Dylan Update

The doctor thinks Dylan may be having Petit Mal seizures or worse. He's going in to Stanford for an EEG, but the soonest he can get in is the second week in August. They still haven't called back with an exact date for the test but I'm hoping it's either before or after my trip to Rockford. The nurse at Stanford did tell me how to handle seizures of all kinds and severities, just in case. And she said to watch him closely, especially in the tub or around water. He's not sleeping as much as he was and his language and connectedness seem better. Maybe the seizure actually reconnected some wires. Who knows. Anyway, I'll keep you posted.

On another note, I had my CT scan this morning and will see the doctor this afternoon about my kidney stone. I will be glad to know where I stand with that, too

Otherwise, I'm counting the days til my trip to Rockford and I'm looking forward to seeing everyone.

till later....

The Best Laid Plans

Today we were going to spend the morning at the Farmers Market in downtown Pleasanton. And after lunch it was supposed to be pampering time for me when I got my pedicure and manicure. Then I expected to come home with my "twinkle toes" and join the boys in the pool. Instead we all spent an afternoon at the ER. Here's what happened: The boys teacher told me Friday that Dylan has been spacing out at school and she thought he might be having seizures. Today, he kept falling asleep, even though he had had a good night’s rest. We were concerned and planned to take him to the doctor on Monday. Then Ethan started walking funny and holding his stomach. He was almost doubled over and couldn’t walk very far. We weren’t sure if it was his legs or stomach until he asked to have a band aid put near his belly button. We decided they both needed to see a doctor NOW. The ER doc was really good. He said Dylan should probably have an EEG and would need to call his regular doctor for that. They didn't have the equipment and Dylan was wide awake and not in any eminent danger. Ethan had to have blood and urine tests and then go to the other hospital to have a CT scan so they could look at his stomach. There was one area in his stomach that was very tender. The doctor thought maybe appendicitis or an obstruction in his bowel, either from being constipated or from something he might have eaten. Well, it turned out it was constipation, thankfully. Whatever it was must have moved on down the line. The doctor did say if it was wood chips or anything biodegradable, it would not show up on the CT. By the time he left the hospital he was skipping and in a good mood. Now we just have to get Dylan in for an EEG to see if he's having seizures.

Friday was the last day of ESY. Monday the boys start in home tutoring weekday mornings, 9-12. I got a whole list of "supplies" I need to have for the tutoring, including a small table and chairs, a bin of toys, paper, pencils,wipe off board, crayons, markers, flash cards. For something the school district is supposed to be paying for, it is sure going to cost us a lot of money! I also have to rearrange 2 other therapists and 2 respite workers (as soon as I get the authorization to hire the 2nd one).

It's going to be a busy week. It's not even Sunday night and I'm already worrying about it!!

till later.....

Don't Read This If You Have A Weak Stomach

As you may recall from my last post, Ethan had been making confetti out of his poop. He has stopped that for now, but not without really grossing me out before he did. Thursday I was doing laundry. I emptied the clean clothes from the washer into the dryer and saw what I thought was a stone at the bottom of the washer. Well, you can imagine what it really was!!! I just about lost it. My first response was to throw all the clothes away and buy a new washer and dryer. That wasn't exactly in the budget, though. So all the clothes had to be shook out and the washer had to be cleaned and bleached out. I think I would rather change diapers for 6 more years than go through any more potty training fun. It's a control issue, I'm sure. As well as a gross out issue.
The good thing that came out of this is that Tod felt sorry for me and made an appointment for me to get a little pampering.... manicure and pedicure, this afternoon at 1pm. I've always wanted a pedicure and I do wear sandals all the time now. It was a really sweet thing for Tod to do. Either that or it was a calculated action to keep me from loosing my mind. Either way, I'm thrilled!!!

till later

I Never Liked the Term "Hump Day"...

Here it is the middle of the week. I saw the urologist today about my kidney stone. He scheduled a CT scan for next Wednesday morning and then later that afternoon we will talk about what to do. In the mean time he told me that the pain meds I was taking are bad for my kidneys. He gave me a script for a different drug so if I seem disjointed (more than usual) please understand.

The good news is that I booked my tickets for my trip to Rockford August 5-10. My mom turns 80 on the 9th and I will be staying at her and Lou's apartment. Tod and the boys will have to wait until next time to come with. I'm really looking forward to the trip and hope some of you will stop by or call while I'm in town. The only plans I have made besides celebrating Mom's birthday, is getting my hair cut. I have not had a decent hair cut or perm or color since I've been here. And with the money I've spent, I could have just flown Kim here to do my hair at the house and then taken her to dinner!!

The boys have been pretty manic lately. Not sure why. We took them to the dr. Saturday and he tweeked their meds a bit, but not really that much. Yesterday, every time Ethan had to poop, he did so in his underwear and then threw the little turds around the family room like confetti! Today, he kept stripping naked and running outside screaming. This kind of stuff can be difficult on a "normal" day, much less when you're in pain. I'm always so happy to see Tod walk through the door - probably a lot more happy than he is to walk through the door. He told me the other day, "I'm tired of being the super hero when I get home!"

Speaking of Tod and work--- here is a link to a really cool news report about the tv's Tod's company makes. Check it out:

http://media.vmsnews.com/MonitoringReports/072005/565055/D000317374/

till later

But it's a dry heat...

We have had some really hot days here. 100 today and no relief in sight. The good thing is it's a dry heat and that (believe it or not) does seem to make a difference. That is a good thing unless, of course, you have a predisposition for kidney stones. In that case you have to be really careful about not getting dehydrated. I try to carry some beverage with me at all times, but it hasn't been enough to keep those little guys from rearing their pointy, sharp little heads in my kidney! Any of you who have had kidney stones or have been around when I've had them know what a big pain they can be. My goal is to flood them out on my own, but I do have the names of 3 urologists in the area in case I need something like lythotrypsy. So I have been laying low, not getting much rest and kind of afraid to go too far from home in case one of them "attacks".

The boys have been beating the heat by playing in the pool. Yesterday they were still in the pool when Tod got home from work, so he jumped in with them! They absolutely loved that! Tod had a great time, too. I video taped some of the action and the very large grins!

till later

Pool Boys!

The Weekend??

Tod didn't have to go to Beverly Hills today so that was nice. It seems that the people at Hannspree who dropped the ball in the first place still haven't been able to get their act together enough to figure out what to do about it.

Still our Saturday started with trying to potty train Dylan. The SD is really pushing us to get the potty training done before school starts. They have a policy that students have to be potty trained for certain classes. I guess it doesn't matter that a policy like that is against federal law. Anyway, Ethan is doing pretty good. Still doesn't like to poop in the potty and maybe once a day gets too busy playing to run to the bathroom and has an accident. Dylan, on the other hand, just doesn't seem to "get it". We started yesterday with big boy underwear and taking him to the bathroom every 30 minutes. We quickly changed to every 15 minutes and still couldn't catch him to go in the toilet. We mopped floors and cleaned carpets all day. He just isn't making the connection, no matter how often he sees his brother or dad or how much time he spends in the bathroom.

I don't know how much of this was bothering Dylan, but he couldn't sleep last night. He was up until after ten and then got up this morning at 2:30am for the day. Everyone (except Ethan) is tired and crabby. Dylan is back in pull ups and they (SD) are going to start hassling me again tomorrow. Do you remember I told you about the behaviorist from the SD who tried to potty train Dylan and he got so upset he started banging his head on the shower door? Well she is a good friend of the boys' summer school teacher. And, she also just got fired. Don't know what to think of all that.

So the weekend wasn't all that great. Nothing much got accomplished. No one got any rest or relief from stress. And Monday morning looms like Damocles sword. Ok, ok, that's a little dramatic, but you get the idea.

til later

Friday Already!

It's been a pretty uneventful week after the holiday weekend. The boys have been going to school and therapy and spending a lot of time in our back yard pool. It's been near 90 almost every day so the pool water is like bath water. They have also been sleeping much better on the days they have been in the pool!
Tod took a short trip to Beverly Hills yesterday for the grand opening of the Hannspree store on Rodeo Dr. He was only gone one day, but since he's the Repair Manager, he was bombarded with every little thing that's wrong with the LCD TV's. Now they want him to go back on Sunday. Tod is trying to get out of it, so we'll see what happens. All part of the job, I guess, but Tod gets so frustrated when other people not doing their jobs cause him time away from home. We were going to try to get to the fair again this weekend before it's over. Now we're not sure we can. Oh well, there are always other things to do in the area.
That's about it here. I've been getting many comments about the picture of Ethan and Dylan. It's so rare when they are together and smiling and sitting still long enough for a picture!

til later...

My Giggling Boys!

Happy 4th of July!

What a country! A place where the Taiwanese can open a business and pay my husband a decent wage to support a family that he never gets to see. It makes me very grateful for a three day weekend that we can spend together.

The beach was fun for all of us yesterday! Traffic was backed up from Half Moon Bay all the way across the peninsula, so it took us a while to get there. But the boys were good in the van - we sang a lot of songs and brought snacks and books to keep them occupied. As I said yesterday, it's not very warm in Half Moon Bay and the water temp was really cold. There were quite a few people on the beach, but no one was swimming. We didn't plan on swimming either but Dylan and I did more than dip our toes in the water. Standing in the surf really disoriented me and when the outgoing wave pulled the sand out from under my feet, I fell in the water and took Dylan with me! We were both fully clothed and completely soaked. Poor Dylan's teeth were chattering! We walked the beach and sat in the sun to warm up, building sand castles and looking for sea shells. As soon as the chill wore off, both boys wanted to play in the surf again. It was so wonderful to see their smiles and hear their constant giggling over the sound of the waves. But as soon as they got chilled again they wanted to go home. We stopped and got McDonald's french fries and ice cream cones on our way out of town. It was a great time!

til later....

Hot, hot, hot!

We've had a run of very hot weather these past few days... lower to mid 90's. We all stayed indoors yesterday. Tod worked on the computers most of the day. I guess mine was getting ready to die, so he did some transplant procedure to revive it. I cleaned around the house and the boys watched videos and played indoors. Today we are planning to go to Half Moon Bay and dip our toes in the ocean. Tod and the boys haven't been to the beach since last November. It will be much cooler in Half Moon Bay, a high of 68 to our 88. And the water will probably be 10-20 degrees colder than that. Most people don't realize that the beaches in Northern Ca are much different than the ones in Southern Ca. In Northern Ca the coast lines are rocky and full of cliffs. The water barely gets up to 60 degrees and there are few beaches that are calm enough for swimming. The waves are really high and the sand is very coarse from broken shells. When I checked the internet for the best beaches to take children to in Northern Ca, I could only find 5 that were good for swimming and one that was recommended for kids. As a side note, China Beach, the beach recommended for kids, is in Marin County where Robin Williams is from. They say he has a house overlooking the beach and occasionally you can see him walking along the shore.
It's only about an hour to Half Moon Bay, so we will probably head out after lunch when it's a little warmer there and hotter here. Half Moon is a great little town. There are wonderful shops and eating places on main street and some great antique stores. I bought our end tables at one of the shops there. They are actually nightstands made in the 30's, but we use them for end tables in the living room. Both times I've gone to Half Moon Bay without the boys (once with my sister, Gerrie and the other time with my friend, Nancy) we had to make one trip to eat and shop and a second trip to walk the beach. There wasn't enough time to do both in one day! In October they have a Pumpkin Festival that is incredibly popular with over 140 antique dealers and crafters, plus stuff for the kids. Sounds like a fun time to me!
I hope you are all having a fun holiday weekend!

til later....