Lessons Learned

I learned the wisdom of not posting too quickly on Facebook today.  It was the day the bookfair was being set up and I found out the people over it were short volunteers.  So, since I know people that don't return phone calls or read their emails but do check their social media, I hurried and posted something for the school group on Facebook.  Big mistake.  I offended some people.  Only about 20 people saw the post, but still.  *sigh* I really am so much better with numbers.  Guess I'd better read through things to see how they sound before I post them.  I tried to delete it, but couldn't.  :-(

On the upside, we did get the bookfair all set up.  It looks great.  I've been really impressed with the PTO leaders.  They're incredible and do such a great job. 

Joe came home tonight since he has a doctor's appointment tomorrow.  He brought a new "friend" for Samuel from Heather.  It's a Build-a-Bear that is brown with a Harley-Davidson jacket.  Heather recorded, "Sam, I love you mostest mostest mostest!" So now the bear says that.  Cute, really, since that's what Samuel tells everybody in the family.  If you say you love him "mostest mostest," he'll add one or two "mostest" to whatever you said so he can "win."  He's such a cute kid.

I also found that I've made some headway on the appeal for United Healthcare to pay for Sam's speech therapy.  They'd paid July and August, then denied the claims for September and October.  I sent in an appeal, because by the time I found out, I'd already had Sam in speech through November.  When I discovered they paid November's claim, I thought the process was done and they'd be paying, but was told that UHC could actually go back and say they'd over paid the prior months which would have left me paying nearly $4,000 in speech therapy bills.  Money we don't have.  Fortunately it appears that my appeal was granted, and UHC has gone back and paid the September and October bills.  What a relief! 

So, today's been a mixed bag.  Just one of those days, I guess.  But, as Scarlett always said, "Tomorrow is another day."  (or something like that...)

Interesting Day

I had an interesting and somewhat stressful afternoon yesterday.  Jacob brought a friend and new ward member home with him after school yesterday.  Our scout master had made arrangements with the family for this boy to come to my house before he and Jacob head to cub scouts.  So, I was expecting him.  I wasn't expecting to get a call from the school, though, asking about the boy's eight-year-old sister that ended up being left at the school by herself.  This boy couldn't remember his phone number, the school had been calling the mother's cell phone rather than the father's.  I offered to take the girl home with her brother after scouts since she couldn't just stay at the school.  The secretary offered to bring her by my house rather than me walking the short distance to the school.  Well...the girl never showed up.  I took the boy and Jacob and we drove by his apartment to see if she'd gotten home.  I'd been trying to call the parents using numbers in the church directory, but none of them worked.  Nobody was there when we drove by.  There wasn't much I could do, so I took the boys to scouts and kept trying to see if the numbers would finally get answered.  Nope.  After scouts I picked up Jacob and his friend and went to the apartment.  This time there was a light on inside, although he didn't see his car.  Turns out his dad was just getting in the car to go find his son.  The school had left messages on the mom's cell phone (about five of them), but she'd been at work and unable to use her phone.  When we'd gone by earlier, the dad had gone to pick up the mom, and had already picked up the sister from the school.  I really wish the secretary had let me know that.  The dad and I exchanged numbers so that this will never happen to me again.  Too bad the parents hadn't checked their emails to get the message I'd sent as to where their son was...my address and phone numbers included.

I guess yesterday was just a bit of a stressor since I am fighting an insurance company about paying for Samuel's speech therapy.  They paid some, denied other claims.  Turns out that they're telling me now that they may determine all the claims were over paid since I sent in an appeal.  I'm hoping for a note after Samuel's next EEG that will help us recode the speech so it's something other than developmental delay.  If we can recode it, the insurance won't have an issue paying it...I hope.

Today's looking up, though.  We got about 5-6" of snow last night.  I kind of groaned at the thought of digging my way out of my driveway so that I could get Sam to school.  Imagine my relief when a couple offered to scrape my driveway with the blade they had on their truck.  They'd just been driving by and saw me shoveling my driveway.  What would've taken me at least 30 minutes, this guy did in under five. 

I must say that this area has some remarkable people.  This guy was generous to offer his time.  I really do like the people of Idaho.  Hopefully living here will help my boys grow into awesome men!

Happy 2013!

I don't know how long it's been since I last posted.  Probably a year.  What a year 2012 was.  Frankly, it's not one that I'd ever want to relive.  We had good and bad, some things were bitter sweet, but it was just a hard year.

A quick update on Sam, since the last time I posted on this blog probably was when he had a seizure, he's doing well.  In March he had an abnormal EEG result so was put on medication for his seizure.  He has only ever had the one, for which I'm extremely grateful.  He's in kindergarten and LOVING it!

Hope is growing quickly and a sweeter little tornado there never was. She gets into everything and takes the "toddler rules of property" to an extreme. She's got a strong will, but her hugs will gain her forgiveness for the tantrums she has any day of the week. I must say, though, I'm glad my girls are 16 years apart. Any closer and I might not have had six kids! Kidding! I love my girls!

Jeremiah turned 16 last month.  He's got a learner's permit, and I must say I like the way Idaho handles permits.  The kids don't get them in hand until AFTER they've completed a licensed Driver's Education course.  That means Mom and Dad don't drive with them until their child has had six hours of driving already.  Soooo much better and less nerve wracking than when we had to teach Heather!  He's a priest now and does well blessing the sacrament at church.  We hope that he will be able to get a job at a scout camp this summer.

Matthew is doing well in school and learning the trombone.  There's an after school music program where the sixth graders can choose band or orchestra.  I gave him the choice of trombone or viola since we already had the instruments.  He chose trombone, but now thinks he should've chosen the viola since it would've been lighter to carry!

Jacob has watched Matthew in band and wants to play the drums since he sees some at his friend's house.  He was convinced that I'd let him play them since my brother used to play them.  Ummm, that's probably why I don't relish the thought.  John used to drum to AC/DC, Metallica, and other hard rock bands that I just can't stand listening to.  So, I gave Jacob the condition that my mom put in place for John, that he has to have piano lessons first.  Thus, I've been roped in by my own rule to teaching Jacob to play piano.  He takes after me in trying to go ahead of what he's been taught so he can play his own thing...well, try to play his own thing.

Heather resides in Utah now.  It's one of those hard situations.  I can't believe I'm old enough to have a 19 year old daughter.  I certainly don't look that old.  [If you disagree, keep that to yourself, please.  ;-) ] She moved to Rexburg, ID last June and to Utah in September.  It was in September she was diagnosed with hyper-mobility syndrome which is hard on her joints.  There are exercises she can do, I think, and she can take anti-inflamatories, but that's about it.  She's no longer working as a CNA but at a call center in Salt Lake.  She makes more money, but I think she likes her part-time nanny job better. 

Joe retired from the military in October which was harder than either of us thought it would be.   He's working in Salt Lake and living with his sister since INL was going to lay him off last April.  He comes home on weekends, but he hopes to change positions within the company in the near future (fingers crossed) so that he can work from home.

It's not easy acting like a single mom during the week.  I'd tip my hat, if I wore one, to any single mom out there.  I get the weekends off and am not required to work outside the home, thank goodness.  But, I must say, that the boys are relatively good at stepping up when it's really important.  Not so great at doing their homework...but we can't have it all, now can we?

BUT...2013 is looking up. I decided I wanted a new start for 2013. So...I cut my hair. New look that will be easy to manage, and Locks of Love gets a 12" hair donation.  I'm setting some goals, although not the typical "resolutions" to lose weight or some such thing.  Some won't be easy to reach, but I think they'll be worth it in the long run.  I think the first goal will be to survive this Idaho winter cold!

Here's to a happy 2013!

Not again!

What a morning we've had! I guess it's health issues that drives me out to blog, since I appear to have been negligent in posting since I had my surgery. So...first things first. I've recovered from my thyroid surgery and don't have cancer. We have finally moved to our house in Ammon, ID and the kids got settled right into school. Life has treated us well.

Well...until this past week any way. We had a bad 24 hour bug that just wiped us out. It was horrible having virtually everybody ill last Monday. Matthew and Heather came down with it first, which was a good thing because Joe and I both were ill Monday...along with Jeremiah, Jacob, Sam and Hope.

Sam had been feeling "off" for a few days, running mild fevers here and there. He got the crud, but seemed to bounce back quickly and even went back to school on Wednesday. Then yesterday he got another fever...about 101. He went to bed on his own last night before he even ate. This morning I felt his head and was pleased to see that the fever had gone down. Jeremiah took his temperature and told me it was 99.3. Not completely broke...but getting there. So Sam goes to sit and eat breakfast with his brothers and I head to my office. 'tis the season for hiding in my office doing taxes, you know.

Suddenly I hear this big thud on the kitchen floor. I'm thinking, "Great! Hope has finally tipped herself over backwards in the chair." But...no crying. NOT good. So I come out asking if it was Hope, and was told that it was Sam. I see Samuel laying on the floor twitching and convulsing in a seizure. I pick him up and holler for Joe to help...we need to get Samuel to the hospital. Both of us are trying to figure out what to do, panicking when I finally tell him to call 911. By this time I'm starting to have a melt-down because I'm having flash backs to Heather when she was three-years-old having the same thing and the ER doctors not believing us...until the next day when she had another right there in the emergency room. Joe's talking to the 911 operator and answering questions, and Heather had come racing out of her room and took Sam from me. She's studying to be an EMT right now in school, so she managed to be the cool head in everything. I guess it's a good thing she's the one going into a medical field and I stuck with numbers. We decide that we don't need an ambulance by this point because Samuel seemed to be coming out of his seizure. We hadn't ruled out the hospital though. That just seemed the place to go when somebody is ill enough to have a seizure. I just keep thinking "Not again!"

Well, my uncle Jim is an RN and only lives blocks from my house. I had Joe call him to help administer a priesthood blessing to Samuel. Luckily Jim was still home although he was preparing to drive to Utah to help my cousin whose house flooded in Bountiful. (At least I think that's where he lives...) Anyway, Jim came over and asked some questions, had Samuel follow his finger with his eyes, checked the dilation of the pupils and his skin to check for dehydration. He thought Sam would be okay and told me just to take him to the pediatrician rather than the ER. Although he did reassure me that at the Eastern Idaho Regional Medical Center (EIRMC) they tended to believe the mom's when something like this happens...unlike Heather's situation 15 years ago when that ER didn't believe us. He and Joe then gave Sam a blessing and I called the pediatrician.

Samuel is feeling much better now, although he's resting today. I think he likes the idea of lazing around drinking PowerAide and sucking on popcicles. The pediatrician has ordered an EEG which will likely happen next week. He's also suggested that we speak with a pediatric neurologist to see if there may be something neurological that caused the seizure and may be the cause of his speech and learning disabilities. We may end up having an MRI done for that as well. This is the first doctor to vocalize that Samuel's head is a bit large for his body...something I'd known but thought he'd grow into it. You know...like a puppy grows into their feet.

Sam was poked for some blood work. There was no sign of bacterial infection, though, which relieved my worry about Sam needing to go through a spinal tap like Heather had to endure all those years ago. I just didn't want to go through all that again. It was bad enough when Heather endured that, but it was absolutely terrible when my son, Jacob, had to go through a spinal tap at one month old. (He had had a viral meningitis.)

So now we're in a hurry up and wait mode...again. Right now we're just praying for a calm weekend without a repeat of Heather's "5-6 seizures in 24 hours" with Sam. You know...come to think of it, Heather's seizures occurred in January, too. The month maybe? Hmmm....

Home Again

Well, the post I made Thursday didn't get posted until just now. Some how it got stuck and never posted to the blog.

The surgery seems to have gone okay. I'm home now. Dr. Siddoway says he'll be interested to hear what the pathologist says about the nodule in my thyroid since it looked like I had some sort of chronic thyroid disease - maybe Hashimoto thyroiditis - where much of the thyroid became inflamed thus creating the nodule in the right lobe of my thyroid. I gather that there was lots of blood, that everywhere he turned, bleeding started. So the two hour surgery turned into a three hour surgery. I feel bad for Joe since he never once received an update on my condition until after I was done. When I did my pre-op appointment, I was told they would update my family every hour, especially if the surgery was going to take longer than anticipated. Didn't happen.

I'd hoped to go to Idaho Falls to recover, but looks like that will have to wait until Monday afternoon. The drain that is in my neck couldn't come out today as planned. I still have too much fluid draining. Dr. Siddoway will remove it on Monday afternoon instead - if the drainage has decreased enough. Then I'll go to I.F. until Friday when I have to return to get stitches out. Maybe by then we'll have the pathologist's report too.

I'm glad this is finally over with. The waiting and uncertainty as to what to do is finally over. Granted, I still have to wait and see if this nodule (just a kind way of saying tumor) is malignant or not. Hopefully it's benign. But the anxiety over getting my "throat slit" is finally done. I'm sore, but not in massive amounts of pain. I do get dizzy spells, but they are reducing in frequency and duration.

Although I adore my children, I am glad that I am heading to I.F. for some peace. You just can't find that with a toddler in the house. I'm not supposed to lift more than 10 pounds right now, so if Hope wants me to hold her, she's going to have to climb up next to me. Good thing she can climb!

I'll also be glad to see the progress that's been made on the house. I know the siding is on, windows are in, so most of the work from now on will be on the interior of the house. I kind of need to go up anyway since the vinyl that I chose is no longer available and I have to pick a different flooring for the bathrooms, kitchen, and entry way. Bummer deal. I'd really liked the one I had.

The pain medication is kicking in now...so off to bed. I didn't sleep well in the hospital since a stupid blood pressure cuff kept going off even though I wasn't wearing it. Sleep would be good right now...

Thyroid Time

Tomorrow's the day...the day half of my thyroid gets removed. Or, as some people joke, I get my throat slit. Yeah, I know. REAL funny.





After two biopsies that were inconclusive, the ENT determined that with the nodule being over 1" in diameter, I really should have it removed. As luck would have it, his surgery days at Ogden Regional Medical Center corresponded with Joe's Fridays off. So, Joe doesn't even have to request time off for tomorrow.





Mom's back in town after spending a few weeks with her parents. She's going to be supervising Heather's running of the household. Heather's good at commanding her brothers and putting Hope to sleep, so everything should go okay. Well...one exception. Hope's not completely weaned. Mostly, but sometimes at night I have nursed her since I was too lazy to get out of bed and get her a drink. Oh well, I guess it will be trial by fire. She has gone 24 hours without nursing before, so hopefully it doesn't take her long to figure this out.





So, hopefully the surgery ends all this. If this lump turns out to be cancerous and they can see that while I'm in surgery, then the whole thyroid will be removed tomorrow. If it's not obvious then I could end up having to undergo this again if cancer comes back positive. The good thing about this type of cancer is it's 95% curable. Still, I'm sure it won't be fun. I would rather not have radio active iodine treatments so hope it won't come back malignant.





I've been so calm about this until the past few hours as I prepared my will and a living will, really wishing I'd done it YEARS ago. Then I wouldn't have been facing my mortality on paper and choosing whether in a DNR I wanted nurishment or not. The things that you have to consider any more.





Well, I'm off to my pre-op appointment. Let me just say...tomorrow promises to be a pain in the neck. :-)

Weaning...

OK...It's time to wean Hope. Tha trick is actually doing it. Too bad you can't just disappear for a few days and let her figure out that other things work as food besides Mom...

Actually, I probably have to wean her. I'm a bit concerned because I found a lump in my neck around spring break. Since I had a cold, I just figured it was related to the virus and ignored it. Six weeks later it is still there. SO, since kids are home and I have Heather and/or Jeremiah to babysit the younger kids, I've been scheduling doctor appointments. Friday I had an ultrasound done on my neck (so NOT where I'm used to having ultrasounds) and they found a nodul on the side of my thyroid, plus my thyroid is inflamed. So, tomorrow I'm off to an ENT to see about a biopsy. NOT looking forward to a needle in my neck, but my mom is convinced it won't hurt. Then it's a waiting game to see what I need to do about either removing the nodule or getting it to go away.

I was just reading blogs and found a scripture reference on my former young women's leader's blog. She is undergoing treatments for breast and ovarian cancer. She posted: John 14:27 "Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you...Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid." I needed that so I can just try and ignore the whole thing until I actually go to the appointment tomorrow.

At least I don't feel sick. Tired, but not ill. Of course, I've been tired for nearly 18 years. Oh, wait, I've been a mom that long. THAT must be it. Not the stupid thyroid.