Weekend at the beach....

Brent was gone for National Guard again last weekend. I took the kids down to IL again for a family reunion for Brent's family. They have it at a local lake/beach every year. It's been about 4 years since we've gone. Caleb went one year without us :) Anyway....it's a lot of fun, especially for the kids. It was Abby's first time on the beach.

Abby's First Haircut

Well, I'm a week late posting this, but better late than never!! I took Abby to get her hair cut after getting fed up with chasing her around to get her to sit in a chair. I called and warned them ahead of time that we were coming. We got to the place (Great Clips)...and they sat us down right away. Caleb had to go potty right away (of course!) So the stylist said she'd just sit and comb Abby's hair until I got back. We were really quick, and she already had the back of Abby's hair cut by the time we got back! Abby sat COMPLETELY still. I've never seen her sit that still. She just quietly looked at the mirror or the stylist the whole time.

What a roller-coater ride...

This past week has been anything but normal. I know I blogged a little about it before, so I'll try to not repeat myself.

Saturday, we were so hopeful about Brent's grandma. It really seemed like she was turning around. Yesterday (Weds), we got a phone call from Brent's parents. Betty was unresponsive in the morning, not opening her eyes, and unable to really speak. They decided to just make her comfortable. She is in the nursing home. We packed quickly and got down to Illinois. That evening, we went to visit. Betty was able to open her eyes and make eye contact at times....still falling asleep frequently. Although very difficult to understand, she was able to respond to questions and conversation. This morning, she was even more alert. Brent went with his sister and parents to visit. I took the kids and went to my parents for a while. We didn't know if the kids would be too much for Betty, and we weren't sure how Caleb would react seeing her like that. We talked about it over the phone, and Betty wanted to see Caleb and Abby, so I brought them to the nursing home for a while. We then took them back to Brent't parents' house and put them down for naps. Anyway....we came back home tonight. We have no idea what the next few days or even weeks may bring.

The ironic thing in all of this is, the Monroe doctor is now following the recommendations from the Madison doctor. And....after the Madison doctor called the Monroe doctor, the Monroe doctor is actually listening to Anita's (Brent's Mom) concerns, did a thorough assessment at her appointment on Tuesday. I don't know what the Madison doctor said to him, but it's a big change. If Betty comes through this, she will be changing physicians and nursing homes. We just don't know what to expect.

Despite all the negative stuff going on right now, we do have some positive. Caleb has all of a sudden started telling us when he has to go to the bathroom....and refusing pull-ups....and staying dry. He's even been going into public restrooms. He's been dry again since Sunday.

Ups and Downs....

This week has been one of those weeks that is difficult to put into words....lots of high points, lots of frustration. Good news about Brent's grandma though...it seems that once her primary doc started following her Madison neurologist's recommendations, Betty turned a corner for the better....she's much more alert, the confusion is gone. Hopefully now she can gain back some of her strength. She's very deconditioned.

I was all set to blog this weekend about how well Caleb was doing with potty training. We went an entire week without accidents or pull-ups (except for naps/bedtime). And then the past couple of days happened. It's been non-stop accidents. He has 4 weeks before we have to pull out of the preschool that is our first choice. Part of me thinks I should just register him for the other preschool and be done with the stress. Anyhow....we keep plugging away!

And....here's the video clip from tonight. It was the first time that Brent and Caleb played catch. :) Of course I had the cameras out!

Got some answers....

So, Brent's grandma hasn't been doing well health-wise. She's now in a nursing home and has been rapidly declining. Her doctors near where she lives haven't been responding to the concerns of the nursing staff at the nursing home. They ran quite a few tests (cardiac workup, stroke workup), but when they came back negative, they didn't pursue it much further. There was some confusion about whether or not Betty (Brent's grandma) was being followed by a physician in Madison here. According to the chart, it said that they consulted one of the attendings here. Oddly enough, the attending here had never heard of Betty. I work with the neurologists here, so I asked. I think what happened was that Betty's home docs called with a very non-detailed "hey, what do you think" call. Anyhow, we got her an appointment at UW that was today. I saw Betty for the first time since she started declining....and she looks like a completely different person. I don't think I can even put it into words. During the appointment, she had all the symptoms that she'd been experiencing at the nursing home. I felt myself fighting the urge to help her out during the testing....anyway....this is what they decided:

She's likely having some seizure activity. They did an EEG today. It was abnormal. They're going to recommend starting an antiepileptic drug. Ironically, I had told Brent's parents to ask about seizures about a month ago, and I'm pretty sure they got blown off by the physician covering the nursing home. Anyway...there's more...

She was on some pretty high doses of narcotics for her arthritis. I had no idea about this before today. That could definitely explain the lethargy, and possibly the confusion. She's 85. Who honestly prescribes that much narcs to an elderly patient?

She's on a lot of cardiac meds...and I think she just has a history of high blood pressure. The meds she was on was more for congestive heart failure. Those will probably get changed.

She was on a medication that has some potential bad side effects (and a black box warning).....that too will be weaned off.

I don't think that there is a "magic cure" for what's going on, but I hope the changes bring some sort of improvement. I went into the appointment thinking I was going to push to get her admitted. During the appointment, I realized that the changes are nothing that can be accomplished in a short hospital stay. It really helped to be able to read her medical chart from the physician at the nursing home. I can better understand the steps they've gone through.

She has an appointment in few months to follow-up. We'll have to wait and see....

Breathing Room...

Well, after a rather negative week of posts last week, I thought I should blog about something positive. Brent came home on Tuesday and says, "I took Friday off. You need a day to yourself, no errands, no kids..." I'm like, okay! I called and made an appointment for a massage....it been a loooooooooong time since I had one! Then I went to Starbucks (at Barnes and Noble) and hung out for a while. Of course, this happened to be at the mall, so I did a little shopping for myself for once! I ended up not taking the whole day....I will do a little more after church on Sunday, with a friend :)

Potty training update: Yes, it rears its ugly head again. So...I called the preschool/daycare that we want to send Caleb to in the fall. Not only do they have to be potty trained during wake-times, they have to be potty trained for nap times too. They said something about there having to be a different way of disposing of the pull-ups, so they can't allow them. Great. That didn't help my panic/stress about this crap (no pun intended). I called another preschool/daycare that is our second choice. As long as he is actively attempting potty training, he can go there and not be entirely trained. And, they have 3/4 year old openings. Okay....that can still be an option....I didn't like their program as much, but not because there was anything wrong with it....I just liked the other one better.

The actual "potty training" update is that Caleb has been having only about an accident a day for the last week, and until tonight had stayed dry all day. Today, he woke up dry from his nap. He had an accident tonight, but I'm hoping it was because he was playing with running water and it snuck up on him. He won't tell us if he has to go. He's been holding it until we tell him he needs to try. No, I don't consider that potty trained. I consider that catching it before we have an accident. I think all these "train your child in a day" books, DVDs, etc., have odd definitions of potty trained.

Another big step for Caleb....he went to the bathroom in a public restroom. He's scared to death of the stalls, so we have to hunt one out that's a "family restroom," but still...it's a step!