Heavy Duty Treatment

I saw the ENT today for a follow up to my appointment two weeks. Because, yes, I still have a stone in my salivary gland. Pity me, please.

Dr. P had absolutely ZERO bedside manner, although his Physician’s assistant, D, was very nice. Do you want to hear yet another high-tech treatment for this condition? Are you ready? It’s major.

I have to drink ONE GALLON of water every day. For a month. That “should” dissolve the stone. They think. Oh, and I’ll be on another antibiotic for five days to keep any possible infection at bay.

One gallon of water is more than I usually consume in probably four days. I’m not a big drinker normally, and on the Byetta I’m way worse. And no iced tea. I LOVE my diet honey lemon ginseng green tea by Turkey Hill. And I’m so sad that I’m not supposed to consume it.

Although if he thinks I’m giving up my morning cup of tea he’s delusional. Cuz I’m not. There’s absolutely nothing like a quiet cup of tea after the kids get on the bus. So stick it, Dr. P. I’m having my one cup of tea. And THEN I’ll drink a gallon of water. Somehow.

Thursdays

Can I admit that I hate the fact that Thursdays are both worship practice AND trash night?

Confession is Good for the Soul

You know what? I don’t homeschool. Unapologetically. For many reasons.

1. Two of my kids need a lot of therapies and I cannot supply that. OT, PT, O&M, Vision are the ones they need.
2. I do not have the personality to sit and teach my children, nor do I feel particularly called to do it.
3. Our local elementary school gives a very good education, and Ethan’s school is terrific and incredible.

I’ve said before that I read a lot of blogs. And it seems like almost all of them homeschool. I don’t think they send out judgment vibes or anything, but man, sometimes it would be nice to read about a mom who’s grateful for the free education that our children get, and that sometimes they actually do a pretty good job. So here’s my confession:

I’m a good Christian mom and I don’t homeschool.

Happy 7th Birthday Bennett, Ethan and Laura

Seven years ago I was in the Christiana Hospital, on their “high risk” floor, watching “My Man Godfrey” and “White Christmas”. Jim was going to come down later and we were going to hang out, have dinner, watch a movie or two and he was going to sleep over. I had been in the hospital for 11 days so far. They were even going to move me to a different room down the hall–it was larger, quieter and farther away from the nurses’ station.

By 2:13pm I was a mother to four babies instead. You can read the story here.

Seven years later, I look at these children–these “adults in training”– and am amazed at them. Their creativity, their kindness, their stubbornness, willingness to help, their completely different personalities. They play together, sometimes, with the complete abandonment to everything but their fantasy world they’ve created. Other times there is the manufactured “let’s include Ethan.”, which is painful to watch as a mother.

We celebrated their party on Saturday, and the living room looks like Christmas. Now comes the fun of trying to find homes for everything.

Happy Birthday, my dear children. And God, if you do this sort of thing, would you tell Connor I said Happy Birthday and that I love him, too?

Hurt…But Thoughtful

My sister said something today that both hurt me and made me think.

“I have foot in mouth disease but not nearly as bad as my mother or my sister.”

Now, I’m the first to admit that we Bennett women (mom, Robin and me) do say things that we regret. But her emphasis was such that I always say stupid things. And that hurt. Honestly. I have struggled all my Christian life with my mouth. I’ve said things I regretted and apologized. I’ve kept things in and regretted not being honest. I’ve blurted out first reactions instead of letting things percolate and then, calmly, respond properly.

Obviously, I need work on this some more.

Birthday Party

Today is the big Birthday Party. #7 for Bennett, Ethan and Laura. Their actual birthday isn’t until Monday, so this is not quite as fun as it would be if they were already born. I mean, 7 years ago I was still hanging out in the high risk unit, watching videos and hoping they’d let me up to shower today. Good times!

We’re having 17 plus the kids today. Oh, maybe 19 if Jim’s cousin comes. At least THE PAINTING’S DONE!! And yes, it looks awesome…I’ll post when I have more time. Now it’s just time to clean. And put everything BACK. 😛

Painting

I painted. I was painting. I paint. I am painting. I will be painting. I am going to be painting. I will paint.

I am SICK of painting!!!

Where Things Stand

Ornaments of Grace did this today and inspired me to do the same.

Getting healthy: Currently “stuck” at 10 lbs lost, which, while I’m happy about that loss, I want it to go up. However, the blocked salivary gland Dr wants me to suck on sour candy. Sour CANDY, people. Loads of sour calories. I’ll just stick with the 10 lbs until the stupid stone passes or gets pulled out somehow. Dr. appointment a week from Friday. I’m hoping I get to keep the gland.

Educational: 12 days until Bennett, Laura and Catie start school, another week after that for Ethan. I’m not counting the days right now just because we’re so busy, but I’ll certainly be glad when regular scheduled life resumes.

House: Is complete and utter chaos right now. We’re painting the living room and playroom (after having lived with pink walls and ceiling for 8 years). The kids’ birthday party is on Saturday. Today is Thursday and we’re going to finish priming and start painting the woodwork. Yes, we’re completely insane. Somehow it will work out, RIGHT???

Financial: This is one of those God things. We’re technically hemorrhaging money right now. Between all my medical copays (100 each for the two ER visits), the cat’s ER visit, buying new tires for my van, buying the paint and supplies, and the kids’ party, well, that’s $1000 right there. We would normally be sobbing right now. But Jim did some amazingly incredible stuff at work and they gave him a VERY nice bonus, which is His amazing timing yet again.

Spiritual: The Spirit is willing but the Flesh is weak. Two things here. I’m still struggling with reading my bible daily. Just can’t seem to make myself do it (although to be honest I’m not even sure exactly where my bible is right now with the house all torn up!). Then there’s wanting to “medicate” my massive frustration about the blocked duct with some addiction. I really should call and/or email my accountability partner. Now that I’ve posted it here, I actually WILL call her!

Family: The children are starting to show signs of needing to get away from each other. Ethan definitely needs to be in a structured environment and SOON. Jim’s on vacation this week, but is working on the house almost non-stop, so does that count? He and I are doing well. I think we’re finally on the same page with his work situation. More on that later, when plans firm up.

I’m off to give Ethan breakfast and then, paintbrush in hand, attack the woodwork. I can’t express how excited I am about that. 😛

Jeremy

Jeremy Wilson is an 11 year old triplet boy (has two sisters). His mom, Karen, belongs to my mothers of multiples club. I have never met her, as her kids are four years older than mine and she stopped attending meetings before I started. Jeremy was diagnosed with cancer a year ago. I’ve been following his story via CaringBridge for most of that time. Karen just posted a few days ago about his cancer growing and being very bad. While she didn’t say it, I feel like this is the beginning of the end. His options for treatments have pretty much run out. He’s even been in on the non-mainstream stuff already and his cancer grew instead of shrunk.

I have lost a child. I know the heartache and incredible loss that goes with it. But I lost my son at birth, when everything was still in the future. To lose an 11 year old, after having those 11 years of memories and plans and hopes and dreams….my heart cannot fathom that kind of pain. We call our children triplets, although they are quadruplets, because it is so much easier than explaining and dealing with the pain over and over. How will the Wilson’s handle it? With God’s help, they’ll manage, but I still can’t imagine the pain.

My heart goes out to them, as do my prayers. If you are a praying type person, please pray for the Wilson family.

Yet another trip to the ER

The morning the swelling was measurably worse and it hurt like the dickens to swallow or yawn. So back down to Chester County Hospital I went. They gave me:

bloodwork
A bag of IV fluid
A steroid (decadron)
A CT scan
An Rx for Percaset
A lot of time waiting doing nothing.

Everything came back fine, so they sent me home, essentially telling me to suck it up and deal with it another day. 😦 NOT GOOD. I’ve had 1/2 of a lemon that we had in the house and am starting the straight lemon juice in a bottle. Now THAT’S SOUR.