I'm back! Again. :)

It has been FOREVER since I posted on this little blog of mine and I have so, so much to share (birthdays, vacations, family-ness, Arty [oh our sweet Arty], Michael updates, summer fun, recipes, lots-o-stuff).

I have so much I want to share, that it's almost stressful to decide where to begin. Should I start chronologically oldest stuff to newest, or newest first and work my way back, or just scattered little bits here and there? Those who know me realize that these are tough decisions for me (because I can't make a decision to save my life, let alone decide what's for dinner or how to get back to blogging…I'm such a Libra)! So I might as well just jump in and get started.


Didja miss me? I've been missing you!!  :)

still the one

My husband is looking oh so thoughtful in this picture. Deep thinking. Meaning of the universe. Penny for your thoughts. I know the lines of his face and what he's gone through to earn each one of those lines; ruggedly handsome. Total hotness (but I might be biased).


I know what he's thinking in this one though:  "I hope she gets that camera out of my face soon. Why'd I buy it for her again?" You love me, that's why you bought it for me...and I'm going to use it to take pictures of the people (and places) I love.  My snapshots of a good life!

14 years...and he's still the one.  :)

medical stuff

Sorry to be so few and far between with posting updates around here.  We're dealing with a lot of medical issues for the boy and some tough decisions....like being able to (possibly) surgically remove the spot in Michael's brain that causes his awful seizures, but removing that part of his brain has a risk of potentially making him blind.  Oy vey...we also have a lot of hurry up and wait appointments as well to deal with his tethered spinal cord and decreased walking, knees continually dislocating when his legs are straightened and other possible surgeries to address those issues as well.  In addition to our daily routine of Conductive Education, speech therapy, independent life-skills (like self-feeding, dressing, bathing, etc.), and still trying to have fun and ENJOY life...which we are totally doing too.  Really!  :)

So while doing some research on the seizure surgery, I ran across this presentation that really caught our attention.  There are two topics that he touches on (one he barely discusses), but we were able to key in on right away.  The first is that seizures could be reduced/stopped non-surgically.  The second, is that those with learning disabilities can increase their learning....through neural prosthetics.  So cool.

Here is the cliff note version if you don't want to watch the video:


Ed Boyden shows how, by inserting genes for light-sensitive proteins into brain cells, he can selectively activate or de-activate specific neurons with fiber-optic implants. With this unprecedented level of control, he's managed to cure mice of analogs of PTSD and certain forms of blindness. On the horizon: neural prosthetics. At the MIT Media Lab, Ed Boyden leads the Synthetic Neurobiology Group, which invents technologies to reveal how cognition and emotion arise from brain networks -- and to enable systematic repair of disorders such as epilepsy and PTSD.

http://www.ted.com/speakers/ed_boyden.html

http://www.ted.com/talks/ed_boyden.html

Impressive stuff to say the least.  Now...off to search the net for clinical studies for this new breakthrough.   :)

swimming

Evidently, Michael's little aliens from Toy Story wanted to go swimming this morning.

So glad I cleaned the pool before it opened up for the season.

shoot the moon

I love stargazing and watching rare astrological events.  Very often, you'll find me sitting outside at night waiting for meteor showers or comets or just enjoying the night sky.  I may or may not have a little adult beverage at my side too, especially during those warm summer nights after the boy is in bed.  Before Michael was born, I even talked Gary into going for a drive out into the country to get away from the suburban street lights so we could see the action in the sky even better.

This weekend was a rare "perigee moon" aka Super Moon, so I got out my tripod and remote control in an attempt to "shoot the moon".

Not bad, I guess.  Was definitely wishing for a super zoom lens so I wouldn't have to crop it a ton and end up with lots of grain, but we can't have everything.  Still an enjoyable evening, not too cold out and I had fun playing with my camera.

Whew....what we've been up to this winter

My poor, poor neglected little blog.  {sigh}  I don't mean to ignore you blog or my wonderful family and friends that read about our little life here.  I've just been busy.  Non-stop busy.  Like my head is going to explode with so much going on that it makes-me-want-to-shut-down kind of busy.  It also makes me want to throw away all the clutter, toys, filing/papers, excess clothes...everything, and start fresh. Spring kind of does that to me (you too?)....I always feel so restless and full of cabin fever when winter is almost over (or SHOULD be over!).


I'll do some more bullets to catch the blog up through winter:

• Skiing:  Michael + snow + speed + outside = LOVE.

(if you want, you can turn off the music at the very bottom)

• Painting:  in-laws basement (done).
• Painting:  our kitchen, living room, stairs/hall, and family room (starting in a week or two).
• Tiling: our new kitchen backsplash (working on it at this moment).
• Photography business:  blog, website, portfolio building, lots of schtuff going on in this area (on-going).
• Conductive Education:  special Hungarian therapy for Michael (on-going...except on hold now because of a knee injury).
• Playing:  Michael playing and enjoying his company.

• School:  Michael not doing well in school, plus lots of disappointing things in this area.
• Laundry:  my never-ending nemesis.
• Birthday:  planning a little Toy Story birthday party for Michael (in about 3 weeks).
• Doctors:  see below.  In addition, we're also taking Michael to a specialist at Cincinnati Children's for a 2nd opinion about his knee (it dislocates when his leg is straight) and spine (tethered spinal cord) and scoliosis and possible bone deformities throughout (also in 3 weeks).

Other news and goings on around here.
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Just after Valentine's Day, Michael had a seizure at 9pm while eating yogurt and it aspirated into his lungs. We called 911 and got him to the ER.  He was released from the hospital at midnight, only for Michael to have a 2nd seizure and stop breathing for 20-30 seconds around 3am (as you can imagine - it was THE scariest thing EVER and we've had some scary stuff here!). Called 911 again and the squad took us back to hospital, then Children's Hospital picked him up from Memorial Hospital and transported Michael to Children's in Columbus (Memorial Hosp is about 45 mins away from Children's). Children's admitted him while he fought aspiration pneumonia. He received antibiotics by IV and stayed in the hospital for 5 days.


He's finished with antibiotics and we did a follow up xray 2 weeks ago to make sure the aspiration pneumonia is gone (all CLEAR!). He's acting fine and we're starting to get back into our "normal" routine (whatever the heck that is!!).


He's definitely more resilient than us...that's for sure!  :)


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So 3 days after Michael is home from the hospital, I'm changing a poopy diaper and notice that part of his poop looked weird, so I took a closer look (eewww completely gross, I know).  But what the heck?  Is that... a worm?  OMG!  It's not a worm...it's....it's....a BABY WIPE!  Are you kidding me?!?  He pooped out a 5" long piece of baby wipe!  The previous night I had changed his diaper and he grabbed a wipe from the container.  Not a big deal....he's a "shredder", he likes to shred wipes, tissues, paper, whatever.  But lately, he has been chewing on his shirt collar and the corners of pillows.  He never, never, ever puts smaller things in his mouth...like food or toys.  So I totally didn't think about the baby wipe thing.  This so could've turned out awful:  like choking on it or having a bowel obstruction.  Guess he's in a chewy pre-toddler stage now.  We have been warned!


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Okay, I don't mean to carry on and on about poop, but 2 days after he turned into a wipe dispenser, I was on the phone with someone, maybe my dad, and I smell Michael "making me a present".  I tell my dad I have to hang up, that I have to change Michael's diaper.  I go downstairs to find that I don't have to change his diaper after all.  That's because Michael pulled down his pants AND his diaper before doing his business on the family room floor.    NOOooooo!!!!  Oh yes. he. did.


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bullets

What we've been doing lately, aside from slacking on this poor little 'ole blog, in bullet form:

I am in love with Michael's new kicks!

• Doctor's appointments for the boy - MRIs, x-rays, neurologists, orthotics, physical medicine, pediatrician, neurosurgeon, dentist....you name it, we've probably seen a doctor for it in the last 2 months.  And there's 4-5 more appointments to go before Thanksgiving.
• Insurance...and all the paperwork and headaches that go with them not paying what they should and trying to come up with the money for what they don't cover.
• School and all that goes with it.

We heard Michael sneak out of his room after bedtime and we found him reading a comic book (The Simpson) at the top of the stairs with his partner in crime.

• Conductive Education, a unique therapy-like program from Hungary that Michael has been participating in during the summer and after school.  We're thinking of signing him up for their 5-week/4 hours a day program starting in January...but have to figure out how to get him out of school without penalizing him.  We're also applying for a grant to help fund his therapy.  It's $1,200-$1,700 per session depending on the session type and the hours in that session...and our insurance company doesn't cover this program (nor does any other insurance company in the US).
• Continuing to have Michael self-feed...he's getting better at it, but we have to keep an eye on him because sometimes he'll feed the top of his head or the dog.
• I'm starting a photography business...so I'm testing the waters with my tippy toes by doing some portfolio building.  Getting my business plan and marketing and websites/social media up and running.
• I was able to attend one of my nephew's football games, finally (usually Gary goes to the games and I stay home with Michael, but the last game of the season was free and we thought we'd try it as a family).  Michael would have liked it more without the announcer (not sure what it is about the loudspeaker voices, but they really upset him).  He did great otherwise and loved to cheer and clap.  

That's our nephew with the fumble-recovering-game-winning play, in OT no less!!  Go Dillon!!

• Attempting to keep the house clean...or at least making sure we have food and clean underwear. 
• Michael's name/number came up for our state/county's waiver program that will help with medical bills, so we've started the application process...it takes about 3 months to complete and become officially approved.  We're just starting the 2nd month - hoping for a January start date.
• Volunteer work with the Care Train (an organization that raises money and provides toys and food vouchers for needy local families at Christmas).  I'm on the auction team, so I solicit businesses for donations of goods and services and money.  This year was a record breaker:  we raised over $150,000 for our community....we love our hometown (except for the cold weather!)
• Volunteer work with Brighter Beginnings, where Michael receives Conductive Education.  I helped redesign their website and they've asked me to join their Board of Directors.  It is my hope to help make a difference for Michael and all the kids.
• Halloween was a success for Michael.  He stayed out and watched the kids trick-or-treat for almost an hour - his longest yet.  He cheered for the Buzzes, Woodys, and princesses.  :)  He was dressed as an astronaut.

• Working on cleaning closets, going through clothes & toys, trying to get rid of stuff before we're trapped inside with tons of crap all winter long....and suffocating.
• In between all the craziness, we went to Florida for vacation.  It was nice and we had great weather.  Lots of time for Michael to play in the sand and the water.  It was relaxing, but it took a TON of work to make it happen, if that makes any sense.  You know I'll blog more about this later, with lots of pictures.

Yes, he buried himself in the sand...

...and he had a GREAT time doing it!

Hopefully, I'll be back sooner rather than later to share more stories.  

have you ever had one of those days?

I need to vent a little bit because yesterday was just a completely off day.  I thought that if I shared my day with you, it might help me feel better (or at least help you feel better about your day).  It was pajama day at school and Michael was dressed in his favorite Buzz Lightyear pj's, but 5 minutes before the bus came, he peed through his diaper (little item #1).  So I did a quick change to just regular pj's of boxer shorts and an undershirt (I thought it would be too warm to wear his flannel lounge pants).  He seemed very excited and was acting so silly wearing pj's to school.  :)   Happy boy!

I had to pick M up early from school to take him to a doctor's appointment and when we were leaving school, I heard that there were some comments about him not being dressed appropriately, that I sent him to school in his underwear (little item #2).  Are you kidding me? So now I'm feeling awful because I know that I wouldn't purposefully send him to school in just underwear, how could they think that?  To me, his diaper would be considered underwear and the boxers would simply be pajama bottoms/shorts.  But whatever.  Not really a big deal, but that just annoyed me.

On the way to the appointment, Michael dropped a deuce not even 15 minutes into our 45 minute ride to the hospital (little item #3...or should this be listed as big #2??  haha!).  Oh, dear Lord the smell...I found myself trying to position the car behind big ol' work trucks just so the smell of exhaust would mask the other smell.  I had to change M in the back of my SUV in the parking lot of the hospital, which sounds like an awful thing to do, but it SO much better than lying him down on the bathroom floor (eeeww, that's nasty) because he's way too tall for the little fold out baby changing tables.

We check in for his 3:30 appointment and wait.  And wait.  And wait.  At 4:00pm, they finally put us in a room to wait.  And wait.  And...you guessed it, wait some more (little item # 4).  At 4:30, we are taken for his x-rays (scoliosis checkup) and as soon as we step into the room, Michael's nose starts bleeding.  OMG, he does not do well with this situation AT ALL (little item #5).  I'm trying to pinch his nose to stop the bleeding, which is now all over him, me, the xray table, the floor, etc.  The x-ray technician is kind of freaking out, asking ME what she should do...well some tissues would be a great help (duh!).  It takes a little while to get it to stop bleeding (which is kind of normal for him), but x-ray tech girl pages for a nurse because it seems like way too much blood to her.  By the time the nurse gets to the room, the bloody nose has stopped and the nurse doesn't seem too concerned, but is empathetic and helpful with getting wet towels for the clean up.  By now though, poor M is just sobbing over the whole thing and can't/won't hold still for the x-rays.  It takes 2 of us to hold him in position and he fights us because he is just so DONE.  We finally get 2 good pictures and head back to the little room around 5:00pm....to wait for the doctor.  While waiting, M's allergies really start to aggravate his eyes and they turn redder and swell (little item #6).

We've been waiting for so long and I have run out of things to keep him entertained, but he takes an interest in an I Spy picture hanging low on the office wall.  I squat down in front of the picture and he sits on one of my legs so we can look at the picture together, all snuggly.  He's finally smiling and laughing, but he gets too excited with his legs, bouncing and kicking, and pushes too hard against the wall which causes me to lose my balance and fall backwards.  I try to take the brunt of the fall and cocoon him, but he ended up with a little bruise on his elbow (little item #7).  He was more scared than hurt, thank goodness, and didn't cry at all.

So by the time the doctor gets to us at 5:45pm (little item #8, okay that's not a little item for me, that's a BIG item--over 2 hrs waiting for a scheduled appointment?!? It's not like he's an OB or anything).  Anyway, the doctor walks in to see M wearing his pj's (or underwear, depending on your point of view), covered in blood, with red swollen eyes, a bruise on his elbow and irritated as all get out because on top of all that's gone on, it's also close to dinner time.  Then there's me (the responsible adult) also covered in blood, a bruise on my elbow and knot on the back of my head, and wild looking hair that probably matched the crazy in my eyes.  I'm definitely going for Mother of the Year....I'm surprised they didn't call CPS.  This appointment for 2 simple x-rays took 2-1/2 freakin' hours!  Not counting the 45 minutes travel time there and back.

Today wasn't much better because we were at a funeral for a dear, dear family member. Then, when Michael got off the bus this afternoon, he had a seizure.  Seizures make him sleep, which means he just a seizure nap and will be up until the wee hours of the morning (1:00am this time).  But tomorrow's gonna be great, I just know it!  I mean, it has to be better, right?  You've had these kind of days too, haven't you?  Please tell me I'm not alone!

If you're still here, thanks for reading all the way to the end.  And thanks for letting me vent....I really do feel better now.  You're the best listeners ever!  :)

'round here

Spring has sprung and the weather has been gorgeous! Everything is growing and coming back to life.  Time to have the windows wide open, do some yard work, kick my mulch addiction into gear and get my flowers from the local greenhouse.  While mowing the other day, I counted 7 bird nests.  Easy to guess what kind of birdies these eggs belong to:

I couldn't wait to get started planting and I purchased quite a few herbs (fresh herbs are so expensive at the store) a couple of weeks ago.  I only had to bring them inside a couple of times because of frost and freeze warnings.  We've already used the herbs in quite a few meals.  There's something kinda cool about being able to open up the back door to pick fresh ingredients for dinner.

(cilantro, rosemary, sage, oregano, basil, a tomato plant, and green onions are around the corner)


Still working on cleaning and organizing my office space, but it's hard to make any progress with my mess maker around.  :) 

(Yes, that's the keyboard he ripped out of the computer, that almost fell off the desk--he has a thing for keyboards, carries them around the house.)

I've almost made enough money selling my precious goods on eBay to cover my CS4/CS5 Photoshop purchase-YEA!!!  So all of the pics I've been posting since October have been SOOC (thank goodness for the "vivid" feature on my Nikon).  I cannot wait until the software arrives!

catching up

This post used to be titled, "okay, enough snow already"...but I waited so long to add the pictures that the snow is now completely melted and long gone!  I procrastinated so long that the season has changed!
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We got some pretty serious snowfall here over the weekend (in February).  We shoveled and shoveled like crazy.  Sore arms, shoulders, backs.  G's parents told us we could borrow their snowblower, but the snow was initially predicted to be around 4-6", maybe even 8", maybe mixed with rain, maybe this, maybe that, blah, blah, blah.  Nah, we didn't need their snowblower, we could handle 6" of snow.  Well, it kept snowing and snowing and it we got about 16" or so.

As usual, Michael enjoyed playing in the snow.  Scooting, hopping, lying in the snow, making snoring sounds, scooping up snow and letting it fall, and having so much fun.

The snow was so deep that when he was scooting through the yard on his hands and knees, his arms would sink so far down into the snow that his face was almost buried.

I was surprised his mittens stayed on throughout it all - those are usually the first to go.  This time it was one of his boots that decided to be pesky and kept coming off.

The city plows came down our street, but plowed only enough for one lane.  Today, the bus was slip-sliding around on the snow plow drifts in the road.  (BTW, Michael is 51" tall...so that kind of gives you an idea how tall the snow is in this picture.)

There's more snow coming Tuesday and Wednesday that is supposed to bring another 6-9".






































Normally, this wouldn't be a big deal except that I am supposed to leave for Seattle on Wednesday afternoon (gotta get outta this snow!).  Fingers are crossed that I still get to have my little weekend getaway (updated to say that I did make it out of Columbus for my trip, but had to spend the night in Chicago on the way home because the Columbus airport got snowed in-stupid snow).

I'm a winner...kinda sort of...but not really

I submitted a photograph for a little contest that Canon had back in January.  I received an email a few weeks ago that my photo was one of the 9 first place winners (1 grand prize and 9 first places)!  How cool is THAT?!?!

I'd guesstimate that it was a prize package worth about $600 that included a Canon Inkjet Office All-In-One wireless printer, as well as a Canon PowerShot A495 point and shoot camera, a beautiful leather carry-on/laptop bag (it has that wonderful new leather smell, mmmm) and a few other goodies.

The two large prize boxes arrived a couple of days ago and I was beyond excited about all the loot.

Before you leave a congratulatory comment or pat me on the back for having such great photography skills, I should mention that the contest wasn't really based on skills.  It was based on what was depicted in the photo.  You see, it was a contest for having the most unorganized home office.  Talk about being humiliated and embarrassed.  At least it was the first time I could tell my husband that being unorganized paid off for once, right?

Oh yeah - the other goodies that were included?  A new Franklin Planner portfolio and 2010 refill packages, along with 4 organizing books.  I am full of hope (or full of something) that I will have a wonderful "after" picture to show you.  But for now, here is the prize-winning "before" picture.  Please don't judge.

In the meantime, I'll be selling all my crap precious goods on eBay.

random craziness

Just a quick note that I haven't forgotten about you!  So crazy busy here it's not even funny.  Here are some of the things I am working on:

• remodeling part of my in-laws' house (2 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms).  I love having a creative outlet doing work like this and also because we love them dearly.  We're not even halfway through the project and I'm wishing we could hurry it up so I can work on our house.  Just feeling THAT inspired!   :)
• cleaning and purging around the house (closets, cabinets, drawers, filing, etc).  Something that ALWAYS needs done and sits on the back burner until I can find some free time.
• blog posts -whew, I'm so far behind on this one. Let's see, there's Seattle from Sept. '09, then Florida, Oct. 09, (I already did Christmas) then the 2 big snowstorms, Michael skiing, then another Seattle from a week ago, project 365, oh... and there are a couple of recipes I'd like to post too.
• organizing photos, backing up computers, and all that other boring stuff that makes you feel good once it's all done.
• project 365 - I've taken a lot of pictures, but I'm having a hard time deciding which ONE photo represents that ONE day.  Anyone else working on this project having the same difficulty?
• lots of lists being made and personal projects and goals to ponder.
• then mix all this up with our normal craziness (school, laundry, lunches, seizures, homework, dinner, dishes, groceries, appointments, etc. etc.) and I'm finding there's just not enough time in the day to accomplish it all.

Okay, so as soon as I get another moment or two, I promise to post more and hopefully get my blog list whittled down!

I'm so busy, I don't even have time to add a picture to this post (what?!?!  that's pure craziness!).  Off to do some painting...   

:)

testing testing

ETA: Only the small pics can be seen in their entirety...medium and large get clipped. Hmmm, I might have to change the formatting of this little 'ol blog. One more thing to add to my "To Do" list.

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Testing out posting pics from flikr and the various sizes. :)

Pics are from First Beach, WA (any Twilight fans out there??) and part of the 10 mile Lake Ozette loop trail Keni, Noelle, and I hiked in September....and have yet to post.

testing flikr posts :)

where have I been?

Unfortunately, I haven't been anywhere. Our computer crashed, but luckily Gary was able to load the recovery software to get us mostly up and running again, except for a few applications (like my Palm software...error, error=grrrr). A week later, after we were getting back into the technology groove - you guessed it: the darn computer crashed AGAIN. Gary ran some diagnostics on it (yeah, he's pretty smart...and yeah, I guess we're a little nerdy) and it came back with an error code of FATAL crash imminent. That was Saturday morning.

I have a far-fetched wishlist in my head (and heart) that includes a dreamy Mac computer and it's been on my list for a few years, but they are so expensive. I mean, it financially didn't make since to buy a Mac because you could purchase 2, almost 3, new PCs for the price of 1 Mac.

BUT, after 3 PC crashes in 3 years, 2 of them within 1 week, the Mac was starting to seem like a better option. We did some research online (Apple had just had a one day sale on the iMac and a Macbook Pro on Friday- $100 off of each, not really that big of a sale, but it was big for Apple...let me remind you that it was now the day AFTER the sale) and we found the best deal at Best Buy (mostly for their financing)...especially considering the nearest Apple store is about an hour away.

We head to Best Buy to check 'em out in person. OMG! There they were on the display table... showing off their sleek sexiness...they might've well been topless for Pete's sake. And let me tell you, the new 27" iMac is....HUGE!!! We talk to the Apple Guy, who gives us a 2-3 minute demo...and wow oh wow. We were pretty sure we were going to make a purchase - even G admitted he had been thinking of switching to a Mac, which surprised me! But watching the Apple Guy edit photos, create a picture book, create a family newsletter, create a DVD with your pictures set to the beat of the music from your iTunes library...all in 3 minutes....well all I could say the whole time (after I wiped the drool from my chin) was "Yes. OH. Wow. Yes." Almost a When Harry Met Sally performance, let me tell you.

The sales guy was great, no pressure, go think about it, down-to-earth realist, etc. etc. So I ask him what he could do for us if we bought not one but TWO Macs. He left to work out the numbers and we came home with these:

A wonderfully, glorious 21-1/2" iMac and a 13" MacBook Pro. I swear I heard the angels singing and a golden light appear when we opened the boxes.

Just one more picture for you that makes me chuckle, the juxtaposition of the two computers. We could SO turn this into our own commercial.

The only downside of the whole transition is that Adobe would not let me switch my CS3 software from a PC version to Mac version because it was 2 years old. They did offer a discount to upgrade my software to CS4 in a Mac version for a mere $500 (which is actually a very good discount), but still....it bummed me out, and we did not (could not) purchase it...at this time. So no 'real' photo editing going on for awhile. WYSIWYG SOOC....and all that jazz.

It'll be awhile before I come down off of this cloud. {sigh}

2 years ago

Almost 2 years ago to the day (Oct 25th and 26th), our little family was experiencing a crisis like no other. Gary had a stroke. It's still so amazingly miraculous to think about how he couldn't walk, slurred when he talked, was going to have to wear an eye patch for double vision, and couldn't use his right arm......to being probably 90% completely recovered. The fact that he's still HERE is the most amazing part. Needless to say THANKFUL and GRATEFUL come to mind a ton.

Look at what he was doing this year, compared to 2 years ago:

Grateful-thankful-grateful-thankful-grateful-thankful...and repeat.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

2007 email to family and friends about G's status while he was starting his 2nd week of a 3 week hospital stay (warning: kind of graphic medical crap described):



Hey there! Gary's dad brought us his laptop to use while we are at the hospital, so I can fill you in a bit.

Last Thursday, Gary woke up to get ready for work and he asked me to look at his eyes because they felt like they were moving in circles. They were moving back and forth and twitchy-like. I took him to the ER and they did a CT scan which came back clean and because he had a
headache/neck ache while in Florida and M. Beach, they thought that he might have some fluid somewhere causing vertigo. The ER gave him meds and then sent us home.

All that Thursday, his head and neck REALLY REALLY still hurt, but we thought that w/the meds it would hopefully go away.

Friday morning he felt okay enough to take a shower, but during the shower his right arm and leg became uncontrollable...and then he was feeling very sick and started dry heaving. Any kind of movement made him hurl. I told him I was going to take him back to the ER but he
couldn't move, so I called 911.

Because of our previous day's events and a clean CT scan, the medics thought that maybe he was having a bad reaction to the meds.

The ER seemed to be of the same thought, but they wanted to do an MRI to be sure. The radiologist said there was a tiny "spot" on the MRI in his cerebellum indicating a possible stroke...so tiny the doctor said she couldn't see it. A stroke in the cerebellum causes involuntary
reflexes, imbalance, dizziness and nauseous ness, which is why they thought it could be vertigo. Marysville doesn't have a neurologist, so they transported him to Riverside (OSU was full).

Once at Riverside, they wanted to do their own MRI/MRA so that they could see more of the neck area to confirm the neurologist's suspicions that he had a tear in his artery (which he has seen happen in younger stroke patients). During this time, they started him on blood thinners to prevent another stroke from happening. Well, that MRI/MRA came back inconclusive...the radiologist couldn't say yes or no about a tear. Soooo, they had him do a cerebral angiogram where they go through the groin artery up to his neck and brain. They were able to tell definitively that he did have a tear (called a dissection) in the artery on the left side of
his neck/bottom of his head area. This tear was causing blood to pool up and then a section of this pooling broke off and caused the stroke. So treatment is blood thinners (heparin by IV and coumadine by mouth). The blood will thin thereby removing/preventing any clots and the platelets in the blood will repair the tear. No surgery will be needed (YEA!!!).

Well, Tuesday night his groin area started to bleed profusely...it took 3 hours to get it to stop. Lots of pressure, lots of gauze, and he had to "sleep" flat on his back and to not move his right leg with a 5 pound bag of sand on his groin for added pressure...while they checked his vitals and the groin area every half hour, then every hour throughout the night. ugh!

A vascular surgeon was called in to look at it on Wednesday a.m. and he ordered an ultrasound to make sure the artery was sealed (which came back as "mostly sealed"), but he cleared Gary to do some physical therapy (he was able to walk out the room and down about 5-6 rooms and
turn around, with the help of 2 therapists and a rope around his waist for support).

But later Wed night he started to bleed again and it took 2 hours to stop, but then followed the same procedure as the night before.

Thursday a.m. the vascular surgeon came in, decided it was just bleeding topically and put in a couple of stitches with NO numbing medicine. He told Gary that the needle to numb him is bigger than what he was going to stitch him with and that the lidocaine would burn until it was numbed up...so NO numbing (OMG, OMG!!!). Again, he was cleared for therapy, which he did some more walking with the therapists and even tried a couple of stairs with them.

Then, you guessed it: Thursday night he started bleeding again. But because the skin/hole was stitched shut, it bled internally and swelled. The size of the swelling/pool of blood was a little smaller than half a basketball. And then they had to put pressure on that to get it to stop
bleeding internally!!! OMG-yikes!!!

Friday morning the vascular surgeon was back in and scheduled Gary for surgery to stitch shut the artery, suction out as much blood as he could and then stitch the skin closed.

Friday and Friday night was very painful and the drugs they gave him helped bring the pain down, but was always still there.

Saturday (yesterday) was still painful, but dealing with it...until Saturday night when the nurses said that it looked like it was swelling some more and oozing more than they thought it should. So they put 50 pounds of pressure directly on the swollen surgical area for 40 minutes. They also had an ultrasound done (in his room) to determine if the swelling was blood that might be causing an aneurysm (it came back as tissue swelling only--no aneurysm!!). During this time, they changed his pain medicine to something stronger, which helped (happy sleepy
drugs).

They checked on him every hour during the night, so even with the drugs, they were still waking him up...but they said it looks better. We're waiting on the attending physician and the vascular surgeon to assess him today for another update. Although, as I was typing this the swelling was increasing again. :(

Once we get this groin thing under control (which also ended up giving him a staph infection from the "star" closure from the initial angiogram procedure), we can hopefully move to the therapy portion of his recovery. The therapists said that once he can leave this room, he will go to their rehab center for 7-10 days. They'll do 3 hours of intense therapy everyday there (concentrating on his balance, walking and using his right arm). Luckily, the slurring in his speech has been going away and the speech therapist said that the slurring will probably only be noticeable when he's tired. Then from there, they think he'll be able to come home, but he'll still be required to do either outpatient therapy or in-home therapy. We have a 4-level split home, so we're going to have some issues with all the freakin' stairs in our house, but we'll worry about that later.

So that (in a VERY big nutshell) is what's going on.

Thanks very much for all the thoughts and prayers--they mean a lot!
-val


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Now fast-forward 2 years to this:

Grateful-thankful-grateful-thankful-grateful-thankful...and repeat.

business time

I'm sick. I'm tired. Too tired to blog about my trip to Seattle or our family trip to Florida or anything. So in honor of Wednesday, I thought I'd post this hilarious video from YouTube of the Flight of the Conchords. They make me laugh!! Funny stuff!!

Turn off the blog music at the very bottom and press play on the video.




(I hope it doesn't offend any of you - it probably won't, I just want to make sure we're all good here!)

hellooooooo

I am so glad you stopped by to read what's new with us. As most of you know, around here it's all about The Boy: what he's been up to, how much he's grown, what's new in his life, does he ever NOT smile (I heard that from some of you), etc. For the most part, he IS all smiles and silliness and very cuddly and an overall cool little dude - and I take lots of pictures then because it makes my heart happy...and because I'm a tad bit obsessed when I have a camera in my hand (work it, work it...the camera loooves you dahling...smile with your eyes...oooh that's fierce...okay, maybe I've been watching too much ANTM-hahaha!!).

To all my newbie readers out there: I'd LOVE to hear from you! :)

So I have been asked by quite a few people how to leave a comment...without signing up or joining a club or handing over your first born. And I'm with ya...I usually roll my eyes and exit out of whatever it was I was reading when I find out that I have to register as a user, when all I wanted to do was say HI or NICE PIC or YOU'RE FUNNY or THAT WAS WEIRD and then go on about my day. They (whoever "they" are) do not need to know about me and my information and I don't want you to have to go through that either.

So here is how you can leave me (and G and M) a little message in an easy, non-committal kind of way:

1. At the bottom of each post, there is a link that says "comments". Click on it. Easy, right?


2. Type a comment in the box under the words "leave your comment". Leave your name in the box after your comment, so I know who you are.


3. Next, type in the miscellaneous letters you see in the word verification box. This is used to help prevent spam.


4. Then, click the button that says "anonymous". So far, so good.


5. Now you can either click on "publish your comment" button and your message will post to the blog. Or you can "preview" your comment, review/make changes, etc. and then "publish your comment".

That's it!

Easy-peasy, right?

I can't wait to hear from you, so send us some lovin'!!

And since a post isn't a post without a picture....

....the boy....watching Handy Manny before lunch Saturday afternoon.

summer is...

Michael's "what I did on summer break" in pictures! :)

Summer is...

sleeping late (with Arty)

baseball (Miracle League - Go Tigers!)

Gary showing Michael how it's done~

Coming home to score! Michael liked giving everyone "5's" at the end of each game.

horseback riding

With his teacher, Mrs. Murdock, and her family.
Then again with Keith, on Utah.

less clothes

family and bbq's

At Rick and Suzi's, with Keni, Josh, Gabby, Brannon and Mitchell.

pool time

Splashing around no matter what he was wearing.
One of his usual tricks...drinking the pool water.

sliding

First time requesting the slide over the swing; as well as climbing the ladder almost by himself.

golf (Special Olympics)

self-feeding

beachy sand and water

Michael's "turtle tracks" in the sand...

zoo animals

Suzi and Brannon brought a clouded leopard to our house on their way home from the fair. These pics are a little blurry because Michael was just so excited and silly....and baby leopards are just as wiggly as Michael.

open cup drinking

rock pit

Playing in the rocks with cousin Gabby.

practicing school stuff

So excited to see him want to practice school stuff and that he's holding the marker correctly (instead of throwing or rolling it).

G O N E

Waiting for the bus on the first day of school. He has the same bus driver and aide as last year (Chris and Loura)...we were all excited about that.
And with that....summer is over. Sigh.

Even with all the new things Michael did over the summer, I think one of my favorite memories has been Michael learning how to sign "mom". Not only that, but he seems to understand what that sign means....which is ME. He called me mom!!! YIPPEE!! I've only been waiting 9-1/2 years to have him call me mom. Of course, he's had the "dad" sign down pat for over a year. Why is it that even in sign language kids always say dad first?!?! hahaha!!

We hope your summer was just as fun-filled as Michael's! :)