Self Improvements

Sometimes we forget we own our home now and we can tear it up (ha!) or change it in any way we'd like.

For our first home improvement Ta-Da!, we painted a niche in our home. A small niche. Actually, it's more like a slight indent in the wall. But it is tall enough that we needed to use a ladder (gasp!) and we did not hurt ourselves in the process. Amazing.

We're thinking about tackling the dining room floor soon. We'll buy the pre-fab hardwood planks and tear up the carpet ourselves to put it in. How hard can it be?

Then there's the vanity in the half bath, the pulls on the kitchen cabinets (the miles and miles of kitchen cabinets...), the den floor, wood trim in the hall, built- ins for the tv niche in the family room... and on and on and on. Chances are, none of this will get done before we move (yes, even if that is twenty years from now, or better yet, never), but at least our intentions are ambitious! We'll see. Maybe we'll even surprise ourselves...

Hey, I watch HGTV sometimes and that's GOTTA COUNT FOR SOMETHING! I'm probably a home-improvement genius and just don't know it yet! ;) And while I can't guarantee pics in the future (cuz I can't guarantee the outcome will be picture worthy - uhum), I am putting one up here for your amusem--- I mean, enjoyment :) If you don't like the color, well, the best advice would be to close this window quickly.

Voila!

Good News First...

YAY! Cohen's numbers are all within normal range today. The Neupogen worked and we don't go back for another two weeks to check and make sure the numbers are still looking good.

I'm not sure exactly what we ruled out with these results, but I know we probably ruled out something... of course I thought of all the questions I would have asked as I was driving out of the parking lot.

On another note:

Remember that great workout I got at the gym two days ago? Well, like an idiot, I stuffed my purse underneath the seat before I went in because I didn't want to hassle with getting a locker. Turns out I should have hassled after all.

When I got home from the gym, I forgot about my purse in the car. Duh. I didn't go anywhere yesterday, so the car - and purse - stayed put in the driveway.

You already know what's coming, right?

Early this morning, around 2am, there was more than just little critters and wild animals roaming in the moonlight just outside our house. Think larger and much more devious.

Their handiwork was all-too evident in bright daylight: hundreds of tinted shards of glass littered our driveway just beneath the rear driver's side door. To make matters worse, the early morning sky had released a torrent and it basically rained inside our car: water and glass mixed together like dark gray-green peanut brittle and silvery glass beads that shattered on the leather seat and formed a dangerous mound inside Hannah's car seat.

No purse in sight.

Here's what went down according to the transactions on record: by 3:30am the perps hit up seven gas stations with two cards they found in my wallet. Card number one was monitored by a very pro-active (almost frustratingly hyper-active before I realized how beneficial that could be!) financial insitution which shut down the card by the time they reached location number four and the other, a pre-tax medical mastercard that wasn't worth a darn at any gas station.

So they hit pay dirt with a very exciting and lucrative DVD rental from one of those red boxes outside McDonald's, and two whole tanks full of gas before their operation was cut off at the pass, so to speak. WOO-HOO! I hope their cars get great gas mileage, cuz the fruits of their labor are probably evaporating very quickly :)

The PD sent out an officer from CSI to dust for fingerprints and he told us that a string of young guys have been cutting holes into car windows and knocking out the glass before reaching in and grabbing anything that looks like it could contain a credit card or money. They do not go for valuables, just straight $$$. We're still trying to figure out how in the heck they got into our gated community at 2am. Maybe these gates are a false sense of security. :(

My car has a factory alarm. They should add a disclaimer that those things only work if someone is actually trying to steal your car, not the stuff inside. Or maybe I should have known that already.

Anyways, five cars were hit last night. These guys have been operating for weeks. Hope they catch them. We all work hard for what we have. So now we have to get the window repaired, and since our deductible is more than the cost of the window, we're out a couple hundred bucks.

The list of stuff I have to replace:

CELL PHONE (Ouch. This one hurts)
Driver's license
The cards they used, or tried to use at least...
Medical insurance cards
Make-up (and this stuff is not cheap!)

This involves a lot more errands than I want to run right now and long lines of people with lots of waiting around.

I hope I learned my lesson!!

So tonight I take my Aunt out shopping for her birthday. At least I still have money in the bank. Could be worse. Just hope I don't get pulled over and yes, I just knocked on wood.

Update

So a quick update.

We went to the hematologist's office today to check Cohen's blood count after he received the first Neupogen injection on Friday.

His numbers had dropped -- which is, of course, not supposed to happen.

Now, not only his white blood cells are low, but his red ones too. Low red blood cells, low hemoglobin, low hematocrit, low platelets. What the....???

We were disappointed, but we know that Neupogen was merely a temporary solution anyways. He had to get another injection today and we go back on Wed. to check yet again. He has been a little agitated and more than usually tired, but other than that, he is acting more comfortable today than he did last time he got the stick. If his numbers don't look good on Wed., they're bringing in the big guns (they're going to do the bone marrow biopsy). The doc explained that Cohen would get a sedative and they would perform the biopsy right there in the office. He said it would be painful as heck. This might be one time I'll let Craig in on the action while I bow out gracefully. We'll see. I hate not being there for Cohen even as I can't stand watching him go through this stuff.

I am trying not to overthink things. Some vague possibilities are floating around in our heads, but we will not dwell on anything until we get definitive confirmation. The biopsy just might give us that. Or maybe not. At this point, who knows? I really love this doctor, though. He ran out to the waiting room as we were leaving to make sure he'd answered all of our questions. He's a thinker and sometimes we sit and let him process things without saying anything.

As of now, my three kiddos are lined up in a row, jammie-clad, and watching a good-night show before bed. My Aunt and I did some retail therapy and I went to the gym today. YAY! There is nothing like a good sweat-dripping workout to numb the mind.

I will keep this blog updated. It is a good way to keep record of what's happening - the closest thing I've got to a journal. :) If somebody's reading it to keep in touch, that's even better.

White Knights and Tail Feathers

So here's what's happening. Cohen was given his first injection of neupogen yesterday at the hematologist's office. His Absolute Neutrophil Count was on its way down again, steadily decreasing over the past three weeks. He needed help defending his temple and we hope to get the little white buggers moving in his blood stream again.

Problem is, this stuff is taking a huge toll on him. He is moaning and crying a lot and that just sucks. We had to trade one problem for another and while I know we did what's best for him, I still hate seeing him so miserable. He wants to be held a lot. He'll be okay, though. He's learning how to be tough and if I try to look on the bright side, my biceps are getting a much-needed workout lately. :) I read online that this medication can cause deep aching bone pain and grown adults have been known to squirm with the pain, but they assured me one shot probably wouldn't be that painful; based on his response, I'm not as sure as they are.

On top of that, last night we had our first (and hopefully last!) nerve-racking experience losing his G-tube button, or as I've called it before, the gateway to his gut. Luckily we noticed before too much time went by - they say you only have twenty or thirty minutes to get it back in before it starts closing up, which means no food until they can sedate him and insert a new one again and all that surgery entails. Yeah, I was sweatin' it. We found the button in my Aunt's lap (she was holding him at the time) and I quickly popped it back in and tried to fill up the balloon -- to no avail. Looks like it popped somehow. As luck would have it, I just put it in a week ago and hadn't yet received my spare (these things can last up to a year the GI doc tells me, though I don't think I'd want to risk that), so off to the ER we went with tape holding it in place and me checking constantly to make sure it didn't fall back out again. So, this dragged on for a while: what would have taken ten minutes at home took an hour and a half of lovely ER time (not the place you want to be with a child who's neutropenic, right?) with wonderful company in the form of poor wracking, coughing, burning up children ripe with virus and fertile enough to share. Yikes. And while I felt bad for those parents and kids, I still found chairs as far away- and as isolated - as possible.

Today, he's acting weak and agitated and he looks pale as a ghost, but we have our follow up appointment Monday to recheck his count and see how he's doing so I guess I can ask more questions of the doc then and hang in there in the meantime. I just wish I could make this go away. What a nightmare. Why are so many children suffering so much nowadays? What is happening?

At least the weather is absolutely beautiful out here. Hannah had dance today. They're learning a dance for the big recital in June. They're going to be chickens. Yes, chickens. Not just any chickens, either, but "Groovy" and "Far Out" chickens. Guess there is a difference. Cool.

When I signed my kid up for this, I have to say I never imagined the chickens. Their costumes are so fluorescent, I'm sure they'll glow in the dark and the feathers on their head pieces are true show girl material. Guess you can't always be a princess in ballet class. :( Surprisingly, their dance is cuter than I expected, so I guess it'll all work out in the end. One of the young dads was saving the words to the song in his phone so his daughter could practice at home. I wanted to ask him if he'd be singing the song for her. That would be too funny.

Hope you are all doing well! California is only two months away! YAY! Can't wait to see west coast beach again, and friends and family too :) I miss everyone.

Hangin' in There!

I will try to post more, I promise. There really is no excuse, except for that I've been hard at work writing and researching that I forget to post as well. I have joined a four week community writing course and tonight will be my third meeting, so I am always rushing to finish something to share at the class...

As for us, things have definitely mellowed out here over the past few days.

Cohen has been limping a lot on his left leg. Sometimes, he has trouble walking at all. We're not sure why this is becoming such a constant issue for him. We had it x-rayed and the images showed nothing concerning. It's another big mystery for this little guy. He has good days and not so good days, but his health seems to be stable so we will deal with the limp...for now.

I can say this because there are other tests in the works for Cohen and I'm hoping they might indicate something we can begin to treat. We went to the metabolic/genetic doctor we have been waiting FOREVER to see on Tuesday, and although we had to drive over an hour to get to him, it was well worth the drive. We were not disappointed.

The visit lasted two and a half hours and he was very straightforward and honest, no matter what questions I asked. I LOVE THAT! I'm so tired of doctors who try to sugarcoat everything instead of just giving it like it truly is.

So we will wait at least a week for results. Tomorrow, we go back to the hematologist to check Cohen's WBC count. If his ANC is below 1,000, we will start him on medication to stimulate his WBC production, although I have a feeling his numbers will be fine. He seems fairly comfortable right now.

As for the other two kiddos:

Hannah is doing very, very well. She is getting back to her old happy, playful self. The potty-training seems to be finally clicking and if we continue to remind her to go, she does and is fairly independent. For the first time after being a parent for over nine years, I can hand my kid clothes and ask her to get dressed. I can have her pick up her messes and she insists on brushing her teeth and flossing every night before bed. The future is beginning to look a bit easier... :)



Jenna is still our accident-prone child. She got a huge lump below her kneecap - probably happened climbing the jungle gym contraption on the playground at school. When I dug my finger in to feel around, my kid just sat there looking at me and sighed. Huh. I would do a whole heck of a lot more than sigh if someone was doing that to me!!! I'm not sure she feels it as much as I would, which may explain her lack of complaint, or limp for that matter. It is an ugly purple color and looks incredibly painful. Anyways, the swelling went down a little this morning, but if it is still swollen this afternoon we might have to take her to the doctor.

And finally there is Craig, who must have handed down the whole accident-prone thing to his daughter. A few days ago, Hannah wanted to play hide-n-seek, so Craig lay hidden on the couch as she counted. When she ran out of the room to find him, he quickly sat up and scrambled to jump over the back of the couch. You know what's coming, don't you?

Since when do you try to jump over the tallest part of something? To his credit, he almost made it, but caught his big toe on the highest curve of the couch-back and landed awkwardly on his butt on the other side.

The first thing he yells out?

Ow-ow-ow, I broke a nail!

I broke a nail?! I could not stop laughing.

To make up for giving my husband a hard time: Saturday, he was out working hard in the yard and the girls thought it was the perfect opportunity to catch some sunshine.

Our grass had begun to grow little foreign sprouts, so it was time to mow them down.

Our diva-child in the messy garage - hey, we did just move...uhum.

Hannah enjoys all of the toys Jenna received years ago, jeep included.

Jenna, on the other hand...
Loves looking at the very few flowers we actually have in our pathetically sparce flower bed.

Not to be distracted too long by any one toy, Hannah moves quickly from the jeep to the tricycle, yet another remnant from Jenna's younger years.

And just when I started thinking how sad it was that Hannah was enjoying all of Jenna's toys...

Jenna climbs on into her Jeep and becomes the only child to actually push the gas pedal to make it go.

We were only too happy to help her with the steering.