October just did not seem to be a good month for us this year.
Caden started having tummy troubles over the summer. It was kinda sporadic so we didn't think too much about it. Well, in October the tummy troubles were on a daily basis. He would say his stomach hurt and always point to the same spot. Every few days, he would throw up while eating. I took him to the doctor, x-rays were taken, poop was revealed on x-rays. Started adding 1/2 capful Miralax to daily medicine regimen to help move things along. Dr. P. also referred us to a gastroenterologist since this had been going on for a couple months. (More on that as we go along.)
He had also started complaining about his eyes hurting & headaches again. So we took him to ophthalmologist again. His astigmatism had rotated by 90 degrees. A new prescription for lenses was written and we were back out the door. We knew the insurance wouldn't cover another set of lenses in the same year, so we were expecting to pay it all out of pocket. However, when we went to get his new lenses, we found out that we were allowed one change of prescription on the lenses within 6 months of getting the original prescription. Praise the Lord, we made that date by less than 5 days!! So, we didn't have to pay anything for the new lenses. When we picked up the new lenses, Caden put on the glasses and said, "Wow, Mom! I can see perfectly now!"
We saw the gastroenterologist (Dr. D.) for the first time on October 17th. We absolutely LOVE her! After she reviewed the x-ray & checked him over, she said he definitely had a lot of poop still there & had a lot of gas as well. She asked us to do a "cleanse" over the weekend then increase the Miralax to 1 cap per day to see if that would help keep him from throwing up & get things moving. The cleanse would involve him drinking 64 ounces of liquid with 18 caps of Miralax. She wanted us to call her on the 22nd to let her know how he was doing. We started his cleanse the morning of the 19th.
"Poor
Caden has been having some tummy issues lately, so I took him to a
specialist on Wednesday. She gave us instructions to "clean him out." We
won't be going anywhere today or tomorrow. The poo-nami has arrived!
Hoping this helps with the issues and we don't have to do anything
additional. Proposed next steps don't sound pleasant."
That night he threw up again.
"It's
very frustrating (and frightening) when you know that something is
wrong with your child, you have no idea what, and you have to wait until
Monday to talk to the doctor. Makes for a very long weekend. Trying not
to let myself imagine the worst. Leaning on my Savior for peace,
strength and comfort."
I called her on the 22nd during a break from jury duty (see details below). She said he had probably thrown up from the sheer volume of liquid consumed that day. We were advised to continue the 1 capful of Miralax per day and follow-up with her in 2 weeks. (To be continued in November.)
I also had my first jury duty summons in 10 years! I was so excited and hopeful that I would get picked to serve that I pre-arranged a sub for my class & arranged for my mom to come visit for the entire week so I wouldn't have any reason not to be able to serve. I have always been fascinated with our legal system and would embrace the opportunity to perform my civic duty. I made it through the initial selection phase and discovered it would be an Aggravated Assault with a Deadly Weapon case. Excitement continued to build. However, I was not chosen for the final selection. I was bummed I wouldn't be able to serve, yet happy that I could focus on Caden and enjoy my time with my pre-schoolers that week after all (yeah, right!).
Thursday afternoon (Oct. 25th) I came home from work with a headache. I'm so glad that Mom had decided to stay until Halloween was over. I was able to lay down in bed for a couple hours while she watched Caden and fixed dinner. Woke up feeling better on Friday morning, but by that afternoon a migraine hit. Again, I took some medicine and went to bed. I woke up feeling a bit better on Saturday morning so we left the house for breakfast at I-Hop & a trip to the Ft. Worth Zoo. That migraine came back with a vengeance over breakfast. I kept thinking that it would pass & we wouldn't have to cancel our trip to the zoo. Within 15 minutes of it starting, I thought I was going to pass out from the pain. We left breakfast and headed to the emergency room instead of the Zoo. Because this one was so much more severe than my normal migraines they ordered a CT scan. I vaguely remember putting my jacket over my head as I was wheeled to Radiology and wondering when I would be able to get some medicine that would actually make the pain stop. They had given me a bunch of stuff, but nothing was working yet. After a couple hours, they finally got enough meds in me to take the pain level down to a 3 then sent me home. I slept most of the day.
Sunday, 10/28 - still had it. Had to leave church early.
Monday, 10/29 - still had it and went back to the ER.
Tuesday, 10/30 - still had it. Missed work. Managed to get an appointment with neurologist on 10/31
Wednesday, 10/31 - still had it. ("Migraine,
migraine, kindly remove the stabbing pain from my eye, then go away and
take all of your icky friends like nausea, dizziness,
photo-sensitivity, loud noises, tinnitus, auras, etc., with you. You
have out-stayed your welcome. Isn't 6 days in a row enough
already?!?!?!?! You are not any fun, and I want you gone!!! Oh, and
don't ever come back either!")
Went to neurologist.
Diagnosis: Rebound Headaches.
Treatment: Told to rest with minimal activity, preventive medicine prescribed and no more pain meds. (WHAT?!?!) Missed going to the CRC annual Trunk or Treat.
Thursday, 11/1 - late in the afternoon, FINALLY GONE!!!
I know it seems that October was just a jumble of bad health, but there were many good moments as well.
We were able to make it to the Little Elm Fire Department's annual Open House. It was our first time being at the new station since it was built. My BIL, David, and his two kids went with us and we had a good time. It was cold, and windy, but it was dry! We made sure Caden wore his firefighter outfit & got some great shots of him. Caden LOVED sitting behind the wheel of the firetruck and putting out a "fire."
In the post I made about
More Than I Can Handle, I quoted from two different books. The author of one of the books actually commented on the blog the next day! That was pretty cool, but I'm still kinda wondering how he found my little blog.
Late in the afternoon on the 27th, we went to a local pumpkin patch. You can definitely tell I was not feeling well in the pics we took. Well, at least
I can tell. I was still feeling the effects of the migraine and all the pain meds they had given me at the ER that morning.
The best moment of my month came on a day that I didn't expect would be very happy - October 10th. The 2-yr anniversary of diagnosis. Caden and I were so blessed to be able to spend a few hours with D & her daughter. The kids had a blast playing together while D and I had a chance to catch up. We hadn't seen each other in person since Caleb's Celebration of Life service. Social media is great for being updated on life, but there is something about a face-to-face conversation that is so much more worthwhile. And, of course, virtual hugs just don't cut it most of the time, so there's always the joy of a hug with skin on.
That's enough "fun and excitement" for the month. Stay tuned for more in November.
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We still miss Caleb every moment of every day. He is always in our
hearts, always in our thoughts, and is loved today, tomorrow, in ALL ways to infinity and beyond.
Angel, Richard & Caden
