Another Week

Another week gone by, time keeps ticking. We have been enjoying a quieter pace the last couple weeks and it's sure has been nice. I managed to get all my pictures cut, organized and in photo albums, now I just have to go back and catch up on the comments and writings with them ... only 2 1/2 years behind on that :) It's been great to be able to think past the basic daily housecleaning things, a good part of this is due to less appointments lately, but I much credit can also go to the fact that I no longer have to do the weekly housecleaning. We are noticing the difference already, even though it's only been 3 times so far. I find I have more time for the kids and to try pick up on other things that have been falling behind. I especially notice the difference on weekends, where Saturdays are more relaxing and enjoyable instead of running around trying to catch up on all that I didn't do during the week. I also find I'm more relaxed knowing that my house may not always be tidy, but it's clean underneath. Not that I don't get frustrated when she finishes cleaning the house at 1pm and by 5pm it's an absolute disaster again ... how does it get that way so quickly?

Although it's been quieter there are a few appointments that we've had. As I mentioned previously, Marietta was having some trouble with her finger and so we seen the doctor. I had really hoped the doctor would simply quiet her by telling her it would go away shortly ... but alas ... nothing ever seems that simple in our household. At this point it is believe that Marietta has what is called a Ganglion Cyst. A ganglion cyst is a tumor or swelling on top of a joint or the covering of a tendon. Inside the cyst is a thick, sticky, clear, colorless, jellylike material. Depending on the size, cysts may feel firm or spongy, in Marietta's case it's firm. This cyst is really nothing serious, but first it needs to be confirmed that this is indeed what it is, and in order to do this she has to go for an ultrasound and x-rays. A good portion of the time these cyst can go away on their own and treatment is only done if it is painful or hindering. Since Marietta loves to whine and complain, and whine and complain ... it's really hard to tell if it truly is painful. The doctor did note that there is swelling and inflammation in the finger and suggested using ice on it to relieve the pain, and if necessary (which I don't think it is) to give her ibprophen. So much to Mom's disappointment, more tests/appointments. Much to Marietta's delight she can walk around and tell people she has something wrong with her finger ... like we didn't hear enough about it already before.

Last Friday the kids had a PD Day ... after having two snowdays already that week. They have been enjoying the snow, especially after the first day, when it settled enough that they could walk and crawl on it without sinking way down and getting their boots filled. Rob dug a tunnel through the huge drift at the entrance of our backyard and then dug a big section out in the yards so that they had a fort to play in. After a few days it warmed up and became sticky snow, giving them new things again to do with it. Unfortunately all the snow doesn't look all so beautiful anymore when you go out driving ... all you see is dirty, yukky stuff along the roads.

My parents took us out for a yummy chinese buffer supper on Friday night. We stuffed ourselves full. If anyone knows Rebecca they know how much she can eat, we often say she has a bottomless stomach or a hollow leg ... well just our luck ... we got to see her food a second time when she developped the flu and threw it all up in the middle of her sleep (and yes, she kept on sleeping until we discovered her). Wow ... what a mess to find at 11:30 at night. The rest of the night she spent dry heaving, needless to say, it was after 5:30am before either of us got any sleep. We were surprised when she was able to handle some crackers by the next afternoon ... our experience with Rebecca has always been that if she develops the flu she cannot eat solids for about 3 days ... the second she takes a bite she's sitting on the toilet. But she was able to keep it in, but yet remained unhappy and miserable and would complain about her stomach ... well the diarhea was just delayed in setting in this time, so on Tuesday she was back on a liquid diet ... but by the end of Wednesday she was back to her old self.

James ... can't have an entry without talking about him. James developped a cold last Thursday/Friday, but has been progessing through it just like any other normal child would. Proof again that it is not colds that send him to Emerg all the time (like doctors so eagerly want to tell us because of his breathing difficulties). I didn't even bother putting him on puffers like I'm suppose to as I really don't think they do any good ... and I'm right, hasn't made any difference. We started him on his reflux medicine on Tuesday and back on his night feeds Thursday and have not heard a peep from him at nights ... could we finally have the answer? He's been sleeping through, only slight coughing (sounds more like his cold this time) early in the morning. We should have a clearer answer in the next few days since we had to stop giving him the medicine this Tuesday. He is booked to have his PH Probe Test done next week and has to be off the medicine for 7 days prior to the test in order to give more accurate results. Although the link I have provide says that you stay in hospital for this test, this in not the case. He will go in one morning to have it put in and then back the next morning to have it taken out. Our pediatrician gave me a call on Tuesday to let me know she's STILL working on getting all these lung tests coordinated for the same days as James' endoscopy. She still believes it can be done ... I'm not so confident, it being only 2 weeks away.

James also had a Dietician and Occupational Therapist appointment this week. Not much was done at this appointment, except to update them on the upcoming tests and recent changes that have been done to his diet/formula. James has gone back to refusing to eat ... even worse then before as he doesn't even want to nibble anymore. He puts things in his mouth and then spits them out. The only thing he continues to eat is ketchup and ranch salad dressing. We did get a new weight on James and even after being off his nighttime feeds for two weeks he managed to maintain (or regain since being put back on night feeds) his weight at 10.66kg (23lbs 8oz).

I had an Obstetrician and Dietician appointment today. Just a routine checkup, nothing special. After struggling for weeks to get my fasting sugar levels under control they suddenly dropped in to excellent range in the past week. At the same time, I've also begun to feel better in the past week ... no longer having constant abdominal pain, needing to nibble and munch continously to keep it in control, even though the last thing I felt like doing was eat. I still have some indigestion and reflux type symptoms but I'm feeling much more "normal" again. Hopefully it stays this way. So I'm not sure if there is a connection between this and the sugars levelling ... guess time will tell. But for the time being I can dive back into my sweets as everything is functions properly. They do want me to continue to monitor my levels, just not as frequently.

Rob is currently enjoying (haha) Reading Week. He says he needs about 2-3 weeks to get all caught up on his reading. He did manage to get away from the books for a day to work on the van and do some odds and ends around the house. So he's been mostly buried in his books still ... but we do see him come up for a breather every now and then, which is always nice!!

That's about the sum of it from here.