Present...

So I have kinda given you a rapid overview of the highlights of the last year, mostly about the kids...now, what have I been up to the last year...

Well starting last May I started working more hours at work which eventually turned into an official full time position in January. I like my new role - more leadership/admin - and the hours work well for me. I knew it was time to start working full time and while I would have loved to stay part time forever, I'm glad I was able to stay home most of the time until M was three.

In May I also started to read again. I used to love to read and stopped after the twins were born. In May I installed the Kindle app on my iPad and started with the wildly popular Hunger Games and went on from there. I will have to admit now that reading has now become my obsession. It seems to calm me and take away some of my day to day anxiety. This is good, but also bad because of course I should be doing things like cleaning the house. I am a very fast reader - I can finish a 200 page book in a few hours - and I have been tracking my reading on Goodreads. In the last year I have read 307 books. Don't judge me.

This past fall I started to get into a slump. I was more introverted and really didn't get excited about much of anything. It was hard to power through events for the kids and things like Halloween. While I wouldn't say I was depressed, I definitely had a low period. I started looking at friendships and relationships I had and realized that many of them had seemed broken for awhile. I'm pretty sure I had been posting about this, but my twin mom group who I had been very connected to in the past, seemed to cause more hurt for me, and I often felt like I was left out or intentionally kept out of things. I did try to talk myself out of those feelings but they came to the forefront this winter. Initially it started after none of the friends from the twin group came to the twins party. I did hear from one group, but two other friends who have been at all the other parties just didn't show. It's kind of pathetic to say, but I was literally in tears that night knowing that what I was feeling wasn't off, but hurt that they allowed that to impact our children. The final nail in the coffin was a few weeks later when I was having a hard time keeping up with all my responsibilities due to health/work/school so I emailed the entire officer group - about 9 people, 4 of whom I would have once said were good friends - to let them know everything that was going on and to tell them I had to step down. Only two people, one of whom is not included in the four mentioned above - emailed me back to acknowledge what I had said. I initially wasn't going to completely leave the group...but after that obvious statement on where I stood with them...I haven't been able to go back.

My health has also been a frustration this past year. My MS is doing fine and in fact, this February marked 5 years since diagnosis with no flares since diagnosis! This is pretty huge!! Unfortunately I have been having problems with cellulitis. Right before Christmas I developed a spot under my arm that spread very quickly. In a matter of days I was admitted to the hospital and given IV antibiotics and had to have an I&D performed. There was no explanation for it other than it just sometimes happens. I was discharged from the hospital on Christmas Eve and thank goodness my parents were able to care for the kids while I was in the hospital and for a week after I got home. Almost exactly a month later, I developed another spot, this time on my abdomen. It followed the same rapid spread and I did everything I could to stay out of the hospital. This time my parents were not available and there was no way I could be admitted. I had a shot of antibiotic in the butt and was on 4 different pills. For a week I was taking over 20 pills a day to stay out of the hospital. Had my parents been here, I would have allowed myself to be re-admitted. After about a week things started to turn and luckily got better. Since that time I have had two more spots come up. Neither have been as bad, nor required medications. I have stopped taking my MS meds because that is the only thing I can think of that might be causing this. I went off them for 2 months and did okay and as soon as I restarted them, a developed another spot. This whole thing has been very frustrating and every time a new spot surfaces it causes me a lot of anxiety not knowing if this time I will need to be hospitalized again.

And because all the above wasn't enough to keep me on my toes...I started school in April as a full time student. Crazy huh? My hospital has a huge focus on all their RN's having their BSN degree...and I don't. They decided that all RN's in higher level positions had to get their degree within a few years or be stripped of everything. So, I am begrudgingly going back to school. I am in a 100% online program and so far it hasn't been too bad, but I would, of course, rather not be doing it. My evenings and weekends are focused on classes now...which stinks. I should graduate in September of 2014 if all goes well.

Otherwise, I think I'm about the same. My weight hasn't changed any...which is bad. It's always on my 'I really need to' list which I never quite seem to do anything about. Money is tight as always. Friendships are even suckier than before, because while I've always had a hard time having close friends, the few I had are gone. Right now I am very isolated and withdrawn. I need to work on this, but I'm not sure how. And...in news probably related to the last point, I have started to feel like maybe I don't want to live my life by myself. I've always been very happy being single and have rarely had thoughts otherwise, but lately I yearn for another adult in my life. The problem is the package I'm offering isn't very appealing and anytime I think I might reach out, I am reminded of the high likelihood of failure and additional hurt.

So...here's my year in a nut shell. I will try to post again before May 2014 ;0)

To leave you, here are a few pics of the kids I took this weekend

February 2013

Of course the big event in February is the twins birthday! S and K turned 7 this February!!  The day of their birthday stunk :0( S had a horrible ear infection with high fever and K had an ear infection which caused her ear drum to perforate. They were both pretty miserable but perked up for a bit for a little party at home. Luckily they felt much better by the time their big party came. They had a party at a bounce house with all their friends from school.

 All the medications the twins (and M had something too) needed to take for two weeks. It was a nightmare keeping up with all of it!

On their birthday. They both look a little ill, but they're troopers!

A Rocky Weekend

So...where did I leave off...

Friday night into Saturday morning, M continued to run a fever, but knowing it take about 24h for antibiotics to work, I didn't worry much. Saturday morning he woke up in such a better mood. He was playing, his mood was good and although the sores still bothered him, it didn't keep him from playing. I had a conference to go to on Saturday afternoon and I waffled a bit on whether or not to go (it was in a city about 1.5h from home). I did end up going leaving the kids with my sister and everything seemed to be okay.

Sunday morning M woke up, still acting like he felt fine, but his sores were still as bad as they had been. They weren't worse, but usually for M, once he starts on antibiotics, his sores get better within 24h. Since they weren't worse, and he was still fever free, I just continued to watch him through out the day.

By dinner time Sunday, the sore on his leg started to become worrisome. It was bigger, and redder. I tried to express it, but nothing would come out. The entire leg, from the knee down, was hard and swollen. I started to worry about circulation and it was evident that it was bugging M more than it had been. When I changed his diaper a bit later, I noticed two new spots. It was pretty clear at that point that the antibiotics were not working. By 8p I was more worried about the leg, and ended up taking him to the ER.

At the hospital the doctor quickly looked at it and knew it needed to be expressed. I told him I couldn't make it drain. At that time, this big, male doctor, took his fingers and squeezed the every living $#!# out of this sore. Of course he got it to drain. He also drain two other sites all while M was writhing in pain. I hated to see M go through that but I knew in the end he would feel better. We were then started on new meds and headed home. We actually made excellent time being back home by 11p.

This morning the pediatrician called to check on M. I told him of our ER adventure and he was happy we went as he had received the culture report from Friday. It showed that the drug M was on, was useless against the germs he had. The meds that the ER had prescribed were the correct meds and we should see some progress soon. This is concerning because when M had his first outbreak in October, the first antibiotic was enough to treat him. This means that since his first outbreak, this germ has already mutated to a more virulent form. If M continues to suffer with these outbreaks, the likelihood is that the germs will get stronger and stronger and become more and more difficult to treat. Very scary.

Tonight M is doing better. Almost 24h into his new meds and he looks and feels better. Almost all the small sores are fading and while the big ones haven't changed much, they aren't as red and definitely haven't grown.

And, while I am happy my son has access to good health care and that he is getting better, I am again reminded how horrible the state of this health care system is. In the last four days I have paid the following:

• $20 Co-Pay
• $206 in medications
• $150 Emergency Room Co-Pay
• And I expect additional bills of $400 as M's insurance does not start until I pay $400 out of pocket - not including my co-pays.

So, WITH insurance, and infection that has afflicted my son has cost me $776. Again WITH insurance. How sad is it that I will have to make choices on what will and will not get paid because I had to get health care for my son. Thank goodness I have a refund coming soon. I just cannot accept a society where a mother has to struggle to have minimal, basic care provided for her child. You would think that having insurance would protect me from this hardship...but no. And, as a side note, I still have over $3000 in health care bills from K's surgery in November.

I HATE GERMS

You know who this little guy is. He is a 'Super Bug'...his name is MRSA. This guy has taken over my house. We have had periodic visits from him in the past. Both K and S have had episodes where they have formed small skin abscessed that require lancing at the docs office and a round of meds. These have been few and far between though. M on the other hand, hasn't been so lucky.

It started in October. He developed an abscess in his diaper area around his hip. I tried to manage it at home without luck. He ended up at the doc's office with a draining and antibiotics. It cleared up nicely but a few weeks later, in November we had a recurrence. This time instead of just one abscess, he developed multiple 'pimples' all over his diaper area. Probably 15 - 20 if these little boils. One of these boils, actually located behind his knee abscessed requiring another doc visit and another round of antibiotics.

We had been doing real well until this past Monday. Monday morning he was fine. Monday at noon he was fine. Monday at 4pm he was covered. I took off his diaper only to find about 20 new little boils all red and pus filled. I have no idea how they all developed that quickly. I tried to manage it at home at first. I still had the topical ointment from the last time, and I am a nurse with some basic understanding of how to heal these suckers. I actually did quite well until Thursday morning. By then most of the little ones had started to dry up, but inevitably, he developed an abscess to his buttocks. Thursday night I was able to drain it at home, but by Friday morning (4am) he spiked a fever to about 102 and became miserable. At that time another abscess was found around his ankle.

So this morning another doc visit and another round of antibiotics. Unfortunately these abscesses are a little deeper than the others and we need to reassess them tomorrow. If by noon, the swelling and redness hasn't lessened, or he continues with fevers, we will be off to the hospital for a surgical draining. I am confident this won't be the case. After a nice warm bath his buttocks drained again and I got a lot out. I am waiting for him to calm down, and I will try to drain the ankle one. His fevers have been down and no new spots have appeared. I am keeping my fingers crossed on this one.

I am trying really hard to clear this house of our little visitor. I purchased surgical soap which we will all use the next week or so. I also asked the doctor to prescribe all of us nasal swabs that contain an antibiotic. You see this little guy likes to hang out in the noses of its carriers. I am certain there are a few of us in this house that have been hosting this guy in our noses. Hopefully between M's medicine, surgical baths and nasal therapy we will clear this crap from our house.

**Posting pictures now**

This is about one third of one of M's cheeks. These have all opened and are actually getting better. Can you image how much pain you'd be in if your bottom was covered with these, in addition to one large on that was below your muscle layer? This is why M has been lying on his stomach for the last 24 hours.
This is the one above his ankle. Due to this one, M can't wear pants or socks or even walk all that comfortably.

Sorry for the Delay....

K did really well.

We didn't need to be at the hospital until 9:30a so I knew we would be later in the day. It seemed to take forever for them to call us back, and by the time they did, K was in tears because her leg hurt and she was hungry. It wasn't too long after we were in the back room that they gave her the 'happy medicine' and things settled down a little.

She was funny on the drugs. She always gets pretty loopy on the Versed. I was able to carry her to the back room and ay her on the table. I kissed her goodbye and went to the waiting room. She was in surgery for about 2 hours and then taken to her room. One thing I was not as happy with was her time in recovery. Last time they let me stay with her as she was waking up. I promised her the same this time, but they didn't let me back. The first time I saw her was when I met her in the hall, wheeling to her room.

Initially, like the last time, she wasn't very happy with how she felt. The IV in her hand and the weird sensation in her leg made her very unhappy. She ate an entire 6" sub as her surgery reward, a cup of ice cream and an entire bottle of soda. She really was hungry!

Just back from surgery and not very happy.
Feeling better after a meal. The bandage is her dressing. They were able to once again just make a small drill hole to access the tumor.
Able to go home!

We were discharged later that night. It took forever for them to process everything that needed processing, but I think we were home about 9pm. K woke up that night for pain meds about 3am which would have been about when the pain meds wore off.

She stayed home from school on Thursday and it was apparent very quickly that she was better...and bored. She took pain meds twice through the day and didn't know what to do with herself. By the end of the day she was begging to go back to school on Friday. By Friday morning I was convinced that she was fine and she did go to school. I think some thought I was crazy, but the kid was begging to go and there really wasn't a reason for her to stay home.

She did well at school the next day. By the end of the weekend she wasn't even needing medication anymore. Thank goodness for quick recoveries.

Just please...let this be it!!

Tomorrow is the Day!

Everyone who reads and/or follows this blog, please keep K in your thoughts. Tomorrow she will undergo her second RFA procedure to remove the tumor in her Right Tibia. We are hoping for a quick, complication free procedure. We are hoping for a similar recovery to last time, in which she was pain free within 48 hours. And we are hoping for a complete cure this time without recurrence.

Tonight K is anxious, but at the same time looking forward to the surgery. She understands that this is what will take away her pain. So while she is dreading, and will cry if you mention, the IV, she is excited to see her 'spot' gone and her post procedure reward - Subway.

Lucky?

I heard many people speak about today and how it would be lucky. 11-11-11. Yes, very cool. I find fun in number combinations found in dates and times. Many posts were found on FB at 11:11 to commemorate 11-11-11. I was to work today, so I just hoped that it would bring an easy and fast passing day at work.

It would not be so. I had to call out of work today. I never call out of work. Seriously, I don't. It kills me to. In fact, I sat for over an hour with my stomach churning before picking up the phone. To add to the stress; any call out on a Friday, Saturday or Sunday has to be made up on a weekend. So now I get another weekend shift added to my next schedule. So, why did I call out? All three of my children have plotted against me.

M - On Wednesday night I found a small pimple. Looked like a bug bite. I basically ignored it. By Thursday, Q was saying that he was limping around the house and complaining about his leg hurting. When I got home at 8pm it didn't look horrible. By 1am the bug bite was huge. It was now an abscess. More concerning, there was over 10 smaller superficial abscesses surrounding the area. I actually considered taking him to the ED right then. I decided that since he wasn't febrile, I would wait until the next morning. We did get to the doctor today, he has multiple MRSA abscess and is on antibiotics again. He is pitiful. Tonight the abscess finally came to head, so I also got the pleasure of 'expressing' it.

K - Her pain is out of control. I feel like I am damaging her kidneys with all the ibuprofen I am giving her. It seems like I am giving to her way too much. K goes from fine to freak out screaming in a matter of minutes. I even have her on some stomach medicine to help prevent stomach irritation. Her surgery is scheduled for Wednesday. I can't wait. I so want her pain to be gone! Oh, and another bonus...the Children's Hospital called me today. They wanted to know what my plan was to pay her projected $27,000 hospital bill. Hahaha...yah, like I have a plan for that (insurance of course will pic up a good deal of it.)

S - While dealing with two crying children this morning, S wakes up and looks at me funny. He states he doesn't feel well...and...BLA...he throws up. After talking to him, it is clear that he has a migraine. S gets these once in awhile. His symptoms are always the same. Headache and vomiting. I medicated him before leaving for the doctor and he didn't move from the couch for a few hours. He seemed to get better around noon, but the headache returned this afternoon. After another dose of meds and another nap, he seems okay now. I hope it stays that way. Being a migraine sufferer myself, I can't imagine what it's like for a 5yo to suffer through.

So, in the last 2 months I have seen the kids' doctor more times than I probably have in the last 2 years. While there I made another appointment, although this one is for M's two year visit. I hope I don't see them before than.

So...maybe my luck is coming on 12-12-12??

Getting Rough

K has been progressively getting worse.

She healed fairly well from her concussion. We decided though, that since her limp was quite significant that she would no longer run, or participate in rough activity at school. She was unhappy with this, but I couldn't risk more serious injury.

Her pain though has continued to increase in severity. We had been getting away with medicating her right before school and when she got home (along with evening and night dosing). On Thursday, while at work, I received a call from the school saying that her pain was too severe to send her to the stop where walkers are picked up, and someone needed to come into the school to get her. Luckily Q was there and able to pick her up. I called the school to set up a mid day dosing but they required a bunch a paper work including a DOCTOR SIGNATURE!? I rushed to get all the stuff done before close of day Thursday, all while working.

On Friday I get another call from the school saying K is crying and won't eat lunch. I told them she had her meds, but I guess the paperwork from the doc never got faxed. Grrrr.. Again, Q to the rescue, runs over to the school and medicates her for pain. I was also working on Friday and again through multiple phone calls, I believe I got the paperwork sorted out. I will be checking on Monday though when I drop the kids off to make sure.

Only about 2 more weeks of this and I hope we can once again put this crap behind us.

Recurrence

Doctor's can be so freaking frustrating. This whole thing with K has driven me nuts. The Doctor who operated on her leg last year didn't want to take my calls because he doesn't do follow ups while K's regular pediatrician didn't want to take my calls because she needed to be seen by her specialist. After 3 days of back and forth, her regular ped finally saw us and then referred his assessment to the specialist who ordered a CT scan. Such a friggin mess for something that should have been very simple.

Today K finally got her CT scan and it confirmed what I was afraid of. The tumor has recurred. It's in the exact same spot. I don't know if it's bigger/smaller/similar to before, but it's there. Some more calling back and forth and finally got word that Dr Child's is pretty confident that we will do another RFA and attempt to remove the tumor again. Hopefully this time we will have success. While I really didn't want K to go through the more involved surgery, I also fear the RFA will fail again. In this case I decided that I would go with what the doctor suggested since I was torn on what was best. (see below for a quick description of each procedure)

Here is that bastard tumor! Seen in the lower bone segment

Radio Frequency Ablation. They basically drill a small hole into her bone and insert wire. The wire heats up to a very high temperature and 'burns' out the tumor. It's done under general anesthesia, but is generally outpatient. Last year she had the surgery in the morning and we went home that evening. It doesn't mess with the integrity of the bone, there is no incision (more of a puncture) and about 24 hours after surgery K was fine with no pain and no other recovery.

The other is more invasive. They will put her under general anesthesia and create an incision - not sure of the size but probably only an inch or two. They will actually cut into the bone and take the segment out which contains the tumor. Most of the time, it's like taking a cube of bone. Depending on the size, they may need to reinforce the area with screws or plates. They would then close her up and cast her. This would be a few day stay in the hospital. Since the bone strength has been compromised, she wouldn't be able to bear weight on it for a few weeks - so most likely a wheelchair for several weeks. Then once they remove the cast, she would then most likely need physical therapy for a few weeks.

Worried About K

It's been just over a year. Just over a year since I went through the difficult time of having K enduring test after test; finding a tumor in her bone; experiencing surgery. I was so pleased with her rapid improvement and our virtually 'immediate' cure.

Well I think it's back. For a few weeks K has been complaining of pain in that leg. I have ignored it for the most part because it was come and go and growing pains can be common during this time. I listened to her, but did not react. Well in the last week she has started to wake during the night crying in pain. For those who don't remember, this is the classic symptom for her bone tumor. I also think that today I noticed a slight limp.

I called her pediatrician on Monday but he wanted me to follow up with the surgeons at the children's hospital. I called them, but they felt like they usually only get the cases once a problem is found and that they don't do 'follow up'. A nurse coordinator was supposed to call me back today, but since it's now 10:45pm I don't think I'll get a call. I guess I need to call again tomorrow and see whats up.

I really don't want to start this again. I don't want to see K go through the pain and uncertainty of all this again, but more I am concerned for the next step. Last time we did conservative treatment which is usually very successful. The next step up was to take the chunk of bone from her leg which would result in non-weight bearing for a few weeks, casting and physical therapy...much more severe than our last experience.

I am worried. I don't want her to go through this again.

:o( :o( :o(

So....it is MRSA. Son of a gun. Sucks, but it is what it is.

On a positive note, his sore looks SOOOOO much better. It's all healed over and no longer draining. He still hates his antibiotics but after whining for a second or two, he gives in.

Poor little Mook :0(

Poor Mook!

S - 3 yrs 9 months
K - 2 yrs 1 months
M - 1 yrs 9 months

I am not a fan of antibiotic use. The above is how long each of my children have gone into their life before being given their first antibiotic. I am pretty pleased with those numbers.

I am a true believer that we over use antibiotics and this is why we are now dealing with the super bugs we are. A sniffle, sore throat, cough...run to the doctor and get a drug. Hand sanitizer, soap, laundry detergent, baby wipes...all with added antibacterial compounds. These behaviors and products have led to our immune systems being out of whack and cause the bacteria to mutate and strengthen. I am a HUGE believer in natural immunity and you won't find any of those antibacterial products in my home.

Now, all that being said, I'm also not one of those parents who deny my children needed antibiotics when they are truly needed. K received her first dose when she was diagnosed with bilateral pneumonia and a double ear infection. S ended up with a large, very painful abscess to his upper thigh when he received his first dose. And now, Mook. He also has an abscess.

This stupid thing started as a small 'pimple' which was covered by his diaper. I tried antibiotic ointment, hot compresses and expressing the material, but in the end I conceded and took him to the doctor yesterday. By then it was very angry looking and he was starting to feel like maybe he was running a low grade temperature.

The doctor took a look and right away said MRSA - which pisses me off. If you want to label my kid with MRSA, you better darn prove that's what it is. She did take a culture and I guess I will hear this week. what grows. As I held down my baby she 'expressed' the hell out of it. And as a nurse, I can tell you the stuff that came out was NASTY. Poor Mook screamed through the whole event. This picture was taken right before that procedure and I can tell you that this does not give it justice. The lump was quite large and there was much more redness than this picture shows.
Now we have 10 days of antibiotics. Since this is a pretty big infection - and surgery was even mentioned - he's on pretty heavy duty drugs. Problem is these drugs taste vile and it's horrible trying to get them down my 21 month old three times a day. I will continue to force them though, because I want this to go away...without surgery and without an additional course of antibiotics.

Poor Mook!

Dad Update

Wow, guys. I have stunk at this blogging thing lately. I must improve!

My dad got his biopsy results back. Only one polyp showed precancerous cells. Everything else was benign. Wonderful news. Now the not so wonderful news is that even though it's not cancer, his colon is so unhealthy, it really does need to come out. Right now my dad has a follow up visit with an expert in this field and then a final decision will be made. We are hoping a colectomy - removal of a section of the colon - rather than a colostomy, but that decision will probably be made during the surgery itself.

So, while not 100% good news, it was probably the best possible outcome given the circumstances.

Keep Some Little Ones in Your Thoughts...

I have a few friends with little ones who are struggling....

Little C who I have blogged about before (she was born with hirschsprung's disease) was in the hospital all last week. She developed a blockage and needed a third surgery. She hasn't even had her first birthday yet and has been through so much. She has recovered and gone home, but she needs to continue the healing process and start gaining weight to stay home.

Little E who was born this February with a large liver tumor is finally strong enough to have surgery to remove it. She will have surgery on 3/22. The surgeons are afraid of bleeding so they aren't yet sure what they will do. They would like to go in and remove it completely but there is a chance they may have to use two surgeries to complete the removal. There is also still a small question about whether or not this is benign vs malignant. We are hoping for one, complication free surgery with a clean path report.

And finally Little H. His mom called me today freaked out because he was covered in bruises. He has been sick, but nothing serious. She took him in and they found his Platelet count was <1. They should be at least 150. He has been admitted to the Children's Hospital where he will be treated. Most likely he has ITP - idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura. Although this is a scary thing, it is almost completely treatable and curable with fairly simple intervention. Although this is what we are most likely dealing with, other more scary things like Leukemia need to be ruled out. The next few days will be very busy and scary for everyone.

What Has Happened the Past Few Days...

S
On Wednesday I got a call from the school saying he had a temp of 101.8. I went and got him and although he felt a little warm, he seemed and acted fine. Since he had to be fever free for 24h he was home with Q all day Thursday. Well he complained about his ear hurting that afternoon. I was able to get off of work early. I ran home and took S to one of the CVS Minute Clinics - which by the way are awesome :0) He did indeed have an ear infection and was started on meds. He had a quick recovery an was back to school Friday.

Scentsy
Had a great Scentsy party on Saturday. It brought in over $400 and I had about $300 of outside orders. This is awesome since I am trying so hard to save money for our trip to TX in August. And speaking about Texas...tickets are bought and time off work is booked. I am excited and nervous all at once. As an added bonus, a few days ago another friend asked to do a basket party, and I am setting that up this week!

The weather was beautiful this weekend. We had lots of fun outside. All my kids love to be outside. Max would live out there if I let him. It has been nice because I have been able to leave the back door open and let Max come and go as he pleases - I have a gated deck out back full of outside toys. This week will be pretty busy followed by a busy weekend. Hopefully I'll have some good pics to share.

Ugh...I Have Been Hit by a Truck!

It crept up on me Tuesday night. A little tickle in my throat and the inability to clear it with a gentle cough or sip of water. By Wednesday morning when the alarm went off at 6am, it was certain. I felt miserable. The winter of never-ending illness was at it again and I was sick.

I got myself together and headed to work. See, with my job you have to call out at least 2hours ahead of shift start. Well I start at 7am which means I have to call out by 5am. But my alarm goes off at 6am. See my dilemma. I don't really understand how people make it work, but I guess others have figured it out. In ten years I have probably called out 5 or 6 times...so I do not yet have a system.

I trudged through 12 long, miserable hours and came home. Put the baby to bed. Put the twins to bed. Put myself to bed. As I feel asleep the shaking chills and fever sweats started. I went in and out of sleep for the next few hours. Finally I looked at the clock. 1am. I called out of work, rolled over and went back to bed. Q came at 6:30am, I told her I wasn't going to work and I would be in my room. I checked out and didn't wake again until almost 2pm. When I woke up, I forced myself to rejoin the world of the living.

I think the day of sleep was exactly what I needed. While I am still not feeling well tonight (Thurday) I feel semi normal. What I thought was the flu, really couldn't be because I recovered too quickly, and is more likely a cold that came on hard. I no longer have fevers, chills or aches, but rather just a runny nose and occasional cough. The quick semi-recovery is GREAT since the twins have a birthday party tomorrow and I need to have my game on!

What a Horrible Day!

As soon as I woke up Sunday morning I knew it was going to be a bad one. My head KILLED me and I could barely get up. I forced myself through it for awhile. Getting the kids their breakfast, getting them all dressed and ready for the day etc. I was able to push through until about 11am when I had to lay back down.

I took the kids up to M's room and laid down in the bed while they played. I was able to get M to nap for a little while and the twins were really good with just playing or watching TV. At 2p I got back up and made the kids some lunch, diapers changes etc. After that, back to my chair. I couldn't open my eyes the light hurt too much. I sat in that chair until the pain got so bad that I vomited. Another few hours of pain, then M and the twins to bed. Poor kids.

The twins did so well. They understood how much I hurt and did their best to help. After I vomited K brought me the phone and my mom was on the line. K had called her and said that I was sick and not feeling well. Too bad my mom doesn't live closer and could have spent some time here. Poor M of course couldn't understand. My head actually hurt so much sitting up to nurse him hurt, so he had bottles all day.

After the kids went down, I had a hot bath, which helped a little. Then laid down and went to bed. This morning I am soooooooo much better. My whole body aches, but my head is better. Good thing too. Since I was incapacitated the whole day yesterday, I have a lot of catching up to do.

Migraines

In the past few months S has occasionally complained of his head hurting. I never paid too much attention to it because it didn't seem to impact his activity and I have migraines all the time, and I thought he might just be saying it because I do.

Well yesterday his school called at 11:30a to pick him up because he had been vomiting. I went and got him. He threw up 2 more times before falling asleep on the couch. He slept for about 3 or 4 hours and when he woke up..he bounced out of the chair, said he was all better and his head didn't hurt anymore. He ate and drank a ton of food right away - despite my telling him not to - but he didn't get sick again and his behavior was completely at baseline.

I would say that these events are very suspicious for a migraine. I get them regularly, but only rarely the severe ones that cause me to vomit violently and confine me to the bed. My mom gets them extremely frequently to the point that she is on preventive meds as well as prescription meds for when the headache hits. In addition, I looked at the profile for the donor and saw that his mother was also a sufferer.

His rapid recovery just seems so unlikely for an illness especially with no after effects like weakness or continued queasiness. He didn't sleep much the night before, since he fought sleep until past 11pm and then had to be up for school. I know for me, lack of sleep is a definite trigger.

He has his yearly appointment in March, and I will discuss this with his ped, but until then I really hope for him that this is going to be a rare occurrence. I can't imagine suffering through migraines at the age of four :0(

Mommy With a Fever + Sick Baby x Energetic Twins = One Grumpy Mama

It seems like this house just can't get healthy. I don't know if it's just a bad year, or the fact that the twins are now in school and bringing everything home. But it SUCKS. The twins and Max seemed to stay sick most of September with a runny nose and cough. It seemed to go away a week or two ago, then M was vomiting all day Saturday and now most of us are sick again.

I have a sore throat and this afternoon had a low grade fever and body aches. I was able to get some rest off and on, but mostly just kept popping the Ibuprofen and continued on.

N is also sick. She has pretty much been in bed for two days. She says she has a sore throat and stays cold. I literally have gone into her room a few times just to make sure she's breathing.

Mookie is pretty miserable. He has a constant, nasty runny nose. I am constantly cleaning his nose and the poor thing now has little open sores on the outside of his nose. He starts to panic every time he sees me grab the Kleenex. He also has 6 hard, white bumps on his gums. So, in addition to being sick, I believe that in a matter of days he will go from zero to six teeth. I have also kept a steady stream of Ibuprofen in him.

Surprisingly the twins seem fine. A little cough or sneeze here and there but overall seem healthy. Hopefully they will stay that way because at least while they're at school I can get a little peace and quiet while the baby and I sleep.

Poor Mookie

This Saturday I had to work all day (BOO) so my Mom came and spent the night Friday. Early Saturday I woke M up to feed him but he didn't seem interested. I brought him into my Mom while I dressed for work. A few minutes later my mom was calling me saying M was throwing up. My job isn't the kind where I can just call in and tell them I'm not coming, so unfortunately for my mom, she was stuck with a sick baby all day. I hated leaving him, but didn't have much of a choice :0(

He vomited most of the day. A few times he went just long enough to give us hope that he was over it, but only to end the reprieve with a huge 'surprise'. Even once it required both M and Grandma to get into the bath. By the time I got home at 8pm, he seemed a little better and hadn't vomited for an hour or two. I nursed him to bed, although he really didn't eat anything, and surprisingly slept through the night.

I was beyond happy today when M woke up and everything seemed fine. He nursed like a champ this morning when he woke up, and then again 2 hours later. He ate his breakfast and has been in a great mood. I think whatever he had was only a 24 hour thing and he is better. The only unknown now is how many other people in the house will show up sick this week.