Hope In a Hospital

I promise to post the wonderfully cute Christmas post, but right now all I can think about it poor Tot.

Two weeks ago, Tot had a bad flare-up of his asthma. So bad that I said this is ridiculous, we need to go to a specialist! Now I love my pediatrician, well the one who started the practice 30 years ago. I trust him implicitly. He even brought up how he also believed it was time for Tot to see a specialist. He referred us to his friend who is a pediatric pulmonologist at the 'Children's Hospital.' The benefit of seeing a doctor that has been around awhile is when they give you a referral, your ass gets in pretty quickly, despite it being the holidays and all.

Hubby got to go with me because he already had the day off. I was really glad. I think two sets of ears are always better than one. One thing that impressed me off the bat was how close to our appointment time we were actually seen. Guys, our appt. was at 4:00, and we were seen at 4:05! Oh, and everyone was so nice! Since they only see kids, they are used to kids' antics, and they don't seem to faze anyone at all.

Turns out that Tot has been officially diagnosed as having asthma. They call it mild, but persistent. We were given a treatment plan for him that totally makes sense. The nurse came in with the new game plan as well as the 'toddler' inhaler Tot is going to use now. No more nebulizer! Yeah!!!! Tot's inhaler looks the same as the ones you've seen, it just has a tube and mouthpiece connected to it. There is the everyday medicine called Flovent that he is to take twice a day, every day. If we hear any coughing at all, we are immediately to give him Albuterol every two to three hours. Then there's the Orapred liquid steriod to give in case the other meds. don't work. The good thing about this new system is that Tot only has to have two puffs in the morning and two at night. It only takes a minute to give him, not the 5 minutes it took with the nebulizer. Tot loves it! Remember this poor kid has been on a nebulizer for nearly a year, so a puffer is definitley preferable to him.

Tot also had to have a bloodtest done to see if he has any allergies. It will only take a week to get the results, but I didn't wait. Hubby moved all of his furniture so I could get behind to clean the baseboards and vacuum up any dust bunnies. I also dusted every piece of his furniture, and got rid of anything that wasn't necessary. The less items in his room means the less dust that will settle in there. Hubby and I then got rid of all of his stuffed animals since they are a big harborer of dust. We were also told that we needed to get this device that measures how much humidity there is in any room. It must be below 35%. If not, we must get a dehumidifier to get rid of the excess. Can you say static electricity??? UGH. The things we do for our kids! We also need to put cheesecloth over the vents of the rooms he is in most often. Yeah, I went into Williams Sonoma to buy my kid cheesecloth to put over his vents. The saleswoman looked at me like I was crazy!

So, I am glad that we finally went to a specialist. I'm not happy that Tot has asthma, but it's really feels good to know all of the things we can do to help him. I now have hope that he will feel better. We now have a plan by a man who deals with this on a daily basis. I am comforted by the fact that he is the head of his department, and has been doing this for years. He knows what he is doing; no conflicting advice from three different pediatricians. I feel hopeful, but I'm still scared to death. ***
If anyone has a child who has asthma can you share your story? I think it would be helpful to know that we're not alone, and what others do to make their children feel more comfortable when they have so many meds. to take. Thank you in advance!

I Am Beyond Stressed

I started shopping early this year, as in the week after Thanksgiving. I bought my SIL's twins gifts as well as gifts for her husband and her. I kept telling hubby that we needed to send them. Last week he tells me to take them to the UPS store. Ughhh...not going to happen with two kids. Can you imagine??? Well, the kicker is that he had to send them overnight, because they are leaving for Florida. I am not happy about this. We got the kids's gifts, my grandfather as well as my aunt and uncles's. MY family is being a pain about not telling us what they want. They STILL haven't told us. If I don't hear by tomorrow, they're all getting gift cards! Oh, and we still need to buy gifts for the dogs. Don't laugh. My boys think Santa brings gifts for them, and puts them in the dogs' stockings. Again, don't laugh! Remember, Madison was my first baby, so she got a stocking with her name on it the first year we had her. Our other dog was my parents' dog, and my mother bought his stocking, and she didn't even particulaly like dogs!

How could I ever deny this dog presents? This is Madison.
This is Casper, my parents' dog that now lives with us. Both dogs are Shih-Tzus. and they look so different!

It seems like I cannot ever sit down. That when I cross one thing off the list, two more go on it. I feel like I am on auto pilot! If that wasn't enough by itself, I have to go to the bank where my MIL started an account for S. and try to solve a problem she caused! The account is in S. and my name, I'm his mother, and the letter from the bank said this could affect my credit rating. I'm beyond pissed. This bank is Charter One. We go to another bank, and will NEVER have any account at that bank. So I am very stressed out about this. I am so pissed off at my MIL as she created this mess. I won't even go into the details of why the damn account was set up in the first place! This woman is still pissing me off and it's been two years since I've even seen her.

Well, I need to go take care of another thing on my list. I'm getting so tired of this all.

Christmas Fun

Last week we went to our library for their storytime that is focused on Christmas. My boys sat the entire time. Believe me, when S. was 2 that never happened! It's funny how two boys raised by the same parents can be so different. Not that I'm complaining! At any rate, then Santa Claus came. My boys were first in the line to meet him and tell him what they wanted for Christmas. As you can see, Tot was clearly not impressed. He did sit on his lap and thankfully didn't cry, though.

My boys LOVE the library! Our new library was built three years ago, and the youth section is awesome! The boys are always excited to go, which warms my heart since reading is very important to me. As you can see, S. is into the abacus, and Tot has a book along with a favorite puzzle.
One of my favorite things that I have done this Christmas season is making a ginderbread house with the girls. This is my first time ever making one. My friend lost her mother when she was in her 20's and her mother was in her 50's just like my mom. She also had to watch her mom's health deteriorate right before her eyes. Oh, and her mother was misdiagnosed as well. My point here is that the holidays are very hard for her too. Finally, someone understands me. I'm not saying that people don't try to sympathesize with me, but it's like anything, unless you've experienced something you can't truly know what it's like. Anyway, this friend tries hard to make the holiday more fun. So this year she invited me, along with some other ladies, to make a gingerbread house. I had so much fun!

Now that the boys are getting older, primarily S., I am enjoying the season a bit more. Now I am scared about how I'm going to feel after Christmas. Last year was so hard, ever harder than the season itself. Any suggestions on how to make after the holidays better??? Anything you do to make it more fun or at least bearable??? PLEASE share it with me no matter how small.

Busy Bee

I guess I sort-of left things on a not too happy note. Things have actually been pretty good this week for our family. I found a babysitter! I'll say it again. I FOUND A BABYSITTER!!! On Tuesday, Hubby and I got to go Christmas shopping by ourselves! I had forgotten what it felt like being alone with my husband. The last time we were out alone, we went to a wake. Yeah, I just don't consider that a fun evening for two. Oh, the last fun event that we went to alone was our former baby sitter's wedding on September 22nd. And I don't know about anyone else, but weddings just aren't fun to me.

Yesterday, though, was so much fun! Hubby's work had a holiday party at a new, ritzy hotel. At first, I so didn't want to go. Hubby was telling me how creative these people are in the division he works at now. And also how they will not be dressed how I dress, which is conservatively. I'll admit it guys, I am not the swankiest dresser. No, I'll take that back. If the outfit is in black or dark brown, I'm there. I think I just feel safe in those colors. This time, though, I decided to try something new. I bought a new outfit, right down to the burgundy, pointed crocodile shoes. I bought cool jewelry, and new, hip pants. Man, did I have fun shopping! The main part of my outfit was grey/black, but hey, did I mention the burgundy shoes and cool jewelry??? AND, the pants were super hip. Not my usual mom-like church clothes. I finally decided to try something new. An outfit that I've wanted to buy, but had nothing to wear it to. AND, it turns out I was dressed perfectly for the event. Get this. I even got compliments on my outfit, and asked where I got it from. Let me say this, that does not happen often. I was so proud of myself for taking a risk. I felt great! Dare I say that I actually felt attactive and not like a frumpy mom.

Since this is a new division of the company, I was worried that we wouldn't have anyone to talk to. There were over two-hundred people there. Then I always worry about my stay-at-home status. People always ask me what I 'do' for a living. Man, do I hate that question! I was wrong about that. I found several people who used to be teachers, so we had a lot to talk about. I also talked to this very nice woman who stays at home too. I will tell you that I talked to as many or more people than my husband. He never had to worry about leaving me alone, and for the first time, I didn't worry at all about being left. I had a great time. I love this new division! Everyone is so nice. Not that his old division of the company was not. They were just a little stuffier. For instance, Hubby used to wear suits every day. Now polos and casual pants are fine. He also gets to wear jeans on Fridays, and in the summer some of the people wear shorts. I am so happy Hubby got a promotion. I'm happy for him, and I'm happy for me. It's been a very good change for all of us.

As for me, I have hardly had time to sit down the entire week. Between Christmas shopping, tumbling, preschool drop-off, meetings, parties at various companies, well I am tired! Maybe that's why I keep rambling. Right now things are good, and I pray that is how they remain. Christmas is hard for me, but after Christmas is harder. You know, when things slow down and you have way too much time to think. I don't do well with too much time on my hands.

Hopefully, It Doesn't Come in Threes!

Well, our friends' divorce is going to happen. The husband called, and was in tears when he was talking about it. He said he still loves her, and wants to go to counseling, but his wife has made up her mind. It has only been a week since she told him. I imagine it must be very difficult for them both. We told him that we aren't going to take sides, but that we will support them in any way we can. I don't live with either of them, so I don't know what has been happening in their marriage. All I know is that I am very sad for them.

Well, that's the first thing that happened this weekend. The second was when we received word that a man from our church passed away unexpectedly. His wife knew my mom and her battle with cancer. I also was in a Bible Study class with her. At any rate, she had just finished HER last treatment for breast cancer. To celebrate, they went to Las Vegas. One of the days they were there, he complained of having a headache and being tired. He went to sleep and never woke up. I was shocked. These people are so awesome. Again, I was shocked by this information. It felt like it couldn't be true. I just saw him. But it is true just like our friends' divorce.

I so hope nothing else bad happens. You always hear about these things happening in threes. I pray that that doesn't happen here!

***Update on Ryan's asthma: We went to the doctor yesterday. Luckily, his lungs sounded good. The doctor doesn't want him going out much due to the cold air causing asthma attacks. He then gave me a referral for a Pediatric Pulmonologist from the children's hospital. I'm glad about that! He has had too many attacks already. I feel so bad for him! He is still continuing to take Singular once a day, and Pulmacort twice a day through a nebulizer. Poor baby!

What Would You Say?

I just got a phone call from a good friend of ours. She is divorcing her husband. She and her husband were one of the couples we loved spending time with. We were so alike, and loved many of the same things. We have been friends for longer than Hubby and I have even been married. Her husband and I worked together, and hit it off, so we decided to get together with our significant others. From that first night out, we became close friends.

Together, we've gone through the beginnings of marriage, the birth of children as well as discussing our jobs as teachers. They supported us through infertility as well as my mother's death. We went to each others children's birthday parties, and loved going downtown to visit museums or have dinner sans kids. Basically, we loved them. They were family to us.

I feel like I am one of the children in regards to the disappointment and dread I feel in the pit of my stomach right now. And no, we had absolutely no idea. Two years ago, they moved about an hour from here, so we don't see each other as often as we'd like to. However, the last time we saw them, everything seemed good. They seemed to be the good couple they had always been. No, things were not perfect, but I don't know anyone's marriage that is. I just don't know what to say. I have never been in this position before. I hope we can continue to be friends with both of them, but is that even possible? Can it become a reality? I certainly don't want to choose sides, and I don't think they would expect that, but I don't know. This is new territory for me. What do you do in a situation like this? Any advice or personal stories about it and what you did would be appreciated. I'm currently still in shock about this, and I am very, very sad.