Where did I go wrong?

Sometimes I have to wrack my brain and wonder if I may have done drugs, drank or was severely beaten during my pregnancy. I know that none of the above happened. I don't do drugs, hate the taste of alcohol and my husband would not hit me to save his life.

Yet today, I turned the corner and witnessed a scene that made me wonder where it all went wrong. Cameron was sitting on his private throne with the door wide open, wearing a plastic yellow hard hat and full face goggles. As I giggled, he explained that the goggles were to prevent him from "smelling my own crap." How do you respond to a seemingly obvious explanation that makes complete sense? Well, if you are his mother, you take a pic and blog about it. As you can see he has no problem with me taking the picture and I do not show anything remotely embarrassing or private. I closed the door partially to ensure privacy. Welcome to my world. It's crazy, it's fun, and it's often downright weird.

Back to school

No, it's not time for Cameron to return to school. In fact, just yesterday he finished his art course for 4th grade. FINALLY!!!! You'd think the ability to watch some podcasts and answer a few questions vs. making unrecognizable shapes out of newspaper and glue or popsicle sticks would encourage him to finish the course quickly. Not my darling son.

The past week has been stressful in that my grandfather was admitted to the hospital after collapsing in the bathroom and having to crawl to a bedroom in order for my aunt to hear him and come help. A pacemaker was considered but from what I understand it was determined that his heart is just hunky dory and that last I talked to him, he may have arthritis. I received an email this morning that he has returned to the nursing home and walked in under his own steam. Yeah!!!

So you ask what does back to school mean? Kelly quit school in February when she decided to return to Florida. She decided that she was going to get a GED and attend college or a trade school for radiology tech classes. In order to facilitate the GED, I offered to pay for it. She started the test on Wednesday and yesterday called to tell me she changed her mind. SAY WHAT? She met with a Navy recruiter and he told her a GED was a bad idea. They won't accept one unless she takes 15 credits of college courses. She pondered this and decided she wanted to go to a special on-line high school and get her actual high school diploma. I applaud this decision on all fronts. Her father fought her at first and after a few telephone conversations and emails. He finally agreed to be open to discussions. Her father and stepmother agreed to allow her to return to high school. They claim the reason they fought it was that they live out in the boondocks and picking her up after school from the city bus stop would be a hardship. After talking to them all and recommending options, they came to terms.

I am so excited that Kelly is returning to high school. I hope that she does this to a successful end. I am scared for her to enter the Navy at this time in history, but I can't accept the freedoms I enjoy without being willing to sacrifice in some way. My personal sacrifice lasted a full 6 weeks. This peripheral sacrifice may last much longer, especially if Cameron continues on his path to join the military. I support my children in whatever endeavors they choose to take. I'm fortunate that they want to serve their country. It is a selfless act that we should all be thankful for. I don't think we've ever personally thanked Glenn's cousin for his service in the Air Force. We'll have to remember to do so when we see him next.

Happy Summer everyone. Today we completed our first week of summer camp and Mommy is enjoying her mornings free to work or catch up on sleep. Cameron gets to play sports, swim and do arts and crafts. After July 1st the sport and swim hours count towards PE and we can be reimbursed by the school. Win Win.

I'm growing, but not so fast

Cameron had his bi-annual visit to the Endocrinologist this afternoon. The new campus of UPMC Children's Hospital opened last month so we finally got to check it out. I'm still unsure if I like the new procedures, but I have to admit it's a clean open facility. I understand it's a green hospital. I'm not sure what made it green so I did not know what to look for.

Cameron has grown again. I'm giving a detailed list of visit dates and height on each visit.

December 12, 2007 Stimulation test to check rate of pituitary gland
45 1/2"

February 20, 2008 - First day of shots 45 3/4"

June 17, 2008 - check up 47"

December 17, 2008 - checkup, blood work and xrays 49"

June 18, 2009 - check up 50 1/2"

When we met with the doctor in January, 2008 he indicated that Cameron can expect a 3-4" growth the first year and 1-3" additional years. So an almost 5" growth in 1 1/3 years is awesome, with 3 1/2" in 1 year of that. We were very anxious about taking on this treatment. I am currently excited with his progress and happy we decided to do it.

Dr. Gulino decided to increase his daily dose from .8275 to .975 since his growth is starting to slow down. This is the first time we have had to increase the dose since treatment began.

In other news, we are so excited that we can attend Glenn's cousin, Keith's wedding in August. I really like his fiancee and I was a bit bummed that we were not going to be able to attend. Almost 2 weeks ago, Keith called and asked Cameron to serve as his ring bearer. What a thoughtful invitation. We have decided to add in a trip to NYC when we go to the wedding. Glenn will take a week vacation so we can stay Thursday through Monday or Tuesday. Currently, we are planning to come home on Monday but we are not holding ourselves to that time schedule. With my AAA I was able to get a great suite that allows pets for $73 per night. Unheard of. By the pictures on the website and shown here, it looks to be very comfy. I'm happy it has a full kitchen so we can put Cam's meds directly into a fridge and we can prepare some meals in the room. Also, the hotel has a full hot buffet breakfast bar complimentary. Jackpot!!!! Aunt Sharon will be staying at the same hotel so it will be great to know someone nearby. The hotel is about 2 miles from the church. I think the God was watching over us as we planned this trip.

Here we go. Again?

As I've said before we learn something new everyday.

Everything I've ever heard about Shingles is that it is a unilateral disease. Meaning you can ONLY get it on one side of your body. Leave it to Glenn to prove the theory wrong.

This morning, Glenn woke up with a an outbreak on the left side of his head. Say what!!!

I called the primary care physician and without missing a beat, he called in a 10 day extension on the anti-viral medicine. This man is my medicinal hero. Of course, we need to drive up there again next week for a follow-up. Need I remind you the pcp is 45 minutes to an hour away. It's actually doors away from Occupational therapy where I go weekly.

This week I was able to move Cam's appt. up to Monday saving me an additional trip. Next week I will not be so lucky since I already have to drive 51 1/2 miles to the pediatrician on Wed. I might as well stick to my original plan.

We followed up with the eye doctor today as recommended last week by them and this week by our pcp since Glenn had some blurring.

Can I say...I hated this man? The doctor came in, did not introduce himself and while trying to explain to him what was going on and what our pcp said, he told us in no uncertain terms that the rash WAS ABSOLUTELY NO WAY NO HOW 100% NOT SHINGLES and told me to shut up. I was fuming so much I almost walked out of the room.

Once home I decided to look up bilateral shingles and what do you know...it is possible.

Herpes Zoster patients often have prodromal symptoms (prior to rash) of burning, aching, and/or lancing pain, numbness, tingling, and/or itching prior to the appearance of classic vesicles with an erythematous base that typically follows a unilateral dermatomal distribution. The outbreak is bilateral in 4% of patients, and recurrences in immunocompetent patients occur in 1 to 5% of cases, with 50% of these recurring in the same dermatome. Occasionally, cutaneous dissemination, defined as involvement of 20 or more vesicles outside primary or adjacent dermatomes, may occur. Other complications of Herpes zoster include postherpetic neuralgia (PHN), ophthalmic zoster, motor paralysis, secondary bacterial infection, pneumonitis, encephalitis, and hepatitis.

So that doctor can just bite me. I know what I know and I can't stand to be treated like I'm stupid. Meanwhile, my poor darling husband is forseeing a future of this pain. Good thing we have two good pain meds. :>

Update on Glenn's shingles

Glenn has now been battling shingles for 9 days. After a trip to the ER, ophthalmologist, and our primary care physician, his diagnosis is: since his eye is now blurry...return to ophthalmologist. For the pain...additional vicodin and add in gabapentin, used to control seizures along with nerve pain associated with shingles in adults.

The doctor said the pain could clear up in a week or continue indefinitely. The gabapentin is 300 mg up to 3x per day, with 2 refills. Tomorrow, we will call the eye doctor and get Glenn back in. I guess they really do need more money from me LOL.

Additionally, Glenn took his motorcycle to the job site today since he had to leave early. Someone backed into it and now he needs a new front fender. Fortunately, the lady left a copy of her insurance card and contact info. Poor Glenn.

You've got what? Where?

Over the past week or so, I have noticed red welts on my torso and attributed them to random spiders, etc. Come on, we've all had them. Sunday morning, Glenn woke up with a cluster of bites on his head and a few on his face. Immediately, I thought we might have bed bugs and researched the symptoms, treatments and how to rid my house of them. The only surefire way to get rid of them was by freezing our bedding. I don't know about you, but not having a deep freeze meant I would have to put them in my kitchen fridge and I had NO intention of doing that.

The bites were becoming quite painful to Glenn to the point that they were pressing on his eyeball and causing him such pain he resorted to crying. My darling husband is a sensitive soul, but crying for pain is not a common occurrence. Without the benefit of medical insurance and a desire to not spend the night listening to him cry and whine, I convinced him late last night to head to the ER. We decided that since Cam was asleep, he could go alone.

Diagnosis---shingles. 3 years ago, I suffered a bout of shingles on my torso. You know, the common place to get them. The pain was excruciating, lasted several weeks and forced me to take time off of work because my boss, also my cousin, never had chicken pox. I did not know you could get them on the face, but I guess anywhere you have a nerve, you can get them. Having survived a miserable bout several years ago I knew that we would survive this. Major difference I anticipated was that where I am a quiet, leave me the heck alone sick, Glenn is a rub me, cuddle me, dote on me sick. What I did not anticipate was that the shingles could potentially cause blindness in his right eye. This morning, we had to cancel Cam's occupational therapy appointment so we could take Glenn to an optometrist to get a closer look at the eye. After a slew of drops and tests it was determined for $143 that the eye looks fine, but just in case we didn't get enough of your money, how about you come back in a week, give me some more so I can again tell you that your eye is fine. No thank you very much!!!!

Fortunately, the three prescriptions Glenn has were either on the $4 prescription list or in the case of vicodin, cheap. The anti-viral med was on the list in 400mg dose, but he was prescribed 800 mg, the pharmacy was kind enough to double up on 400s and it only cost me 67 cents more. Thank you money gods. So Glenn is on a steroid 3 pills once a day, an antiviral 2 pills 5 times a day and pain killers as needed. My poor druggie. At least it was only $16.66 total. His boss recommended dandelions and some other weed, no not the one he'd actually enjoy. We opted for the good ole medical science remedy. Sorry, my dog gets sick eating grass, I'm not asking my husband to do it.

So here I sit next to my poor cranky hubby. He's sucking up the fact that since Cam has not had chicken pox (to our recollection) it is best if they stay a bit apart, leaving me to care for Cam 100%. Not like I didn't already do about 70%.

Tomorrow he has a motorcycle class, but will need to take my care because he can't put his helmet on. Our hope is that the pain diminishes enough for him to wear a helmet on Saturday and Sunday. He does not want to repeat the course later.

In other news, our landlord has been trying to convice Glenn for about 6 months to come work for him and drive a dump truck. Benefits - no one to stand over him, change up his schedule, try to cram in extra work, more consistent money and if I heard correctly no more rent. Cons-ummm can't think of any. I guess I'll have to wait and see what Glenn decides. As we all know, he's been extremely unhappy with his current job and as stress is an inducer of the shingles, I place the blame firmly on the job. I'm sure there's some blame there for me, but I'm still passing the buck.

Finally, last day of school

It is finally the last day of fourth grade. The past 5 years of schooling have not been without perils and challenges. As I reflect, I realize that each of those challenges has presented me with an opportunity to learn something new about Cameron.

Kelly was an easy learner and an even easier student. By time Cameron went to school, Kelly was going into 7th grade. I knew next to nothing about the challenges an ADD kid would bring to the table. Sure, Tylar (my nephew) was ADHD, but in my eyes Cameron was much different than him. I did not have to deal with the day to day issues Tylar brought home with him. I stood back and supported my grandparents the best I could. I did not see many similarities between the boys. Cameron did not beat my mailbox with a baseball bat and he certainly did not climb on my roof to spell out obscenities with Christmas lights. Of course, those things happened when Ty was about the age Cam is now. I remember Ty to be a very active child. Cameron, not so much.

From Kindergarten Cam presented challenges. How many kids have been suspended in Kindergarten? Mine was. All those guns, etc. we let him play with were a bad idea and soon became material for the landfill. Again, in 1st grade he found a way to become suspended. 2nd grade we moved alot but he got himself into quite a bit of trouble. The end of second grade we moved to Pennsylvania and with June's help found a fantastic doctor who finally was able to properly treat Cameron for his ADD/ODD. In third grade we finally started homeschooling. An option I had considered previously but could not accomplish due to working full time. With Cam's grades in math, he had to repeat 2nd grade math. So, I taught him using the curriculum provided by PA Cyber and we made major headway. After a year of that stress, I opted to put him in virtual classes this year. In many ways, it was a Godsend for my sanity. Being able to put him in front of the computer at 10 a.m. and know he was in class for 3 1/2 hours was great. As the year progressed, his attention waned and the past week I think he's literally been chomping at the bit to get out. I am too!

I found that I spent a good amount of time reteaching concepts to him when I helped him with his homework. I've been thinking that maybe I should go back to self-pacing him (teaching him myself). The curriculum will change this fall so I'm a bit nervous about taking on this challenge again. I want wants best for Cameron. I want to know he's learning as much as he can. Virtual had it's positives in that he could not be distracted by other students but if I was out of the room, noone could see that he was reading a dictionary rather than a Science book. So, all in all, maybe my teaching him is best.

As for Kelly, my heart breaks every day. She'd be going into her senior year this fall. She is an incredibly bright young lady. She's had high aspirations for her future since she was a preschooler. We've gone through veterinarian (to work with Platypus' in Australia) to regular doctor, EMT/Paramedic, anything in an office near Mommy, Film/TV Director, Film/TV Producer, and recently a location scout and photographer. Currently, she is planning to get her GED and go to school for Radiology technician. I hope that whatever her dream is, she can fulfill it. I wish she would go to a community college and get a business degree and maybe pursue the location scout/photographer angle. She has a beautiful gift in her eyes. She's extremely talented in the artistic realm. That is a gift she received straight from her father. Her brain is mine, her art is her dad's. I guess she got the best of both of us.

The countdown is on, it's just after 11 a.m. and Cameron's last class is schedule to end at 1:30. He'll need to complete his Arts Alive class this afternoon as we are packing up his computer tomorrow, so hopefully by 4 p.m. we will be done with 4th grade and ready to start our summer. 2 weeks of absolutely nothing and then he starts 5 weeks of a part time summer camp program at the nearby Parks/Rec program. It will be almost 4 hours a day of swimming, arts and sports for him and 4 hours of peace and quiet for me. Yippee!!!

My bff Danielle is going to NJ next week and if it's possible, I am considering taking Cameron and driving over for a day or so to visit with her. There's nothing like drinks on the beach with your bff from junior high as you watch your kids play in the sand and surf.