Have I mentioned lately how happy I am to be back where I know how to get around?
Yesterday I went to Costco with the kids to get some diapers and fruit. So easy...so mindless to get there and back!
Then today, because it was overcast and only about 85, I took them to the mall with me to look for Aunty Angie a robe to wear at the hospital. We weren't there long, but it was totally fine, because it didn't take all of my energy to get there!
Tomorrow we are having dinner with our friends Larry and Katie. I'm so excited to see them, we haven't seen each other since March!
The only other things I have going tomorrow is to hound the new pediatrician's office for an appointment, and do laundry....oh laundry...how do you pile up so??
I'm also hoping for a baby to come tomorrow...or this weekend. Yes this weekend will work just fine for us! Haha!
Friday, July 18, 2008
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
Happy Birthday Eus Annerb!!!
Happy Birthday to my only Big Sister! I love you...even though you stabbed me in the hand with a fork, and cut my fingers apart causing me to get stitches, and made me hit our brother only to tattle on me, and put the car in reverse while mom wasn't in it, then told her it was me. But those aren't the times I remember and think fondly of. No it was times like this....at Gma and Gpas where we would dress up in ridiculous outfits and laugh until we hurt. Those are the moments that make me glad I grew up with you as my big sister!
Monday, July 14, 2008
Down home cookin'!
Tonight was a regular summer-time feast...straight from the books of my childhood!
We had green-beans with onions and bacon, cornbread(baked in a cast-iron skillet), summer squash, and cucumber-tomato salad (the kind with red wine vinegar and oil).
For dessert...Nanny Cobbler! We had a lot of berries that needed to be used up, and in my book, that automatically means pie or cobbler. Steve would just eat them straight from the container, but Steve's not here. Hahaha!
This may be the easiest dessert you'll ever make. Give it a try!
First, melt one stick of butter in the microwave. Yes I said ONE STICK OF BUTTER...the real stuff too. Once that's melted, set it aside.
Take 1 cup of self-rising flour and put it in a mixing bowl. If you don't have self-rising flour, just take your cup of flour and add 1 1/2 teaspoons of baking powder, and 1/2 teaspoon of salt, it does the same trick.
Next, add one cup of sugar to the flour, and whisk them together. Then comes the milk, 1 cup of milk, add that and whisk it all until smooth.
Now you'll take that ONE STICK OF MELTED BUTTER and dump it in. Give the whole bowl another good whisk until the butter is blended in with the rest of the batter.
Once it's all mixed in, pour it into a buttered (just use the wrapper from the stick you just used) baking dish.
All you have to do now is add the fruit...that's what makes it healthy. I chose, a cup of raspberries, a whole mango, a heaping handful of blueberries, and the rest of the blackberries, I am guessing about a 1/4 cup. This is the first time I've tried this with berries, any time I ever ate this as a child it was full of peaches....mmmmm peach cobbler.
Okay...back to the cobbler tonight.
Here it is before I put it in the 350 degree pre-heated oven.
Oops...I forgot...add another 1/4 cup of sugar on top to give it a shiny top.
THEN stick it in the oven.
You'll bake it for an hour. And don't be like me and go checking on it every 15 minutes to see if it is still there. It will still be there...take my word for it.
With about 10 minutes to go, I put another spoon of sugar on top. I think next time I will skip this step. It didn't make it too sweet, I just didn't like the way it looked in the end.
I got myself a little bowl once it had cooled a bit. Normally I would eat this with vanilla ice cream, but I wasn't feeling like scooping it. (That's what my husband is for!) So I went instead with the Redi-Whip. It did the trick just fine!
There it is friends, the best cobbler IN THE WORLD! I challenge you to make a better tasting, easier cobbler than this! I think I would have made Nanny proud with this one! Of course, I'd take her peach cobbler to just about any dessert any day of the week! I sure hope there is some left for Steve tomorrow night. If not, I guess I'll just have to make another one just for him.
We had green-beans with onions and bacon, cornbread(baked in a cast-iron skillet), summer squash, and cucumber-tomato salad (the kind with red wine vinegar and oil).
For dessert...Nanny Cobbler! We had a lot of berries that needed to be used up, and in my book, that automatically means pie or cobbler. Steve would just eat them straight from the container, but Steve's not here. Hahaha!
This may be the easiest dessert you'll ever make. Give it a try!
First, melt one stick of butter in the microwave. Yes I said ONE STICK OF BUTTER...the real stuff too. Once that's melted, set it aside.
Take 1 cup of self-rising flour and put it in a mixing bowl. If you don't have self-rising flour, just take your cup of flour and add 1 1/2 teaspoons of baking powder, and 1/2 teaspoon of salt, it does the same trick.
Next, add one cup of sugar to the flour, and whisk them together. Then comes the milk, 1 cup of milk, add that and whisk it all until smooth.
Now you'll take that ONE STICK OF MELTED BUTTER and dump it in. Give the whole bowl another good whisk until the butter is blended in with the rest of the batter.
Once it's all mixed in, pour it into a buttered (just use the wrapper from the stick you just used) baking dish.
All you have to do now is add the fruit...that's what makes it healthy. I chose, a cup of raspberries, a whole mango, a heaping handful of blueberries, and the rest of the blackberries, I am guessing about a 1/4 cup. This is the first time I've tried this with berries, any time I ever ate this as a child it was full of peaches....mmmmm peach cobbler.
Okay...back to the cobbler tonight.
Here it is before I put it in the 350 degree pre-heated oven.
Oops...I forgot...add another 1/4 cup of sugar on top to give it a shiny top.
THEN stick it in the oven.
You'll bake it for an hour. And don't be like me and go checking on it every 15 minutes to see if it is still there. It will still be there...take my word for it.
With about 10 minutes to go, I put another spoon of sugar on top. I think next time I will skip this step. It didn't make it too sweet, I just didn't like the way it looked in the end.
I got myself a little bowl once it had cooled a bit. Normally I would eat this with vanilla ice cream, but I wasn't feeling like scooping it. (That's what my husband is for!) So I went instead with the Redi-Whip. It did the trick just fine!
There it is friends, the best cobbler IN THE WORLD! I challenge you to make a better tasting, easier cobbler than this! I think I would have made Nanny proud with this one! Of course, I'd take her peach cobbler to just about any dessert any day of the week! I sure hope there is some left for Steve tomorrow night. If not, I guess I'll just have to make another one just for him.
Saturday, July 12, 2008
What a week!
It has been quite the welcoming week back to Colorado! I have meant to sit down and write a blog, but my days disappear before I know what has happened!
Max is doing much better. Thank you all for your prayers and asking about him.
The doctors monitored him over night and through their intense treatment in the ER, they successfully knocked him smooth out to stop the seizures. We went home on a higher dose of medicine, and a very sleepy little guy.
He woke up Wednesday morning with plenty to talk about. In fact, today was the first day that he didn't talk non-stop all day long! We are to see his neurologist again in a week or so to make sure he's still doing okay. We'll have some tests coming up to see if he has another spot on his brain to watch out for with the seizures. He told us that the seizures were coming from the same area they did surgery on. And that Max hasn't had this kind of seizure since before surgery. When the doctor said that, it made me feel so so good knowing that he knows Max so well, and how special it is that he knew him from the beginning.
On Tuesday, once we got word that Max was okay and that we would be going home, his neurologist stopped by to visit with us before we went. Up to this point we were so into the emergency of his treatment that we just exchanged hugs and got right down to business. But once we knew he was on the mend we could relax and visit. One of the first things he said was he was so happy we were back. Truer words have never been spoken. I couldn't have imagined doing this from another state, or country. We are here, where we need to be for Max...and for us.
It was amazing how confident we felt in telling the emergency dept. staff what to do for Max. And calling his doctors, and all of them knowing exactly what he needed. Not because of his diagnosis, but because they KNOW Max!
So that is behind us. I'll work next week to get him a pediatrician hooked up, his formula sent here to CO, sign him back up on the Medicaid Waiver(that we had to give up to sign up for it in CA!), and get his therapy started again. The week after next we meet with the G-Tube Clinic to talk about surgery. It is SO time for that to happen. I've been having to give Max all of his medicine by syringe since coming home to make sure he gets it all in, and it is so difficult! I'll be glad to get back to a point where he enjoys eating. Right now it is just a chore for both of us!
On other fronts, we heard from our land-lady in CA today. She showed the house to a couple who absolutely loved it, but didn't know if their parents' could handle the stairs. So they declined it. I'm hoping they look around and come back with nothing in that price range, or anywhere near as nice and want it after-all! We can't get our own place easily without the monthly rent from that one being gone.
We're enjoying the time with our friends, and Angie and Dan. It's so good to be back...discovering new things, and old things alike!
Hopefully next week I'll be more on top of updating!
Max is doing much better. Thank you all for your prayers and asking about him.
The doctors monitored him over night and through their intense treatment in the ER, they successfully knocked him smooth out to stop the seizures. We went home on a higher dose of medicine, and a very sleepy little guy.
He woke up Wednesday morning with plenty to talk about. In fact, today was the first day that he didn't talk non-stop all day long! We are to see his neurologist again in a week or so to make sure he's still doing okay. We'll have some tests coming up to see if he has another spot on his brain to watch out for with the seizures. He told us that the seizures were coming from the same area they did surgery on. And that Max hasn't had this kind of seizure since before surgery. When the doctor said that, it made me feel so so good knowing that he knows Max so well, and how special it is that he knew him from the beginning.
On Tuesday, once we got word that Max was okay and that we would be going home, his neurologist stopped by to visit with us before we went. Up to this point we were so into the emergency of his treatment that we just exchanged hugs and got right down to business. But once we knew he was on the mend we could relax and visit. One of the first things he said was he was so happy we were back. Truer words have never been spoken. I couldn't have imagined doing this from another state, or country. We are here, where we need to be for Max...and for us.
It was amazing how confident we felt in telling the emergency dept. staff what to do for Max. And calling his doctors, and all of them knowing exactly what he needed. Not because of his diagnosis, but because they KNOW Max!
So that is behind us. I'll work next week to get him a pediatrician hooked up, his formula sent here to CO, sign him back up on the Medicaid Waiver(that we had to give up to sign up for it in CA!), and get his therapy started again. The week after next we meet with the G-Tube Clinic to talk about surgery. It is SO time for that to happen. I've been having to give Max all of his medicine by syringe since coming home to make sure he gets it all in, and it is so difficult! I'll be glad to get back to a point where he enjoys eating. Right now it is just a chore for both of us!
On other fronts, we heard from our land-lady in CA today. She showed the house to a couple who absolutely loved it, but didn't know if their parents' could handle the stairs. So they declined it. I'm hoping they look around and come back with nothing in that price range, or anywhere near as nice and want it after-all! We can't get our own place easily without the monthly rent from that one being gone.
We're enjoying the time with our friends, and Angie and Dan. It's so good to be back...discovering new things, and old things alike!
Hopefully next week I'll be more on top of updating!
Monday, July 7, 2008
Admitted...
Let's see...7 hours later, and I am finally sitting down to "relax".
Max woke up at around 9:00 this morning with a seizure. Not uncommon for him while waking up, especially after traveling. But then a couple of minutes later, he had another, then another and another. Until it was too many to keep count.
We called his neurologist and he got some Diastat (rectal valium) ordered for him from the pharmacy up the street. Steve went and got it, and I gave it to Max as soon as he got back. This put him out almost immediately. At the point of giving it to him, he had been having seizures for 2 1/2 hours. I took a shower and when I got out, he was hard asleep.
I called our neurologist to let him know the medicine had put him to sleep, and he wanted to know if the seizure activity had stopped. At that point, Max was still having a bit of seizures, so he told us we could give him another dose, or bring him in to the hospital. I called his metabolic doctors, and because he had not had any fluids or food all day they wanted to make sure he was stable on their end. So we decided to bring him to the hospital.
We got here and got into Emergency where they started him on IV fluids, and started watching him on the EEG test to see if he was still having seizures. That's when they noticed he was having a continuous string of sub-clinical seizures. Meaning his brain was being too noisy, but not showing up on his outward appearance. His doctor is not the doctor on call this week, so we are dealing with another doctor now, but thankfully they are keeping our regular doc in the loop.
He started him on a dose of ativan which is an acute medication to make the seizure activity stop. Then they gave him a dose of dilantin, which is one they'll keep up for a bit to get the seizures back under control. They also increased his regular seizure medication. He is one doped up little dude right now!
They wanted to watch him overnight and check the EEG in the morning to see if the medications have stopped the seizures. Metabolically he is good, and not all too hydrated. He's still on IV fluids since they've doped him to the point that he couldn't eat even if he wanted to. Plus he's got all of his medications on an empty stomach.
I started this post almost two hours ago. Really...don't these doctors know I have a blog to update!!!? Max is sleeping very soundly right now. Steve's gone back to the house to check on Abbey and probably to sleep for the night. I am up here with Max, probably NOT to sleep tonight, but I don't like leaving him while he's in the hospital.
I can't even begin to tell you how many times today we've said or heard, I'm so glad we're back in Denver. As soon as both of our doctors came in they told us they were so glad we were home for Max. I honestly can not fathom doing this is California right now. Abbey spent the day with Susan, and the evening with Angie and Dan, and now is having a "slumber party" with Olive and another friend who is in town and staying with the Clark's too.
How would I have done this there? We came in for a few seizures and dehydration and found that he needs more attention for a while with the seizures, something that has been very quiet for years. Spoke with the Metabolic doctor about the g-tube, and are going to get that going quickly, for days just like this. She's also recommeding him to the rehab doctors to get him into intensive therapy soon.
When I woke up this morning, before Max started having seizures, I read this :
"Help and peace and joy are here. Your courage will be rewarded.
Painful as this time is you will both one day see the reason of it, and see too that it was not cruel testing, but tender preparation for the wonderful life-work you are both to do.
Try to realize that your own prayers are being most wonderfully answered. Answered in a way that seems painful to you, but that just now is the only way."
I thought to myself, boy I hope that doesn't mean Max is going to get sick again now that we're home. He woke up about 15 minutes later having seizures. But we know we are where we are supposed to be, just as we have felt like we were where we needed to be all along the way. We are here now, and Max could not be in better hands. They take care of him as if he were royalty. And I know that is only because God knew almost 5 years ago that this little boy needed to be born in Denver to find these doctors. They care so much for him. His neurologist just called a few minutes ago, once his own kids were in bed, to check on Max and to talk to us to see if we were okay.
He reassured us that he would take care of Max and would not let him be overlooked. And I know it's true. I know he will do whatever he needs to do to take care of Max, and us. It's always fun to watch the nurses and "under" doctors faces when one of the head neurologist comes in and hugs us and Max too. It's not a usual connection we have with these doctors. It is special and we are so blessed.
I will close for now. I think I'll get caught up on my web surfing! Or just stare at the walls. Thank you all for your prayers. There were many times today I thought of you all, knowing you would have checked my blog and would be praying for us. It's something amazing really, to be cared for by people you've never seen. While my every breath is a prayer in the moments of emergency, to know that there are friends and family stopping and praying for Max and for us is just so humbling.
Thank you.
Max woke up at around 9:00 this morning with a seizure. Not uncommon for him while waking up, especially after traveling. But then a couple of minutes later, he had another, then another and another. Until it was too many to keep count.
We called his neurologist and he got some Diastat (rectal valium) ordered for him from the pharmacy up the street. Steve went and got it, and I gave it to Max as soon as he got back. This put him out almost immediately. At the point of giving it to him, he had been having seizures for 2 1/2 hours. I took a shower and when I got out, he was hard asleep.
I called our neurologist to let him know the medicine had put him to sleep, and he wanted to know if the seizure activity had stopped. At that point, Max was still having a bit of seizures, so he told us we could give him another dose, or bring him in to the hospital. I called his metabolic doctors, and because he had not had any fluids or food all day they wanted to make sure he was stable on their end. So we decided to bring him to the hospital.
We got here and got into Emergency where they started him on IV fluids, and started watching him on the EEG test to see if he was still having seizures. That's when they noticed he was having a continuous string of sub-clinical seizures. Meaning his brain was being too noisy, but not showing up on his outward appearance. His doctor is not the doctor on call this week, so we are dealing with another doctor now, but thankfully they are keeping our regular doc in the loop.
He started him on a dose of ativan which is an acute medication to make the seizure activity stop. Then they gave him a dose of dilantin, which is one they'll keep up for a bit to get the seizures back under control. They also increased his regular seizure medication. He is one doped up little dude right now!
They wanted to watch him overnight and check the EEG in the morning to see if the medications have stopped the seizures. Metabolically he is good, and not all too hydrated. He's still on IV fluids since they've doped him to the point that he couldn't eat even if he wanted to. Plus he's got all of his medications on an empty stomach.
I started this post almost two hours ago. Really...don't these doctors know I have a blog to update!!!? Max is sleeping very soundly right now. Steve's gone back to the house to check on Abbey and probably to sleep for the night. I am up here with Max, probably NOT to sleep tonight, but I don't like leaving him while he's in the hospital.
I can't even begin to tell you how many times today we've said or heard, I'm so glad we're back in Denver. As soon as both of our doctors came in they told us they were so glad we were home for Max. I honestly can not fathom doing this is California right now. Abbey spent the day with Susan, and the evening with Angie and Dan, and now is having a "slumber party" with Olive and another friend who is in town and staying with the Clark's too.
How would I have done this there? We came in for a few seizures and dehydration and found that he needs more attention for a while with the seizures, something that has been very quiet for years. Spoke with the Metabolic doctor about the g-tube, and are going to get that going quickly, for days just like this. She's also recommeding him to the rehab doctors to get him into intensive therapy soon.
When I woke up this morning, before Max started having seizures, I read this :
"Help and peace and joy are here. Your courage will be rewarded.
Painful as this time is you will both one day see the reason of it, and see too that it was not cruel testing, but tender preparation for the wonderful life-work you are both to do.
Try to realize that your own prayers are being most wonderfully answered. Answered in a way that seems painful to you, but that just now is the only way."
I thought to myself, boy I hope that doesn't mean Max is going to get sick again now that we're home. He woke up about 15 minutes later having seizures. But we know we are where we are supposed to be, just as we have felt like we were where we needed to be all along the way. We are here now, and Max could not be in better hands. They take care of him as if he were royalty. And I know that is only because God knew almost 5 years ago that this little boy needed to be born in Denver to find these doctors. They care so much for him. His neurologist just called a few minutes ago, once his own kids were in bed, to check on Max and to talk to us to see if we were okay.
He reassured us that he would take care of Max and would not let him be overlooked. And I know it's true. I know he will do whatever he needs to do to take care of Max, and us. It's always fun to watch the nurses and "under" doctors faces when one of the head neurologist comes in and hugs us and Max too. It's not a usual connection we have with these doctors. It is special and we are so blessed.
I will close for now. I think I'll get caught up on my web surfing! Or just stare at the walls. Thank you all for your prayers. There were many times today I thought of you all, knowing you would have checked my blog and would be praying for us. It's something amazing really, to be cared for by people you've never seen. While my every breath is a prayer in the moments of emergency, to know that there are friends and family stopping and praying for Max and for us is just so humbling.
Thank you.
Our boy...
He woke up with seizures this morning. He's had about 15 so far. Please pray they stop so we don't need to take him to the ER. I'll update later.
(oh and we're back in colorado, i forgot to update here...it's on my xanga)
(oh and we're back in colorado, i forgot to update here...it's on my xanga)
Wednesday, July 2, 2008
Now...
This is just one of the many "Abbey Today Shows" that Abbey has been posting on her blog. If you follow the youtube over, you can see more of them. She gave me permission to post it here, as she is getting to that age where she wants to be in charge of how she is perceived. We took several takes on this on to get it to the point she wanted to post it.
We're in Sacramento now, Steve is working during the day, and we're hanging out at the Residence Inn. Abbey has declared that this is the BEST hotel room in the WORLD! I told her we needed to get her out more. ;) I guess it is just a novelty to have a kitchen and couch in your hotel room.
This evening we spent with Vijay and her family while Steve had a dinner meeting to attend to. It was Vijay's first time meeting Abbey. Of course Vijay made awesome food that I filled my tummy with! Abbey gave everyone "tattoos", and Vijay gave us some of her beautiful bangles. They are all so unique and special.
Tomorrow, Steve will work again, and I may take Abbey back over to the pool. It's inside, so it feels like a steam bath when you walk in there. But it's either go in there and Max and I sweat, or stay in the room while she runs in circles because she's bored. Choices...choices! Maybe Max and I will try to get in the water tomorrow...but probably not. I hate public pools of all kinds! They are so gross to me! I'll just put him in his swimsuit and pour a bottle of water on him from time to time!
We will leave Friday early in the morning to head for Salt Lake City. Then Saturday morning will head on to Denver. And then I will sing "home...home on the range!".
We're in Sacramento now, Steve is working during the day, and we're hanging out at the Residence Inn. Abbey has declared that this is the BEST hotel room in the WORLD! I told her we needed to get her out more. ;) I guess it is just a novelty to have a kitchen and couch in your hotel room.
This evening we spent with Vijay and her family while Steve had a dinner meeting to attend to. It was Vijay's first time meeting Abbey. Of course Vijay made awesome food that I filled my tummy with! Abbey gave everyone "tattoos", and Vijay gave us some of her beautiful bangles. They are all so unique and special.
Tomorrow, Steve will work again, and I may take Abbey back over to the pool. It's inside, so it feels like a steam bath when you walk in there. But it's either go in there and Max and I sweat, or stay in the room while she runs in circles because she's bored. Choices...choices! Maybe Max and I will try to get in the water tomorrow...but probably not. I hate public pools of all kinds! They are so gross to me! I'll just put him in his swimsuit and pour a bottle of water on him from time to time!
We will leave Friday early in the morning to head for Salt Lake City. Then Saturday morning will head on to Denver. And then I will sing "home...home on the range!".
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