The Sweet Escape

My much anticipated weekend away happened this past weekend. It was planned long before Bode's tonsillectomy and I wasn't sure it was going to be a great idea to just take off. Luckily, he seemed to be turning the corner for the better before i left and improved consistently while i was away. So other than one really annoying afternoon of waiting for a return call from a physician who didn't return my call, i didn't worry about him TOO much. He was in great hands with Doug and certainly had more fun with him than he would have with me.

Enough about the homefront. Let's talk about ME. And my weekend. Kristen and i took off Thursday evening. When i was packing it was a very strange thing to be packing only for myself. My carry-on held 1)my wallet, 2)my cellphone, 3)4 Luna bars, 4)earplugs, 5)my intinerary, 6)a good book. That was it. I hardly knew what to do. I'm used to packing for two small children in tow. Meaning, my carry-ons are almost as big as my checked luggage. I pack for every possible mishap, incident and need. Diapers, games, toys, snacks, changes of clothes, toothbrushes, DVDs and players, more snacks, bribes, treats, surprises...You get the gist.

We arrived after a miniscule 90 minute flight (i'm used to 4 hour cross-country trips). Grabbed a cab and headed to my folks' condo. We watched Enchanted and went to bed.

Friday we spent shopping. Breakfast at Whole Foods (didn't pass a bagel place on the way). We headed to the Sugarhouse area of SLC and checked out the Sundance and Patagonia outlets. We ate at Cafe Rio. Yum. Love that place. Then we chilled at the condo and that afternoon headed to Ikea. Oh. Ikea. How i love that place. It would be so much easier to re-do our master closet if we had an Ikea (so instead i'll just put Doug to work on that one...). Anyway. It was so nice to just be able to meander. We took our time. We didn't have to be home to pick up kids or get them down for naps.

We packed a ton in on Saturday. We spent the morning in Park City. We walked up and down Main Street and took in a ton of the art galleries. Found some great photographers. Loved this guy, especially. Bought a couple of his smaller prints that should work great in my master bathroom. We ate at Zoom, which had great, um, ambiance i guess. Kind of a lodge feel. Huge fireplace. Exposed beams. Photos of Sundance Film actors, directors; etc. And the food was really yummy. From Park City we went downtown to Temple Square. We walked around the temple, checked out the visitors' centers. I learned more about the actual building of the temple which was interesting. We checked out the SIX brides and grooms getting their pictures taken (Kristen said she loves to see brides. I told her she came to the right place for that!). We went across the street to check out the church Conference Center. We only went on the roof tour, which i hadn't done before (the only other time i've been to the Conf Center was right after 9/11 and the roof was closed). Kristen practiced her photography up there and i'll be interested to see what kind of shots she got.

After Temple Square we went to the Gateway mall. It was prom night, so it was kind of amusing to see all the couples out. There was also a Jazz game at the Delta Center right across the street, so the mall was packed. We grabbed some Thai food and headed home.

Sunday we met my grandma for brunch, drove around a little bit, tried to get Maggie Moo's for lunch but they were closed (oh, how i'd been craving it!). We hung out at the condo and headed to the airport in the afternoon.

It was a really nice little getaway. I enjoyed the time for myself and time to get to know Kristen even better. By 9:30 AM Monday i was already yelling at the boys. So. Oh well. Maybe that just means i need to get away again soon??

Quick Post

I have a lot to catch up on. But wanted to mention that Bode is doing great. I went away for the weekend and worried about him because he just didn't seem right. He'd lost 5 pounds and looked terrible. Still hurt, wouldn't eat; etc. Called and talked to the doctor on Friday night.

Got a call from Bode on Saturday night and he told me "I feel better than everyone!" I'm home now and he's eating a ton and is happy and for the last 3 nights has SLEPT IN HIS BED ALL NIGHT LONG! None of this waking up every few hours and being totally grumpy.

Anyone. My kids are suddenly at the computer with me and being a pain in the you know what. So. There's my post.

What Happens When You Assume

Today is Keegen's 2nd birthday! I am really kind of floored by that. He's still so little. But oh so very feisty. Definitely behaves like a two-year old.

It's only 8AM as i'm writing this. We started the day with the traditional yellow cake with chocolate frosting. Yum! Nice way to start the day if you ask me.

Doug has been out in the garage, putting together Keegen's gift from my parents. A Little Tikes Cozy Coupe Cop Car. He and Bode had so much fun in them in SLC at the childrens museum that we thought it would be the perfect gift. I got one for Bode off of Craigslist so hopefully they won't fight over them. Keegen's is way cooler, of course, but we hope to make Bode's cool with stickers and other fun things.

a picture of the boys at the kids' museum
So Doug's out in the garage and there's a knock at the door. I assumed he was done and had opened the garage door and had the car out front on the driveway. I grabbed the video camera and the boys and in that sing-songy mommy voice i'm saying, "Who is it, Keegen? Who can it be? Is someone at the door for you??" And it's taking me a minute to open the door because of video camera difficulties. I finally open the door and there's this woman standing there, sort of smiling, a confused possibly scared smile. I know the look on my face shows zero recognition. I mean, i was expecting Doug.

She laughs a nervous laugh and says, "Hi. I'm Lynne V. Did you forget i was coming?" She's the contractor i'd had scheduled to come bid a built-in bookcase for my family room.

I'm laughing and say, "Oh my gosh! You must think i'm crazy!" And she says, "Oh, i just figured you were..." Long pause. I say, "REALLY enthusiastic?!" She says, "Ya!" And I say, "Or on drugs!"

Oh. So embarassed. We got a really good laugh out of it. I offered her cake and ice cream. But she declined. She probably thinks it's laced with something that makes you kind of, er, funny...

Aftermath

So here we are, post-op day 4. And i think he's turned a corner for the better. He's eating and drinking more willingly. He wants to play. And he's certainly talking sassy (i'd hoped that would come out with his tonsils, but alas...).

He's had a rough 3 days, but all in all done really well. Yesterday was the worst. He would not eat and he would not drink. At one point i threatened him with the fact that if he didn't at least drink he'd be back to the hospital for an IV. Both sides of his mouth have skin breakdown/cracking. I assume it's from his mouth being cranked open during the surgery, but it's caused him a lot of pain. I've never seen that in all the tonsil recoveries i've taken care of in the hospital, so i was a little bit upset that it happened. He threw up the Tylenol with codeine, so i've just switched him to plain Tylenol. He slept about 5 hours during the day, at one point crawling under the desk in the den and falling asleep. Thank goodness, for whatever reason, he started drinking just before bedtime and he ate a little.

Today he woke up very grumpy so i was expecting a crummy day. But he perked up after his Tylenol kicked in. The sides of his mouth seem to be a lot better. He wanted a friend to come over so Zeke was happy to oblige, but by the time he got here, Bode was cranky again. So i sent Keegen over to Zeke's and about an hour later Bode was ready to join them.

He played there for about 1 1/2 hours. It was so nice to see him happy and playing again. He even jumped on the trampoline a little bit. He ate a little bit of lunch and asked to go home (which has NEVER happened before when it comes to leaving Zeke's and will most likely never happen again). We went home, medicated, watched some Nemo, attempted a nap (no-go, so definitely feeling better).

Now Marianne is here. They've played really nicely. She brings a positive energy into the house. She can play like/with the boys but they also end up playing with the toy kitchen and using their imaginations a little bit more. Nice, mellow, quieter play. Which is just about right for now.

Tonight is the "If You Give a Pig a Party" that i thought was last Monday. We won't be going which disappoints me, but i think he'll be beyond ready for bed by 6:30 or 7.

Yay for quick healing! And i hope it's a continuing trend.

Fundraiser Follow-up

The charity garage sale that i mentioned in this post happened this Saturday. So we had a very busy weekend with Bode's ordeal and then helping out all day with the garage sale.

I was amazed at the turnout. When i got there just after 8am, the street was lined with cars and the two yards and driveways that things were set up on were packed with people. The weather couldn't have been better. Across the street in a neighbor's driveway, a young woman from our ward had organized a bake sale, Emily was selling discounted Mary Kay makeup and there was a Pampered Chef booth--proceeds from all going to the kids' fund!

We sold things like crazy and had no idea how much money, if any, we were making throughout the day. There were people there with the typical garage sale mentality--nickel and diming. And there were the people who paid more than the decided-on price to help the cause more. And there were people who simply donated money without buying a thing.

In the end, we made WELL over the goal. The bake sale alone made $600. Seriously. It is really incredible.

I have to say what a good experience it was for me to be involved in this. I spent hours over many days working alongside some pretty incredible women--sorting, pricing, organizing, talking, laughing; etc. It took a lot of effort from so many people to pull things together. I was amazed at the generosity of people around us. Strangers pulled up with their cars loaded with things to donate for us to sell--things they planned to sell in their own garage sales but decided to give to us. I got the opportunity to get to know some wonderful women in my church congregation much better. People from the community showed up to buy things because they saw our fliers that were sent out in the schoolkids' backpacks. So many people were genuinely interested in learning more about the kids they were helping. It was really nice to see everyone come together and feel like a part of a community!

The Big Operation

I stole Bode from his bed at 5:00 this morning. We drove downtown to Memorial Hospital and checked in by 5:30. They had some very impressive, unnaturally LARGE fish in their fish tank and we didn't wait long before going back to a pre-op room. The nurses and techs were wonderful. Bode did awesome. We played with the monitors while we waited for his nurse to check us in. Checked out their potty (not nearly as cool as the potties yesterday). Read a book. The nurse came in and assessed him, which he took in stride. She came back with a 5-pack of cars for him which we promptly ran up and down the head of the bed. Then he started to get nervous and we talked about that. He asked to go home. He asked for his dad. We read more books. We watched the Bindi girl show on TLC. Finally the anesthesiologist i requested came in to chat. Then the OR nurse. Then our surgeon.

At 7:30, we were off to the OR. I rode with him in the stretcher and held him in the OR while they gave him some gas to knock him out. Mildly unpleasant, but i was glad i got to go in with him. He went right to sleep. And i went out to the waiting room.

Thankfully it wasn't a long procedure and Dr Smith was out to talk to me by 8:20. (I was watching the clock and promised myself i wouldn't get nervous until after 8:30). He said in addition to enlarged tonsils, his adenoids were huge. He said with that combination, Bode was really "fighting a battle" when it came to breathing, sleeping; etc. So i was relieved to hear that--made me feel like we'd made the right decision to have the surgery.

After he left, i was left to wait for someone from the recovery room to retrieve me. This is when i got nervous. Because i knew he was already in recovery and i started to wonder why they weren't coming for me.

A tech came out after about 15 minutes and brought me to Bode. He was delirious. Totally upset and crying. I crawled into the stretcher with him and he calmed down for awhile. Then he'd go back and forth between delirium and calm. The nurse gave him a little more fentanyl (an IV narcotic) to sedate him a bit so he could wake up more slowly. And after about 90 minutes he was much more with it, making sense, and so sweet in that big stretcher asking for the motorcycle toys i'd promised him as we'd rolled down to the OR earlier. The kid doesn't miss a beat.

Out of recovery room, we were taken to his room on peds for an overnight stay. The hospital just opened a new tower that houses peds and it's beautiful. We had a lovely view of the mountains. A big private room. I was impressed with a playroom in the middle of the circular tower.

I have to say, though, i totally understand why nursing sometimes gets a bad rap. It hasn't as much lately with the nursing shortage we were in (are we still in one?). But i do understand in the sense that, in my opinion, you get better care from your critical area nurses (i.e. labor and delivery, ER, ICU, OR) than when your on the floor. Having said that, nurses are not superhuman, and having a large patient load is really hard. Even if it's less acute care, caring for 6-9 patients is HARD. I have no idea how many other patients our nurse had, but I immediately felt like the nurses were extremely busy and we didn't rate very high on their acuity scale. And i get it. There were most certainly much sicker kids there who needed more attention. But i'll just leave this part at: i wasn't overly impressed.

He did really well in the room. He was still emotional. He was upset that the IV was still in and the O2 saturation monitor still on. Totally normal stuff. But he coped pretty well. We read more books, watched a couple DVDs. He ate some ice cream and macaroni and cheese. He got a second dose of pain medication around 2PM and took a nice 2 1/2 hour nap.



After his nap and when Doug arrived with Keegen for a second visit, i decided Bode needed a change in scene. He was crying more and complaining more about his IV. I went out and talked to one of the nurses to make sure i could unhook his O2 sat and unplug his IV pump. So i did and we headed for the playroom. Gorgeous, posh circular playroom with floor to ceiling windows where we spied a train table and trucks and so many other goodies. Only to find the door locked. On the door was a big sign saying it was open. So i asked the same nurses i'd just talked to about getting in and she said it's closed (huh?! why would such a place close?). I pointed to the sign. She said a volunteer has to be in there with us. OK, so call a volunteer. I hear the nurse on the phone and can tell there is no such person available right now. And the nurse just walks away without saying a word. I was TICKED. I have this child who has been so brave and needs a break and here we are standing outside looking in at the perfect solution. And we can't go in? Oooooh. TICKED.

I had already been considering taking Bode home that night. Like i said, he wasn't getting stellar care. I could tell the day was starting to wear on him. He wasn't comfortable. The benefit of staying was that he was getting IV fluid which would give him a good hydration reserve if he stops drinking enough over the next couple of days.

Back in the room, Bode basically shut down. Totally emotional. Crying a lot. Inconsolable. Really complaining about the IV. Doug and i talked about taking him home. I called the nurse in. Told her i wanted to take him home after he gets his IV steroid which was due right then anyway. She made a phone call to our surgeon and got him to call in his pain med prescription. It took about 30 minutes all the while Bode is really struggling. Which is making me wonder if we should, indeed, stay. But i realized, "what are they going to do for him that i can't do other than the IV?"

I commented to her that he suddenly stopped coping in the past 30 or so minutes. She had the steroid and was trying to inject it through the IV. And it wouldn't work. We pulled back his little mesh glove over his IV and realized it had infiltrated. It was out of the vein and the fluid was flowing into the surrounding tissues. Which is really painful. So. Out came the IV. (And he didn't get that final steroid which was upsetting to me because it would help keep the swelling down). And my decision was suddenly very easy to make. We were out of there. He needed the comfort of home.

On the drive home, we passed the little traveling amusement park that Bode noticed last week. And oh how he wanted to stop and "go to the circus." It was ridiculous but adorable how disappointed he was that we weren't stopping.

He's in bed now and snoring away. Definitely swollen in there. Hopefully he'll get a good night's sleep.

Dry Run

Tomorrow, bright and early, Bode and i are headed to the hospital to have his tonsils and adenoids removed. Kind of a big deal for us. Neither one of our kids has had surgery before or had to be hospitalized (knocking on wood for the future). I'm a little anxious. Hoping I'm doing the right thing for him. Hoping having them removed will help him sleep better, feel better. Hoping he'll cope with a new, bright, loud environment with lots of people talking to him and asking him to do things and having things done to him etc., etc...

This afternoon we had a special storytime, just the two of us. We happened to have a story in one of our Richard Scarry books called The Big Operation. Huckle the Cat has to have his tonsils taken out! It goes through his diagnosis, a tour of the hospital, his fears, the surgery and waking up to ice cream. So i read it to him but didn't tell him he was going to have surgery.

Later we went to my work for a "hospital tour." I wish he were having his surgery there but we don't have a peds unit for overnight stays so we're going to the same hospital system, but a different location. Anyway. We went into a room (our neighbor friend was with us too) and tried out the blood pressure cuffs and the oxygen saturation monitors. They played with the wall oxygen with the nasal tubing. Played with the wall suction. Rolled around on the stretcher. But their favorite thing was the little incognito potty we have in each room. Looks like a little seat for visitors, but then presto chango! It's a potty! They both used it at least three times each. (I was impressed they were able to squeeze out more pee!). He thought everything was really cool and didn't want to go home! Luckily, all kids were lured away with the promise of riding the talking elevator ("first fuh-loor"). And all the kids skipped out when the time came.

I'm worried he's going to go into that mode of his where he won't cooperate because he's freaked out and feeling out of control. This includes simple requests. Not opening his mouth for the nurse to assess his throat. Not willingly stepping on a scale. Yelling at me to talk to him when i'm trying to talk to someone else, like, oh, the anesthesiologist. All stress-related "I'm starting to feel anxious" behavior. And i'm worried about the anesthesia and making sure i'm in the recovery room when he starts to wake up. I'm worried he's going to be traumatized by the whole thing. I realize this is fairly minor surgery and lots of kids go through this sort of thing everyday. But. I don't go through this everyday. And i'm nervous.

Tonight we read The Big Operation again. And i told him we were going to the hospital tomorrow and that he was going to have his tonsils taken out. I told him it would help him breathe and sleep better and made sure he knew they were in his throat.

He was unphased and said simply, "If they bring me two things of ice cream, i'll share one with you."

Oh, i hope he just sails through this!

Oh Mister Sun, Sun, Mister Golden Sun...

Ah, what a glorious spring day! Too bad we pay for such days by having 6+ months of winter weather, but once we start having nice days, boy, does my attitude perk up. Oooooh boy!


And a BUSY day. Bode had preschool so we were up and gone before 8:30. Keegen and i spent a few minutes at the park on our way to his little gym class at the Y in the neighborhood. I love that this class is when B is at school so it's just K and me. We haven't had a lot of that time. I feel like K has to always be the tag-along. Maybe that's just the fate of the younger sibling. The class is a hoot. We sing and jump. And jump and roll. And roll and chase. He has his eye on an older woman. A 2 1/2 year old named Mia. He totally seeks her out, goes over to her, leans in and puts his arm around her and then very softly pats her head or rubs her hair. I find it completely hysterical. And they do a lot of chasing/running back and forth across the gym. He's good and tired by the end.



After that class, we headed off to do some visiting teaching. I have a new route. Just two sisters which feels very manageable. It was fun to get to know them better as well as my new companion. People i've known in our congregation for the two years we've been here, but haven't had a chance to actually get to know.


Then we swung by school to pick up Bode and it was so gorgeous that after lunch we spent a good couple of hours on our bikes and planting seeds with Emily and Marianne.
We had plans to go to the children's theater put on "If You Give a Pig a Party" so i wanted the boys to nap. Well, i got Keegen down so late that he only slept about an hour before he woke up CRAZY GRUMPY. I swear if he's not down before 1PM he doesn't take a good nap. And Bode is evidently unable to nap anymore.


Then the boys played outside a bit more, we chatted with the neighbors fixing our messed up house (THEIR trampoline hit the side of our house, smashing our gutter, ripping a screen, smashed the fence and made various gouges and scrapes on the siding--these are our neighbors on the other side), and then we played inside so i could get things ready for our pizza party. Emily, Marianne and her big brother Duane were coming for dinner before our theater date.


We ate yummy pizza and were off to the Pikes Peak Center. We got down there and it was deserted. Parking garage gated off. Ticket office closed. I realized only then that the show is NEXT MONDAY. UGH! Doug got these free tickets and told me they were for tonight and i never double-checked. Luckily Emily thought it was very funny, we got ice cream and played at Acacia Park. The kids had a blast.




It was so nice to be outside almost all day long. i've really missed that option! The boys were exhausted and dirty and will hopefully sleep soundly in their beds tonight!

How Does Your Garden Grow?

Well, OUR garden has to start growing inside, since it's still snowing, blowing and 30 degrees (much less with the windchill). How long must i sing this song??...

Anyway. Today. After trying to wear the boys out in the basement with an obstacle course of sorts, we sat down and talked about gardening. I got this great little seed start container at IKEA of all places. I set Keegen up with a bowl of dirt, a spoon, a shaker container and tossed a few pumpkin seeds his way. Bode got a bowl of dirt, a spoon and a thing of water. He filled the individual containers with dirt, a little water, cut open the seed packs with his handy scissors, made an indentation and dropped the seeds on in. He loved it! It was a fun, messy little activity that we all enjoyed. Keegen stayed pretty well occupied with his dirt/seed piles and even tasted a spoonful of his concoction. Not surprisingly, he didn't seem to mind it one bit.

I couldn't find my camera until AFTER we were done. Got some video though.

Parents with Purpose

I'm not really good at the whole yard sale thing. I've never had one of my own. I tend to either donate most things to Goodwill or if it's worth it to me, i'll sell things on Craigslist.

However, there is a ginormous yard sale that will be happening next Saturday, April 19th. It's to benefit these kids in our church congregation:

Four families in the Falcon Ward need help for
their children with special needs ...

Charity Fundraiser Garage Sale
Saturday, April 19th - 8am – ???
Falcon

* * *

Ways You Can Help:
Donate your unwanted items to the garage sale. Call xxx-xxxx to arrange drop-off

Come to the garage sale & find some treasures to buy!

Make a charitable donation to the Memorial Fund for Cora Sxxxx at any ENT Federal Credit Union

Our goal is to raise $2500 to cover the cost of travel, Brain Development Seminar, and individualized evaluations by a Certified Child Development Evaluator. Learn more about this program at www.parentswithpurpose.com. With your support, we will be able to improve these childrens' quality of life and help them face their individual challenges.

Meet the Kids:

Cora (15 months)
was born with a rare genetic disorder, Macrocephaly Capillary Malformation. She struggles with seizures, developmental delays, poor vision and low muscle tone.




Ethan (3 ½ years)
was diagnosed with Autism in August 2007. Ethan struggles to interact socially, communicate ideas and feelings, and develop relationships with others.



Preston (4 months)
was born with Trisomy 21, also called Down Syndrome. He is working to overcome pulmonary hypertension as well as physical and developmental delays.



Summer (6 years)
has Pachygyria, a brain malformation where instead of having the folds and wrinkles on the cortex of her brain, hers is mostly smooth. She has many developmental delays, poor muscle tone, sensory issues, and attention problems which vary with each stage of growth.

Initially, I was just interested in helping out my friend Alicia (Cora's mom). I have plenty to donate and extra time on my hands since i'm not working. But then i looked into what these families are trying to accomplish. They are flying out a Child Development Evaluator who teaches a Brain Development seminar and then does one-on-one evaluations with each child. It's $600 per child. She can cover the whole spectrum from well-child to learning disabilities to more severe problems. I so wish i had posted about Bode back in November because he was doing so very well. But after a winter of being sick and out of routine we just can't seem to get back on track. I've taken him back to OT where she says how wonderful he is doing. I think he's just very comfortable there--he's been seeing this OT since he was 2 1/2 and i think somehow what she's done for him in the past just isn't transferring over into his everyday life. His sensory issues are back with avengeance, he's struggling with transitions and i feel like banging my head against a wall--repeatedly. Per his OT, she has said that "once the sensory issues have been addressed, he shouldn't regress so much." So yes, it's expected that he'll have a bad day or two, say, after Spring Break. But it shouldn't be such a problem. He keeps cycling from "doin' good" to almost back to square one. So i don't know what's going on.

Back to my point. i looked at the website of this woman they are flying out. I'm always happy to have another opinion, another person's insight. And i realized that this is really a unique opportunity. I spoke to Alicia and asked if it was too late to jump on the bandwagon and have Bode evaluated. She said i could and so i signed up. I'm not comfortable taking money from the profits of the yard sale (some of these kids have such severe problems i don't feel like it's right for me to do so. I don't go to the doctor all the time, or have PT, MT, OT every week or have maintenance meds to pay for each month; etc.) but i am really interested to hear what this woman has to say and what her suggestions for interventions might be.

The Child Development Evaluator will be here for a week starting May 3rd. In the mean time, wish us luck. I've been totally impressed with people's generosity (knitting machines! a collector's pinball machine! a canoe!). So here's hoping!

Live and Learn

These would have been helpful...

Skywalker Trampoline site

Green Works

Earth Day is coming. April 22nd. Keegen's birthday, too. Get ready to plant a tree or something. If i lived in Maryland i could almost plant my garden. BUT NOT HERE. I'll be waiting until friggin' MEMORIAL DAY.

One memorable Earth Day was when i was 15 or 16 and headed downtown with my sister and cousin (i think). We hung out with the masses on the Mall and listened to the Indigo Girls (when they were in their prime) and other random Earth Day-ee activities. It was much fun. Sadly, i also remember the LOADS and LOADS of litter strewn everywhere from the Earth Day revelers...

Anywho. The reason for this post is that while out grabbing a few things at WalMart (i know, TOTALLY NOT a great place to shop. I wasn't going to go there anymore but i'd rather not spend ALL my gas and it's the only place in town! AND they dropped their ridiculous lawsuit against that poor brain-damaged former employee. Seriously, people?!).

But I digress.

In the cleaning aisle i saw the new Green Works cleaners. I think it's awesome that "better for the environment" cleaners are more readily available and hope these work well, are truly enviro-friendly and catch on. It surprises me that Clorox is the mother company, but apparently they have some savvy marketing people who know to jump on the Go Green bandwagon and gain more customers. Personally, I'm so happy with my own homemade cleaners that i won't be buying any, but i'm curious to know if any of you try them and what you think.