Thoughts...

This week has been extra stressful it seems. Just when I think I have a handle on things, a wrench gets thrown into the spokes. I don't know why but it seems as though when I expect things to happen, they don't. When I don't expect them to happen, they do. I can't even find a word to describe that feeling. Weird.

I spent many hours calling Grayson's doctors to let them know of the latest development in his medical history. I wanted them to know and also I wanted assurance that the medicines he is on right now would still be alright for him to take. Considering the fact that medicine for his migraines is also predominantly a blood pressure medicine and one of the medicines for his asthma can cause the heart to speed up, I just wanted to check. Both the allergist and the neurologist called back with assurance that he could keep taking his meds as prescribed, but both want to be informed of the findings from the cardiologist. I had to call the pediatrician to get the the referral to go to the pediatric cardiologist, which was fine...I had to call the cardiologist to schedule the appointment first so they could fill out the referral. The cardiologist wanted a copy of the findings from the genetics doctor, so I had to call them too. All of this done before 9 AM on Wednesday morning. Talk about being busy! Plus the stress of having to do this on my breaks from teaching.

My new job is going really well. I am really enjoying having the flexibility to come up with activitities to extend learning from the classroom, all the while making it fun. I really am liking the fact that the students are happy to see me when I come in the room. It makes me smile. The fourth graders are cute and adorable. The fifth graders are the same as I remember them to be from years before. They are interesting and never boring to teach. They are just reaching that age of being torn between wanting to please their teachers/parents and wanting to please their friends. Some of them do it well, while others fail miserably at balancing the two. I have adopted a few of my students, meaning I take an active interest in their personal triumphs and tribulations. I hope I can make a difference to them in some small way. I am truly enjoying the teachers I work with on a daily basis. I am getting to know teachers I never got to know before, especially the fourth grade teachers because I have never worked on that grade level prior to this year. I feel as though I am making positive contributions to my fellow teachers and to the students I teach.

My best friend moved out of town this past summer. I have really missed talking to her in the afternoons like I used to do. Her time schedule is so different from mine that I can't call her on my way home from work anymore to vent or get advice. It has been a difficult adjustment for me. We talk, but not as often as we used to. We will always be really close because we are the type of friends that no matter how much time goes by, we are as close as if we talked yesterday. She is in town this weekend and I get to see her. Hooray! I haven't looked forward to anything as much as I have looked forward to seeing her tonight.

I found out recently that my cousin Aisha is getting married! She got engaged last week. I am so happy for her. She is one of the most wonderful people I know and she deserves happiness. Since Nathan was born, she and I have become close. I have cherished every moment that we have spent together, even the time on the train with the crazy guy! She feels more like my sister than my cousin and I love her very much. I never had brothers and sisters growing up, but my cousins on my dad's side were always a part of my life. I have another cousin Nicole on my mom's side that I am close to as well. We have always lived far apart, but we are close in age and have so many things in common. I am very lucky to have family like that! I have always felt that family is among the most important things in life.

Grayson's Genetics appointment

Today was Grayson's genetics appointment. We are getting him checked for the hemachromatosis gene. He could very well be just a carrier, but it is better to be sure than to end up being sorry we didn't check it out sooner. The paperwork is incredible! I must have filled out 20 pages of information to take with us for the appointment.

The doctor has decided that before she draws any blood, she wants to see the results from Randy's test done at the hospital. So I had to call the doctor from then to fax over the information. She basically said that if the place that did the regular test was one she would use, she would use it rather than another place. Her thinking is that they know already the gene they found in Randy and they would better be able to find it in Grayson. So until she gets the information from the other doctor she wants to hold off. If she doesn't want to use the other lab, then we will have to go in to her office to the blood drawn there. Won't that be a happy day? So no news on that front.

However...

While they were doing the check on Grayson they found that he has a heart murmer. The first doctor who does the initial check and gets the history acted a little weird when he left the room, which was my first indication of something odd. When the main doctor came in, she began by matter-of-factly mentioning the murmur. She was a little surprised that this was the first time I had heard of this. She went on to say that many children will exhibit the symptom based on the fact that the lining of the heart walls are thinner in children than in adults. She mentioned that many times it is a false positive because they can hear the blood pumping from inside the heart. Then after listening to him herself, she mentioned that it was distinct. Just when you think you have explored the possibilities, a new one pops up. I am telling you...this family and medical issues. It is phenomenal.

So now we have to take Grayson to a pediatric cardiologist. I suppose the growth issue could be caused by a heart issue. My question is, with all the different doctors he sees, why has no one else caught this? OR is this some new development? I guess we shall see. I am not going to get upset about this until I have a reason to. I will not say that I won't WORRY or be CONCERNED, I just won't go bug crazy and start choking people because of it. Not yet anyway.

Halloween!

I just wanted to share the latest pictures of the boys. They had a great night of trick-or-treating. They both got tons of loot, and yes, it was all checked. :-)


Grayson had two costumes this year. To shorten the long story, we got the costume for Nathan in the wrong size (their fault not ours), but by the time we realized it was a few weeks later. A funny mistake, it just happened to be Grayson's size! With a dress-up birthday party and festival to do before the actual Halloween night, I decided that having two costumes for him was not a bad idea. We went and got Nathan a new costume and he was happy. So there are two pictures of Grayson with two different costumes. He looked so darn cute in the Robin costume!

Sometimes, Life gets Crazy

Last week was a whirlwind to say the least. This week was a full-forced slowdown for me.

To back track a little:
Last week we had the genetics appointment for Nathan. It went fine. The doctor asked that we get a few things done before she would decide to do the genetics test for the albinism. My concern was the vision change and all the signs that I had mentioned before, so she wants us to take him to the ophthalmologist again to have him specifically checked for the ocular albinism. If the ophthalmologist thinks it could be a possibility, then she will run the test. The other issue she was concerned about was Waardenburg's Syndrome. It too has to do with low pigmentation, but it affects the ears rather than the eyes. Something we haven't had formally checked yet. Hooray! Two more appointments to make.

I was able to get the hearing done on Friday. Basically the child has fine hearing...he just chooses not to listen. Apparently that is not uncommon in the male species. But, again she really just tested his hearing range and loudness. With my hearing issue unresolved...he could theoretically have the same issue with time delay that I do and thus has an understanding problem rather than a hearing problem. Anyway, that is another issue for another day. So with hearing checked and okayed...no Waardenburg's Syndrome to worry about.

All day Friday I started to feel just awful. I got worse as the day went on. Even my coworkers were concerned...as they found me face down on my folded up sweater sleeping on the pull-out of my desk during my break time. Which, honestly, I NEVER do. The fever started Saturday and continued through the evening. At 102, Randy sent me to bed (about 7 PM) when I could barely lift my head to eat something. Sunday was a little less of a fever but man I was exhausted. I had a very general feeling of yuck, a cough and a fever. I am a definitely not a "cold" person, meaning I don't get colds. I usually get bronchitis or pharyngitis or laryngitis...or one of those "itis" illnesses. I would get up to take laundry out of the washer, put it in the dryer, hang up a few clothes, and fold a few and be totally tired. So very unlike me. I thought for sure that I would be feeling better by Monday. Holy crap was a I wrong!! I woke up with 101.5 fever and a terrible cough. I called in sick to say the least. I got dressed and took Nathan to school (since I usually do anyway). On my way back, I called the doctor's office and made the appointment. I took Tylenol at 7 AM, and by the time I got the doctor for my 8:30 appointment it should have kicked in totally. I still had a temp of 99.9! Ugh. So I have walking pneumonia...like I said, I don't get colds. When I get sick, I really get sick! It is no wonder that I felt so miserable. I have had bronchitis enough to know that this did not feel anyting like what I felt before. The antibiotics have done wonders, along with my "liquid gold" cough medicine. It sort of tastes like banana...but not really. I love it though. Randy calls it my liquid crack. It works really, really well...I do advise being where you are for a while after you take it...it is good stuff apparently. :-) If you want to know what it is, email me and I will tell you. I am at least feeling better.

Nathan is officially 10!

Today is Nathan's birthday. I can't believe that he has been around for an entire decade...though there were times that we thought he might not make it that far...just kidding. He had his party this morning at the bowling place. Bowling places have certainly come a LONG way from when I was a kid. The party was terrific. He got a really cool real pin that everyone signed along with the opportunity for all 12 of them to bowl a few games. Some of the kids seemed like naturals! The adults partook of the fun a little too. I just couldn't resist one game. Nathan seemed to have a blast right along with Grayson. He bowled a game and then was done. He mostly hung out with another boy who came along with his older brother too. It was well worth the money spent. :-)

Tonight we are bravely taking three boys for a spend-the-night session. They will probably have hours of fun on the Wii playing Mario Party or even guitar hero. There will be games and chicken from Chik-fil-A. I want a party too darn it! I am thinking that for my birthday we will get the VIP room at the 300 ) the new name of the bowling place...do they still call them alleys? Oh no kids...only adults for some awesome rockin' bowling fun where they put on the black lights and fun disco decor.

An Eventful Day!

Today we had lots to do! Randy took Nathan to the local Ace Hardware to sell popcorn for the scouts. Apparently they did a marvelous job. Nathan is very good at being cute when he wants to be, so he just smiles and bats the long eyelashes. They spent about 2 hours selling and they sold quite a bit. While they were doing that, Grayson and I were at the Atlanta Parent Magazine annual Family Block Party. We were there to volunteer. I received a message this morning saying that they were going to be short-handed at the Camp Fire Boys and Girls booth (Camp Toccoa to be precise). It was right around the corner, so I decided to stop in and help out. I am so happy that I did. I got to make things out of clay with children while Grayson went from table to table grinning and getting all sorts of attention. It was pretty cool how he would walk off, but always come back to home base (me) about every 10 minutes. I was very happy with him today. Neely was there...she was my counselor-in-training when I was a counselor at Camp Toccoa back in 1993. She was with me in my cabin in Yoki for the summer. We had such fun back then. It was such a great experience for me and I met a few life-long friends there as well. I made picture to put on a button (on Facebook it is known as Flair).

Catching up with us!

Wow.

I didn't realize how much time could go by. Since I last posted we have been through the gammut of stuff. School, work, boy scouts, neighborhood gatherings, field trips, birthday parties...so much and too little time! That and I have to confess, I found Facebook. I know what you might be thinking and let me say, it is all true. I signed on because of my desire to get back in touch with my past students. Another teacher was talking about all of the students that she found from our school on Facebook, so I thought it would be interesting to see just who and what they were saying. Little did I realize just how much I would enjoy the darn thing. I have found students from my second year of teaching, that are now adults with families and real jobs!! Yes, I have been teaching for a really long time!

Most recently the boys and I did our yearly visits to the allergist. She filled out all the 504 paperwork for Nathan for school, which was good. I have the final meeting with the teachers tomorrow. The latex allergy is really difficult to control, not because people don't care necessarily, but we use so many products in every day life that are rubber that we don't even think twice about. I went out to the gym with the PE teachers last week to look at all of their equipment. I basically went through and told them what was fine for Nathan to touch and what wasn't. The easiest way for me to know usually is to touch the items. I have years of experience touching, calling, and investigating this substance. Our house is literally latex free. I have no idea if Grayson has the allergy because he is not exposed to it enough to ever know. We are cautious with him, but he has never experienced symptoms that I know of and therefore I won't make a big deal of it for him yet. He likes to tell people that he is allergic to latex because Nathan and I are. It really is cute the way he says it. But, back to the gym equipment. After touching many items I began to realize that my finger was hurting to look down and notice that I had welted and was having a reaction...that fast with so little effort. The PE teachers got a small taste of what could happen with Nathan. He now has an Epi-Pen because the allergy is one that builds over time and exposure. He is way more allergic to it than I am; imagine what would have happened if it had been him instead of me? Needless to say I went quickly to wash my hands and within minutes had taken Benadryl. The welting went down after about 30 minutes and I was a jumpy mess the rest of the day from the medication. It was an interesting day to say the least. I would rather it had been me than my child. Any day of the week! The allergist went ahead and put me on the Epi-pen as well. I am glad that she did. It was only a week after seeing her that I had that reaction. For me, that was the worst reaction I have had. But again the reactions get worse over time. Fun.

Joiner update: Three of us are sick!

You know, life around our house is never dull.

Last Friday, Randy came to my work to bring me lunch. It was then that we noticed his eye was red. In asking he said he didn't know what was going on. By Monday he said his eye was hurting, so on Tuesday he went to the doctor to get it checked. He was promptly referred to an ophthalmologist. Wednesday, the ophthalmologist told him that he had conjunctivitis caused by a virus, but that he also had iritis. Apparently, there was a secondary bacterial infection in his iris, which is what was causing the pain in his eye. So for the next 10 days he needed to use antibiotic drops and a dilator drop to make the iris dilate so it wouldn't bind to the lens.

All the while, Nathan told me Monday morning that his throat was a little sore. No other symptoms...no fever...no I gave him some Tylenol to help with the pain and he was good to go. He was fine until about mid-morning when his teachers sent him to me because he was shivering. I sent him to the office to get his temperature checked. It was elevated, but no feverish. So I got him my sweater and sent him back to class. An hour or so later, I went to check on him and he said he felt sleepy and he was starting to get a headache. I gave him some motrin and told him if he didn't feel any better to let me know and I would get daddy to come get him and take him home. He never came to me, and after school he actually seemed fine. All night I checked him for pain and/or fever, neither of which he had. Tuesday morning when I went to wake him up, he was flushed and had a fever of 102. Hooray! Randy volunteered to stay home with him and I took Grayson to school. As soon as the doctor's office was open, he took Nathan to see the pediatrician. The child had ACUTE tonsillitis. How do you get that overnight? So two days out of school, and by Thursday he still wasn't 100 percent, but he went to school. Finally by yesterday he seemed almost back to his old self.

All the while, I was not feeling great. Last weekend my sinuses were burning and I felt a little off. I assumed that I was probably getting a sinus infection. I felt this way pretty much until Tuesday. Then Wednesday I started feeling as though I was losing my voice. I have been feeling tired and heavy-chested which is usually a sign that my asthma is flaring. I think perhaps I have what Nathan had, but I don't have tonsils. And of course, it is a long holiday weekend. So by the time Tuesday rolls around I will probably absolutely miserable. I am keeping my fingers crossed that if I get enough rest and take my vitamins that perhaps I can stave off whatever is ailing me.

Thus far, Grayson has only complained that his head was hurting a little. Otherwise, no other symptoms from him. Let's hope he doesn't start too. It is so difficult living in a house full of sickies.

Nathan's Allergist Appointment

Yesterday morning we went to the allergist for Nathan's appointment. Usually we go altogether, but with three people it is really difficult to schedule them without doing it way far in advance. So I scheduled his sooner than the rest of us because we had school papers to get filled out by the doctor. Nathan has a latex "sensitivity" that we found out about when he was 3 months old. Back in the day, they still wore latex gloves to change the babies' diapers at the daycare. The first day was fine. The second I picked him up and he had welts on his arms and legs; everywhere they touched him with the gloves. The child looked like he was being abused! Poor thing. Ever since then I have done everything I can to make sure that our house and his surroundings are latex-free. This includes toys and school supplies, etc. It is amazing to find out the amount of items that have latex in them or on them! There is a really good article that was published by a teacher about her adventures with a latex allergy student (click on the word to read the article). Here is the latest list of items identified by the spina bifida foundation as containing latex along with latex-free alternatives. We decided to start 504 paperwork for him this year since I can no longer control who he comes in contact with. In the past, I would just have to worry about a few teachers needing to know and keep in close contact with them about items that they used in class. This year, for the first time, he is going to come in contact with 10- 15 different teachers on a daily basis. Having the 504 will make it easier to make sure that he is as safe as he can be when he is away from home. He is 9 and even though he has lived with this his whole life, he still forgets and touches stuff that he doesn't know for sure about whether it is latex or not. (This especially happens when it comes to a cool or neat object he has never seen before.) So now he has an epi-pen just in case. The doctor told us that there is really no reliable test for the allergy to assess just how allergic he is to it. Also, there is speculation that latex sensitivity becomes compounded over time and exposure, so the epi-pen is more as a precaution than anything. I am usually really good about checking with the company for any product that I am unsure about. I recently contacted the Bic company to find out if their pens had latex in the grip. The guy responded with, "I am pretty sure it is not latex based." Well, hopefully it is not. The fun of allergies!

Good news!

I got the lab results back from my re-check. It says I am negative for rheumatoid arthritis. I am so happy about that! I got the letter in the mail and I would have jumped for joy, but my hip was hurting! That same day, my car decided to play tricks on me. About 3 blocks from home I notice that my flat tire light is on on the dashboard. When I check the gauge it tells me that one of my tires is completely flat. I eeked home so as not to damage the tire. When I get home, the front passenger tire looked a little low. On the bright side, I learned where my spare is and how to get to it. On the not-so-bright side, I jacked up the car, took off the tire to find nothing was wrong with it, to put it back on again. I suppose it could have been the sensor going bad or something. Who knows. The next day it was fine. Ugh. I guess my car had a good laugh at my expense. (oh I do have to mention that I had to have help getting the lugnuts loosened...air drills tighten them oh so tightly.)