Good news from the Asthma Doc today :)
My youngest has not had an Asthma attack since last August.
In September of last year we were finally able to get him into a pediatric pulmonologist after getting the results from his RAST allergy testing which showed he was at the highest end of the chart for a Cat allergy.
We said buh bye to the Cat (we found her a great home) and the pulmonologist started him on Flovent .. 2 puffs twice a day.
Within days of starting the Flovent he was breathing MUCH easier.
I was no longer hearing at least 3 times a day "Mom I need a puffer".
His rescue inhaler became obsolete, in the past 6 months he has had 2 puffs total from his albuterol rescue inhaler and not one visit to the ER or family Doc because of Asthma. He has even had 2 colds this winter that have not led to Asthma kicking up.
THAT is amazing to me !
He has also been on Singulair for over 2 years now to help control the triggers that may have been setting off the Asthma.
The Doc today was so pleased with the control of his Asthma that when he sees him again in 6 months if he has not had any symptoms he will stop the Singulair.
If that goes well the visit after that he will start taking him off the Flovent too.
He said he needs to see at least a year of controlled Asthma before he removes a daily Asthma controller med.
If he comes off them sucessfully then all we will need to do then is to keep an Albuterol rescue inhaler on hand just in case he should flare up for some reason. (if there is a cat in someones home that might flare him up again etc...)
Otherwise he will just need to be aware that even as an adult it could come back from time to time and to be prepared if it does.
YEA for us !!!
Wednesday, February 27, 2008
Monday, February 25, 2008
But I can't go to school today.
Yesterday my youngest starts with the sniffles.
Sure enough within a few hours his eyes look all puffy .. something we haven't seen since we had to bid our overweight cat goodbye when the same child was shown to be highly allergic to her.
It seems to be a run of the mill cold .. but time will tell if we need to head to the Doctors office, no fever just feeling blah.
So now I may have to drag his puffy eyed , stuffy nosed little self into work with me just long enough to finish up my time sheet for the previous 2 weeks or there will be no paycheck on Wednesday.
I can put him in a chair in my office and tell him not to breathe on anyone while I get that accomplished and I'm sure one look at him and they will know why I can't stay for the day and avoid the cute lil thing like the plague.
We also had an appointment for him tomorrow for a re check on his Asthma but between said cold and freezing rain predictions for tomorrow I think that may be off too. That Doc is located 65 miles away across some roads in PA that are notoriously bad when that shat hits.
Oh well .. roll with it right ?
Chicken Soup anyone ??
Sure enough within a few hours his eyes look all puffy .. something we haven't seen since we had to bid our overweight cat goodbye when the same child was shown to be highly allergic to her.
It seems to be a run of the mill cold .. but time will tell if we need to head to the Doctors office, no fever just feeling blah.
So now I may have to drag his puffy eyed , stuffy nosed little self into work with me just long enough to finish up my time sheet for the previous 2 weeks or there will be no paycheck on Wednesday.
I can put him in a chair in my office and tell him not to breathe on anyone while I get that accomplished and I'm sure one look at him and they will know why I can't stay for the day and avoid the cute lil thing like the plague.
We also had an appointment for him tomorrow for a re check on his Asthma but between said cold and freezing rain predictions for tomorrow I think that may be off too. That Doc is located 65 miles away across some roads in PA that are notoriously bad when that shat hits.
Oh well .. roll with it right ?
Chicken Soup anyone ??
Sunday, February 24, 2008
Striking out .....
Every Saturday night from August til April my husband and I go bowling.
Yes ... Bowling.
What has the reputation as being the middle class form of a good night out.
After years of him being on the road from Monday morning to Friday evening the company decides to "eliminate his position". Ok so that was tough, 28 years with a company that he was loyal too just shows him the door.
In the end it works out OK because he lands another job relatively quickly and we are back on track.
The job he lands consists of a 160 mile round trip jaunt everyday.
This means he leaves at 6:30 am and gets home around 7:00 in the evening.(and I'm being nice when I say 7:00)
So in a sense he is still "on the road" from Monday to Friday.
Not at all what I envisioned when he took this new job.
I thought after 5 years of being a "single" Mom during the week I would finally have the help of another parent to raise the two yungins that live here,turns out not so much, but the man does bust his butt working so it is what it is.
Due to those crazy hours I came to the conclusion that we needed to get out of the house at least once a week to have "us" time.
Sooo I came up with an activity I hadn't done since I was pregnant with my now 12 yr old and had to quit the season early because my stomach would no longer allow me to see the ball I wanted to throw.
While my husband and I enjoy each others company we can also be classified as "social butterflies" we like hanging out with friends and family too.
I called the local bowling alley and asked if they had any openings on their mixed Saturday night league.
To my surprise "Mark" was still working the desk and remembered me and said the league had just started the previous week but it wasn't too late to come on down and start this season.
My husband and I do not make up a "team" ourselves so we ask my friend Denise if she wants to get in on the league.
The 3 of us show up and start bowling.
We realize that we are still 2 players short of a team but Mark assures us that there will be folks hanging around looking to join a team... Stragglers like us who do not have enough players to form a whole team either.
Sure enough the first night we bowl Alita is sitting behind us in one of the booths watching her sisters team destroy our team.
Her sister asks if we need a bowler and looking like a rag tag team of 3 that we are, we assure her that we do and ta da .... Alita is now on our team, and the girl can BOWL GOOD ! Lucky us !
Then Alitas nephew joins us the next week and we are FINALLY a team of 5.
The team has changed some since the first year .. Matt the 19 yr old nephew left us to pursue college and sigh GIRLS .. and we have picked up another Mom of 3 to take his spot.
The name of our first team was JAM'D ... an acronym of all of our first initials. Thankfully 2 of us had the same first initial and we thought it fit since we were all sorta jammed together on this team.
Losing Matt however did put our team name in a Jam because the new gal "Ruby" didn't make our team name work anymore.
It was time to find a new name.
We threw quite a few around and used something lame for a week when Alita comes in the next week and announces that she has it.
The new name is:
4 Queens and a Jack !
Yes my poor husband is stuck with 4 Queens on his team and sadly he doesn't even get to be the King. The "Queens" love the name and think it's a riot, my husband just accepts it as he is outnumbered.
My sister also is on the league although on a different team.
My brother and sil joined the league this year as well, and I convinced my oldest nephew to jump on their team to help them out. He may not have been real thrilled with it but being the good kid he is he jumped on board and it's been great getting to know him better as he gets older.
So now folks we have a few teams of "O's" on the league and we really seem to enjoy hanging with each other on Saturday nights ... yes drinking some beers and hanging out in the still allowed in PA smoky bowling alley.
Middle class 60's throwbacks ? Yeah I suppose but who else can say they hang out with their husband, brothers, sister and nephew every Saturday night and have fun doing it ?
With the exception of 1 brother who lives out of state all of us "O" siblings are together under one roof for 3-4 hours each week.
Fun sibling rivalry at it's best.
My team kicked my brothers teams butt last night 3 outta 4 but, but who's counting right ? It's all for fun and bonding ;)
The owner of the bowling alley is also someone I graduated with.
George is the person who keeps me up on everyone in our class: who's working where, who married who, who is now divorced, who got arrested, who died etc.
Some of the memories we laugh over some we shake our head at because we can't believe how they "turned" out.
So my blog friends I suggest that while bowling may not be your "thing" get out there and join something. Bond with folks as a team, enjoy each others company with some friendly competition. Then when you are dragging your butt around on Sunday morning cursing yourself for not coming home earlier the night before, remember that you had a good time and you can't wait to do it again next week :)
Yes ... Bowling.
What has the reputation as being the middle class form of a good night out.
After years of him being on the road from Monday morning to Friday evening the company decides to "eliminate his position". Ok so that was tough, 28 years with a company that he was loyal too just shows him the door.
In the end it works out OK because he lands another job relatively quickly and we are back on track.
The job he lands consists of a 160 mile round trip jaunt everyday.
This means he leaves at 6:30 am and gets home around 7:00 in the evening.(and I'm being nice when I say 7:00)
So in a sense he is still "on the road" from Monday to Friday.
Not at all what I envisioned when he took this new job.
I thought after 5 years of being a "single" Mom during the week I would finally have the help of another parent to raise the two yungins that live here,turns out not so much, but the man does bust his butt working so it is what it is.
Due to those crazy hours I came to the conclusion that we needed to get out of the house at least once a week to have "us" time.
Sooo I came up with an activity I hadn't done since I was pregnant with my now 12 yr old and had to quit the season early because my stomach would no longer allow me to see the ball I wanted to throw.
While my husband and I enjoy each others company we can also be classified as "social butterflies" we like hanging out with friends and family too.
I called the local bowling alley and asked if they had any openings on their mixed Saturday night league.
To my surprise "Mark" was still working the desk and remembered me and said the league had just started the previous week but it wasn't too late to come on down and start this season.
My husband and I do not make up a "team" ourselves so we ask my friend Denise if she wants to get in on the league.
The 3 of us show up and start bowling.
We realize that we are still 2 players short of a team but Mark assures us that there will be folks hanging around looking to join a team... Stragglers like us who do not have enough players to form a whole team either.
Sure enough the first night we bowl Alita is sitting behind us in one of the booths watching her sisters team destroy our team.
Her sister asks if we need a bowler and looking like a rag tag team of 3 that we are, we assure her that we do and ta da .... Alita is now on our team, and the girl can BOWL GOOD ! Lucky us !
Then Alitas nephew joins us the next week and we are FINALLY a team of 5.
The team has changed some since the first year .. Matt the 19 yr old nephew left us to pursue college and sigh GIRLS .. and we have picked up another Mom of 3 to take his spot.
The name of our first team was JAM'D ... an acronym of all of our first initials. Thankfully 2 of us had the same first initial and we thought it fit since we were all sorta jammed together on this team.
Losing Matt however did put our team name in a Jam because the new gal "Ruby" didn't make our team name work anymore.
It was time to find a new name.
We threw quite a few around and used something lame for a week when Alita comes in the next week and announces that she has it.
The new name is:
4 Queens and a Jack !
Yes my poor husband is stuck with 4 Queens on his team and sadly he doesn't even get to be the King. The "Queens" love the name and think it's a riot, my husband just accepts it as he is outnumbered.
My sister also is on the league although on a different team.
My brother and sil joined the league this year as well, and I convinced my oldest nephew to jump on their team to help them out. He may not have been real thrilled with it but being the good kid he is he jumped on board and it's been great getting to know him better as he gets older.
So now folks we have a few teams of "O's" on the league and we really seem to enjoy hanging with each other on Saturday nights ... yes drinking some beers and hanging out in the still allowed in PA smoky bowling alley.
Middle class 60's throwbacks ? Yeah I suppose but who else can say they hang out with their husband, brothers, sister and nephew every Saturday night and have fun doing it ?
With the exception of 1 brother who lives out of state all of us "O" siblings are together under one roof for 3-4 hours each week.
Fun sibling rivalry at it's best.
My team kicked my brothers teams butt last night 3 outta 4 but, but who's counting right ? It's all for fun and bonding ;)
The owner of the bowling alley is also someone I graduated with.
George is the person who keeps me up on everyone in our class: who's working where, who married who, who is now divorced, who got arrested, who died etc.
Some of the memories we laugh over some we shake our head at because we can't believe how they "turned" out.
So my blog friends I suggest that while bowling may not be your "thing" get out there and join something. Bond with folks as a team, enjoy each others company with some friendly competition. Then when you are dragging your butt around on Sunday morning cursing yourself for not coming home earlier the night before, remember that you had a good time and you can't wait to do it again next week :)
Monday, February 18, 2008
School the third time around ....
Yippeeee the kids have a long 4 day weekend to observe Presidents Day.
I don't know about anyone else but to me this ALWAYS means some in depth project that they will be assigned by their teachers.
With one child being in 6th grade and one in 10th I just couldn't wait for the fun of it all !
The 6th grader gets not one .. not 2 .. but 3 "projects" to complete over the long weekend.
1. Make a 2 or 3 dimensional model of a plant or animal cell.
2. Choose a book that you want to read for an upcoming book report. Said book must be at least 100 pages long. It could be fiction, non fiction whatever just so you have it by Tuesday to be approved.
3. List 10 facts about President William McKinley.
The 10th grader has to complete a project which entails ripping apart a Emily Dickinson poem to discover it's meaning.
Ohhh and he must also make a poster to depict it.
Soo I take the 6th grade work on first.
Now keep in mind this is the child who has Autism sooooo none of these assignments exactly excite him, nor for the most part does he understand exactly what it is he is supposed to do.
I decided it's only fair that the DH gets to enjoy this as much as I do since he will be home on the weekend to help out, and I just KNOW he wouldn't want to miss out.
So Hubby and I head off to find the materials for the "Cell Project" first.
I always laugh when the teachers say "Use materials you have at home to complete your project". Yes I will check my pantry for excess Styrofoam poster display boards.
$16.99 later we figure we have everything we need and head over to Barnes and Noble to attack finding the book for the book report.
Amazingly hubby zero's right in on a book that is 104 pages long and seems to be something our son may be able to grasp once we have broken it down for him.
This of course means I must read the book first as well so that I know what the heck its about too.
I love to read so thats not a big deal for me, afterall I have totally dumped Math on my husband.
Yes we do have an understanding where that is concerned.
Me = Reading, Science, Social Studies, English and other various subjects like Health and Band as they pop up on occasion.
Hubby = Math
Seems fair right ?? 0_0
After those relatively quick shopping adventures I suggest that while I have him out and shopping my husband should purchase some clothes for work that he has been saying he needs.
He walks into Eddie Bauer and bam within 15 minutes has 2 pairs of work pants a pair of jeans and some long sleeve t's for around the house.
HOW DO THEY DO THAT ????
He is still in a pretty even keeled "lets git her done" mode when I sneak in that I really need some things at Wal-Mart.
I didn't dare look at him because I KNOW he HATES to go to Wal-Mart but he drove on and we arrived within 5 minutes of the Eddie Bauer store.
The shopping at Wal-Mart went quickly too .. the checking out of Wal-Mart was a complete nightmare.
No lie when I tell you it took 45 minutes to check out of the store.
It was MADNESS.
I started to go off when after 20 of these minutes the girl shuts her light off, points back to me and my husband and says the line is closed now.
I looked up at her and said:
OHH I think not, I am not moving and you will check us out.
Hubby gets the 0_0 look and she then says .. Well after you the line is closed so tell anyone after you that it is closed.
WHATT ??????
Hubby took on the role of doing that because I refused too. I don't work for Wal-Mart, let a manager stand here and tick people off.
I thought by now he would just walk away from the cart and say forget it we don't need the stuff that badly but yet instead he remained calm this time while I ranted.
Thats the ying and the yang of marriage :)
When we finally got out of the store I said ....
May you never ask me "What took you so long at the store", he replied .. "Nope I never will".
Ok so 2 down 1 to go.
I have now been googling "10 facts about William McKinley" and have been trying to engage my son on what an interesting man he is, while all he is really concerned about is if McDonalds is open for chicken nuggets yet. So yes still working on that one although overall it's the easy one.
Last night the 10th grader hits me with his poem project.
He is not finding the symbolism in a Emily Dickinson poem that he has to have done by Tuesday as well.
I am not a fan of poetry. I really don't get into figuring out what someone is trying to say with lines full of what looks to me to be gibberish.
Just SAY it already in plain ole spoken North American English !
So what does one do when they are in poetry hell .. they channel their Mormon friend to bail them out.
Thanks MamaMormon, may your heart soon let your mind forget my badgering ;)
So while this is my 3rd time around in 6th grade and my 2nd time around in 10th I am finding myself doing much better in both grades.
I think I have made the honor roll !
Wheres my prize ???
I don't know about anyone else but to me this ALWAYS means some in depth project that they will be assigned by their teachers.
With one child being in 6th grade and one in 10th I just couldn't wait for the fun of it all !
The 6th grader gets not one .. not 2 .. but 3 "projects" to complete over the long weekend.
1. Make a 2 or 3 dimensional model of a plant or animal cell.
2. Choose a book that you want to read for an upcoming book report. Said book must be at least 100 pages long. It could be fiction, non fiction whatever just so you have it by Tuesday to be approved.
3. List 10 facts about President William McKinley.
The 10th grader has to complete a project which entails ripping apart a Emily Dickinson poem to discover it's meaning.
Ohhh and he must also make a poster to depict it.
Soo I take the 6th grade work on first.
Now keep in mind this is the child who has Autism sooooo none of these assignments exactly excite him, nor for the most part does he understand exactly what it is he is supposed to do.
I decided it's only fair that the DH gets to enjoy this as much as I do since he will be home on the weekend to help out, and I just KNOW he wouldn't want to miss out.
So Hubby and I head off to find the materials for the "Cell Project" first.
I always laugh when the teachers say "Use materials you have at home to complete your project". Yes I will check my pantry for excess Styrofoam poster display boards.
$16.99 later we figure we have everything we need and head over to Barnes and Noble to attack finding the book for the book report.
Amazingly hubby zero's right in on a book that is 104 pages long and seems to be something our son may be able to grasp once we have broken it down for him.
This of course means I must read the book first as well so that I know what the heck its about too.
I love to read so thats not a big deal for me, afterall I have totally dumped Math on my husband.
Yes we do have an understanding where that is concerned.
Me = Reading, Science, Social Studies, English and other various subjects like Health and Band as they pop up on occasion.
Hubby = Math
Seems fair right ?? 0_0
After those relatively quick shopping adventures I suggest that while I have him out and shopping my husband should purchase some clothes for work that he has been saying he needs.
He walks into Eddie Bauer and bam within 15 minutes has 2 pairs of work pants a pair of jeans and some long sleeve t's for around the house.
HOW DO THEY DO THAT ????
He is still in a pretty even keeled "lets git her done" mode when I sneak in that I really need some things at Wal-Mart.
I didn't dare look at him because I KNOW he HATES to go to Wal-Mart but he drove on and we arrived within 5 minutes of the Eddie Bauer store.
The shopping at Wal-Mart went quickly too .. the checking out of Wal-Mart was a complete nightmare.
No lie when I tell you it took 45 minutes to check out of the store.
It was MADNESS.
I started to go off when after 20 of these minutes the girl shuts her light off, points back to me and my husband and says the line is closed now.
I looked up at her and said:
OHH I think not, I am not moving and you will check us out.
Hubby gets the 0_0 look and she then says .. Well after you the line is closed so tell anyone after you that it is closed.
WHATT ??????
Hubby took on the role of doing that because I refused too. I don't work for Wal-Mart, let a manager stand here and tick people off.
I thought by now he would just walk away from the cart and say forget it we don't need the stuff that badly but yet instead he remained calm this time while I ranted.
Thats the ying and the yang of marriage :)
When we finally got out of the store I said ....
May you never ask me "What took you so long at the store", he replied .. "Nope I never will".
Ok so 2 down 1 to go.
I have now been googling "10 facts about William McKinley" and have been trying to engage my son on what an interesting man he is, while all he is really concerned about is if McDonalds is open for chicken nuggets yet. So yes still working on that one although overall it's the easy one.
Last night the 10th grader hits me with his poem project.
He is not finding the symbolism in a Emily Dickinson poem that he has to have done by Tuesday as well.
I am not a fan of poetry. I really don't get into figuring out what someone is trying to say with lines full of what looks to me to be gibberish.
Just SAY it already in plain ole spoken North American English !
So what does one do when they are in poetry hell .. they channel their Mormon friend to bail them out.
Thanks MamaMormon, may your heart soon let your mind forget my badgering ;)
So while this is my 3rd time around in 6th grade and my 2nd time around in 10th I am finding myself doing much better in both grades.
I think I have made the honor roll !
Wheres my prize ???
Friday, February 8, 2008
Just some music updates
Today I decided that I would address my music player.
First off .. when you create one of these things if you hit random play you cannot go back and correct that.
Once the code is set it's a done deal ... unless of course you are a code geek and know how to go in and fix that part of the code, naturally I am not one of those.
So I created a new one and decided to start it off with a sappy one in hopes that the message of the song can flow into my life and things will from this point forward go smoothly. (who remembers my first song being at the end of "Little Darlings" starring Kristy McNichol, Tatum O'Neil and Matt Dillon in the 70's ?)
More updates on the lastest dramas are coming as soon as all the loose ends of said dramas are tied up.
Later folks .. have a great day !
ps .. King of the Road remains on the list because afterall this is MY blog :)
First off .. when you create one of these things if you hit random play you cannot go back and correct that.
Once the code is set it's a done deal ... unless of course you are a code geek and know how to go in and fix that part of the code, naturally I am not one of those.
So I created a new one and decided to start it off with a sappy one in hopes that the message of the song can flow into my life and things will from this point forward go smoothly. (who remembers my first song being at the end of "Little Darlings" starring Kristy McNichol, Tatum O'Neil and Matt Dillon in the 70's ?)
More updates on the lastest dramas are coming as soon as all the loose ends of said dramas are tied up.
Later folks .. have a great day !
ps .. King of the Road remains on the list because afterall this is MY blog :)
Wednesday, February 6, 2008
Slap a Shamrock on him and call it a day
Luck of the Irish !
Well the good news is the GH Stim test showed that he is producing Growth Hormones at this time !
The bad news according to my son is that he is still a shrimp. SIGH
They will follow up with him in 4 months to see if he is growing .. even at a slower rate than most.
The Doc hopes that once puberty kicks in he will take off, and since he will be 13 in July that may be sooner than I would like 0_0
Well the good news is the GH Stim test showed that he is producing Growth Hormones at this time !
The bad news according to my son is that he is still a shrimp. SIGH
They will follow up with him in 4 months to see if he is growing .. even at a slower rate than most.
The Doc hopes that once puberty kicks in he will take off, and since he will be 13 in July that may be sooner than I would like 0_0
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