Home is Where My Heart Is

September 02 2010 · comment 2 Comments
Posted in: The Kids · Tags: , ,

Jedi was able to come home earlier this afternoon. Though there was an abundance of information and paperwork and so many prescriptions he brought with him, I’m still confused. The important aspects are printed out in simple instructions which I think I understand, everything else I’ll figure out eventually.

I gave him a huge hug when he walked in, I could have done a dance. He’s back to his regular self. He looks like himself, he talks like himself, he was running and jumping around and yelling at his siblings, and he couldn’t wait to play games on his computer. Just like normal.

He was also back in his clothes, after being forced to reside in regulation hospital attire. The first night, during one of the rare instances we left him by himself for a few minutes, the nurses had changed him into their version of easy to slip on and off pajamas. With that, they also removed his underwear to make bathroom visits simpler. Except the boy isn’t used to going commando.

We were sitting together, commenting on the past few days with small talk. I told him how happy I was he was home. How much I’ve missed him, which is a lot. How great it was to see him like himself again.

“Isn’t it great to be back in your own clothes?”, I asked.

“Yeah”, he agreed, happily. Then, as if a lightbulb ignited, he remarked excitedly, “I even have my underwear back on!”

I couldn’t help but smile. “Well that’s a good thing, huh?”

It’s amazing what makes us feel like ourselves. My kids do that for me. I’m just so happy he’s home. With or without underwear.

Thank You and Questions Answered

September 01 2010 · comment 10 Comments
Posted in: General · Tags: ,

Since I have a few minutes this morning, I wanted to say thank you for all your good thoughts, prayers, concern, comments, and get well wishes. They mean more than I can say. I also thought I’d take the moment to answer a couple questions I’ve been asked.

Is he diabetic?
He wasn’t before. He was the picture of perfect health before, nothing more than a cold, and even those were very rare. He is now. Type 1, or juvenile, diabetes. His body’s insulin production has shut down, so he’s going to need daily injections from here on out. I’ve already met his endocrinologist and we’ll work on the schedule at his first appointment.

So this was sudden?
Completely sudden, at least from the outside. I think he began not feeling like himself late Sunday afternoon, but he still ate dinner and played around like normal. Monday morning, though, he wasn’t having it when I tried to get him ready for school. He looked horrible: sullen, gray, dry, exhausted. We assumed it was just a bug and he might have been getting better that night. Obviously not. All he’s talked about for 2 days are drinks, what can he drink, what he’ll drink next. Seriously, that is ALL he’s talked about.

Are you going to watch for it in your other kids?
We’ll be changing our diet pretty drastically after this and we’ll definitely keep an eye on it. I have to say, our food intake has never been the healthiest. That’s going to change. They say it’s not necessarily from poor eating habits, though, but most likely genetic or could even be caused by a virus. I guess anyone is susceptible.

How is he doing?
He was able to sleep some. When I called this morning, J told me his blood sugar was at 180 and, since he’s stabilized, they’re thinking of taking him off the IV and getting him used to shots. He’ll also be allowed to eat today, after not having anything all day yesterday and just a few bites of chicken noodle soup the day before. I’m going up for a few hours this afternoon, but it sounds like he’s doing a lot better.

STAT

August 31 2010 · comment 8 Comments
Posted in: Daily · Tags: , ,

The scariest day of my life.

That’s been today.

I had some light-hearted post ready to publish this morning. But Jedi still wasn’t feeling well, his eyes sunken and his mouth dry and he was just so tired, that I put it off until after we took a visit to the doctor. I was expecting to come away with an obligatory bottle of pink antibiotics and call it a day. It’s just an ear infection, I thought, or some other kind of bug picked up from his first week of kindergarten. Instead he was sent for blood work and we were advised to stick around, we would have the results stat.

When they finally came in, we were told to drive immediately to the hospital. His blood sugar numbers, which are supposed to be around 100, were over 820. Whatever they call the number that measures dehydration, which should never be any higher than 20, was at 50. He needed fluids and insulin, stat.

I had no idea. How is it possible to not have any idea something so wrong is going on in our body? My son, my little 6 year old, spent the day getting IV’s poked in his hands and fingers pricked. In the PICU. More blood drawn. More medicine. More fluids. His sodium levels were high. His potassium numbers were off. Apparently, his system was going haywire. Or shutting down. Or, God, I don’t even want to think about it.

The light-hearted posts can wait. Until he’s back at school, with a new regimen of unfortunate but necessary injections and healthier habits. Ones that he’ll need to keep for the rest of his life. We’ll make it work, he just needs to get better. Stat.

Absolutely Nothing

August 30 2010 · comment 10 Comments
Posted in: Me Myself · Tags: ,

Thursday of last week, I did something in the afternoon I haven’t done in a very long time. Jedi was at school, J took Buzz to his speech class. The only souls left to rule the roost were Abby and myself, and she conked out for a nap shortly after the last of the boys left.

I had 2 hours to myself. To do whatever I wanted.

I can’t even remember the last time I had 2 hours to myself. Without my ears on constant alert of destruction. Without stress of what’s going to happen next. Without demands and noise. Without trying to be in a million different places at once.

What do I do with myself for 2 hours?

A few different ideas ran through my mind; I could dust off a book and actually read a few chapters, or skim through a more suitable magazine. I could give myself a manicure. I could soak in a bath, or streak the house naked. I could join Abby in some shuteye. I could even take the initiative and clean like crazy, but there’s no fun in that.

Instead, I sat on the couch. I propped my feet up on the table, an open netbook resting in my lap. The volume on the television decreased to a faint whisper. A soda in one hand, a chocolate donut in the other. Because what says celebration more than junk food. And I did nothing. Absolutely nothing. In peace and quiet.

I haven’t been able to do that in such a long time.

I can’t wait to do it again.

What About the Pencils?

August 26 2010 · comment 15 Comments
Posted in: Daily · Tags: ,

The morning of his first day of school, we carefully packed Jedi’s many supplies into his backpack. This included his blue pencil box, which we arranged and prepared expressly for his ease of use, containing a handful of pre-sharpened No. 2 pencils, sharpener, box of 24 crayons, pink eraser, his own pair of safety scissors. The usual suspects.

He came home that afternoon with an empty backpack.

I expected the boxes of tissues to be gone, and the Ziploc bags. Even the Clorox wipes. I known these items are used freely about the classroom. But what about his blue folders and his dragon-covered notebook? What about his fully-stocked pencil box? I don’t remember much from my school days, but I know pencils are important. I asked if he knew where his stuff was, maybe they keep it at his desk, but he said he hadn’t seen them.

I wrote a note in professional red crayon the following morning for his teacher and stuck it in his backpack. Not surprisingly, he forgot to give it to her that day. Yesterday, however, he returned home with a briefly penned response, his dragon-covered notebook, and a bare-boned pencil box.

“The folders are used for journals, is this OK?”, the responding note read.

That’s fine, not a problem, but what about the other stuff? WHAT ABOUT THE PENCILS?

I don’t know about anyone else, but I already find kindergarten confusing.