys are home, I am trying to give them a 100% Right now, our relationship is pretty good, so that makes me happy. :)

A quick update as to why I will be silent here for awhile:

1) See above.
2) The boys start their three-week cycle break (no school) on Friday.

What have I given up? Exercising, writing, working in my garden. No wonder I am crabby. And now summer is over. :(

Monday, September 8, 2008

Do you trust CNN?

Thought this was going to be some political post, didn't you? Nope. I am still sick; what is this, week 3? More than anything, the pounding headaches I get during and long after coughing are unbearable and debilitating. I wasn't sure if there was something--anything-- I could do besides taking the doctor-prescribed Advil every four hours, Codeine cough syrup, Claritin, Mucinex, and antibiotic.

CNN tells ms "To prevent primary cough headaches, avoid coughing."

Good to know.

Friday, September 5, 2008

Procrastination

Hopefully this isn't the face recognition software the FBI uses...
http://www.myheritage.com/collage


And what sort of politically correct bullshit is this?

MyHeritage: Look-alike Meter - Family history - Geneology software

MyHeritage: Look-alike Meter - Geneology

Wednesday, September 3, 2008

What's the story?

School has not been going well. I am beginning to see why Bubba hates the third grade.



So he told the story, and apparently there is no problem with it--the birds were happy with the situation, so why create a problem where there is none? And come on, what's a story without "the end"?

Maybe I just find this funny because I am on narcotics and antibiotics and I am still coughing myself into a constant migraine. In anycase, don't tell Bubba that I hate third grade too...well at least I really, really dislike it!