Funny comments...

Jonathan: Who wants to ride Tower of Terror with me?
Grandpa: Not me! If I do, I'll lose my lunch
Jonathan: Grandpa! You can't take your lunch!!


While riding a ride in Epcot ont he history of the world, going through the part where Rome is burning down.
Ryan: "Ahhh...the sweet, sweet smell of Roast Beef!"

Good News...

Habib just called from the US Government. Apparently, since I pay my taxes and haven't declared bankruptcy and am a good citizen, the US Government wants to give me $12,500!! Isn't that awesome!! All Habib needed was my Social Security number to verify my identity and my bank account numbers to transfer the money. I gave this information, of course. What do you think I am, stupid??? I wouldn't want to turn my back on $12,500.


Sarcasm....just another one of the services I offer!

Disney (again)

I'm turning into Boring-Vacation-Woman, I know. But, I don't care :-)

Day 1: Sunday~Magic Kingdom. Cool to ride rides with my kids that I remember riding as a child. Cool that there are Steelers fans everywhere. Cool that Jonathan is like crazy rider guy who wants to ride everything many, many times. We had a great dinner at Chef Mickeys after going back to the hotel to watch the game. I'm thinking about how blessed we are to be there and have such a great time together as a family.

Day 2: Monday~MAgic Kingdom and Animal Kingdom. We started off the day at Ohana Breakfast. Stitch and Pluto were our favorite characters. Another fun morning at MK. I am so thankful that we get to have this vacation. The weather is perfect. In the afternoon we go to Animal Kingdom. The place is packed and frankly, if you've been to the Pittsburgh or any other zoo, you've probably seen Animal Kingdom. If I never go back there, it will be too soon!

Day 3: Tuesday ~ Epcot. Epcot is a lot of walking and lots of things were closed for "our future enjoyment". We ate lunch at Norway with princesses. As Rob said, he saw more of Jasmine then he did of me!! The food was weird, and you could tell the princesses felt like they were at the end of their shift. They still managed to make Jaden blush, however. AND, Soarin' was a huge hit at Epcot...the kids loved it, especially Ryan. MY parents joined us Tues. evening and Trisha got the hair wrap she's been wanting to have forever.

Day 4: Wed ~ MGM. I have to say that I love MGM. It was really fun. Cool Tower of Terror ride, Cool ROckin Roller Coaster Ride, Cool stunt show. AND, at Millionaire Play It! I got to be in the hot seat. I won a cap and lots of those coveted trading pins. They don't call it the hot seat for nothing. We ended the day having dinner and watching Fantasmic. The show itself was a little darker than I would have liked and hard to follow, but it is pretty cool how they project movies onto the spraying water.

Day 5: Thursday ~ MK and Epcot. We had to hit the highlights at MK one more time: The Mountain rides, Dumbo, Pirates of the Carribean, etc. etc. Then we ate dinner at Mexico in Epcot. I have to say that the restuarant is one of my favorite places to eat. The atmosphere is great and the food is good too. It's just such a romantic setting. Even Jaden puking all over the place couldn't ruin my mood!

Day 6: Friday ~ MGM and Epcot. We meant to hit the highlights of MGM, but instead spent two hours in the audience of a pilot taping for Family Fun TV. If there are able to sell the pilot, you'll have to look for us doing a bumper into a commercial. We ate dinner at Living Seas in Epcot. Turtle Talk with Crush was awesome, as was another run on Soarin.

At the end of 6 days of non-stop activity, I have to admit I was pretty beat and ready to go home. BUt, overall, it was a great experience and I am so thankful to be able to spend the time with my family having fun!

The Happiest Place on Earth

We are back from our vacation in what I heard called many, many times: The Happiest Place on Earth. I will go through details in later posts of many fun and exciting adventures. It was a very good vacation. We got to ride some fun rides and eat some good food AND Rob and I even got along pretty well on a couple of the days AND I only had to dish out one spank the entire time we were there. So, maybe it is the Happiest Place on Earth. Afterall when I was there, I didn't even hear news reports about Iraq, Iran, Hamas, etc. etc. I didn't get any calls from any teachers, I didn't have to see any bills in the mail. I didn't have to clean the house or do the laundry or cook any food. I got to see spectacular firework displays and be on a TV show and sit in the HOT SEAT in Millionaire Play it at MGM. I got to bond with my children and parents and there were STEELERS fans all over the place!!

The only problem with the Happiest Place on Earth is that there are people there. And, I have to be honest here. It's probably not good to admit, especially for a Christian,who is supposed to love their neighbor as themselves. But, just between you and me....I don't really like people. I mean they are rude and ignorant. I don't like people who cut in line and then say, "No Habla Ingles". I don't like people who don't watch where they are walking or stop right in the middle of a walkway and block the whole thing. I dont like people who let their kids scream and yell at 12:30 in the morning. I think my favorite was the guy complaining to me in line about how long it takes to get through these lines just because of families with like three or four kids. This place is crawling with them he says. Freaking use birth control he says. ( I only had two kids with me at the time) Yes, I don't like people. And, as long as there are people in this world, even the Happiest Place on Earth is going to be tainted.

I think Disneyworld probably is one of the best, happiest places that this earth has to offer....which is one more reason to look forward to Heaven.

Drs and Dentists and orthodontics, Oh My!

The children are back to school today after our rousing celebration of the Dr. Martin Luther King and an additional day off for heaven-only-knows-what. We spent our days off hopping from Drs office to Drs. office. I know, I know. I told the kids, listen, we can go tot he movies or Chuck-E.-Cheese or ICe Skating, but they said, "No. No. we want to go to lots of Dr. Appts.". SO, that's what we did.

First, we had dental appts, which were fine, except that apparently all of my children have inherited freakishly small mouths and all were referred to the orthodontist. I'm beginning to think it is actually some sort of conspiracy whereby dentists refer everyone to orthodontists for some amount of a kickback. I'm going to invesitgate this and get back to you all. (*by all, I mean the one or two people who actually read this :-) )

Then, we took Jaden for a post-op check. Nothing I heard here really made me feel good. I mean Jaden is fine and all. But, the risk for infection is for 3-4 months out and he is in 2x the danger since they went in twice and the symptoms are apparently mroe subtle than shunt failing symptoms....Great! AND, you might remember my mentioning the resident from hell. Well, apparently, we are not the first family to complain of her not taking things seriously enough and not listening to patients. Additionally, she has also apparently filed a claim with the hospital that she is being discriminated against because of being called on the carpet for all of these complaints. They want me to call the hospitals' lawyers and file an official complaint. I don't know what to do.

Finally, Trisha did have an orthodontist appt, because she really does need some help. $1850 worth of help in the form of an expander and a trainer (to keep her from sucking her thumb). Which, BTW, is a big secret. She doesn't want anyone to know she still sucks her thumb.

So, that's what we've been up to. In four more days, we'll be up to having fun in the Happiest Place on Earth, darn it! Hopefully, the Happiest Place on Earth will have the Steelers game on somewhere!!

Let's go Steelers!!

Fighting Depression...

That's where I'm at today. I can see where it is going to be very easy for me to begin feeling sorry for Jaden, feeling sorry for myself. That never leads anywhere good. I have to fight the feeling I am having to drop out of all of my activities and pull my kids out of school and hole us all in the house forever...that way nothing bad can ever happen to us. My minds been going on many different bunny trails, none of them very good. The one that currently tends to send me over the edge is thinking about all of the conversations I've had lately with people telling me they or their children "derserve" this or that. I *deserve* to be happy, we *deserved* a good outcome, my kids *deserve* this or that Christmas present. I don't know, I can't judge where people are at, but it just makes me want to scream!! If anyone deserves anything good, it would be Jaden, and yet, he's given a lot in life that, if it were me, I'm not sure I'd be able to bear.

I know that I know that my children are being grown into something spectacular. And, this will not be in spite of situations with Jaden, it will be because of them. I know this. And, some days, I can even praise God for it. I'm having trouble with that this week. BUt, I am fighting through it. I do have something to look forward to and get excited about....Disneyworld!! We leave in 10 days. We need this vacation together as a family now more than ever. You might even say we *deserve* it!!

I'm alright...

...don't nobody worry 'bout me!

In the words of the crazy, foreign resident that I didn't care for: "He's 180 better", which is, apparently; some sort of metric system way of saying he's doing great!

It was not a good weekend...

Thurs.
3:30 pm Jaden comes home from school and complains of a headache.
6:30 pm Jaden's headache is so bad he vomits. I give him motrin and he perks up OK
Friday
9:30 am Jaden's teacher calls to say that he has been very snarky and mouthy, very unlike him
11:00 am I call Neurosurg and they tell me to come and have him seen for possible shunt malfunction.
1:40 pm we are seen in NSG, by a PA. PA thinks Jaden looks fine, but agrees to run tests at my prompting, just for peace of mind.
4:00 pm we are seen by PA after tests and she confirms that Jaden's shunt IS malfunctioning and will need to be replaced.
5:55 pm Jaden is taken into surgery
7:16 pm the NSG tells us everything went OK, they got good flow from the shunt and Jaden looks good.
10:00 Jaden is awake and is moved to a bed on one of the floors.
Saturday
7:00 am I come out of the bathroom hearing beepers go off and Jaden gagging. He is choking on his own vomit. The nurse comes in and helps me clean it up. Jaden eyes are glazed over and I would say he is groggy at best.
7:25 am NSG resident comes in and says that Jaden is just groggy from surgery and throwing up from effects of anesthesia...he should be fine soon. SHe tells him to eat some food and leaves.
8:15 am Jaden is still not awake. He will awaken and respond if spoken to, but can not stay awake.
8:45 am Jaden is still not awake. I ask to speak to the attending.
9:30 am the attending walks in and visits the patient next to me, then walks out and leaves.
10:00 am the resident comes back. Jaden is still asleep. He is complaining of a headache in the same spot as before...above the eyebrows. He will answer questions, but falls immediately back asleep. I explain to the "dr." my deep concern. We have been through several surgeries. We are 14 hours post op, we've been home resting every other time 14 hours post-op. He is worse than he was last night, I say. He is worse than he was when we first brought him in. I know you are the "dr." and I am just the mom, but something is not right with my kid, I say. She tells me that she isn't comfortable ordering any tests right now and wants to wait until noon. I tell her I am not comfortable with that, but I unfortunately am not the one writing orders. She said she'll check back at noon.
11:10 am Jaden moans and says he's going to throw up, Rob sits him upright and he goes into a seizure, ending up kind of in a folded position. It is here when I begin to lose it. I feel like I am going to split in half.
11:15 am It appeared like the seizure got the dear resident's attention because we were rushed down to CT for a scan. THe scan lasts five minutes. It takes more and more effort to get Jaden to even respond to us. Everytime he opens his eyes, I have to tell him that I love him because I really am feeling like i don't know if it will be the last time I see his eyes open.
11:30 am we get back from CT. Jaden is in his bed and his heartrate drops to 40. We are able to rouse him and begin trying anything and everything to keep him awake. I feel totally hopeless and helpless. No one seems to understand that danger I feel he is in. No one seems to be moving fast.
12:15 pm 45 agaonizing minutes later, the resident comes in and reports that Jaden's shunt was in a sub-optimal position, his ventricles were enlarged, but she wants to run one more test. I tell her about how angry I am and now she wants to play around with more tests. Whatever. That last test confims that he will need another shunt revision. She tells me I was right. She tells me she should always trust mom. I tell her I knew something wasn't right, but I didn't know what teh time frame is between being OK and being in serious danger. She says she wouldn't want to wait another hour. (Interesting, because if we had waited until noon for the CT, it would have been another hour!)
12:55 pm Jaden is sent back for another surgery. A different doc than Fri. night does the surgery. He says this happens all the time. He's done 3000 shunts and this has happened probalby 20 times. (WHAT?!?!?!?!?!?)
1:40 pm. Dr. says Jaden did fine in surgery and new shunt ahs good flow.
2:00 pm Resident comes in and says that Jaden had some trouble coming out of anesthesia, his sats dropped as did his heartrate, they had to give him a drop of some medicine and he resolved just fine, she said. He's in recovery now, we should be able to see him in 5 or ten minutes.
2:30 pm we still haven't been called to recovery. I think something is very wrong. Again, I think I am going to split right in half.
2:40 we still haven't been called into recovery. Rob marches in.
3:00 pm JAden finally wakes up and is immediately more alert than I have seen him in days.
Sunday
2:00 pm Jaden is discharged.

A very good outcome in a very scary situation. I truly believe in the power of prayer and in the Lord as my strength. I would not have made it through without all of the prayers of the saints and without the Holy Spirit. I am so thankful that the Lord still has plans for that little Jaden of mine here on this earth. I wish that we would never have to go through another series of days like that again, but I know the odds are very good that we will. If you are a person of prayer, please pray for Jaden. Although he looks great today, there is still a chance of infection. PLus, he's got a big blad spot with about 50 stitiches on his head that he doesn't want anyone to see!

2006 is already off to an exciting start...

I rearranged the furniture AND got coats for the kids for $10 at Old Navy! Shwew...the excitement!!