General rambling

I finished the Janet Evanovich book last night.  I NEVER takes me 2 days to read one of them.  I just fell out early Tuesday night.  If you haven't read the Stephanie Plum books consider giving them a try.  They really are laugh out loud funny.  I'm still kind of chuckling over the whole Grandma wondering into the bathroom while Ranger was showering.  I'm a Ranger gal. 

Today my sister and I were discussing a friend who had a preemie baby and the baby seems to have some developmental issues.  I'm talking about even factoring in the whole preemie issue.  The pediatrician has made some other random calls and we're more than a bit concerned about the baby.  Unfortunately there is no easy way to look at new parents and say "hey- something is wrong here.".  One of my closest friends is a nurse anesthetist.  She was watching Princess Bear (PB) when she was just a few months old.  At that point PB still had random medical issues popping up with a fair amount of regularity.  Anyhoo- Monika was watching PB for me because my dad had been admitted into the hospital and I couldn't drag a baby down there.  I remember when I got to her house to pick up PB she looked really funny.  PB had had a focal seizure while she was there.  Frankly if Monika hadn't noticed it G-d only knows when the issue would have been noticed.  (Note: Focal seizures are not like Grand Mal seizures.  In a focal seizure the person just kind of spaces out and doesn't respond to any outside stimuli.  It just looks like the person is gazing off).  Monika was so scared to tell me what she noticed because she didn't want to upset me.  Better that I am upset and can address the issue than not deal with the issue.  I understand as a parent that you never want to think that something is wrong with your child but you can't stick your head in the sand and hope that things all end up peachy keen.  So we're kind of scratching our heads and trying to find a way that the parents will look at the information we want to share with them in a positive light and get some help for the child. 


In PB news she's having a very hard time accepting the fact that her overheating issue is a deal breaker in some activities.  The other day we went bowling and she did great job.  Now she was using bumpers so that helps a lot.  I told her that if she worked on her aim and ball release and continued to do well that we'd get rid of the bumpers.  I mentioned that if she did well without the bumpers that we'd be able to put her in Special Olympics for bowling.  Initially this made her all kinds of excited.  Then she decided that she really wanted to be like Gracie Gold.  I tried explaining to her that she couldn't do anything as physically demanding as competitive ice skating.  I tried explaining that it was a punishment that she just had to consider the physical aspects of things and the likelihood of her overheating or not.   That didn't soothe her soul at all and she completely broke down sobbing.  I freaking hate seeing my daughter cry almost more than anything.  With tears streaming down her face she told me she was trying to be responsible with her like and step it up to be like Gracie Gold.  G-d bless her little heart.  She truly thinks that she is capable.  I hate it when I have to burst that bubble.  It's times like that it's very hard not to get mad at G-d and the powers that be. 

Healing

Yep, still alive and kicking!  The cast is finally off my hand.  It had to stay on for 8 weeks total since the bone was showing any signs of healing in the x-rays taken at 6 weeks.  They don't like doing that since you start to permanently lose muscle tone but felt that I still needed the protection of the cast.  The bone is still broken but now showing signs of healing in the x-rays.  So the cast is off and I'm waiting to find out how soon I start OT.  Having never broken anything other than a few fingers and toes I mistakenly thought that ok you break something, the Dr. puts a cast on it for awhile & you're good to go.  At my last appointment the Dr. told me that I will mostly likely experience pain for 12-18 months and that there is a good chance that I could break it again based on the location and the fact that it's healing so slowly.  Seriously????  Wtf!!!

Enough about the hand for now.  I was considering get political or doing a WTF is wrong with mankind but opted not to do that tonight.  Basically because I just don't have the energy at the moment!  Princess Bear is keeping me very busy chauffeuring her back and forth to all of her summer activities.  She is doing the Michael's Passport to Imagination a couple of times a week, she is doing Kids bowl free anytime she can talk me into it.  Ditto for the pool.  Then there are the usual weekly appointments for OT and piano.  2 weeks ago she had vacation bible school which she always loves.  This week it is private swimming lessons.  The kid is a natural swimmer but I wanted her to have some one on one to make sure that she was safe in the pool.  I'm rocking a lovely sunburn now.  Looking a bit like Rudolph! 

So that is the story around these parts.  I'm going to go curl up with the new Janet Evanovich Stephanie Plum novel. 

Blessings abound

After a very long almost 2 weeks and damn near stalking the Dr since she was almost a week late giving me Princess Bear's (PB's) test results life is grand.  The number that would definitely indicate PB had a Pituitary tumor was in normal range.  We still have to go back in October so they can redo all the blood tests to make sure everything is still in normal ranges.  The Dr.  is still nervous that she's shot up so much height wise this year.  They did say that her bone age scan has her at a 13 year old level so she's 2 years ahead of that since she turned 11 on Wednesday.  There is still some following up we need to do with a geneticist but luckily we can do that here in Peoria.

As I mentioned PB turned 11 the other day. I did the cover the door in streamers routine.  I stayed up until 2am to make sure she wouldn't get up again before starting the door.  It was awesome when she opened her door in the morning.  I told her Happy Birthday and told her to come in to my room.  She just stood there half asleep and a bit dazed saying she couldn't get out.  I told her to rip it and she had a ball!   It was quite the Polish birthday as it was an all day free for all of whatever she wanted.  For breakfast she asked for hash browns which are her favorite.  Then she opened her gifts from me.  (why oh why do I purchase gifts that wind up requiring me to work on them??? LOL!).  We played for awhile and then went shopping with my mom.  She scored some new stuff at Target and then we went to lunch with my mom, sister & nephews.  PB has become a big fan of musicals and she wanted the Hugh Jackman version of Oklahoma and the Julie Andrews version of The Sound of Music and her Aunt gave her those as well as some money for her Disney trip.  After lunch we came home and watched Oklahoma.  After that it was time to go to the Riverplex for a workout and then dinner.  My uncles partner is the manager at Olive Garden and Kiernan adores her Uncle Gerald.  So it was off to pick up the birthday cake at DQ and take it to Olive Garden.  Her uncles gave her a Disney Princess Visa gift card to take to Disney with her.  She thinks she's pretty hot stuff!  As part of her birthday gift I ordered a Cinderella costume for her to wear on our trip to Disney.  She'll probably wear it when she goes to Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique followed by lunch at Cinderella's Castle.  She's also going to a very special tea party so I don't know if she'll wear the Cinderella costume again or a different one. 

Birthday Door Surprise
 
Birthday Lunch PB's Cinderella Costume  I can't wait for it to arrive so she can try it on!

 

In shock

We've known for awhile that Princess Bear (PB) is growing quickly.  She's 10 years old and over 5'5" tall.  Today we had an appointment with her endocrinologist.  I started getting concerned when the resident kept on poking and prodding PB asking if it hurt.  The Dr. came in and quickly let me know that something is pretty wrong with PB.  She sent PB for blood work and a bone age scan x-ray.  She kept on mentioning a pituitary tumor.  How in the hell can my baby possibly have a tumor in her head??!!!???  And when in the hell is my child ever going to catch a break??? 

The Dr.  said she should have the results by the end of the week and I'd most likely hear from her Friday.  Then we'll have a better idea of what the next step will be.  She had me make a follow up appointment for 4 months from now but cautioned me that we'd probably be back much sooner.  That's a far cry from having appointments once every year or 18 months. 

So, I'm sitting here crying because PB is sleeping and its my time to be weak.  We're not telling her anything until I've talked to the Dr. again and have a better idea of what we're dealing with here.  Until then it will be life as normal.  How do you do normal when you feel like your world is spinning out of control? 

Go Hawks!

Hanging with my nephews yesterday!




I think Luke is going to be ready for a mohawk & some Docs in no time at all!!!

King Weddings

The hand is still in a cast & I really hate doing the one handed pecking thing so not much blogging lately. I did wake up to am email asking me if I was aware Bitty had been married over the weekend (I was!).  I was  also sent a source for pics of Tim & Maggie's wedding. Also lets not forget to share Joe's February wedding.  So here is a slideshow to hold over the Farm Kings fans. As always big thanks to those who sent in pics!

This digital slideshow made with Smilebox

ugh!

This is my new accessory…and I’m less than thrilled about it. I go back in 2 weeks for x-rays to check on new bone growth & a new cast. Repeat at 4 weeks and hopefully it comes off in 6. So not much posting for the next 6 weeks. Ugh!