I know that life gets crazy for everyone! Here is a semi quick update on my life right now.
Chris is a freshman. He still needs to figure out that school is important. He is a Life Scout and is now working toward his Eagle Scout rank. He has already talked to the scout leaders about what he wants to do for his Eagle project. He would really like to finish it as much as possible by the end of the year. He got to go to Florida for spring break with our church. We attend an awesome church (more on that later.) He had a blast and got to swim in the ocean for the first time.
Cassidy is in eighth grade this year. She joined the Book Battle and had a great time. I was so excited for her. She is my child that has struggled with a learning disability in reading. She now reads ALL the time. She is a Cadette Scout in Girl Scouts and is also a Venture Scout. This all keeps her pretty busy. Cassidy has been fairly healthy this school year. The only hospital stay she has had was not for her asthma, but to get her appendix removed. She has only had one trip to the ER for her asthma and it was just this past weekend.
Barry is in seventh grade. He has decided that school is too hard. I am not sure if he is having a problem with someone at school or with the school work itself. I have been working on figuring that out. He is a Star Scout. He can actually rank up to Life Scout this week. I am not sure if he will do it right a way or not, but he can if he wants to. Barry is not sure what he wants to do for his Eagle Project, but he has time to figure it out.
I am looking for a job, but in the mean time have been keeping myself VERY busy. I still help out in scouts any where I can. I also volunteer in Kairos Outside. This is a fantastic outreach that works with women who have or have had someone in prison or jail. I attended this as a guest and LOVED it, so I have worked with the group since then. We also found a great church.
We attend Road to Life Church in Chesterton, IN. The first time we visited, my kids all asked to come back. So we did and have never looked back. Chris volunteers in Kidtown (kids up to 4th grade) doing media (lights and computer stuff.) Cassidy and I work in Baby Boulevard. This is kids from newborn to three or potty trained. We all are going to start helping with Load In because we go to church in a high school. So of course this means everything is taken in and out of the school we use every week. All three kids love the youth group, The Avenue or Ave for short. This is who Chris went to Florida with. Cassidy and Barry went to Chicago with the Ave over spring break. They all had a really good time.
Monday, March 28, 2016
Wednesday, June 17, 2015
Most Unusual May (For Me Anyway)
May is usually a fast paced race to the end of the school year for my family. I usually need to be able to run errands, pick up kids, etc. This May was far from usual. In September of 2014 I started having some minor health issues. The difficulties were enough to annoy me, but not enough to run to the doctor. These issues were not life threatening, just irritating. In January my issues went from irritating to worrying. I dealt with it. (I was having excessively long monthly periods with very heavy bleeding.) In March I finally went to the doctor and he recommended a hysterectomy. I was so ready to be done with health problems that I was okay with the idea of a hysterectomy. He gave me information on the various kinds of hysterectomies that are done now. (Did you even know that there were multiple ways to have a hysterectomy? Partial, take the Fallopian tubes, take the cervix, take the ovaries, etc. Then there is the type of surgery you could have. Abdominal, vaginal, laproscopic, or da vinci laproscopic. Choices, choices, choices.) My doctor recommended the da vinci laproscopic surgery taking everything but my ovaries. That way I would have an easy recovery and not need to take any hormone therapy. Easy recovery and no hormone therapy? Easy choice, I can totally deal with that. I decided to go with his recommendation and be done with the health issues. I was told that the longest I would be in the hospital was two nights.
Fast forward to May 1st, surgery day. Before my surgery, I was slightly anemic from the excessive bleeding I was having during my monthly cycle. I have never been cut open before in any way so I was VERY nervous. The pre-op nurses and staff did a lot to try to calm me down, but they did not really succeed. As a precaution the nurses had me sign the form saying I would be okay with blood if I needed it. (Remember this, it is important.) I remember going into the operating room and then the next thing I remember is the doctor telling me he had to open me up because I was bleeding a lot and they had to find the bleeder. He called in another surgeon to help him find the bleeder. I got TWO units of blood during that surgery. I was moved up to my room and was very out of it for the rest of the night. I was very nauseous, but I thought it was from the extra trauma me body went through. (My surgery started at 10:30 am and I went up to my room around 5:00 pm.) During the night the nurses noticed a lot of blood in my urine. (I had a catheter.) They called the second surgeon and he decided I needed a test done first thing in the morning. The original surgeon came in Saturday morning and said he did not think anything was wrong, but I was still going to have the test done just in case. I went down to x-ray about 9:00 am. They injected a dye into my IV to see if there were any leaks in my urinary system. (At this point I had two IVs.) It was not comfortable. I hurt, but I dealt with it. They had to call my nurse down because the catheter got a clot and was not draining. Fun right? It gets better. I was taken back up to my room. Ten minutes later, my nurse came rushing in the the telephone. The original surgeon was on the phone. There was a problem and a urologist would be taking me back to the operating room that afternoon to see exactly what was wrong.
My mother was planning to bring my kids up to see me. My nurse recommended that she not come until about 6:00. He thought I should be back in my room by then. At 2:30 pm that afternoon I was taken back down to the operating room. They had to open me back up again because during the first surgery the doctors nicked my bladder and ureter. The urologists had to cut the damaged part of my ureter off and reattach it to my bladder. (I had three urologist in the operating room.) They had to cut my bladder open to reattach my ureter. After the surgery was over I got ONE unit of blood. (It was at this point that I started figuring out that anesthesia makes me nauseous. I threw up in the recovery room. Not fun.) I was taken back up to my room about 7:00 pm. I remember my mother saying that she would leave and come back the next day because I was so out of it. I do not remember much more about that night.
They came in every morning to take blood and check my iron levels and red blood cell count. On the day of my surgery, pre-surgery, my red blood cell count was low, but not dangerous. My iron level was low, but again not dangerously. Post-op, my numbers dropped but that is why they gave me the two units of blood during the surgery. The day after my first surgery after the first TWO units of blood, my levels were even lower than the post-op numbers. After my second surgery and third unit of blood, my numbers continued to go down. I was given TWO more units of blood the day after my second surgery. All told I received FIVE units of blood. (As I found out just this week ONE unit of blood equals about ONE pint of blood. An adult has about TEN pints of blood in their bodies. I needed about half of my blood volume replaced.)
I was in the hospital from the day of surgery, Friday May 1st, until Thursday, May 7th. I had a catheter in from the day of my first surgery until five days after I got out of the hospital. I had a stint in until June 4th. I had a third surgery then. My surgery was at about 8:00 am and I was home by 11:30 am. I was given something to help me avoid the anesthesia nausea. (They gave me a patch. It was supposed to help me avoid the nausea.) The surgery was fine. The nausea was not. I was nauseous going home, but they pain was not too bad. When I got home the pain got worse and the nausea got worse. About 3:30 pm, I started throwing up. I took the patch off because I was worried that it was making my nausea worse. I continued to throw up. At about 6:00 pm, I asked my neighbor to take me to the ER. I was at the ER until after midnight. I was given another IV and medicine to help with the pain and another medicine to help with the nausea. I was also given two bags of IV fluids because I was VERY dehydrated. I was still nauseous until about June 12th. I still have burning in my side where I had the stint.
I am doing better. I am feeling better. What was supposed to be a simple surgery turned into a massive ordeal. I have an incredible family and friend support system. My church called and checked up on me periodically. People brought my family dinner, so I would not have to worry about it. A friend let my mother bring my kids to her house every morning very early to catch the bus for two weeks. Other friends drove me to doctor's appointments, the store, and took my kids to their activities so they did not have to miss anything.
Fast forward to May 1st, surgery day. Before my surgery, I was slightly anemic from the excessive bleeding I was having during my monthly cycle. I have never been cut open before in any way so I was VERY nervous. The pre-op nurses and staff did a lot to try to calm me down, but they did not really succeed. As a precaution the nurses had me sign the form saying I would be okay with blood if I needed it. (Remember this, it is important.) I remember going into the operating room and then the next thing I remember is the doctor telling me he had to open me up because I was bleeding a lot and they had to find the bleeder. He called in another surgeon to help him find the bleeder. I got TWO units of blood during that surgery. I was moved up to my room and was very out of it for the rest of the night. I was very nauseous, but I thought it was from the extra trauma me body went through. (My surgery started at 10:30 am and I went up to my room around 5:00 pm.) During the night the nurses noticed a lot of blood in my urine. (I had a catheter.) They called the second surgeon and he decided I needed a test done first thing in the morning. The original surgeon came in Saturday morning and said he did not think anything was wrong, but I was still going to have the test done just in case. I went down to x-ray about 9:00 am. They injected a dye into my IV to see if there were any leaks in my urinary system. (At this point I had two IVs.) It was not comfortable. I hurt, but I dealt with it. They had to call my nurse down because the catheter got a clot and was not draining. Fun right? It gets better. I was taken back up to my room. Ten minutes later, my nurse came rushing in the the telephone. The original surgeon was on the phone. There was a problem and a urologist would be taking me back to the operating room that afternoon to see exactly what was wrong.
My mother was planning to bring my kids up to see me. My nurse recommended that she not come until about 6:00. He thought I should be back in my room by then. At 2:30 pm that afternoon I was taken back down to the operating room. They had to open me back up again because during the first surgery the doctors nicked my bladder and ureter. The urologists had to cut the damaged part of my ureter off and reattach it to my bladder. (I had three urologist in the operating room.) They had to cut my bladder open to reattach my ureter. After the surgery was over I got ONE unit of blood. (It was at this point that I started figuring out that anesthesia makes me nauseous. I threw up in the recovery room. Not fun.) I was taken back up to my room about 7:00 pm. I remember my mother saying that she would leave and come back the next day because I was so out of it. I do not remember much more about that night.
They came in every morning to take blood and check my iron levels and red blood cell count. On the day of my surgery, pre-surgery, my red blood cell count was low, but not dangerous. My iron level was low, but again not dangerously. Post-op, my numbers dropped but that is why they gave me the two units of blood during the surgery. The day after my first surgery after the first TWO units of blood, my levels were even lower than the post-op numbers. After my second surgery and third unit of blood, my numbers continued to go down. I was given TWO more units of blood the day after my second surgery. All told I received FIVE units of blood. (As I found out just this week ONE unit of blood equals about ONE pint of blood. An adult has about TEN pints of blood in their bodies. I needed about half of my blood volume replaced.)
I was in the hospital from the day of surgery, Friday May 1st, until Thursday, May 7th. I had a catheter in from the day of my first surgery until five days after I got out of the hospital. I had a stint in until June 4th. I had a third surgery then. My surgery was at about 8:00 am and I was home by 11:30 am. I was given something to help me avoid the anesthesia nausea. (They gave me a patch. It was supposed to help me avoid the nausea.) The surgery was fine. The nausea was not. I was nauseous going home, but they pain was not too bad. When I got home the pain got worse and the nausea got worse. About 3:30 pm, I started throwing up. I took the patch off because I was worried that it was making my nausea worse. I continued to throw up. At about 6:00 pm, I asked my neighbor to take me to the ER. I was at the ER until after midnight. I was given another IV and medicine to help with the pain and another medicine to help with the nausea. I was also given two bags of IV fluids because I was VERY dehydrated. I was still nauseous until about June 12th. I still have burning in my side where I had the stint.
I am doing better. I am feeling better. What was supposed to be a simple surgery turned into a massive ordeal. I have an incredible family and friend support system. My church called and checked up on me periodically. People brought my family dinner, so I would not have to worry about it. A friend let my mother bring my kids to her house every morning very early to catch the bus for two weeks. Other friends drove me to doctor's appointments, the store, and took my kids to their activities so they did not have to miss anything.
Sunday, October 5, 2014
2014 Update
How did so much time go by? I have thought many times about writing a blog and always seem to get distracted. I do not know how it happens, but it does.
Life in Indiana has been, well interesting to say the least. The weather is kind of out of control. We had one of the worst winters in history, SNOW, Snow and more snow. Then we had RAIN, Rain, and more rain. No really hot weather. And now we have pretty much skipped early fall and have gone straight to early winter. On Saturday, October 4, 2014, we had flurries. Yes real actual snow. Who ever heard of snow at the beginning of October! That is just the weather. :)
Let's see. Christopher is now almost 15. I can hardly believe it. He is a typical teenager. He thinks he is in charge of the world. He has decided that he is the man of the house and that his sister and brother need to obey him also. He will learn. (Insert evil mom laugh.) He is an unhappy eighth grader. (He absolutely HATES homework. His school has an after school program that requires kids to go to it if they do not finish homework. He is there A LOT.) He is still in Scouts and at times threatens to quit, until the next meeting or activity, then he has a blast and forgets to quit.
Cassidy is 13, an official teenager and everything that goes along with it. She is in seventh grade and actually real likes her classes. She is a big help everywhere and usually does exactly what she is asked without complaining, although the whine and complaint do happen. She still deals with asthma, still pretty severe. She gets very annoyed when she has an asthma attack. She was in the hospital last week and when we got there she knew all the nurses and respiratory staff that she saw. That does make her life a little easier.
Barry is 11. He is still a sweet little boy. He is in Scouts and seems to have a good time. He is in sixth grade. He has had a difficult time in school this year, but that is not completely unheard of at his school. There are some tough sixth grade teachers. :) He really enjoys hanging out with his friends.
We started attending a new church and really like it. My kids LOVE the youth group. They meet every other week and my kids really look forward to it. I have found some old friends and made some new ones at our new church. We have not been going long, but I really like it. I have two classes to finish to get my degree. I should be done in May. One this semester and one next. I cannot wait to be done.
Hopefully I will remember to update this blog more frequently, but we shall see. :)
Life in Indiana has been, well interesting to say the least. The weather is kind of out of control. We had one of the worst winters in history, SNOW, Snow and more snow. Then we had RAIN, Rain, and more rain. No really hot weather. And now we have pretty much skipped early fall and have gone straight to early winter. On Saturday, October 4, 2014, we had flurries. Yes real actual snow. Who ever heard of snow at the beginning of October! That is just the weather. :)
Let's see. Christopher is now almost 15. I can hardly believe it. He is a typical teenager. He thinks he is in charge of the world. He has decided that he is the man of the house and that his sister and brother need to obey him also. He will learn. (Insert evil mom laugh.) He is an unhappy eighth grader. (He absolutely HATES homework. His school has an after school program that requires kids to go to it if they do not finish homework. He is there A LOT.) He is still in Scouts and at times threatens to quit, until the next meeting or activity, then he has a blast and forgets to quit.
Cassidy is 13, an official teenager and everything that goes along with it. She is in seventh grade and actually real likes her classes. She is a big help everywhere and usually does exactly what she is asked without complaining, although the whine and complaint do happen. She still deals with asthma, still pretty severe. She gets very annoyed when she has an asthma attack. She was in the hospital last week and when we got there she knew all the nurses and respiratory staff that she saw. That does make her life a little easier.
Barry is 11. He is still a sweet little boy. He is in Scouts and seems to have a good time. He is in sixth grade. He has had a difficult time in school this year, but that is not completely unheard of at his school. There are some tough sixth grade teachers. :) He really enjoys hanging out with his friends.
We started attending a new church and really like it. My kids LOVE the youth group. They meet every other week and my kids really look forward to it. I have found some old friends and made some new ones at our new church. We have not been going long, but I really like it. I have two classes to finish to get my degree. I should be done in May. One this semester and one next. I cannot wait to be done.
Hopefully I will remember to update this blog more frequently, but we shall see. :)
Monday, December 30, 2013
So Long 2013
Well, time to say goodbye to a VERY stressful year. Any of you feel differently? Anyway, let me tell you about our last couple of weeks. Cassidy has been doing better (finally) and for the moment her asthma is under control. HOORAY!!! She has been approved for the new medication, but we are still figuring out all the details. We will probably start in the next couple of weeks. I hope it will make the difference that her doctor is expecting.
Our Christmas was fantastic. Most of my brothers and sisters were home. My kids went to their grandparent's house the Saturday before Christmas. They had a great time. Apparently they had a gingerbread house building contest. I thought their houses looked great.
We had our normal extended family over for Christmas day. Everyone ate way more than we needed to, but it was SO good. :) It was fun to see everyone.
Now to my favorite part. My family is very large and loud. We all went to Nick and Krista's house for Christmas and pirogi. (We can it something else, but I have no idea how to spell it.) We had seven kids from 4 months old to 14 years old, 10 adults and lots of fun in a little house. Nick was smart and took the munchkins to the park to get them out of the house while the baby slept. The adults undertook the task of making the pirogi. We make them from scratch and it is a long process, but worth it I assure you. My mother also makes borscht. My kids really like pirogi and look forward to it every year. We opened gifts, lots and lots of gifts. The kids were beyond excited. Cassidy wrapped a gift for Chris with the help of my neighbor that took him FOREVER to open. They wrapped it with lots of paper, tape, and ribbon. (Chris has decided this year that he did not want ribbons on anything.) She got a kick out of making things difficult for him.
On the Saturday after Christmas, we hung out with my brother and his wife and kids and my sister and her husband. We explored Albanese Candy Factory. Never a good place to go when you are hungry. For those who do not know, they actually have a chocolate fountain. Candy, candy everywhere. My sister-in-law decided that we had to go get lunch right after we left there. :) We went bowling. I am not very good at bowling, but it sure can be fun when you are playing with family. We got two lanes, one for kids with the bumpers and a ramp for the little ones and one for the adults with the gutters wide open. :) The kids had lots of fun and my brother-in-law can really bowl. :) I think my favorite part of the day was dinner. We had chicken tacos with all sorts of veggies. (Avocado, cucumber, peppers, lettuce, carrots, tomatoes, fried mushrooms and onions, and cheese. Sounds good right.) My mother thought we were crazy to add cucumber and carrot, but my kids love it and so did my sis and bro-in-law. Once dinner was over, we played hand and foot. If you have never played, you are really missing out. My boys got to play for the first time and Christopher is a card shark. He and my mother were partners and they kicked butt. However my brother and his wife beat everyone. Everyone kept asking Barry which cards to pick. Apparently he really helped them all, but not so much himself. I think they both had a good time.
Over all we had a good holiday and so far a healthy one. :)
Our Christmas was fantastic. Most of my brothers and sisters were home. My kids went to their grandparent's house the Saturday before Christmas. They had a great time. Apparently they had a gingerbread house building contest. I thought their houses looked great.
We had our normal extended family over for Christmas day. Everyone ate way more than we needed to, but it was SO good. :) It was fun to see everyone.
Now to my favorite part. My family is very large and loud. We all went to Nick and Krista's house for Christmas and pirogi. (We can it something else, but I have no idea how to spell it.) We had seven kids from 4 months old to 14 years old, 10 adults and lots of fun in a little house. Nick was smart and took the munchkins to the park to get them out of the house while the baby slept. The adults undertook the task of making the pirogi. We make them from scratch and it is a long process, but worth it I assure you. My mother also makes borscht. My kids really like pirogi and look forward to it every year. We opened gifts, lots and lots of gifts. The kids were beyond excited. Cassidy wrapped a gift for Chris with the help of my neighbor that took him FOREVER to open. They wrapped it with lots of paper, tape, and ribbon. (Chris has decided this year that he did not want ribbons on anything.) She got a kick out of making things difficult for him.
On the Saturday after Christmas, we hung out with my brother and his wife and kids and my sister and her husband. We explored Albanese Candy Factory. Never a good place to go when you are hungry. For those who do not know, they actually have a chocolate fountain. Candy, candy everywhere. My sister-in-law decided that we had to go get lunch right after we left there. :) We went bowling. I am not very good at bowling, but it sure can be fun when you are playing with family. We got two lanes, one for kids with the bumpers and a ramp for the little ones and one for the adults with the gutters wide open. :) The kids had lots of fun and my brother-in-law can really bowl. :) I think my favorite part of the day was dinner. We had chicken tacos with all sorts of veggies. (Avocado, cucumber, peppers, lettuce, carrots, tomatoes, fried mushrooms and onions, and cheese. Sounds good right.) My mother thought we were crazy to add cucumber and carrot, but my kids love it and so did my sis and bro-in-law. Once dinner was over, we played hand and foot. If you have never played, you are really missing out. My boys got to play for the first time and Christopher is a card shark. He and my mother were partners and they kicked butt. However my brother and his wife beat everyone. Everyone kept asking Barry which cards to pick. Apparently he really helped them all, but not so much himself. I think they both had a good time.
Over all we had a good holiday and so far a healthy one. :)
Thursday, December 5, 2013
Asthma Strikes Again!
Well, how was your Thanksgiving? Mine was great!! I had a great time with family and friends. I taught a new friend and a cousin how to make a fleece tie blanket, refreshed another cousin on the technique, made lots of fruit salad and desserts, and talked a lot. We had 35 people at my mother's house so it was a little full, but I sometimes think that is the best time. Everyone hung out and had fun.
Everyone knows that a lot of stores were opening on Thanksgiving evening and I said, "Nope, no way. I am NOT going to shop on Thanksgiving!" Well, little did I know, but my cousin decided that while she was in Indiana, she would take advantage of our lower sales tax. (For those interested, she lives in Chicago and Chicago has the highest sales tax in the country, so you can see why she would want to do this.) She has not know where ANYTHING is in Indiana. So guess what that meant? Yep, you guessed it. I went shopping on Thanksgiving! We had a good time. It gave us time to talk and catch up with each other's busy lives. We got home at almost 2:30 am. Talk about tired!! My daughter made it through Thanksgiving with no visit to the hospital! (Remember last year we spent Thanksgiving day in the PICU.)
Friday, all three kids went to visit their grandparents. They have been going over there every other weekend. I enjoy the break and they have been getting to know their grandparents better. I think it is a win win situation. On Saturday morning, I got a call asking if Cassidy could take some allergy meds. Sure why not? (Her nose was running.) I got another call that afternoon. She took some Tylenol for a headache. (No fever.) That is fine. I was totally not worried. I knew she had a new inhaler (194 puffs left) so she should be fine with her breathing, right? Apparently not. At 8:30 Cassidy called me and asked me to pick her up because the inhaler was not working. (For those of you with asthmatics you know that sometimes using the nebulizer works better because it allows the medicine to work over a slower period of time.) So I went and picked her up. I ended up with all three kids coming home, but that was fine. While I was in the car a found out that the inhaler only had 52 puffs left. WAIT JUST A MINUTE!!!! I know Chris also uses the inhaler, but he and Cassidy agreed that he only used the inhaler four times while they were there. (Each use is 2 puffs, even if he messed up and had to do three or four puffs each time, he only used it 16 puffs at most.) Let's do the math: 194-20 (benefit of the doubt, maybe he forgot a use or two.) = 174, 174-52= 122 puffs! I dropped the boys off at my mother's and headed to the ER.
Now most of you know that most ERs are always busy, but here we have a hidden gem. It is a new facility and still fairly unknown. Every time I have been there, we are taken straight into the triage room and then straight back. No different Saturday. We went straight back. Cassidy's pulse ox was 88. She was given 2 breathing treatments right a way and an oral steroid dose. Pulse ox stayed the same. Added oxygen, still the same. So she got admitted. The ER we go to is only and ER, not a full in patient hospital, so they transferred her by ambulance to our local hospital. I had the ER doctor call her asthma specialist and we were able to avoid an IV! Cassidy was VERY happy about that one.
She was in the hospital from Saturday night (the only kid on the peds unit) through Tuesday afternoon. She actually goes back to school in the morning. When will my child catch a break in this whole thing!
Everyone knows that a lot of stores were opening on Thanksgiving evening and I said, "Nope, no way. I am NOT going to shop on Thanksgiving!" Well, little did I know, but my cousin decided that while she was in Indiana, she would take advantage of our lower sales tax. (For those interested, she lives in Chicago and Chicago has the highest sales tax in the country, so you can see why she would want to do this.) She has not know where ANYTHING is in Indiana. So guess what that meant? Yep, you guessed it. I went shopping on Thanksgiving! We had a good time. It gave us time to talk and catch up with each other's busy lives. We got home at almost 2:30 am. Talk about tired!! My daughter made it through Thanksgiving with no visit to the hospital! (Remember last year we spent Thanksgiving day in the PICU.)
Friday, all three kids went to visit their grandparents. They have been going over there every other weekend. I enjoy the break and they have been getting to know their grandparents better. I think it is a win win situation. On Saturday morning, I got a call asking if Cassidy could take some allergy meds. Sure why not? (Her nose was running.) I got another call that afternoon. She took some Tylenol for a headache. (No fever.) That is fine. I was totally not worried. I knew she had a new inhaler (194 puffs left) so she should be fine with her breathing, right? Apparently not. At 8:30 Cassidy called me and asked me to pick her up because the inhaler was not working. (For those of you with asthmatics you know that sometimes using the nebulizer works better because it allows the medicine to work over a slower period of time.) So I went and picked her up. I ended up with all three kids coming home, but that was fine. While I was in the car a found out that the inhaler only had 52 puffs left. WAIT JUST A MINUTE!!!! I know Chris also uses the inhaler, but he and Cassidy agreed that he only used the inhaler four times while they were there. (Each use is 2 puffs, even if he messed up and had to do three or four puffs each time, he only used it 16 puffs at most.) Let's do the math: 194-20 (benefit of the doubt, maybe he forgot a use or two.) = 174, 174-52= 122 puffs! I dropped the boys off at my mother's and headed to the ER.
Now most of you know that most ERs are always busy, but here we have a hidden gem. It is a new facility and still fairly unknown. Every time I have been there, we are taken straight into the triage room and then straight back. No different Saturday. We went straight back. Cassidy's pulse ox was 88. She was given 2 breathing treatments right a way and an oral steroid dose. Pulse ox stayed the same. Added oxygen, still the same. So she got admitted. The ER we go to is only and ER, not a full in patient hospital, so they transferred her by ambulance to our local hospital. I had the ER doctor call her asthma specialist and we were able to avoid an IV! Cassidy was VERY happy about that one.
She was in the hospital from Saturday night (the only kid on the peds unit) through Tuesday afternoon. She actually goes back to school in the morning. When will my child catch a break in this whole thing!
Monday, October 21, 2013
Forgotten Memories
What is it about broken, lonely places that strike such a cord in our hearts?
Today my neighbor and I were talking about our dream homes. He wants to renovate an old dairy barn into the house of his dreams. I would love to get an old church or school and make it into my dream home. In the process of our talking, we started looking at old abandoned buildings of any kind ~ schools, churches, barns, etc.
1.
2.
A church in France.
It got me thinking. We found some eerily beautiful and haunting buildings. What would it take to rebuild or refurbish some of these places? I decided to see what else we have left behind. Empty, lost looking cars or moss covered train tracks.
3.
Then I found the saddest abandoned places of all, amusement parks. Have you ever looked at pictures of these forgotten places? Knowing that they were probably lived with laughter and joy makes the pictures of broken carousals and vine covered Ferris wheels that much harder to look at. These pictures were gut wrenching. Some of the pictures I looked at came with the story behind the reason the park was closed. Others I actually looked up. Here are a couple of pictures from the abandoned parks.
4.
This picture is of an amusement park that never had its chance at laughter and fun. It is in Chernobyl. It was supposed to open 5 days after the nuclear meltdown.
5.
A roller coaster in Germany.
Beautiful aren't they?
I looked for pictures of my home town's abandoned places. I grew up in Gary, Indiana. I went to school at Nobel Elementary (now closed) and Emerson Visual and Performing Arts (again, now closed.) Emerson was one of the very first high schools built in Gary. It showcased the fight for equal rights in schools and became an actual Fame type school in its waning days. I remember where my classrooms were and what they looked like. I remember friends I made then and all the fun we had. It was built in 1908 and was open until 1981. It reopened in 1982 as a visual and performing arts magnet school. It stayed open at the original building until 2008. Now you would never know that it was open as recently as 2008. It is kind of sad.
6.
I also found incredible pictures of the Methodist Church that has been featured in many movies including Transformers 3.
7.
These places and spaces would have such stories to tell if only they could. Can you imagine the history most of these buildings have seen? Emerson was 100 years old when it was finally closed in 2008. Both World Wars, the Great Depression, 9/11, the building was around for all of that history. These events were discussed and survived in this building. Most of the other buildings are as old, some even older. You can find much older buildings in Europe that have been around of centuries. What could we learn from these buildings? They show us the architecture and style of time period they were built. They mirror the tastes of the people that lived then. Even as buildings, they have so much they could teach us. That brings me back to my original question. What is it about broken, lonely places that strike such a cord in our hearts? I do not know that I will ever be able to answer that, but I do know that I have found a new interest. I want to see what these builds and places can teach me. I never would have thought about an amusement park in Chernobyl, not that it particularly matters, but I never really thought about the lives that were interrupted. I learned about the accident, but only that it happened and everyone had to leave, but as a child I did not think about the actual cost. Can you think to what it would be like if you were a child in Chernobyl and you knew the park was opening soon? I would have been so excited and then to have that gone, man it would have been very hard leaving everything behind.
Anyway enough rambling, I just had to get my thoughts down. They may not make a lot of sense to everyone else, but they do to me. :)
By the way, old forgotten cemeteries are just as interesting.
Here are the sights I found the pictures:
1. http://www.flickriver.com/photos/genbug/tags/barn/
2. http://photorator.com/photo/15346/a-famous-spot-in-france-st-etienne-abandoned-church-
3. http://blogof.francescomugnai.com/2013/03/33-more-breathtaking-and-incredible-photos-of-abandoned-places/
4. http://500px.com/photo/17857761
5. http://www.pixellica.com/inspiration/urban-decay-derelict-amusemen-park
6. http://sometimes-interesting.com/2013/06/12/emerson-school-of-gary-indiana/
7. http://www.flickr.com/photos/slworking/5914990794/in/photostream/lightbox/
Today my neighbor and I were talking about our dream homes. He wants to renovate an old dairy barn into the house of his dreams. I would love to get an old church or school and make it into my dream home. In the process of our talking, we started looking at old abandoned buildings of any kind ~ schools, churches, barns, etc.
1.2.A church in France.
It got me thinking. We found some eerily beautiful and haunting buildings. What would it take to rebuild or refurbish some of these places? I decided to see what else we have left behind. Empty, lost looking cars or moss covered train tracks.
3.Then I found the saddest abandoned places of all, amusement parks. Have you ever looked at pictures of these forgotten places? Knowing that they were probably lived with laughter and joy makes the pictures of broken carousals and vine covered Ferris wheels that much harder to look at. These pictures were gut wrenching. Some of the pictures I looked at came with the story behind the reason the park was closed. Others I actually looked up. Here are a couple of pictures from the abandoned parks.
4.This picture is of an amusement park that never had its chance at laughter and fun. It is in Chernobyl. It was supposed to open 5 days after the nuclear meltdown.
5.A roller coaster in Germany.
Beautiful aren't they?
I looked for pictures of my home town's abandoned places. I grew up in Gary, Indiana. I went to school at Nobel Elementary (now closed) and Emerson Visual and Performing Arts (again, now closed.) Emerson was one of the very first high schools built in Gary. It showcased the fight for equal rights in schools and became an actual Fame type school in its waning days. I remember where my classrooms were and what they looked like. I remember friends I made then and all the fun we had. It was built in 1908 and was open until 1981. It reopened in 1982 as a visual and performing arts magnet school. It stayed open at the original building until 2008. Now you would never know that it was open as recently as 2008. It is kind of sad.
6.I also found incredible pictures of the Methodist Church that has been featured in many movies including Transformers 3.
7.These places and spaces would have such stories to tell if only they could. Can you imagine the history most of these buildings have seen? Emerson was 100 years old when it was finally closed in 2008. Both World Wars, the Great Depression, 9/11, the building was around for all of that history. These events were discussed and survived in this building. Most of the other buildings are as old, some even older. You can find much older buildings in Europe that have been around of centuries. What could we learn from these buildings? They show us the architecture and style of time period they were built. They mirror the tastes of the people that lived then. Even as buildings, they have so much they could teach us. That brings me back to my original question. What is it about broken, lonely places that strike such a cord in our hearts? I do not know that I will ever be able to answer that, but I do know that I have found a new interest. I want to see what these builds and places can teach me. I never would have thought about an amusement park in Chernobyl, not that it particularly matters, but I never really thought about the lives that were interrupted. I learned about the accident, but only that it happened and everyone had to leave, but as a child I did not think about the actual cost. Can you think to what it would be like if you were a child in Chernobyl and you knew the park was opening soon? I would have been so excited and then to have that gone, man it would have been very hard leaving everything behind.
Anyway enough rambling, I just had to get my thoughts down. They may not make a lot of sense to everyone else, but they do to me. :)
By the way, old forgotten cemeteries are just as interesting.
Here are the sights I found the pictures:
1. http://www.flickriver.com/photos/genbug/tags/barn/
2. http://photorator.com/photo/15346/a-famous-spot-in-france-st-etienne-abandoned-church-
3. http://blogof.francescomugnai.com/2013/03/33-more-breathtaking-and-incredible-photos-of-abandoned-places/
4. http://500px.com/photo/17857761
5. http://www.pixellica.com/inspiration/urban-decay-derelict-amusemen-park
6. http://sometimes-interesting.com/2013/06/12/emerson-school-of-gary-indiana/
7. http://www.flickr.com/photos/slworking/5914990794/in/photostream/lightbox/
Thursday, October 17, 2013
Asthma Sucks! It Really, Really Does!!
WOW!! I know most everyone knows that asthma is super common and more and more people are diagnosed with it all the time, but what most people do not know (unless they have asthma or a loved one with asthma) is that it sucks big time! I grew up with a brother who had asthma, so I thought it was no big deal. We dealt with it and he is a wonderful brother. He still has asthma, but he knows his triggers and how to deal with them. Then I had kids. What a difference that makes! Christopher was diagnosed with asthma and severe allergies when he was about a year old. Never fun and hard to watch your child struggle to breathe. However, we started to figure out what his triggers were and now he does pretty well. My child is much like my brother, allergic to everything under the sun. Chris is allergic to dogs and cats, Christmas trees, tree nuts, peanuts, the list goes on. Again, now that we know, we can avoid or prepare for any issues.
Then along came Cassidy and Barry. Neither one of my youngest kids had any breathing issues until Cassidy got pneumonia in second grade. (She is in sixth grade now.) She was diagnosed with asthma that May. I have Christopher. I know how to deal with asthma in a kid. Boy was I wrong! Cassidy is so different than Chris. I still do not know what her triggers are. She has been in the hospital eleven times since third grade. She misses lots of school and hates that she does. She cries and apologizes to me because she is always sick. How do you help your child with that one?
This school year has been rough. We are in the last week of the first quarter and she has missed about 20 days of school. She has been to our primary care doctor repeatedly and to her asthma specialist at least once a week. She ended up in the hospital last week because of her asthma. She is finally back in school, but she is not allowed to go out for recess or participate in gym because of her wheezing. She is still on oral steroids. She has been on the steroids for pretty much the whole months of September and October (at least what we have gotten through.)
Here is a list of what we have done the past month to try to help Cassidy:
1. Urgent Care with her primary care doctor on a Monday.
2. Appointment with her asthma specialist on Thursday.
3. Follow up with her primary care doctor on Tuesday. He put her on an antibiotic.
4. Appointment with her asthma specialist on Thursday. He has me call him that afternoon so he could check up on her.
5. Appointment with her asthma specialist on Friday. (The following day to see how she was.)
6. A bad weekend. She started coughing so badly, she was throwing up.
7. Back to her asthma specialist on Monday. He put her in the hospital.
8. Hospital visit from Monday through Wednesday. On O2, but no IV much to Cassidy's delight.
9. Appointment with asthma specialist on Thursday.
10. Back to school on Monday.
11. Appointment with her primary care doctor on Tuesday.
12. Appointment with her asthma specialist Thursday (today).
Nine doctor's appointments in 3 weeks. No child should have to do that! During her hospital stay, her asthma specialist decided that she would have to be put on a different medication. A shot, twice a month that costs $800 a shot. He is going to fight with our insurance to make sure she gets approved.
Here is the way he let me know she needed this medication: "We need this medication. It will change her life. She will not need oral steroids as much and will feel better. We want her to survive her childhood."
Never something a parent wants to hear! Wait, you mean my daughter's asthma is so bad it might kill her with out this medicine!! You better get it approved, the quicker the better. I want her around for a long time.
I have always known that asthma can be deadly, but in my experience it is treatable and the people I love will be okay. I call Cassidy a brittle asthmatic. Just like with brittle diabetics, her asthma is very hard to control and we have no idea what really triggers it. Now I am praying this medicine is approved quickly and she really does improve!
Then along came Cassidy and Barry. Neither one of my youngest kids had any breathing issues until Cassidy got pneumonia in second grade. (She is in sixth grade now.) She was diagnosed with asthma that May. I have Christopher. I know how to deal with asthma in a kid. Boy was I wrong! Cassidy is so different than Chris. I still do not know what her triggers are. She has been in the hospital eleven times since third grade. She misses lots of school and hates that she does. She cries and apologizes to me because she is always sick. How do you help your child with that one?
This school year has been rough. We are in the last week of the first quarter and she has missed about 20 days of school. She has been to our primary care doctor repeatedly and to her asthma specialist at least once a week. She ended up in the hospital last week because of her asthma. She is finally back in school, but she is not allowed to go out for recess or participate in gym because of her wheezing. She is still on oral steroids. She has been on the steroids for pretty much the whole months of September and October (at least what we have gotten through.)
Here is a list of what we have done the past month to try to help Cassidy:
1. Urgent Care with her primary care doctor on a Monday.
2. Appointment with her asthma specialist on Thursday.
3. Follow up with her primary care doctor on Tuesday. He put her on an antibiotic.
4. Appointment with her asthma specialist on Thursday. He has me call him that afternoon so he could check up on her.
5. Appointment with her asthma specialist on Friday. (The following day to see how she was.)
6. A bad weekend. She started coughing so badly, she was throwing up.
7. Back to her asthma specialist on Monday. He put her in the hospital.
8. Hospital visit from Monday through Wednesday. On O2, but no IV much to Cassidy's delight.
9. Appointment with asthma specialist on Thursday.
10. Back to school on Monday.
11. Appointment with her primary care doctor on Tuesday.
12. Appointment with her asthma specialist Thursday (today).
Nine doctor's appointments in 3 weeks. No child should have to do that! During her hospital stay, her asthma specialist decided that she would have to be put on a different medication. A shot, twice a month that costs $800 a shot. He is going to fight with our insurance to make sure she gets approved.
Here is the way he let me know she needed this medication: "We need this medication. It will change her life. She will not need oral steroids as much and will feel better. We want her to survive her childhood."
Never something a parent wants to hear! Wait, you mean my daughter's asthma is so bad it might kill her with out this medicine!! You better get it approved, the quicker the better. I want her around for a long time.
I have always known that asthma can be deadly, but in my experience it is treatable and the people I love will be okay. I call Cassidy a brittle asthmatic. Just like with brittle diabetics, her asthma is very hard to control and we have no idea what really triggers it. Now I am praying this medicine is approved quickly and she really does improve!
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