Life Has Been Busy

I am trying to be better about posting, but it hasn't happened yet. Life has been busy for us and not always in a good way. Back in November of last year, my wife had to take me to the ER for some serious pain on my right side. Everyone thought it was my gall bladder, but the ultrasound showed it was fine. I visited my gynecologist and saw a gastroenterologist. The blood work showed I was in early menopause, but nothing else was found, so we decided to wait and see what happened.

January was busy for me with work. Elijah was and still is doing well in school. Life was moving on. Right around February 1st the extreme pain returned for two nights. I was up and awake and dealing with it, and then it would go away. However, on Feb. 6th my wife took me once again to the ER and they thought I had kidney stones. Two days later and four more ER visits (two in the course of about 8 hours) and a LONG special scan and it was determined that my gall bladder was not functioning as it should be. I went to the last ER in an ambulance. There is a lot more to the story, but it is all too complicated. I spent from Thursday night to Saturday afternoon in the hospital. My surgery was early on Friday evening.

My poor wife was as worn out as I was from all of these visits. My mom was a great help and let her go home to get some rest. She had to take care of the boys, although Jacob is pretty self sufficient, Elijah isn't. He is not a toddler, but he needed someone at home at night and to get him up and off to school.

I spent one week home after surgery and then returned to work. It took another two weeks before I started feeling like my old self. The pain that I experienced was the worst pain I have ever had. It wore me out and I was worried we would never find out what was causing it.

Jacob is studying for a certification test for computers that will hopefully lead to a better job. He had his wisdom teeth pulled this past week and did really well with it all. We are both glad that it is done! Elijah will be 17 next month. That is really hard to believe. My wife and I will celebrate our first wedding anniversary in June. Hopefully, I will post again before June!

Phoebe in Wonderland

Phoebe in Wonderland is a movie that depicts a family dealing with a child with Tourette Syndrome. The family does not know this is what they are dealing with at first. The daughter acts strangely, makes sounds, spits, has OCD tendencies and overall is just not acting "normal". It was a hard movie for to me to watch, because I had gone through the range of emotions that the mother in the movie goes through. I had thought there was NO way that Elijah had Tourette Syndrome. Even when we suspected it, I didn't grasp the full effect of this condition.

I would recommend this movie to anyone who wants to get a better understanding of Tourette Syndrome and its co morbid disorders. There is a point in the movie when the family is eating dinner. There are the two girls(Phoebe and her younger sister) and the parents. I don't remember exactly how it all starts, but the girls tease their parents about having a baby. They keeping being silly and saying the mom should have another baby. The parents are extremely stressed with everything that has been going on with Phoebe and the father looks at her and says(and I paraphrase) "Do you think your mom can handle another one like you?" Of course, he regrets it as soon as he says it. The daughter is hurt and the mother is upset. Later the parents talk and the father tells his wife that he has apologized to Phoebe, but the mother is still very upset with her husband. She finally says(and paraphrasing again) "You said exactly what I was thinking. You are right, I can't handle another one like her." I cried through this entire part of this movie. It was at a time, when I felt the same way about Elijah. I just didn't know what to do with him or how to best help him.

Elijah is doing very well now and I am thankful for that. We have had some very rough years, and we may have some rough times again, but I am better equipped to handle it. He has good doctors and a great staff at his school. We just take it day by day!

The Wind Brings a Cough

The wind has really come through today. We had gusts up to 30 mph this afternoon and they are supposed to get stronger tonight. Elijah had good day at school and we had a nice night together. I put him to bed and within 10 minutes, THE COUGH starts. Now this just isn't your regular cough, this is that "OLD MAN WHO SMOKES 2 PACKS OF CIGARETTES COUGH". I immediately go back to his room and he informs me he has a cough. He follows me to the kitchen and I give him a teaspoon of prescription cough medication, that has codeine. The bottle said 5 ml and when I measured from the spoon into an actual small 5 ml measuring dispenser, what I had given him wasn't enough. SO, I gave him a bit more and a breathing treatment.

All of this kept him up longer than his usual bed time. He is usually OUT by 8:00 or 8:15. I emailed his two teachers to let them know what was going on, because between the prescription cough medication AND staying up a bit later, his behavior could be ALL over the place tomorrow. He is fast asleep now and I am hoping that this was just a small flare and all will be better tomorrow. It never fails though, we go to the pulmanoligist and get a good report and then a week later, he is sick! Keep him in your prayers that this will all blow over!

Trip to Endocrinologist!

Elijah visits the endocrinologist every six months at Children's Medical Center in Dallas. He has "short stature" when you look at his information. We are keeping an eye on him to make sure that he reaches his genetic potential, as the doctor puts it.

Since July of 2012 he grew just over an inch. After a quick physical exam, the doctor said there is definitely testosterone in his system and he should be entering his growth spurt soon and we should see him grow taller in the next 12 months. This is good news, but not a guarantee. We will go back in July of this year to see how much he has grown and then around this time next year. We also learned that this doctor sees patients at the Plano hospital, which is a LOT closer than Dallas for us. Plus, a lot less traffic!

This is always an easy visit and we are usually in and out within 30 minutes. Elijah is always worried that there will be some kind of needle involved, and sometimes there is(drawing blood) but this time there was not.

We go see the psychiatrist on Monday and check in with her. We will have good news for her since we are seeing such an improvement in behavior. I will be glad to share this with her and we NEED to pick up another prescription! We have a three day weekend and I am going to let Jacob drive us to the doctor on Monday and to some of my mystery shops! He needs the practice!

Looking Back on 2012 and Forward to 2013

Here we are again at the end of another year! Overall, I would say it has been a good year. There have been several milestones this years for all of us. Jacob took driving classes and got his permit. He is now a junior and got his class ring! He is taller than me and growing up way too fast. He has a friend that is a girl, who has been over to our house several times. He and I have had some really good talks lately and he showing signs of becoming an adult and other times he is still such a teen. Next year brings him taking his test for his driver's license and turning 17. He still plans to referee soccer and then possibly getting a job in the summer.



Elijah is in sixth grade and will enter middle school next year. He will soon enter his teen years when his birthday rolls around in April. He told grandma today that he will be 13 in 2013! He is still such a little boy though. Children with Tourette Syndrome act 2/3 their age when it comes to maturity and I can definitely see this with Elijah. He is 12 but sometimes act more like an eight or nine year old. I guess he will grow up soon enough. He has had his ups and downs this past  year and we have made many changes in medications, but through it all we just keep on going. We recently made a new change in his medications and I think it has been a good change. We will know more when he goes back to school. He still sleeps with his stuffed animals and likes for me to tuck him in. One of these days he will grow up and not want me to "mother" him too much, so I think I will try to enjoy it while I can. Here is playing with a castle he made using styrofoam. He has a good imagination.

 

Things continue to go well with me and my honey. We have had a wonderful year together and are looking forward to many more years. We have fixed up the house and have plans to fix things up even more. We talked today about putting money away to travel to Germany in a year or two. I enjoy our family and I see such a difference in all of our happiness since my honey came along. My job is going well and keeps me busy. I enjoy my job and it brings me much satisfaction when I see growth in our students.

I am not sure what 2013 has in store for us. Jacob will have to start thinking about what he wants to do after he graduates. He still plans on being in ROTC next school year. Elijah will change schools in the Fall and have new teachers to get used too. I am sure something will change at work, it always does, but I will just have to roll with it. I know my honey will be there to support me through all of this as I will support her.

Please be safe tonight and Happy New Year!

School Starts Monday!

School starts on Monday for both boys! Elijah will be going into the sixth grade at the local intermediate school. We have all of his school supplies and delivered them at Meet the Teacher this past Thursday. He has many of the same teachers as last year, but I did find out his Deaf Ed. Itinerant teacher will be someone new this year! At least everyone already knows how to use his FM system! He is excited about starting school and I think a bit anxious. I am hoping for a good year.

Jacob will be a Junior this year! He will be in ROTC again and will also be getting his Senior Class Ring. He should get the information next week and then we will have to decide what type of ring he will get. He should get a list of school supplies that he needs from each of his teachers.

I went back to work last week, but our kids start on Monday too! I am ready to get back to work full time, but it is hard to get back into the groove of getting up early!

I hope everyone has a great school year!