I often question what is worst the hormones of a teenager or the terrors of the toddler. Although we have recently witnessed both with Madame Emily, I have to conclude the terrors of a toddler are far more fierce. Presumably innocent, the toddler is a force to be reckoned with. They are cute and cuddly one minute and out of control the next. You can reason with a Teen, where the toddler is often unconsolable. We are facing this on a daily basis in our house. Although it would be easy to relate behavior to his cast, I have come to realize this cast has little to do with our recent outbreaks of terror. William is hellbound on two feet now. The crawl at least slowed him down. Oh how quickly they go from toddling to running when there is something he really wants. No longer will he let us carry him to the car instead he throw his weight around and yells "awk" which means put me down you stupid cow and let me walk. I have almost dropped him more times in the past week then I care to count. I guess the answer is to do his evil bidding or suffer the consequences. Welcome to the wonderful world of the walking toddler.
On a side note...this week brought another trip to the pediatrician. Both boys have been hacking for over a week. Both coughs seemed to have no end in sight so off to Dr. Phillips we were. Cody in the car decided he was recovering perfectly, cough cough. I told him to please tell the doctor how he has been so I don't look stupid. He reluctantly obliged when I assured there would be no shot involved. William put on his Mr. Cute routine and I though oh crap another $210.00 down the drain. Dr. Phillips luckily saw through both boys smoke and mirrors. The funny part was when he asked me when this all started and I had to go back several weeks to the vomit and fever at Wilson's BBQ to get back to when the cough really started. I am sure he was thinking get to the point woman! Anyway Cody had sinus infection and bronchitis while William claimed an ear infection with identical bronchitis. Two prescriptions for Amoxicillin and several days later we are starting to see health at the end of the tunnel. I swear we need to just pipe it through our air ducts in a mist as a preventative. Well tantrum #12 of the day is starting so this is tata for today! Wishing you health and wealth and a tantrum free afternoon!
Friday, March 12, 2010
Friday, March 5, 2010
Class without Cash
Shopping for clothing for a child in cast is sometimes like a uphill battle. The sizes seem to change with each cast and finding clothes that will fit over the cast is sometimes tricky. With spring/summer approaching the time came for another wardrobe change. Anyone who knows our family know 2 things about us, 1.) I love to shop and love to dress my kids in nice clothes, 2.) My husband could care less what either boy wears, although he prefers camo and comfort. Last summer Williams wardrobe consisted of John john shortalls in seersucker prints and Shirtalls in assorted nautical or coastal prints. If it had a crab, lobster, boat, or anchor it was on his cute little butt. Last night I attended our semi annual parent clothing swap night. A large group of parents prepare and tag nicer clothes to sell to each other. Williams wardrobe from last spring/summer consisted of many precious articles. I am sure they were snatched up and will be worn by another little angel this summer. I like the thought of my hardwork and dedication to shopping being shared by another parent/child. Ok so here comes the kicker: I had a babysitter, time to look, and a very specific idea of what his summer wardrobe would consist of. The downside, my specific thoughts didn't seem to translate to his current cast condition. John Johns are precious, but have lining in them that is too tight around his bulky cast. I even looked up in the 2T section and found very little to match my idea of what he should wear. I refuse to compromise, but fear the wardrobe of last year will not work this summer. I picked up a couple of overall outfits and shorts with T-shirts, but I still haven't felt the feeling of accomplishment that came with last summers wardrobe. I refuse to give up without a fight. I believe my child can still have class without having to drop alot of cash. So the hunt will continue. Keep us in mind as you pass the seersucker and crabs. We will find the perfect fit without resorting to Camo! I will try to post some pics of our purchases later!
Monday, March 1, 2010
Four letter words
There are a few things that strike fear in the lives of cast parents like poop and puke. Between Friday and today we have been faced with both. Friday night started like any other Friday. William had shots Friday morning. I picked three kids up from the Rosary and headed to the mall for a little retail therapy, then dropped 2 off at their home, planned dinner with my father in law to drop Cody off with Granddad. We tried a new BBQ place on the westside for something different. Dinner was great, Catfish fiddlers for the Catholics in the group, grilled cheese for the littlest William. Dinner was over and I took the big guy to the bathroom. Before we finished I heard the little William start crying and hurried Cody along. When I exited the bathroom, the scene had unfolded, Big William, my father in law, was holding little William and the entire left side of his black shirt was covered in white. "What the heck is going on" was the only thing I could think. Daddy was holding a pile of paper towels, the owner was frantic and other guests were gagging. Oh yeah William had puked everywhere. I grabbed him as Chad started to gag, we left the diner, Granddad went to the bathroom to remove his shirt and Daddy paid the check and ran. The owner actually said come back again, goodness knows the man was just being nice. We practically cleared his establishment on a Friday night. Fevers all night and most of Saturday. Sunday was thankfully uneventful. Jump to Monday morning....
Monday morning promised to be a race. Chad had a client he had to meet at work early. I had two kids to get moving so everyone was on time. In order to get my shower, I put Elmo on in the living room for little man. I took a quick shower and went to the living room to check on the Elmo addict. I smelled it long before I entered the room. No big deal I thought, we have been lucky so far with it not exiting the diaper. Placed little britches on the changing table and thought I will change him, dress him and then blow dry my hair. Unzipped the sleeper to unholy hell. Poop everywhere! Up the cast, on the cast, around the cast. Oh S&*t. Chad!!!! Help!!!! We tried to wipe what we could, but the poop was up to his mid back. Chad went to get the cleanser, a bowl of water, a rag, new tape and cotton. We untaped the sweater that was designed to protect their skin from the layer of cotton and guaze that is then covered by plaster and finally fiberglass. The plaster and cotton can't get wet so this gets tricky. Pull the sweater out as far as it will stretch and until you can't see poop anymore. This is usually a little ways up but you can always find clean white sweater, not today. We ended up having to floss wipes through the hole on the side to try to fish poo from the upper portion of his back. Once you have the poop out the best you can it is time to cleanse the sweater without getting the cast wet. Very hard job. Once it is as clean as it will get you have to blow dry the sweater, replace the cotton padding the edge and retape the entire thing. It was a 45 minute job with everyone involved being late going where they need to be. When I finally reached work late I had the feeling as if I was a rubber band ready to snap all day. Thankfully I work with good people they embraced my inner witch and let me have my day.
As you see these two four letter words can conjure so many other four letter words that I won't say on a family blog. William has earned his nickname "Stink" this weekend. I pray this is it for the week. My weekend blog will need to be sunshine and roses to make up for the four days we have just been through! If the smell doesn't subside soon, I will resort to febreezing the baby!
Monday morning promised to be a race. Chad had a client he had to meet at work early. I had two kids to get moving so everyone was on time. In order to get my shower, I put Elmo on in the living room for little man. I took a quick shower and went to the living room to check on the Elmo addict. I smelled it long before I entered the room. No big deal I thought, we have been lucky so far with it not exiting the diaper. Placed little britches on the changing table and thought I will change him, dress him and then blow dry my hair. Unzipped the sleeper to unholy hell. Poop everywhere! Up the cast, on the cast, around the cast. Oh S&*t. Chad!!!! Help!!!! We tried to wipe what we could, but the poop was up to his mid back. Chad went to get the cleanser, a bowl of water, a rag, new tape and cotton. We untaped the sweater that was designed to protect their skin from the layer of cotton and guaze that is then covered by plaster and finally fiberglass. The plaster and cotton can't get wet so this gets tricky. Pull the sweater out as far as it will stretch and until you can't see poop anymore. This is usually a little ways up but you can always find clean white sweater, not today. We ended up having to floss wipes through the hole on the side to try to fish poo from the upper portion of his back. Once you have the poop out the best you can it is time to cleanse the sweater without getting the cast wet. Very hard job. Once it is as clean as it will get you have to blow dry the sweater, replace the cotton padding the edge and retape the entire thing. It was a 45 minute job with everyone involved being late going where they need to be. When I finally reached work late I had the feeling as if I was a rubber band ready to snap all day. Thankfully I work with good people they embraced my inner witch and let me have my day.
As you see these two four letter words can conjure so many other four letter words that I won't say on a family blog. William has earned his nickname "Stink" this weekend. I pray this is it for the week. My weekend blog will need to be sunshine and roses to make up for the four days we have just been through! If the smell doesn't subside soon, I will resort to febreezing the baby!
Saturday, February 27, 2010
Ups and Downs and in between
So this week has had ups and downs. William is up and moving. He is bouncing back and settling into his new cast. He was happy and laughing again which is something we worry about for the first week of each cast. These are all ups. There are down sides to Progressive Infantile Scoliosis as well. I have been smacked in the face this week with the fact that although I have tried to be super mom, I am failing Cody so much. He has been craving attention from me. He has spent the week sleeping on our love seat in our bedroom because he is "sick". It took my sister, his teacher, to point this out to me. William requires constant care and although I have tried to give as much attention to my precious Cody Man, it has fallen short. I wonder how other parents deal with this. I think sometimes you try to be all things to all people and with that you worry about others seeing your faults. I am not super mom, super wife or super friend. I am flawed and failing in so many aspects of this.
Another little battle that has shown it's ugly head this week is my battle with Midwest Radiological Imaging. When we were seeking evaluation from specialists we got copies of Wills xrays from Midwest, our local radiolgy group. We viewed his films for the first time before our trip to Indianapolis. I kept saying oh my goodness look at the crazy curve in his spine. Then I looked at the date on the film....the crazy curve in his spine was from June of 2009. This was 4.5 months prior to his xray that was read as scoliosis. His October x-ray with the same group was taken stretched out on the table and read as 28 degrees. A week later in Chicago he had an x-ray taken sitting upright and it was read as 67 degrees. We asked our surgeon why the difference and were told the correct method for diagnosing scoliosis is standing or sitting. When you lie flat it is not natural and skews the results. Ok so now we have the answer to why the October x-ray was wrong, but it still doesn't explain why his June x-ray with a very obvious defect was read as "no obvious abnormality". This delayed his treatment and could possibly lead him to Vepter Rods before he is 4. Ok so now I need to get to the point and off my rant...when William had his MRI prior to casting, we had to have his scan completed in Evansville. We were instructed to fedex his scan to Chicago Shriners as soon as we finished. They read the results there and casted William for the first time 3 days later. We told the hospital what we were doing and requested his films not be read. We have paid the hospital the insane amount of money they charged for his MRI on all 12 inches of his spine, then we received a bill for the read of that MRI. I paid for 2 incorrect reads already and I am standing my ground on not paying for this one. I am not sueing for malpractive although they claim non was committed. They have put it through one review and friday I insisted it go back for a second review. There is principle involved in all this.
Ok to sum up this week, William is great(minus fever and vomitting from 15 month shots) oh yeah didn't mention any of that, Cody is pretending to be sick because I have been a poor mother, and although we have paid several thousand dollars to the hospital for an MRI I am refusing to pay a few hundred for the read. It's a crazy life, but someone has to live it! Hoping next week I am back to my chipper self. lol
Another little battle that has shown it's ugly head this week is my battle with Midwest Radiological Imaging. When we were seeking evaluation from specialists we got copies of Wills xrays from Midwest, our local radiolgy group. We viewed his films for the first time before our trip to Indianapolis. I kept saying oh my goodness look at the crazy curve in his spine. Then I looked at the date on the film....the crazy curve in his spine was from June of 2009. This was 4.5 months prior to his xray that was read as scoliosis. His October x-ray with the same group was taken stretched out on the table and read as 28 degrees. A week later in Chicago he had an x-ray taken sitting upright and it was read as 67 degrees. We asked our surgeon why the difference and were told the correct method for diagnosing scoliosis is standing or sitting. When you lie flat it is not natural and skews the results. Ok so now we have the answer to why the October x-ray was wrong, but it still doesn't explain why his June x-ray with a very obvious defect was read as "no obvious abnormality". This delayed his treatment and could possibly lead him to Vepter Rods before he is 4. Ok so now I need to get to the point and off my rant...when William had his MRI prior to casting, we had to have his scan completed in Evansville. We were instructed to fedex his scan to Chicago Shriners as soon as we finished. They read the results there and casted William for the first time 3 days later. We told the hospital what we were doing and requested his films not be read. We have paid the hospital the insane amount of money they charged for his MRI on all 12 inches of his spine, then we received a bill for the read of that MRI. I paid for 2 incorrect reads already and I am standing my ground on not paying for this one. I am not sueing for malpractive although they claim non was committed. They have put it through one review and friday I insisted it go back for a second review. There is principle involved in all this.
Ok to sum up this week, William is great(minus fever and vomitting from 15 month shots) oh yeah didn't mention any of that, Cody is pretending to be sick because I have been a poor mother, and although we have paid several thousand dollars to the hospital for an MRI I am refusing to pay a few hundred for the read. It's a crazy life, but someone has to live it! Hoping next week I am back to my chipper self. lol
Sunday, February 21, 2010
Week one New Cast
Week one of our new cast is down and William is bouncing back. He is moving with the help of his push toys, climbing on chairs and furniture, and watching Elmo at an alarming rate. He is still very whiny and we are having up/down issues. This cast seems heavier and wider on the top. This makes it very hard for him to get off his back like a turtle overturned and he has trouble getting down once he is up. He is overcoming and will work hard to master these everyday tasks.
On a brighter note, he has transitioned to the toddler room at school. He will get to eat lunch at a little table and chairs, take the stairs to play in the gym, and nap on a cot instead of his crib. What a big boy. They let him take his nap in the toddler room last week and said he kept crawling to his friends cot to take his nap. They put him back on his mat and patted his back until he finally gave in and went to sleep. We got him an Elmo blanket for his nap time this weekend. Hopefully that will make nap time easier.
Thursday night we christened the new cast with a round of stomach flu....also courtesy of the toddler room. The first round was the worst. We were able to disinfect the cast quickly and put him in a bib for the next four rounds. The smell seemed to linger about a day or so, but we are smooth sailing for now. Febreeze the baby was one thought we had! Just kidding of course! Hope you all have a great week. We will update later!
On a brighter note, he has transitioned to the toddler room at school. He will get to eat lunch at a little table and chairs, take the stairs to play in the gym, and nap on a cot instead of his crib. What a big boy. They let him take his nap in the toddler room last week and said he kept crawling to his friends cot to take his nap. They put him back on his mat and patted his back until he finally gave in and went to sleep. We got him an Elmo blanket for his nap time this weekend. Hopefully that will make nap time easier.
Thursday night we christened the new cast with a round of stomach flu....also courtesy of the toddler room. The first round was the worst. We were able to disinfect the cast quickly and put him in a bib for the next four rounds. The smell seemed to linger about a day or so, but we are smooth sailing for now. Febreeze the baby was one thought we had! Just kidding of course! Hope you all have a great week. We will update later!
Monday, February 15, 2010
Cast #2 Down
Sunday, February 14, 2010
Bye Bye Bath
We finished our last bath this morning and waved Bye bye to the bath water. Tub chair put away for the next 3 months. Splish Splash and a clean baby emerges. It is funny how time flys when you are having fun! We are packing and I am going into clinical mode. It is all about numbers at this point. 67 down to 20 the first time. Let's see where he stayed out of cast. What will the new number be? The number game is a blessing and a curse, but the numbers are what count. Any correction is good correction, I just keep telling myself that. Keep the prayers coming.
The Chicago Travelors,
Chad, Catie, Cody, William and Grandma
The Chicago Travelors,
Chad, Catie, Cody, William and Grandma
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