A lot of years ago, I saw a most wonderful movie. Then my daughter saw it.
We spent many many afternoons watching this movie again and again.
Today, in the midst of my not wanting to put the house back together, a most wonderful thing happened. This movie came on TV. When it started, Sweetie looked at me from the across the room and said, "You know? I used to pray that I'd get powers like Matilda." It wasn't the first time she'd told me this.
I must tell you that I'm now fully convinced of the movie's awesomeness since Mr. Busy himself - the smallest in the land - has been COMPLETELY captivated throughout the whole thing. Of course he's busy during the commercials, but as long as the movie's on, he is absolutely enamored.
As it ended, Mini-Mann stretched and proclaimed, "What a great movie that was! The last part of the movie was my favorite. Wasn't it yours?" I think I may just have to get the book for him.
Moments like that give me hope for him; for all of us!
Sunday, November 16, 2008
Somethin's a'brewing 'round heah
I think there's this little something that's been brewing in me for a few days. I've been trying to avoid it, but the reality has pretty much hit me between the eyes.
I've got the flu.
I've been working on a fever for about 4 days. Achy back since Monday. Coughing. Sneezing. Snotty head. No energy. Crabby. No motivation.
I greeted the day officially rather late. Oh sure, I was conscious ever since the smallest boy woke up. Answering parental questions. Giving permission for things that wouldn't cause permanent damage to the children or the property.
Now that I'm up and the coffee's brewed, I'm looking around at all the wonderful goodness my Mini-Mann crafted up this morning. It's gonna take most of the energy I have to make things right in here.
I really look forward to feeling better very soon.
I've got the flu.
I've been working on a fever for about 4 days. Achy back since Monday. Coughing. Sneezing. Snotty head. No energy. Crabby. No motivation.
I greeted the day officially rather late. Oh sure, I was conscious ever since the smallest boy woke up. Answering parental questions. Giving permission for things that wouldn't cause permanent damage to the children or the property.
Now that I'm up and the coffee's brewed, I'm looking around at all the wonderful goodness my Mini-Mann crafted up this morning. It's gonna take most of the energy I have to make things right in here.
I really look forward to feeling better very soon.
Saturday, November 15, 2008
AV
I woke up awful early today, on my day off. It ended up being a good thing. A very good thing.
I was slated to spend the day at an audio conference at church. However, when I signed in, I discovered that I was, in fact, signed up for the video portion of the conference instead. This was a bit nerve wracking at first, but it ends up that I actually know quite a bit about video, too.
During lunch, several of us were sitting around, talking about why we enjoy working in AV. The conversation then turned to the unusual phenomenon of the high school AV club and how there were never any girls in that club. Most possibly because girls didn't "get it" back in the day and the boys who were in it were weird, geeky boys with few social skills.
We then, collectively, determined that those awkward boys probably ended up being the most successful graduates in our respective classes. Then we all laughed at the idea that perhaps we are just trying to ride on the coattails of those AV high school boys in hopes of fantastic financial success. It was a fun conversation and a great conference. I was challenged creatively and I pulled off a decent showing.
Yay ME!
I was slated to spend the day at an audio conference at church. However, when I signed in, I discovered that I was, in fact, signed up for the video portion of the conference instead. This was a bit nerve wracking at first, but it ends up that I actually know quite a bit about video, too.
During lunch, several of us were sitting around, talking about why we enjoy working in AV. The conversation then turned to the unusual phenomenon of the high school AV club and how there were never any girls in that club. Most possibly because girls didn't "get it" back in the day and the boys who were in it were weird, geeky boys with few social skills.
We then, collectively, determined that those awkward boys probably ended up being the most successful graduates in our respective classes. Then we all laughed at the idea that perhaps we are just trying to ride on the coattails of those AV high school boys in hopes of fantastic financial success. It was a fun conversation and a great conference. I was challenged creatively and I pulled off a decent showing.
Yay ME!
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
Wednesday
Today is the wild and crazy second Wednesday of NaBloPoMo.
I've gotta say that this year's gotta be about the hardest on me to keep up with. I feel a sense of accomplishment when I post, but I seriously have so very little to say, it's just hard.
I got a call today, on my way to the gym, asking for my help at church tonight. I mixed sound for the youth band. It was a nice change of pace, but I really do miss that I didn't get a workout. The endorphins, I've found, have become a dear friend of mine. My brain has come to rely on the reality of relief that those chemicals provide to me. I so prefer the self-medication of endorphins to any other form of self-medication, including those silly little anti-depressants that I still find myself in need of.
Last week, while Middle Mann was in the hospital, I forgot to take my meds as I so often do when there's tons of stuff going on. I mentioned to a friend later in the week that sometimes it seems like it would be better to be diabetic than depressed. At least that way, it would be obvious to those around me when I forget my meds! This person indicated that probably wasn't a good idea; that he'd had a friend die because of that.
Fine. I'll stick with depression. Ugh!
I've gotta say that this year's gotta be about the hardest on me to keep up with. I feel a sense of accomplishment when I post, but I seriously have so very little to say, it's just hard.
I got a call today, on my way to the gym, asking for my help at church tonight. I mixed sound for the youth band. It was a nice change of pace, but I really do miss that I didn't get a workout. The endorphins, I've found, have become a dear friend of mine. My brain has come to rely on the reality of relief that those chemicals provide to me. I so prefer the self-medication of endorphins to any other form of self-medication, including those silly little anti-depressants that I still find myself in need of.
Last week, while Middle Mann was in the hospital, I forgot to take my meds as I so often do when there's tons of stuff going on. I mentioned to a friend later in the week that sometimes it seems like it would be better to be diabetic than depressed. At least that way, it would be obvious to those around me when I forget my meds! This person indicated that probably wasn't a good idea; that he'd had a friend die because of that.
Fine. I'll stick with depression. Ugh!
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
G'bye Momma...
So sad, I am tonight. I drove my momma to the airport and bid her farewell.
I can't say enough how much awesomeness she brought with her to my home this past week. She was completely amazing.
And now, I have the arduous task of trying to keep the laundry up and the floors clean and the dinners made just like she did!
I can't say enough how much awesomeness she brought with her to my home this past week. She was completely amazing.
And now, I have the arduous task of trying to keep the laundry up and the floors clean and the dinners made just like she did!
Monday, November 10, 2008
something
It's crazy! Here it is, only the 2nd week of NaBloPoMo and I'm running out of steam. I'm sure it couldn't be that there's been a ton of stuff going on. It couldn't have anything to do with sleeping in weird places or awkward positions. It couldn't have anything to do with the lack of a real schedule since pretty much the beginning of the month.
I'm with Zoot! Writers block has set in!!
I'm with Zoot! Writers block has set in!!
Sunday, November 9, 2008
...the rest of the story
From where I left off:
After the CT scan and the x-rays, a couple of things were determined. It did appear that his ventricals were a bit dialated and it also appeared that the tube for his shunt that runs down from his head to his tummy was broken. They weren't 100% convinced that his shunt was failing so they decided to do a little procedure to determine for sure if that was the problem. When they initially did the tap, his pressure measured 18 mmHg. After they did some draining and lowered his pressure to about 10, he started perking up. It was good to see him coming around. They drained his pressure down to about 3 and he was definitely feeling better. He was given permission to eat until midnight and it looked as though he'd be able to hold down the first food in more than 24 hours.
I called one of the awesome ladies we go to church with and asked if she could come to the hospital to hang with him while I ran home to get a change of clothes and pick up some dinner for the boy. She came with a friend and hung out with him. I completely appreciated her willingness and availability to relieve me for a little bit.
I got back to the hospital and he chowed down on the food I brought him. He ate until he was FULL. The ladies left and the anesthesiologist came to do his intake for the surgery. He'd just finished asking all of his questions and got ready to start his exam. It'd been about 2 1/2 hours since the shunt was tapped and just as he got ready to check my boy's vitals, Dude got a look on his face that sent me grabbing for the bucket. Lo and behold, he lost every bit of his dinner and started to feel the head pain again.
Within another hour, he was in a room in the PICU and hooked up to some serious monitors. Very quickly, it became quite clear that the shunt malfunction was very detrimental to his basic functions. His pulse was in the low 40's and his blood pressure had dropped into the very low range (70/35). She called for a neurosurgeon to come and check on him as well as to review the admission orders since no pain meds were noted on his orders.
Two residents arrived in short order and once again began to tap his shunt. They drew off about 5cc's of CSF. At that point, the resident began to struggle with the draw. He started manuevering around inside the shunt valve trying to get more fluid off, to no avail. At that point, my little guy said in perfect form, "uh...ya know...my head would probably feel better if you'd quit digging in my brain..." It was the Classic Middle Mann sort of comment and the residents stopped trying. His vitals recovered nicely with even the minimal release of extra fluid.
It was recommended that I get some sleep while I could. It was about 2:30 in the morning.
Around 5:00 am, his alarms started going off. His breathing had begun to slow to the point where he wasn't taking a breath once every 25 seconds. The monitor is hard coded to sound at that point. I think the sound of the alarm is intended to either wake the patient or the parent. Once I was woken, I sat up quickly and touched him - recommending he take a breath. He did and we slept this way for about 30 minutes with a reminder to breathe every couple of minutes or so. The nurse came in with some pain meds for him to try and take off the edge since he was really starting to get uncomfortable with the headaches again by this time.
Neurosurgery came through for rounds around 6:00 and examined him. His vitals were scary low and the shunt tapping was only relieving his symptoms for about 3 hours. He was scheduled for surgery at 1:00 pm which would have meant 2 additional taps before surgery. After their exam, the team met to discuss the plan. It was decided that because of his condition, it was in the best interest of everyone that the entire surgery schedule be shuffled and he was taken to surgery first at 7:00 am instead of last at 1:00 pm.
He made it through surgery with flying colors. It ended up that they only needed to replace the tube from the valve to his tummy, where the break had been seen on x-ray. This was the best possible outcome with the least risk for additional complications.
Because there hadn't been any invasion of his brain during surgery, the only requirement for his discharge was that he needed to pee. This turned out to be quite a struggle for the sweet, post surgical boy. He tried and tried and tried some more. Around 10:00 pm, the nursing staff finally agreed that he'd tried enough and they "went in" to relieve him. Just as the catheter passed through the place where success is no longer an option, he announced, "Whoa! It's gonna work!" We stayed that night, and apparently, while I was sleeping, the nurse came in the middle of the night and accompanied him to the toilet for his first successful pee since before surgery.
Upon waking, breakfast was served and discharge commenced. Wahoo!! We got to go home!!!!
My mom had arrived on Tuesday evening and greeted us nearly rested when we got to the house. She's definitely been a huge help and I'm so glad she was able to come and help me during this time.
After the CT scan and the x-rays, a couple of things were determined. It did appear that his ventricals were a bit dialated and it also appeared that the tube for his shunt that runs down from his head to his tummy was broken. They weren't 100% convinced that his shunt was failing so they decided to do a little procedure to determine for sure if that was the problem. When they initially did the tap, his pressure measured 18 mmHg. After they did some draining and lowered his pressure to about 10, he started perking up. It was good to see him coming around. They drained his pressure down to about 3 and he was definitely feeling better. He was given permission to eat until midnight and it looked as though he'd be able to hold down the first food in more than 24 hours.
I called one of the awesome ladies we go to church with and asked if she could come to the hospital to hang with him while I ran home to get a change of clothes and pick up some dinner for the boy. She came with a friend and hung out with him. I completely appreciated her willingness and availability to relieve me for a little bit.
I got back to the hospital and he chowed down on the food I brought him. He ate until he was FULL. The ladies left and the anesthesiologist came to do his intake for the surgery. He'd just finished asking all of his questions and got ready to start his exam. It'd been about 2 1/2 hours since the shunt was tapped and just as he got ready to check my boy's vitals, Dude got a look on his face that sent me grabbing for the bucket. Lo and behold, he lost every bit of his dinner and started to feel the head pain again.
Within another hour, he was in a room in the PICU and hooked up to some serious monitors. Very quickly, it became quite clear that the shunt malfunction was very detrimental to his basic functions. His pulse was in the low 40's and his blood pressure had dropped into the very low range (70/35). She called for a neurosurgeon to come and check on him as well as to review the admission orders since no pain meds were noted on his orders.
Two residents arrived in short order and once again began to tap his shunt. They drew off about 5cc's of CSF. At that point, the resident began to struggle with the draw. He started manuevering around inside the shunt valve trying to get more fluid off, to no avail. At that point, my little guy said in perfect form, "uh...ya know...my head would probably feel better if you'd quit digging in my brain..." It was the Classic Middle Mann sort of comment and the residents stopped trying. His vitals recovered nicely with even the minimal release of extra fluid.
It was recommended that I get some sleep while I could. It was about 2:30 in the morning.
Around 5:00 am, his alarms started going off. His breathing had begun to slow to the point where he wasn't taking a breath once every 25 seconds. The monitor is hard coded to sound at that point. I think the sound of the alarm is intended to either wake the patient or the parent. Once I was woken, I sat up quickly and touched him - recommending he take a breath. He did and we slept this way for about 30 minutes with a reminder to breathe every couple of minutes or so. The nurse came in with some pain meds for him to try and take off the edge since he was really starting to get uncomfortable with the headaches again by this time.
Neurosurgery came through for rounds around 6:00 and examined him. His vitals were scary low and the shunt tapping was only relieving his symptoms for about 3 hours. He was scheduled for surgery at 1:00 pm which would have meant 2 additional taps before surgery. After their exam, the team met to discuss the plan. It was decided that because of his condition, it was in the best interest of everyone that the entire surgery schedule be shuffled and he was taken to surgery first at 7:00 am instead of last at 1:00 pm.
He made it through surgery with flying colors. It ended up that they only needed to replace the tube from the valve to his tummy, where the break had been seen on x-ray. This was the best possible outcome with the least risk for additional complications.
Because there hadn't been any invasion of his brain during surgery, the only requirement for his discharge was that he needed to pee. This turned out to be quite a struggle for the sweet, post surgical boy. He tried and tried and tried some more. Around 10:00 pm, the nursing staff finally agreed that he'd tried enough and they "went in" to relieve him. Just as the catheter passed through the place where success is no longer an option, he announced, "Whoa! It's gonna work!" We stayed that night, and apparently, while I was sleeping, the nurse came in the middle of the night and accompanied him to the toilet for his first successful pee since before surgery.
Upon waking, breakfast was served and discharge commenced. Wahoo!! We got to go home!!!!
My mom had arrived on Tuesday evening and greeted us nearly rested when we got to the house. She's definitely been a huge help and I'm so glad she was able to come and help me during this time.
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