So, with three weeks left of track-out after the New Year, I did what any of you would do with three hyperactive children; I loaded them up in the van and drove them to my parents' house to share the moxie. Older people are always wishing they had something called "their energy."
Of course, the world's only Chuck E. Cheese's is located in Waldorf, Maryland. It is a fine place to expel energy. We are lucky that my parents live in Waldorf.
Showing posts with label unmentionables. Show all posts
Showing posts with label unmentionables. Show all posts
Friday, January 20, 2012
Monday, November 9, 2009
Lawn chairs and hiney coughs.
Eve let us give her medicine not once, but twice in one day! We are beyond happy with this. It did make Natalie break down in tears, as Eve took her medicine so quickly that Nat missed the event when she and Daniel went to get their lawn chairs (See: Wow, I just started a blog).
Eve seemed a tad more tired, earlier than usual, so I put her down for an early nap. She slept several hours. She still appears to be in high spirits, though. There's just a lot of stuff going on in that little body of hers, and some rest is bound to do it good.
We kept Natalie home from school today because she had the tail end of a cold going on. Since she was upset that she couldn't go, Matt promised her I would let her play with scissors and glue (I guess this is what he pictures her doing at preschool). She made cards for everyone in her preschool class, and two of them were to boys with "I love you" and "XOXO" written on the inside. Do I sense a Dwight-Andy duel coming on?
I do think Nat is sad that Eve is not sleeping in her room right now. Eve is sleeping in our room while her counts are low, and especially now that Nat is getting over that cold. No one beyond Eve has been sleeping well. Last night I made the mistake of reading some CaringBridge pages and blogs of kids with cancer and I could not get to sleep for hours. I just laid in bed seeing those faces over and over again. Just when I did start to doze off, Nat starts screaming in her room. She had a bad dream that her preschool friends were kicking her. I laid next to her for a little while, but no way could I go to sleep in that bed- it's so uncomfortable for anyone over 60 pounds. I crept back into our room and fell asleep for about 2 hours only to wake up to Eve crying. Apparently Daniel had snuck into our room and turned on the lights and then left. I turned off the lights and got another 2 hours sleep.
Daniel used to be our best sleeper. He would go down for naps no problem and sleep for hours. Then he'd go to bed and sleep until Natalie burst into his room and woke him up. Ever since all this craziness started, he has been the one not sleeping. Naptimes are horrible. I tried to take a nap today on the couch, but he kept coming out of his room and and jumping on me. When I sent him back upstairs to his room, he'd let all the Irish people out of his closet and they did Riverdance above my head.
If Dan doesn't sleep well, no one has a great day. He gets all crazy like Kanye West having a temper tantrum. And we know when it's going to be one of those days when we are awakened at 4:30 a.m. by Plaza Sesamo, and it's Daniel holding the remote.
But one thing that Dan does well is claiming the toot that escapes the place we never mention at at the dinner table. He is a true boy in the fact that he not only tells you he did it, but he is damn proud of it. Natalie doesn't get embarrassed by this phenomenon when it happens to her, but she has found a loophole in the "excuse me" rule. You need to excuse yourself when you belch or pass gas. But, if your hiney is simply coughing, no need to be excused.
Who knew my world would shrink down to tallying poops and blogging about gas?
Eve seemed a tad more tired, earlier than usual, so I put her down for an early nap. She slept several hours. She still appears to be in high spirits, though. There's just a lot of stuff going on in that little body of hers, and some rest is bound to do it good.
We kept Natalie home from school today because she had the tail end of a cold going on. Since she was upset that she couldn't go, Matt promised her I would let her play with scissors and glue (I guess this is what he pictures her doing at preschool). She made cards for everyone in her preschool class, and two of them were to boys with "I love you" and "XOXO" written on the inside. Do I sense a Dwight-Andy duel coming on?
I do think Nat is sad that Eve is not sleeping in her room right now. Eve is sleeping in our room while her counts are low, and especially now that Nat is getting over that cold. No one beyond Eve has been sleeping well. Last night I made the mistake of reading some CaringBridge pages and blogs of kids with cancer and I could not get to sleep for hours. I just laid in bed seeing those faces over and over again. Just when I did start to doze off, Nat starts screaming in her room. She had a bad dream that her preschool friends were kicking her. I laid next to her for a little while, but no way could I go to sleep in that bed- it's so uncomfortable for anyone over 60 pounds. I crept back into our room and fell asleep for about 2 hours only to wake up to Eve crying. Apparently Daniel had snuck into our room and turned on the lights and then left. I turned off the lights and got another 2 hours sleep.
Daniel used to be our best sleeper. He would go down for naps no problem and sleep for hours. Then he'd go to bed and sleep until Natalie burst into his room and woke him up. Ever since all this craziness started, he has been the one not sleeping. Naptimes are horrible. I tried to take a nap today on the couch, but he kept coming out of his room and and jumping on me. When I sent him back upstairs to his room, he'd let all the Irish people out of his closet and they did Riverdance above my head.
If Dan doesn't sleep well, no one has a great day. He gets all crazy like Kanye West having a temper tantrum. And we know when it's going to be one of those days when we are awakened at 4:30 a.m. by Plaza Sesamo, and it's Daniel holding the remote.
But one thing that Dan does well is claiming the toot that escapes the place we never mention at at the dinner table. He is a true boy in the fact that he not only tells you he did it, but he is damn proud of it. Natalie doesn't get embarrassed by this phenomenon when it happens to her, but she has found a loophole in the "excuse me" rule. You need to excuse yourself when you belch or pass gas. But, if your hiney is simply coughing, no need to be excused.
Who knew my world would shrink down to tallying poops and blogging about gas?
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
Monday, November 2, 2009
One of the side effects of Vincristine is constipation. This has been drilled into our heads by everyone at Duke. Do NOT let the child get constipated. There is a special place in purgatory reserved for those of us who allow this to happen.
Well...we went two full days allowing this to happen. Not that we weren't trying to push the medication and high-fiber foods, but Eve wasn't having any of it. Saturday morning, she decided she wasn't going to take any medicine. I tried sneaking it into juice. Chocolate milk. Pudding. Applesauce. No way, no how was she eating any of this. Perhaps she was suspicious of all the new treats we were plying her with? We tried holding her down and pouring it into her mouth...she would just gurgle with it like it was Listerine and spit it back out in our faces. (Which was NOT fresh like Listerine.)
Fortunately, we found something called MiraLax which is supposedly tasteless and clear, that dissolves into any beverage of your choice. I'm not sure why we did not purchase this days ago, as this is truly the only way we could outsmart a two-year-old. We also decided to feed Eve copious amounts of sugar-free candy, which contains sorbitol (the laxative of diabetics).
The only part of the plan we didn't think all the way through was that Eve would be so full of stuff, that she would throw it all up on Saturday night. Twice. Thank goodness we were caught up on laundry (on account of the grandmas!) and had extra sets of sheets. (Natalie slept through both episodes of vomitting and the santizing that followed.)
Sunday finally rolled around and the three adults in the house literally did a happy dance (and Matt uttered a "Praise Jesus!") when Eve did what she needed to do. The rest of Sunday was pleasant since she felt a lot better, and she even scarfed down a large plate of salad (ruffage!!!) at dinner.
This morning we took Eve to the pediatrician to have her blood pressure checked. It was 96/58, much, much lower than the readings she was getting in the hospital. The oncologists wanted us to get this checked today to make sure that she wouldn't be overmedicated with the Lisinopril (blood pressure medicine) if her BP was normal. This could be a sign that the chemotherapy has shrunk the tumor enough where it isn't putting as much pressure on the renal artery (which is causing the secondary hypertension).
The good nurses at the pediatrician's office also showed us the proper way to hold down a two-year-old and force medicine down her throat. This came in handy because she needs to take an antibiotic twice a day, three times a week, to prevent a certain kind of pneumonia. Eve can certainly scream loud enough to make you want to give up, but my mom, Matt, and I held her down and gave her the medicine. Can you believe it takes three of us to do this?
I took Eve to a friend's house where she was photographed in some of her birthday tutus. I wanted to make sure to get some pictures of her pig tails before her hair falls out. We were told to expect that 2-3 weeks after the start of chemotherapy, over the course of 2-3 days.
After the photo session, I took Eve to get her first haircut. She sat perfectly still as she got most of her hair cut off. (The support nurse at Duke recommended we get her hair cut short before the hair falls out, as it may be less traumatic for Eve and her siblings.) She's cute as a button- in fact she looks like a little pixie with her new hairdo!
I'm happy to report that she's snug as a bug in a rug right now. She's got quite a strong spirit! We go back to Duke for chemo and an appointment with nephrologists on Friday. We are beyond blessed with the outpouring of support we have received from our friends. Here's hoping for an uneventful week!
Well...we went two full days allowing this to happen. Not that we weren't trying to push the medication and high-fiber foods, but Eve wasn't having any of it. Saturday morning, she decided she wasn't going to take any medicine. I tried sneaking it into juice. Chocolate milk. Pudding. Applesauce. No way, no how was she eating any of this. Perhaps she was suspicious of all the new treats we were plying her with? We tried holding her down and pouring it into her mouth...she would just gurgle with it like it was Listerine and spit it back out in our faces. (Which was NOT fresh like Listerine.)
Fortunately, we found something called MiraLax which is supposedly tasteless and clear, that dissolves into any beverage of your choice. I'm not sure why we did not purchase this days ago, as this is truly the only way we could outsmart a two-year-old. We also decided to feed Eve copious amounts of sugar-free candy, which contains sorbitol (the laxative of diabetics).
The only part of the plan we didn't think all the way through was that Eve would be so full of stuff, that she would throw it all up on Saturday night. Twice. Thank goodness we were caught up on laundry (on account of the grandmas!) and had extra sets of sheets. (Natalie slept through both episodes of vomitting and the santizing that followed.)
Sunday finally rolled around and the three adults in the house literally did a happy dance (and Matt uttered a "Praise Jesus!") when Eve did what she needed to do. The rest of Sunday was pleasant since she felt a lot better, and she even scarfed down a large plate of salad (ruffage!!!) at dinner.
This morning we took Eve to the pediatrician to have her blood pressure checked. It was 96/58, much, much lower than the readings she was getting in the hospital. The oncologists wanted us to get this checked today to make sure that she wouldn't be overmedicated with the Lisinopril (blood pressure medicine) if her BP was normal. This could be a sign that the chemotherapy has shrunk the tumor enough where it isn't putting as much pressure on the renal artery (which is causing the secondary hypertension).
The good nurses at the pediatrician's office also showed us the proper way to hold down a two-year-old and force medicine down her throat. This came in handy because she needs to take an antibiotic twice a day, three times a week, to prevent a certain kind of pneumonia. Eve can certainly scream loud enough to make you want to give up, but my mom, Matt, and I held her down and gave her the medicine. Can you believe it takes three of us to do this?
I took Eve to a friend's house where she was photographed in some of her birthday tutus. I wanted to make sure to get some pictures of her pig tails before her hair falls out. We were told to expect that 2-3 weeks after the start of chemotherapy, over the course of 2-3 days.
After the photo session, I took Eve to get her first haircut. She sat perfectly still as she got most of her hair cut off. (The support nurse at Duke recommended we get her hair cut short before the hair falls out, as it may be less traumatic for Eve and her siblings.) She's cute as a button- in fact she looks like a little pixie with her new hairdo!
I'm happy to report that she's snug as a bug in a rug right now. She's got quite a strong spirit! We go back to Duke for chemo and an appointment with nephrologists on Friday. We are beyond blessed with the outpouring of support we have received from our friends. Here's hoping for an uneventful week!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
