My How Time Flies...

Even when you are not having fun, TIME FLIES!

Since the last time I posted a lot has happened.

We did finally get to the bottom of my medical mystery: apparently I had a migraine for an entire 3 months! It was unlike other migraines I had had in the past because I didn't get the auras or the nausea like I would usually get. I supposedly got a migraine that plateaued and just hung on for the whole time. The neurologist said that is happens like that sometimes and the body's defense will be to try to fight it by raising the temperature, which is why I had the low-grade fever. I did on two occasions get the really bad migraines with the aura and the whole nine-yards. But it floored me to find out that several things that I lived with my entire life had actually indicated migraines even as early as 2 and 3 years old! Did you know that car sickness is a sign of future migraines??? I can get motion sickness even when I am driving at times. Sad, but true!

Anyway, he put me on a medicine originally produced for seizures but found to work on the electrical impulses in the brain that cause headaches. So we started low and worked up to 100 mg. of Topomax per day. Interesting medicine to say the least. It has some weird side effects: aversion to carbonated beverages...so I can't drink sodas anymore! I hate to drink flat cokes, and that is what every coke tastes like to me even though they are not really flat. The medicine blocks the receptors in the brain so I don't perceive it. It really is weird! Another nice side effect is that I eat less. I have now lost a total of about 40 (yes FORTY) pounds. Not that I was fat, but I never did lose the baby weight after I had Grayson. Now I am back to pre-baby weight! It is really strange because I have no clothes anymore that fit properly and no motivation to go out shopping for new clothes. Some yuck side effects include the inability to regulate my body temperature so I have to be careful not to get overheated...which is not easy outside in 100 degree weather on bus duty! I also get a little moody. But the headaches are so much better!!

Got Some Catching up to Do!

Wow, how time flies...even when you are not having fun!

A lot has happened since I last posted so I will try my best to catch up on all of it...in other words, make the long story short.

My excuse for not writing has been many fold. The main reason I stopped posting when I did is because I hurt my shoulder. I sprained the bone/ligaments between my neck and my shoulder on the right side. Yes, I learned the hard way not to try to catch a 300 pound table as it falls. After many months of physical therapy, MRI's, x-rays, and finally a cortisone shot (yeah, not my idea of a good time), I am feeling better. It took a few months after the cortisone shot for it to settle down. I still have a little soreness in my shoulder, but not all day like before.

The second reason I stopped posting was because my father's mother, Great Granny Annie as my kids called her, got sick in January. She was in the hospital for a few weeks with gall bladder issues, but it ended up that whole reason she was having gall bladder issues was because she had Pancreatic Cancer. They did what they could for her, but the day after they moved her to the hospice facility, she passed away. That was February 6th at 7:15 in the morning. She is the reason I am the person I am today, no doubt about that. She was fiesty, fun, artistic, and great at telling stories. I have missed her greatly. Unfortunately, she died in February but was not able to be buried until the end of April. She needed to be put with Gramps who was in Arlington Cemetery. It was at least a 6 week waiting list to get buried there. So she was finally interred on April 22, 2009. That was a very long time to postpone the grieving process for me.

Shortly after that, it was the last month of school. Anyone who works in a school knows that the last month is CRAZY! Just the paperwork alone was enough to snow me under: I had to (with my two partners of course) do paperwork for all 394 students identified as gifted at our school. We did have help from our wonderful assistant principal, but it was a lot of work collecting and filing all of those papers. Next year, we will have it under control long before the last few weeks of school. I vow it!

I have gotten a new position at work...well sort of. It is really more of a title change. Instead of being a CATs teacher (collaborative action team) I will be a STEM teacher (science, technology, engineering, and math). The main issue is that there really isn't such a program...my other half and I will have to create it. I will be doing a lot of work to get it ready for the fall during this summer break...along with trying to get the clutter under control, the front foyer finished, and doing fun things with the family. It should be a hectic summer.

And now...the newest medical mystery. I seriously wish I knew Dr. Gregory House. For the past month (almost 5 weeks now) I have been suffering with a low-grade fever 99.5 to 100.5, headaches mostly like pressure, and swollen lymph nodes in the groinal area. After 4 vials of blood and two kinds of antibiotics, they still don't know what is wrong with me and I am not getting any better. When I looked up the symptoms on WebMD I found the following illnesses listed: cat-scratch fever, lyme disease, the PLAGUE, lymphoma. I did get a good laugh at the plague reference. Who knew that it still existed? I will be going back to the doctor again tomorrow hopefully to get the details on what he tested for exactly...the paperwork I was sent didn't give any details, everything just said normal. And yes I know, I am NOT normal.

So, as you can tell, life has been full of surprises since I last posted. As I find pictures from the last few months, I will try to post them. As they say in the TV shows: Until next time...

Grayson Update

We took Grayson to the neurologist yesterday for his 6 week follow-up. The last time we were there, he was 39 inches tall and weighed 32.5 pounds. The doctor decided it was time to try something to get him to grow again so he prescribed Periactin. There is a link somewhere earlier in the blog, about 6 weeks ago, if you are interested in what it is. He first told us to give him 1/2 tsp twice a day and after a week to increase it to 1 tsp twice a day. Holy bejeezus! After about a week of the second dosing Grayson was hanging from ceiling fans and running circles around his dinner chair! I truly believe that he was burning more energy being hyper than gaining weight from eating. The pediatrician recommended (after spending a half hour with him) that we back off the medicine to only 1 tsp at bedtime. That made ALL the difference. He still talks like a tornado through a trailer park, but at least he can sit for 10 seconds before getting up and running around. In 6 weeks the child has grown 2 inches and gained 2 pounds. It's incredible! His face has filled in a little bit and he seems happier. We are going to continue with the current meds and be rechecked in 3 months. The neurologist was hoping to try and back off the Verapamil this summer, but that idea has been put on hold until he has been stable for a while. The headaches are getting less intense and shorter in duration so I think for now we are on the right path. Mimi went with us, so she got to meet the wonderful doctor. Grayson just adores him...he really is a great kids neurologist. One of my colleagues took her older daughter to him and he was really good with her too (she was 16). If you ever need a pediatric neurologist I would highly recommend ours.

Grayson's Headaches

We went for a follow-up visit yesterday to the neurologist. Grayson has had headaches since he was two. Back then he would get them two to three times a day every day. We did a CT-scan, where everything looked normal. Then we did an MRI, where again they found nothing abnormal. So, there is no explanation as to why he was suffering from the headaches. Then there was the huge recall of all the Thomas toys. Grayson had 13 of the items so we worried that the lead might be the cause. His lead levels were tested while it was a 3 (where 10 is the lowest number for concern) it was not high enough to cause the doctors any alarm. So still no answer as to why he was having them. He was doing really well taking the Verapamil (as a liquid) until recently. He started complaining lately that his head was hurting almost every day. So the last time we went the doctor talked about cutting back the medicine. Needless to say that that will not be happening. He is also concerned that Grayson is so small (he still only weighs 32 pounds). So he is now on another medicine to help increase his appetite called Periactin. If you read the paperwork that goes with it, it says that it can be used for people with eating disorders. As far as I know, if you have a headache, you don't want to eat...especially when the headaches make you nauseous. Ugh. We hope that the second medicine will get Grayson's appetite up and help him gain weight. We still have him on whole milk to help with that as well. We go for his wellness visit in July, so we will talk with the pediatrician about this and MORE when we go.