tests, visits, chest pt

Lars & Lisa M, his fabulous godmother, this morning.

Difficult afternoon to write with two-hands-on-full-time toddler guy. Also lousy luck connecting to the internet.

PH probe/impedance study is done; we may have results by mid-week.

Several conditions we're now testing to rule out. One, which is keeping us inpatient, is a possible ureteropelvic junction obstruction (I think) in which the ureter becomes kinked or blocked intermittently. They want to do an ultrasound in the middle of a pain crisis. Though there have been several such crises today, they have lasted less than five minutes each & ultrasound hasn't been possible.

Apparently when Lars was intubated for his procedures on Thursday, they accidentally collapsed part of the right upper lobe of his lung. So he's been getting chest pt with Plainlabelpt today, who said his lungs sounded "a little crackely." So far he hasn't really minded the chest banging too much. Lisa M sang to him this morning; I was on song duty this afternoon. He liked her better. By a landslide. Monica is on song duty tonight.

They've sent a stool sample for parasite tests. The two tests they're doing Monday are a Meckel's scan, which is a nuclear medicine study, and a full spinal MRI. Both are under sedation, but I don't know yet whether they'll be done at the same location or not.

The Meckel's scan tests for Meckel's diverticulum, a condition in which there is a pouch in the intestine that has stomach lining. I'm not exactly sure all the things they're ruling out with the full spinal MRI, but I think essentially observable spinal reasons for pain.

We had visits from Dr. Interrupticus, who lived up to his name (Lisa M's description was "weak at dialogue"), Dr. Youknowbest from pain service, and Dr. Sweetyoungfreshface, who's the resident for the day.

Lars had a bit of a rough day with lots of discontent of unknown origin. Understandably he seems to be sick of the room he's been stuck in for the past 8 days. We had really sweet roommates, though, and a competent and hardworking nurse who came in numerous times just to ask if I needed anything. Tonight Susannah snagged him--she's had Lars on every one of her shifts since we arrived, and is smitten with his adorableness, too.

Today was feast or famine for me. I was half the time toast: alone, worn out, not feeling well, low on creatve ideas & energy to keep Lars out of misery. And half the time pampered by fabulous visitors, starting with Lisa M this morning who brought coffee & egg sandwiches, and fed my & Lars' souls for hours with her voice & presence.

Then Grandma & Joa came, bearing lots of energy & lunch. They also got to go to the MFA together & had a great time.

Denise, Jen & Frieda all paid most wonderful surprise visits in the evening

and Monica & Mike came for the night shift.
How did I not get a photo of Mike?

Andey was out all last night with four pronouncements and other visits & phone calls on top of that, so she had to sleep all day & didn't make it to the hospital. I have to teach for 9 hours tomorrow, the first day of a 5-Sunday intensive. Monica & Mike are actually staying with Lars in the hospital overnight tonight. As we were leaving Monica was getting ready to sing him through an IV change. She reports it went well, with only a second of crying. He's a trooper extraordinaire.

I can't get back until around 7:00 tomorrow evening (Sunday) & we don't yet know what Andey's night will be like tonight & how much she'll need to sleep tomorrow before going back to work at 8 p.m. If anyone has time to come stay with Lars some tomorrow afternoon, this could be very helpful. We're also looking for a second person to be there while we're at his IEP meeting this Wednesday. We'd both need to be gone 11:30 - 4:30. Grandma can stay, but could use some backup. Of course, maybe we'll be home by then...

back on line

Wireless internet has been down all day, but is now back.

Let's see...catching up... Lars did well last night, as he often does after anesthesia. Then today while his impedance study was on he was fairly asymptomatic... of course...
Probe came out of his nose around 4:00, freeing us to go cruise around the hospital & have a good time. Spent time in the playroom, where we learned that if we're around at 1:00 on Monday we can see Brian for music therapy. Went to listen to the grand contraption in the lobby & the bubbles on the way to the fegan elevators, and to feel some chilly outside air as it blew in the door.



After Lars' escapades he had a fairly grumpy couple of hours when nothing was right. I tried to feed him, but clearly was doing it all wrong.

Denise showed up and from bite one she had the magic touch. He ate a good dinner with her: chicken & gravy, applesauce, carrots (proudly displayed on face), a little hummus & toast, cheerios. Good stuff. Only took 3 hours.

Some grumping through meds & on the way to sleep, but nothing too dramatic.

A couple big tests ordered for Monday. I'll write more about them tomorrow. Too tired now.

Michele was here this morning with Lars & Andey; Lars greatly appreciated her advanced degrees in rocking, lullaby singing, and tickling. We met up briefly in the parking lot on my way in, her way out: She said if she's wearing a hat, you know it's really cold out.

all hooked up

Lars was a champ tonight dealing with the wire up his nose, tape across his face & up his nose, two IV's, not being able to use his right hand or stand up at all (IV on foot), not having been fed for like 21 hours- That's quite a lot on his little two-year-old-plate.

Joa has a lot on his eight-year-old-plate, too. He's worried about his brother, his moms are fried & not too patient with him, he's not sleeping much, and he just wants everyone to be back home again. He's excited that grandma came, though, and I think looking forward to the weekend. Such an amazing boy, that Joa. Here's his Andy Warhol (that's a can of campbell's soup on his head): Should have gotten a photo of Craig--he came by with Heather's amazing spaghetti pie, bread and mini wicked whoopies for dinner. What a yummy, yummy treat. Thanks to Lars' buddy Chase for helping with that cooking project, too. Mmmmm.

We have our fourth roommate since this morning. Was it something we said?

Lars has been sleeping peacefully for over an hour. I should go to bed but I'm such an introvert & so crave quiet alone time that I stay up half the night to get it.

So no news is no news. Not as good as something treatable, but better than finding some small abnormality & attributing all the pain to a false cause.

What they'll do with us when this impedance study is done tomorrow afternoon is anyone's guess. We haven't had a chance to ask that question.

Turns out Lars has four factors that increase likelihood of celiac disease: intracranial calcifications, microcephaly, family history of type I diabetes, and family history of lupus. During the endoscopy they did many biopsies, and celiac disease is one of them. We shall see.

Andey & I are going to both be here tonight because of the complications. She went home for the evening; I have to leave at 5:30 in the morning to go run a group in Worcester tomorrow. Then I'll fly back out here & let Andey go to work tomorrow night.

Denise got ahold of the laptop camera tonight...

nutin'

Lars is resting peacefully after his anesthesia. Hasn't woken up yet.

Nutin'. Nutin' found, nutin' wrong, nutin' new. Nutin' knew.

No esophagitis, no ulcer. No inflammation. Everything looks normal. Biopsies will take a week.

Lars has the impedance study happening, so there's a catheter in his nose, down his throat & sitting at the base of his esophagus. It has several sensors on it that measure what ph is where. A machine is recording all this data from his probe. We're gonna get intimate with it the next 22 hours, pushing buttons to tell it when he's upright, when he's horizontal, when he's arching his back, when he seems to be having abdominal pain, when he's having noticeable reflux, and when he's eating.

We also keep a log of everything that goes in his mouth & exactly what time.

Within the week, someone manually enters into a computer the information from the machine and what we've written, and they analyze it.

We've been wondering about celiac disease.

he's under

Dr. Deepvoice gave Larsy nice warm & fuzzy meds & he's in having his procedures now.

It was pretty interesting riding down here in bed in an elevator.

like mama, like son

Andey reports Lars had a good night.
Except when he was throwing up.

Threw up twice, basically everything we diligently coaxed into him last night.

We're thinkin' he has the fastflu that I had.

They gave him meds to stop the upchuck & he's proceeding with his day.

wishes

So many folks have been sending sweet email wishes. They're just so lovely so I'm gathering a few together.
~~ ~~ ~~ ~~ ~~

Just wanted to let you know that I've been thinking of all of you. Today while teaching my yoga class, I had everyone close their eyes and picture someone who is going through a difficult time. You all came into my mind and I sent you kind and loving thoughts.
~~~ ~~~

I wish you restorative sleep when you can catch it, and lots of hope, strength, hugs, laughter. What a ride. Be well.
~~~ ~~~

Just wanted to let you all know that we are thinking of you guys and hoping that those supersmartdocs come up with something soon-
~~~ ~~~

We have been thinking of you often and sending lots of healing-well wishes….Hugs, thoughts of good coffee and spring fields of soft waving grasses.
~~~ ~~~

Hope you get all the SuperSmartHeadDoctorsWhoDon'tHaveToWorkNightsAndWeekends and none of the IDon'tSeemToHaveAClueSoI'llJustKeepTalkingInBigWordsSoNoOneFiguresItOut guys.
And I hope you get some answers.
~~~ ~~~

I go to bed wishing a good night for you, and angel's sleep for our sweet Lars. I feel like I have forgotten what prayer is, I am not sure now who one prays to, but I feel compelled to pray somehow for the answers to come so that Lars can move from this and get back to the business of being himself pain-free . . . growing into himself as he should and can when not tested by pain.
~~~ ~~~

Wishing you a day with caring, competent staff and a boy whose light, and not his pain, shines through.
~~~ ~~~

Hang in there - Lars Man - I'm singing to you baby. Joa, I am singing to you too! Lisa and Andey - love to you.
~~~ ~~~

I read 'so so' this morning and have been sending healing light to Lars' belly. It's like I can feel his soft breathing belly under my ear and cheek. I wish him relief and you everything that your mind, body and spirit need (and deserve)! You'll be in my prayers tonight and always
~~~ ~~~

I am not usually too much into prayer --- not even really sure how --- but I do go to sleep and wake up these days thinking about Lars and sending positive energy in his (and yours and Andey’s and Joa’s) direction.
~~~ ~~~

May you soon find yourselves at home with the youngest boy more able to rest and smile and learn again.
~~~ ~~~

~~ ~~ ~~ ~~ ~~
Blessed Be.
Thank you all.

what a good day

We can now officially say that Lars had a whole good day. No episodes of crying or pain or fussiness. No morphine needed, but continued valium every 6 hours. Happy boy. Ate well, interacted, played, vocalized, napped, ate some more, bounced, smiled, even giggled in his sleep.

If we had done something different yesterday, like started him on a new med, or taken him off of something, we would have attributed today's good day to whatever we had done differently yesterday. Even when we think we know, we never do. We're just guessing & that seems important to remember.

Had a slew of short visits from great docs like Cute Jockey Doc, Dr. Buff Spikey Hair, Dr. Energetic Cruise Ship Director (anesthesiologist for tomorrow's procedure; thanks to Michelle for that name), and Dr. Warm Eyes from the complex care service. Great folks doing their jobs well.

Saw KitKat, the nutritionist, for the second time. Helpful with ideas for extra calories. Lars is maintaining his weight at 31, still down from 35, but at least maintaining.

The odoriferous roomates left. Hallelujah.

The countdown is on until Lars is npo ("nil per os," nothing through the mouth) after midnight. Procedures aren't scheduled until 2:30, so we'll have a very hungry baby bear on our hands. We've stuffed as much food as he can possibly take into him tonight (gracias to Denise for expert food shovelling), and he's been on IV fluids.

Dr. Sharpntiny from GI came by & discussed tomorrow's procedures. She explained that while they are definitely sending a tiny light and camera down to chart the territory of Lars' esophagus, stomach & upper small intestine, and that if there is something major happening with any of these areas they might be able to see it, the main focus will be on collecting tissue samples that they will then biopsy and tell us the results in a week's time.

Ph probe goes down like an ng tube, and is attached to a monitor of some kind that will be strapped to Lars for 24 hours. The results of this also take a week to process.

Definitely tests we've been waiting (& waiting) for, and I'm preparing myself for the possibility of inconclusive results, or needing to wait another week and remaining in the place of uncertainty. Which it seems we're all in anyway, we're just able to deny it most of the time.

A slew of photos from today's Larsman Groupies.
Cousin Jean & Kathleen:

Denise & Kali, though Kali somehow escaped the photo op:


And Michelle:



AND tonight Grandma flew out from California to stay with us for a week and a half & help out. How wonderful is that?

the Eleanor toy

Hey, we're feeling well enough to play And we love our new Eleanor toy And Mommy came to visit with a spiffy new haircut.

Life is good.

2 hours later

We've eaten a strip of bacon, 3/4 of a hot dog, 8 oz applesauce, a cup of cheerios... and still no screaming. Whew.

Fluids aren't going in, though, so we're going back on IV.

Pain service came to consult, and GI came to talk about tomorrow's procedures, scheduled for 2:30. They're just doing upper, not lower endoscopy because they don't think the pain has anything to do with his constipation.

way cool highchair

Yet another minor miracle: we have located and secured the rarest of objects: an authentic highchair. Too bad for the moms' chiropractor. The phone in 711 is 617-355-3145.

what a gift

Larsy slept well last night. I mean he slept really well. And he woke happy. He was up late with his nighttime floor and bath adventures, then drifted off peacefully. Vitals and valium at 2 a.m. bugged him a little, but not too much. Roommate's phone ringing at 6:30 woke him for an hour, but then again blissfully back to sleep. Dr. Interrupticus (who replaces Dr. Grandpa Uninformative during the week) came in & finished my sentences for me. Yup. He did say that endoscopy & ph probe are scheduled for 1:30 tomorrow. If they don't solve this mystery, then neuro will start testing.

At 8:30 the IV nurse was here and the sleep gig was over. Lars was amazing through the new IV placement; with mama's singing he winced but didn't cry. They were able to insert a larger needle that should last through various procedures & scans, and they were able to place it a bit farther up on his hand so he can still use his fingers. Still, Lars' mood was decidedly dampened by having the IV back in. Understandable.

We're listening to Stevie Wonder this morning. Love it.

Another gift this morning, Tamara provided black gold on demand: small mr. coffee + lb of *$ sumatra + filters + scoop + loan of her tickle monster mug = Mama juice whenever she needs it. Life just got better.

Yesterday full of the joy of having recovered so fast from my blitzbug, the company of my beautiful sons & wife, Jill who came in the afternoon, the 17 eager grad students I met @ 4 for our first of 15 classes together, Denise in the evening, and then Carylbeth deep into the night--my night nurse from way back when Lars was 2 months old. So good to have a beautiful night owl friend who lives closeish. And then a pretty good sleep, coffee this morning, and most of all a glimpse of happy Lars again. I am so thankful.

Holding this little-boy-piece-of-my-heart-out-there through his pain, and through the 'snowing' that comes over him while he's on both valium and morphine but they're still not blocking all the agony and he doesn't know who we are or where he is, only the misery- It's heartbreaking. It's like the feeling of seeing his light flicker when he has a seizure.

"The way we look to a distant constellation that's dying in a corner of the sky..." (Paul Simon, Boy in the Bubble)

The balance lives in the overwhelming gratitude I feel when the light is strong.

I have always been blessed with a nose that's not only monumental in length, but also in its olfactory detection abilities. The roommates who arrived yesterday afternoon have a decidedly unpleasantly strong odor about them. Anyone have a pick axe or diamond ring that I could use to make a hole in my window?

a roll on the floor, a bath

After a tough afternoon with a lot of pain & medication for pain, Lars had one heck of a great evening! His IV died (because he chewed on the line again? I don't know...) and so he got out of it for a while. Yahoo. After way yummy pad thai, Carylbeth & I took Lars over to the meditation room where they have carpet & he was quite happy to roll around on the floor.

Because he didn't have his IV line in, we actually got to give Lars a real, live bath in a tub with water and everything. What a treat. He was sooooo happy and relaxed. Such a beautiful thing.
Whenever Carylbeth is around, he puts his little hand up just like that. He's done it since he was born. It's uncanny because he doesn't do it much otherwise.

I'll write more tomorrow--too tired now--but we had a wonderful, calm, relaxing evening with Lars, the first I can remember in a very long time. And after he went to sleep, Carylbeth & I played with the laptop camera.

Joa's Fairy Godmothers Denise & Kali have once again swooped in and filled him up with everything wonderful. They performed a major miracle rescue mission on Sunday and Sunday night, remolding and shaping a puddle of a boy into the bouncy bright-eyed one we know & love. Fixed up his fort with him, added a rod & curtain, bought him a cool moon thing for his wall; he can change the phase of the moon via remote.

Last night Denise came & took care of Joa when I called and stammered incomprehensible things into the telephone, stayed over night, got him ready in the morning, took him to school & Kali picked him up after school & undoubtedly they did many wonderful things together. Joa called us--from his very own cell phone, mind you--from the mall to describe this & that. Good thing one of his Godmothers enjoys being a mallrat with him.

to the dentist

One of the leads we've been following is that Lars may have in his bloodstream a bacteria that is usually found in healthy mouths, but not in blood. When they found it in the ER last Thursday, they assumed it was a mistake, that the sample had accidentally been contaminated. However, Dr. Buff Spikey Hair came in yesterday saying he wanted to follow up because it's rare, but if it is in Lars' bloodstream then it could cause lots of GI pain. He looked in Lars' mouth--at the risk of a finger or two--and didn't see anything unusual.

Nonetheless he wanted to ask dentistry if they would look at Lars. He's headed over there to Hunnewell 3 today at 1:00.

wumph

So yesterday (Monday) afternoon my stomach was not feeling quite right. I held it together for Larsy, but by the time Andey arrived I was ready to lie down. In the hospital room I dozed with a basin nearby for a couple hours. Woke up, Andey's cousin Jean was there, Lars was mostly miserable.

While I was showering Andey & Jean had a good visit with the pediatrician who works with Andey's hospice, who had some excellent ideas & was going to make some phone calls on Lars' behalf.

Then our friend Chuck Berde from Pain Service came to visit for almost an hour, and it was so wonderful to see him. He's a brilliant, compassionate, sweet, dear, savvy man with a heart of gold & an intellect to match. He seems to know everyone. He listened to all the details & synthesized them & made some great suggestions like something Lars could take to counteract the toxicity of depakote, how to advocate for more communication between specialists @ the hospital, and other kind of tests we might want to run. He asked some excellent questions, and supported putting Lars on a little bit of morphine when he is in severe pain, rather than codeine.

When I left to go pick up Joa, Lars was screaming and Andey had just given him his first morphine. She called while I was on the road & said that within ten minutes he had felt much better, and had been able to eat a big meal.

Lars was then awake until 2:00 in the morning & according to Andey, relatively wild. I'm sure our roommates were thrilled about that. Then he woke up at 6:15, and was sobbing hysterically by 6:20. 6:30 they gave him a little morphine & it didn't help. 8:15 they gave him a little more, and that seemed to chill him out. Last I talked with Andey she thought they both might be taking a nap soon.

So I left the hospital with intestinal cramping, nausea, and the runs & promptly threw up. How pleasant. Drove to get Joa @ his friend's and needed to stop to find a bathroom every 15 minutes or so. By the time I arrived to pick Joa up I was really not feeling well. The last leg of the drive was like hell as I had become impossibly cold and feeling sick. When we got home & I tried to get out of the car, I was shaking so much I could barely walk, had major trouble getting the key into the door, and was sobbing and barely comprehensible. Poor Joa was freaking out because it was clear that I was utterly unable to take care of him or myself, and his other mom was in the hospital with Lars.

I managed to call Denise, only because she was on speed dial--I couldn't have actually dialed--and she threw clothes on & flew over here. I called Andey who then called our neighbor Sarah, who came over for the minutes it took for Denise to get here. She helped me climb into bed & piled blankets on top of me. My fever had spiked so high so fast that in clothes, fleece jacket with hood over head, 5 quilts & a wool blanket I was still freezing, shaking, and had goosebumps all over my body. It was remarkable in that it was just exactly how I went down when I got pneumonia when I was pregnant with Lars.

Of course I was terrified that I would be sick & hospitalized for a week, like I was then, and that I'd be unable to break the stunningly high temperatures. I took several tylenol & an ativan, drank the lovely tea-in-a-sippy-cup Denise made me, tried to do very deep breathing as long as I could (to prevent pneumonia), employed my best visualizations & relaxation techniques that I mastered during my hysterectomy this summer, and went to sleep knowing Andey was taking care of Lars & Denise was taking care of Joa.

Around midnight I woke up feeling hot, but not horrible. I was able to get up, change into pj's, remove all but one quilt, take some more tylenol & go back to sleep. When Denise came in to wake Joa up around 7:00, I woke & didn't feel that bad. After and hour or so I was actually hungry.

I am stunned & delighted by this quick turnaround.

Andey called & doesn't have enough of Lars' vigabatrin, which is his seizure med that is not FDA approved, so we've ordered it from overseas & paid for out of pocket since 8/04. So I need to get dressed now & drive in to Children's with the med.

Sounds like several people are coming to help us out today: Jill around 12:30, Suzie 2:30-4:00, CBT 7:00-? Thank you all so much for your kind thoughts, for reading, for the food & gits people have brought, for taking care of Abbykyns (our corgi) & Joa, for visiting, for sending emails, making phone calls, leaving messages, making comments on the blog. The fabric of our support system is strong, and that is so incredibly important. I am deeply moved and equally grateful.

power nurse

I just want to say kuddos to Nancy, today's power nurse, for both falling in love with Lars and for making lots of stuff happen on his behalf, and in a solid but unassuming way. Women like her make the world go 'round.

on hold

Apparently the weekend docs were silly for thinking that tests could be scheduled today. Thursday is when they think they can get him in for his endoscopy and ph probe.

Until then valium every 6 hours, codeine when the pain gets really bad. At least I can feed him now. It's been a rough morning. I'm too much of a caffeine addict to wait until 1:00 for my first cup of coffee & breakfast.

Still waiting... Andey should be here within an hour or two.

I guess today's not going to be such a big day after all.

today's a big day

Fingers are crossed that anesthesia says Lars' cold & cough aren't bad enough to have to postpone his diagnostic procedures today, and that things will go smoothly. Our outgoing nurse this morning said that his O2 sats were perfect all night, so perhaps they'll look at those & decide he's okay enough. We don't yet know anything about when. Lars isn't allowed to eat or drink.

Yesterday was one of those days when none of my hospital time was available to write. Overall, it was an uneventful hospital Sunday full of small moment-to-moment events. Lars rotated through from fussy to in pain with scattered moments of contented playtime. He was able to eat a good amount of food, but resisted drinking, so he's been on continuous IV fluids.

I had wild awake boy until almost midnight, with lots of complaining and hand tremors. It was like he couldn't get comfortable in his skin or in this bed. It was a classic "let's go for a drive" time, but alas that wasn't in the orders. Once he settled down, the night wasn't too bad, for Lars. He didn't have a long awake stretch, just lots of small ones. They moved us to room 711 so we wouldn't have to be with the infant who cries all night long.

Lars had several visitors yesterday- Nicky & Alice both came while I wasn't here, so I didn't get photos. Sorry I missed you. Suzie was able to stay for several hours to help Andey while I was home with Joa. Thank you, thank you.

During the few scattered moments of feeling okay yesterday, Lars actually did some playing, which we haven't seen much of in quite some time. And a couple times he used his right hand with the IV in it. Great to see.

Lars spent enough time in pain yesterday that I'm going to call our friend who's the chief of the pain service to do a consult today. Andey explained to Dr. Grandpa Uninformative, while Lars was crying & arching right in front of him, that her perception was that Lars is in significant pain at least half the time he's awake, in spite of having moved the valium to every six hours.

She then suggested a pain med that we could potentially give him, and doc just looked at her, confused, and said, "I thought the valium was working well?"

He's not only Uninformative in what he presents to us, but it's also tough to inform him of anything. It seems conversation & experience with the patient in front of him are unable to shift the static perception he walked in with. We're thinking he's the weekend guy & we'll get someone new today perhaps. It's an odd set-up. Apparently our pediatrician's office contracts with Harvard Vanguard to cover their patients while they're at Children's. So this guy is Harvard Vanguard's hospitalist.

He's somehow in charge, but he doesn't write the orders, the interns & residents do that. He writes notes, or not, depending on what he has absorbed while he was here. Which appears to be next to nothing. That's as much as we've been able to figure out so far. Lars can be picked up & followed by GI or neurology or another service instead, but if he's here under general pediatrics, then he has these Harvard Vanguard guys.

I had the most incredible treat yesterday evening. My sweet gem of a wife insisted that I get to go meet four friends in Cambridge for dinner & wine & fabulous conversation. What an amazing delight that was. Definitely the highlight of the past month. Thank you gals for a wonderful evening & especially our chef/host. Incredibly delicious.

Visitors are always welcome here in 711, so if you're in the area, drop on by. We'd love to see you.

so-so

Lars seems to be doing a fair amount of crying & fussing this morning, not the hysterical screaming in pain he had been doing, but not happy. Andey was able to get him to eat breakfast through his tears.

Andey kicked me out last night. She really needed to be there with Lars, so teary Mama left. On my way out of the hospital into the bitter cold night air, I walked by a mom pushing a boy about 10 years old in a wheelchair. He was screaming & writhing & looked like he was in pain. I gently stopped her and just said, "I know how hard this is. Take care of yourself." Her eyes welled up in tears & she nodded. I feel my strong membership in the 'moms of kids with special needs' club.

Went on to Sudbury & picked up Joa from his big date with Hanna. Joa had a fantastic time & was all smiles last night. However, he woke up really whiney & not feeling well, and rightly insisted that he was not able to go to the hospital because he might infect the kids there. As much as I wanted to go & wanted his contagion not to be true, it just was.

Andey said Lars was comfortable most of the night with the valium, asleep off & on.

I've spend the morning cuddling Joa (who doesn't want to go anywhere), getting his hair washed, and doing logistical arrangements. Suzie's goin' over to get Andey a break now, Denise is coming over here to take care of Joa this afternoon, and Kali will cover Joa overnight while Andey is working. Where would we be without you dear friends?

Andey has also talked her mom into flying out from California. Yeah Grandma! Last we heard she may be arriving this Thursday & staying perhaps a week & a half. That will be fantastic, especially as I teach a brand new 15-week class starting this Tuesday & then an intensive on 5 upcoming Sundays: 1/28, 2/4, 2/11, 2/25 & 3/4. Combined with all the meetings & work we're doing to get Lars transitioned into preschool in the next 6 weeks, and trying to get the Mechanic street house on the market, we were kind of at our limit before this illness...