Whole Lotta Nothin.....

It seems like we have been busy but still not doing a whole lot around here. 

Christopher is officially on the  5 day count-down to casts off. The first 2 weeks or so were pretty rough.  The casts seemed to make him REALLY hot. He is used to flipping around in bed and couldn't really do that. His heart rate was also sky high - we never really did figure out if that was bacause he was in pain, mad, or if the casts were putting pressure on the blood vessles in his legs making it a little harder for his heart to pump.  Now he has figured out how to swing them around and even crawl some!

Selling the house has gone S.L.O.W.L.Y!!!!!!  We have dropped the price $10,000 and are having another open house at the end of this week. Our original Real Estate Agent suddenly retired right be fore Christopher's surgery, so we ended up with another from the same company.  This week, the company has gone through some sort of re-organization, so everything was pretty much at a stand still. I told him I want this house sold and out of here by the first of November. Every time we move it is -5 degrees out - not this time.

We still have things to do at our new house - paint the bedroom, paint the hall and living room, and prime and paint some cabinets on the lower level.  Those we will have to use KILZ on first and I want to get that done before cold weather sets in so that we can leave the windows open because of the fumes. This will go much faster once Christopher has his casts off and it is easier to take him back and forth.  So far, we have painted Christopher's room, the Den and the bathroom.  Then it is just amatter of getting things put away - UGH!  

Since we have moved so many things over to the other house already, it has been a challenge on the homeschool front.  I finally just decided that this would be our "vacation".  We usually don't take time off except for holidays and hospital stays where he is REALLY sick.  He forgets too much if we don't drill on it every day.  We have still been working on animal names, counting to 10, sigining and other communication issues. I have noticed that he has been babbling more recently.  He used to all of the time "dadadadad" etc.  He is doing that again.  He also says "Chi - ken" "Turkey" "Cow" "un (one)" "koo or two (two)" "tree (three)" "Sic (Six)" "Ten" "Get" "Kids" "Papa" "Go" and "tan-ku (Thank You)".

Our big goal for homeschool this year is learning the alphabet.  We have started flashcards several times a day.  I have soooooo much stuff for alphabet work - but it is all at the other house.  I decided that we were going to go ahead and start calendar time - as soon as I have it all made up.  I will post pics when it is finished.  I will do a larger post on homeschool goals soon.

Otherwise, I have been spending entirely too much time on FB.  I am glad that I have been able to connect with some old friends and make some new ones. However, I think I am going to be limiting my time there.  Especially when we get to the new house and start in seriously with homeschooling. I have also left a few of my on-line file sharing groups.  I seriously have sooooo much stuff - for all ages. I have 5 different e-mail addresses and they ALL have over 6000 messages in them! Once I get all of those dealt with and the files down loaded, I will feel much better. I am also blogging at Living With Special Needs. When we get to the other house, I want to start cooking, gardening, and doing more than just laundry, diapers, and meds.  :)

For our family, we added a page to the top of the blog with links for wishlists for Christopher's birthday and Christmas.  There are lots of things there and at all prices.  We haven't found any "one" thing that we want for him this year - he has everything!  Most of the things I listed are just items that would be nice to have, and serve a dual purpose  - school, play, therapy.  If you find somethng on the list someplace other than the stores we used, by all means pick it up.  We just used those places because they had on-line wishlists.

We are also getting ready for the Buddy Walk!  Look for another post in the next day or so with the link to join the Buddy Walk team and/or donate to Christopher's Cowpokes!

Well, that is the lowdown for now! Hope everybody is doing well and enjoying this wonderful weather we are getting in the Midwest.  I LOVE FALL!  :)

Steph

P.S.  Our Buddy L.C. is having surgery to take out her G-button on the 8th!!!!!  Yeah L.C.!  If you could all say a prayer for an un-eventful surgery and speedy recovery, I am sure her Mom & Dad would thank you!!! :)

We are still here....

Sorry I didn't get anything else updated after surgery....Between computer issues and Christopher NOT being happy in his casts...it has been a long two weeks!

He came out of surgery OK. Woke up immediately and was mad/panicked ???  Part of the issue was the casts. The docs wrapped them VERY high up on his legs so that laying down the casts were cutting into his bottom and um....well, his pelvis in the front.  It was even worse when we tried to sit him up, which we wanted to do as soon as possible to keep his lungs clear. They finally ended up cutting them down a bit to a little over mid-thigh.  Still within the line of fire if the diaper malfunctions, but much better than they were.  :)

It has been hard to keep him comfortable the last two weeks.  He was HOT the first week or so - no fever, but his whole body felt like it was on fire. His heart rate while sleeping was between 150 - 170, which is WAY high.  Then he would get mad at not being able to move the way he wanted, whew!

He is down on pain meds - he actually did that fairly quickly. I wondered if the high heart rate was because of pain, but it doesn't seem to be.  He's just mad!  I think the medicine itself is also causing his heart rate to increase. There is also the thought that because the casts go completely up both legs, it is changing the way the blood vessels are reacting.

Otherwise, we have been dealing with crazy house stuff.  We dropped the price of the house $7000 this week. We have also been having some trouble with the mortgage company, but I think we are getting that straightened out. I just want OUT!   If anybody out there knows of somebody who needs a handicap accessible house that has been completely remodeled - send them our way!!!!

I am also getting my thoughts together about our lessons this year.  Last year was a bust.  We did school, but ended up following rabbit trails and didn't really stick to our plan.  Most of our school stuff is packed away right now, and I am not sure how much we would accomplish anyway - even with a captive audience.  I am thinking that we are going to wait to "officially" start school until late September - after the casts come off.

I do know that we are going to be concentrating on our alphabet, numbers 1-5, animals, transportation, various holiday stuff (turkeys, scarecrows, everything Christmas, etc).  I would like to get more in to art this year as well.  I think art projects are going to help us both with our theme and with sensory issues. It is also good OT work. Following directions and getting a consistent schedule is also going to be a big deal this year.

When we get to the new house, outdoor time is going to be a must. Christopher is like a mole and HATES being outside. We will have to work on this.  We have a pool, we are getting a small swing set, and I am already drawing out garden plans.  We are moving to a neighborhood that I grew up in, so I hope to be able to start walking again and/or bike rides. It is just hard to do with him around here. I am thinking messy art projects are going to be done outside as well.

One last thing, I have been invited to write a couple of times a month on another blog with a group of people all living with special needs.  If anybody has anything they would like to see tackled, leave me a message or shoot me an e-mail!  It can be anything, from questions about how you deal with social situations to where to find good information on medical issues, or even how others set up & store all their medical supplies!  Pretty much anything goes.....I will post a link when it gets up and running.

Hugs!

Steph

Aftermath....

So the surgery was finished around 2:00. Christopher then went to recovery. We told the anesthesiologists that he had a high tolerance to sedation. I guess they found out for themselves as he woke up immediately after and was raring to go! LOL!

So far he isn't acting terrible. Of course he is grumpy, with good reason. I think we are handling pain OK. He is getting morphine about every 3 hours. I am not sure if he is trying to move his legs and can't or if his sedation/morphine is still messing with him, but he will fall asleep for about 5 mins then wake up in a panic. They are going to give him some more here soon.
We JUST got him up in his little feeding chair. Looks like we are going to have to have the ortho cut down the tops of his casts so that they don't cut into his privates & abdomen. Dr. Personality - the resident, might not be on board for that. We will see what happens.

(Sorry for the quality of this pic - my phone is dying)
They were talking of the possibility of sending him home tomorrow. I don't think that is going to happen. We want to be back on his home feed regimine for 24 hours, and have a good plan for pain management before we go. He had 3 doses of powerful antibiotics before surgery because he has a heart defect, so I do not want to get 150 miles away and have blow outs running down his casts. YUCK!

Thanks to all for all of the good thoughts and prayers today! We will keep you updated.

Hugs!

Steph

Surgery!!

11:55 - They just called to say that he went to sleep perfectly & they have him on the vent.  He is prepped and they started the first incision as we were speaking to the nurse.


OK.  They just took him back a few minutes ago.  It will take awhile for anesthesia to do their thing & to get him prepped.  Then surgery will be 1 1/2 to 2 hours.  They are doing both legs at  the same time.  We are praying that he does NOT come back with Spica casts on - the ones that go all the way up to the rib cage. 

Will update when we receive one.  :)  I'll add pictures later. 

Hugs!

Steph