25 February 2008

good, "old-fashioned" fun

Yesterday we took the kids to a skating rink. As in roller-skating.

It was the first time I'd been since way before Little B was a twinkle in my eye, and certainly a first for Little B himself and Miss C. I was so proud of both of them! Little B really gave it a great shot and said he had SO much fun! Miss C mostly waddled around on the carpet, but I think that was great and both kids were completely adorable.

We were with some friends and their two girls, so I left Baby J in the other mom's care for about 15 or 20 minutes and surprised myself by just how well I could skate after all this time. I was never an avid skater to start with, but I'm thinking this would be a great way to burn calories. And the rink is just down the street from the school, so we're talking super close (I think it's one of two roller rinks in our huge county).

Sunday afternoons are "Family Day" and prices were pretty decent--$6.50 per person including regular skate rental ($8 if you get in line skates). For two or three hours of fun, that's hard to beat!

And no, my voice has not returned and the crud is still in my chest. I'll most likely be seeing the doc this week. Sigh. . .

21 February 2008

how do i love thee?

So the crud never left the house. I swear I tried to kick it out, tell it to leave, whatever. It just lingered. Mostly in my chest. Other than my congestion, we had three whopping days of health for everyone else before Little B got Strep. Oh fun.

As of tomorrow, if Miss C has avoided it, we are home free. This is because I’ve been on the two week round of Biaxin, which kept me safe (thank GOODNESS for that!!!). And, when my husband came home with a low fever and misery once more, I assumed he had gotten Strep as well. Nope. His doctor’s visit revealed severe sinusitis (AND a middle ear infection!) for which the old-school, most wonderful doctor he’d ever seen did an x-ray to verify and check it out. He also looked at my husband’s history and prescribed an antibiotic that he felt was most effective for his problem. There is something about a doctor that takes the time to really understand the problem and get down to it, versus prescribing something, figuring it will work or the illness will go away on its own in a few days anyhow. This doctor also told him to return in two weeks as he’d very possibly need further treatment! Yeah, that severe. Poor hubby. At least with his antibiotics he will prevent Strep, too. Woohoo!

But then, my congestion. Man oh man. I thought the snap, crackle, pop in my chest was finally about gone, then suddenly my sinuses opened up (I guess) and I felt like I was getting a cold on top of everything. My lungs filled once more and stayed tight and awful. My throat has had an entire family of frogs in it for two solid weeks now. I’ve avoided the phone because talking makes me miserable (try being heard by your kids like that…sheesh). Yesterday, I called my asthma specialist again and told him what was going in. His conclusion: my asthma is beginning to be a problem!

I was diagnosed with asthma exactly six years ago (to the month). Exactly five years ago I got pneumonia (again, to the month; February is SO a bad month for me!!), and that fall I began seeing this specialist. My asthma has been totally under control since that time and he always talks about how great my breathing tests are. The same day he decided it was my asthma beginning to be an issue, I’d spoken with a woman I’ve met only a few times and was mentioning how sick we’d all been this month (seriously, just speaking to me says volumes when that family of frogs takes over and I cannot even make some sounds to complete my words!). She looked at me and asked, “Do you have asthma?” Wow. No one has ever heard me talk/cough and “heard” the asthma. When I said yes, she asked if I was taking meds right now to control it. So, when the doc said it was asthma, I had to agree. Though in my head I kept thinking “sinus infection” or “cold” or whatever. I mean, come on, I was blowing green snot three times an hour to the point of making my sinuses bleed. (Yeah, TMI, but you’re reading aren’t you???)

So, he put me back on prednisone. He’d put me on it when he saw me for the flu as a preventive for bronchitis or the dreaded pneumonia (I saw him because the cough was so bad I thought I had pneumonia with my fever of 102-103!). Honestly, I’ve had years when my prescription would expire because I never needed it (he requests his patients keep it on hand for emergency use). I’ve used it now three times since Christmas. Huh. I’ve also had my rescue inhaler expire without my realizing it, but now I’ve got two running so I don’t lose one—I’ve used it every 4-6 hours this week.

But my point: the prednisone. I was in total shock by it. I’ve used it and been helped before, but never so drastically. Within one hour—yes, ONE—of my first dose, my voice felt stronger, my cough was looser and more disgustingly productive (like chunky, in a good way, though), my headache of two weeks was gone, and best of all: my snot stopped! Really. Suddenly I hardly have to blow my nose at all. It’s just more like post nasal drip now. I’m in total awe and love with my prednisone. I had no idea it was that incredibly powerful.

My voice is still improving, but only when I’ve, uh, lost my temper (me? Never!) does it start to aggravate me badly. The cough is still there and full of chunks, but again, it’s a good thing. The headache, well it’s hightailed it so far out of town I haven’t seen it since. Same with the nasty snot. Oh, and I’m not nearly as exhausted (probably a steroid side effect for that, but still…). Did I mention I love my prednisone?

He said he’d want to see me in the office if I wasn’t doing better in three days (which puts me at tomorrow afternoon…bad time to need a specialist, you know?). But honestly, I feel like I’m doing so much better that I am thinking I won’t need to call. If I do, then I just do. I may call and talk to the nurse to just let her know how I’m doing and how much better I feel. Then, if they don’t think it’s enough they can tell me.

Oh, I feel so alive. I even went to lunch with my mom, then she went grocery shopping with me. (Such a nice lady.) I could so kiss my prednisone. How do I love thee, indeed.

14 February 2008

almost back from the dead. . .

I’m not sure how we just survived the past week two weeks. Really.

Our family of five just lived through:
4 rounds of the flu (everyone except Baby J)
1 cold with cough (Baby J)
1 bronchitis, plain (my husband)
1 bronchitis with sinus infection on the side, still lingering very heavily (me)
7 doctor’s visits and copays (counting Baby J’s well visit yesterday)
3 Tamiflu Rx’s (I wasn’t able to take it)
1 Zpack Rx (for husband’s bronchitis, started the day the flu hit him)
1 Biaxin Rx (for my lingering nasty cough and sinus gunk, just started Monday)
1 eye ointment we didn’t need to use on Baby J (whew)

Lots of high fevers, achey bodies, clingy children, vomiting husbands (well, only one husband, but his body couldn’t handle the fever!), headaches, Tylenol, Motrin, liquids, soups, wet washcloths. There are layers and layers of clean clothes all around the house which we somehow washed in desperation (especially b/c Little B was back in school before anyone else got sick!) but were too sick to fold and put away. The dishes are finally getting caught up and the sun came out today so my mental state is improving as well. If only my voice would sound normal and I wouldn’t cough so hard; in fact, at my post partum checkup today, I was told my kegel wasn’t strong enough—that’s a first ever, and I blame the cough that makes me pee in my pants!

07 February 2008

flu

I have the flu.
I've run 101-103 temps almost consistently for 12 hours.
I'm so incredibly miserable.
(Little B had it last weekend.)

01 February 2008

turning three

Miss C is in the throes of becoming a three year old. As in next week is her third birthday and for a couple of months we’ve noticed a definite trend of three year old-isms showing up in her world. One of these is the “terrible threes” (we don’t have terrible twos in our house—those are the last days of bliss around here) complete with whining and demanding and thrusting her independence to the forefront.

She is also beginning to play more peacefully with her big brother. Oh yes. The two of them can romp around the house in costumes, play hot wheels and any number of other grand things. This has brought peace to our house in a thousand ways. Little B has a playmate, and Miss C is no longer completely "banned" from the big kid toys in his room. She obviously feels so important because of this. She anxiously awaits his arrival home, and if perchance she's sleeping Little B gets impatient for her to be up. And, he is equally willing to play with her things -- even dress up for a tea party in her room, bringing along his favorite stuffed dog.

Another of these traits is the drastic increase in conversation and vocabulary and articulation and comprehension. Suddenly, she understands so much more, can explain herself better, and can be heard easier. Wth more talking, as with any child, certain words bring grand amusement to the adults in the room since they are said with a slight twist. One of the early ones we had trouble deciphering was Baby J’s name; it sounded exactly like an animal she'd been watching on Baby Noah, so some confusion ensued on occasion. Another one was “fork”. Let’s just say we tried to keep her from having to ask for one because, well, it's just not good folks.

There is one, however, that my husband actually tries to get her to say. He is so tickled by this though it can come out in different ways (no doubt in an effort to refine the word). But it was never so clear as when we were having a tea party the other day and I swear I almost had to leave the room.

The word: “Sandwich.” The simpler version is “fan-yich.” Not so bad, really. But, the variation that was so incredibly clear, as heard during the tea party: “My bunny has a fanny itch.”