YooHoo…I’m back!

 Hello my pretties!  I’ve missed you all so much.

I put my dancing shoes on but, darn it, my legs are too sore for dancing – so I’ll just wiggle in my chair. 

SCHOOL IS OUT FOR THE SUMMER!!  WOOHOO!!

Well, that’s not entirely true, but I’ll explain in a minute…  Wesley’s official last day of school was last Tuesday.  His final grades will be two D’s and two C’s.  Not great, but because he failed the first two grading periods at the "other" school, it brought his over-all grades down for the end of the year.  Otherwise he would have had two B’s and two A’s.  I still have no idea how well (or poorly) he did on his OAA tests since I wasn’t allowed to be in the room with him when he took them, but I’m expecting the results in the mail within the next couple of weeks. 

His ADHD issues are still an issue (obviously) but I’ve been educating myself with a lot of books from the library to learn as much as I can.  Some of the information I got from them wasn’t anything new – that I didn’t already know before – but there are a lot of things I didn’t know that I’m glad I found out.  My poor little guy isn’t going to like his Mommy very much this summer, but, once he gets used to the new routine, he’ll get over it. 

I signed him up for the summer enrichment program at ECOT.  He’ll attend school every Monday morning for a live session all through the summer — his first one is today.  In addition to that, he’ll be required to read for 20-30 minutes, study his multiplication flash cards or do a math paper, and practice his handwriting every morning before he’s allowed to run off to play or do anything else.  I’m planning out a chore list, a token reward system and discipline sheet that he’ll learn and have to follow from now on, too.  He still has a fairly restricted diet but he’s getting used to it and doesn’t complain too much about not being allowed to have candy and sweets.  Since I LOVE icecream, I’ll buy some sugar-free icecream once in a while and let him have that as a treat.  Most of the time, though, he has fresh fruit with yogurt on it and that satisfies him just fine.

About four weeks ago I had him tested by an physical therapist who found out he had marked weakness in his dominant hand (he’s left handed) which explains why he’s always complaining about having to write out assignments and why his handwriting is atrocious.  He also has very tight ham strings.  Every Thursday he’ll be going to Occupational Therapy to strengthen and stretch and work on his handwriting skills. 

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As for myself, not a whole lot has changed.  I’m still battling a vitamin D deficiency and pain in my legs and back.  The good news, however, is that I have my diabetes under control.  My last A1c came back 6.0.  Woohoo!  The bad news is that I’ve found out that I also have Hypothyroid.  I’m not on medication for it, yet; the doctor seems to want to wait until my next blood test in August to see if it still shows up or has gotten worse.  The REALLY bad news is that my hair has been falling out by the gobs!  :O(  Having ruled out all other possibilities, the hypothyroidism is being blamed.  Once that’s being treated, I’m told, my hair will start to grow back.  (I hope, I hope, I hope)  I’m too young to go bald!!

I’m waiting to hear back from my Dr. to see if I’m cleared to have the surgery done on my legs.  I’d like to have it done over the summer months, if I can help it, so I’ll be able to recouperate without causing Wesley problems with school.  I wear my compression stockings every day which have helped A LOT with the ankle and foot pain but the fatigue and pain in my upper legs are still an issue.  I have to lie on the couch with my feet up when my stockings are in the wash or my feet will feel like painful water balloons within an hour.

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MY SISTERS ARE COMING TO TOWN!!!  I’m so excited!  My two Aunts and one Uncle from Texas are coming up for a family reunion of sorts and both of my sisters managed to get the time off from work to come in to see them.  They’ll all be coming into town on Wednesday and Thursday.  My Uncle in Oregon will be coming in, too.  He was married to my Dad’s oldest sister who passed away a few years ago from brain cancer.  Last year he remarried and his wife will be coming in with him.  It’s going to feel weird and awkward seeing him with another woman.  I can’t imagine how my Dad must feel seeing the man that used to be married to his beloved sister, with a new wife who isn’t.  We’re happy for him, though, because he mourned my Aunts passing for so long and so hard, we were worried for his health.  From what I hear, his new wife is a really nice woman, too, so she’ll be welcomed with open arms. 

Thursday will be my Dad’s 76th birthday.  I remember not too long ago worrying if he’d make it to his 66th birthday.  Open heart surgery and stomach surgery saved his life twice and I’m so happy to still have him with us.  Since my one sister, Mel, will be coming in during the wee hours of Wednesday night, we’ll stay home on Thursday to let everyone rest up, but we’ll call him to wish him a Happy Birthday.  Then, on Friday, we’ll all pack up in the cars and head over to their house to celebrate his birthday.  Everyone should be in town by then.
 

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My Cathy had her 16th birthday last January.  We didn’t have the money at the time to celebrate it — promising her we’d do so in the summer.  She DID want to have it with her "boyfriend" in June, since he was turning 16 then, but they’re no longer together.  Last February or March I found out that he violated her and she was too afraid to tell me.  I contacted his father, told him what happened and told him to keep his son away from my daughter.  I still don’t like talking about it – so I won’t go into all the details, but poor Cathy has been through a lot.  She really cared for this kid and just don’t know how to feel about any of it. 

She’s kept herself occupied by working around the house.  She actually took on the task of painting my kitchen!  She did a really good job, too, considering she’s never painted walls and cupboards before.  Right now she’s finishing up a week’s stay at my Mom’s, helping her to do some spring cleaning to get ready for all the company they’ll be getting later this week. 

Behind her back, I’ve been planning and scheming with my sisters and Mom to throw a surprise Sweet 16 party for her on Saturday when we’re all over there to visit family.  My youngest sister will be staying at Mom and Dad’s, so, she’ll make the cake and help decorate.  By the time we get there on Saturday, everything will be ready.  She’s never had a surprise party before, so I’m hoping everything works out well.

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Hubby is doing fairly well.  His balance issues have gotten worse but so far, since he’s been on the Copaxone, he hasn’t relapsed.  His latest MRI even came back good.  NO NEW LESIONS!!  If he gets by this summer without a relapse, we’ll count ourselves lucky and give credit to the new meds.  Because of his balance issues, however, he’s been thinking of starting a new Steriod therapy where he’ll be given intervenus Steroids once every three months for a year.  He said he’ll try it out and if he’s not noticing any improvement within the first three treatments, he’ll stop it.  Neither one of us are too keen on the idea (we know what that poison can do to a person) but he refuses to go on disability before he’s absolutely UNable to work.  What I’m most worried about is that it will effect his mind.  A friend of mine has a wife with MS.  She’s had it for more than 20 years and it’s turned from RRMS to PPMS.  She was taking steriods on a regular basis and it’s effected her mind so badly that my friend is seriously considering divorcing her.  She’s become violent and hateful.  He knows none of it is her fault, which is why he’s still with her, but it’s getting so bad for him that he doesn’t know how much more he can handle.  I don’t know if I could survive seeing my husband turn into a monster like that.  It scares the hell out of me.

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My Liz will be starting college this Fall.  I’ve called the college and set up an appointment for her to see a counselor and schedule her classes.  I’ll be seeing one, too, to find out if the classes I want to take will be available during the evening hours.  If so, I may also be starting college this Fall.  It will depend on if I can do my externship over the summer months.  My hands are so full during the day with Wesley, there’s no way I’ll compromise his learning for my own gain.  If I can’t schedule things around his schedule, I’ll just have to wait another year or two.  If I have to wait, I hope I’ll be able to get him working more independantly by the time he starts fifth or sixth grade.  If worse comes to worse, I might (and that’s a very big "might") consider having Wesley put on medication to help get him through. 

I HAVE to find a way to go to college.  By the time I graduate (most likely it will even happen before that), Hubby will probably be on disability and there’s no way we’ll survive for long on that – especially once the kids start moving out of the house. As always…"time will tell." 

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Well, I better wrap things up here.  Wesley starts his first live session in little over an hour and I still have tons of housework waiting for me.  I worked so hard yesterday – I have no idea where the energy came from – but when bed time finally rolled around, I was still so wired, I didn’t stop cleaning and go to bed until well after 3:00 am.  I’m paying the price, now, of getting just two hours sleep before having to get back up again to take Hubby to work.  I have a feeling I’m going to be in dire need of a good nap later.

I’ll be back tomorrow to try to get somewhat caught up reading everyone’s entries to see how you’ve all been doing these past few months.  I’m sorry I was away so long but very glad to see you’ve checked up with me, too.  Have a beautiful day – God bless you all.

…until next time…