NaBloPoMo ~ Day 26

It was a heck of a busy day, and it isn't over yet.

I shouldn't be at the computer right now. I am in the middle of baking the cookies for tomorrow. Yes, I should have done it last night, but I elected to watch some programs on the DVR instead, thinking I would have time to do them during the day today. Boy, was I ever wrong! lol

I took T to work this morning. We got a late start since Maddy's nurse was late to arrive. She is having car problems, apparently, but regardless, we were travelling at the height of morning rush hour. Wrecks everywhere! It was an awful drive there and back, and when I got home I had to rush to do my hair and makeup for the doctor's appointment.

That was interesting, to say the least. Maddy fought this new doc tooth and nail ~ literally. She refused to open her mouth for the throat exam, kicked the doctor in the gut when he tried to listen to her chest, and scratched both me and the nurse when he tried to look in her ears. She was extremely uncooperative. For her regular doc, she just complains a bit. She's been seeing him since she was an infant. For this new doc (her regular ped is out on vacation) she showed all her mettle, simply refusing to do anything he asked of her. Before he started the exam, she confirmed (with head nods) that her ears hurt, her nose was bothering her, and she was itchy all over from the rash on her trunk (which spread to her legs overnight). Since he wasn't sure if it was an ear infection or not, he told her that he'd have to draw blood if she wouldn't let him look in her ears. She ignored him. So, a blood draw it was. That went very well, actually ~ the vampire was quick and Maddy only hissed a little bit when the needle went in. The CBC was perfectly normal, so no infections anywhere ~ it's just a virus. Treat the symptoms and if she seems worse, call them again over the weekend. He did give me a cream for her rash ~ $60 later (for a tiny tube of cream ~ after insurance!) and her itchy rash is already improving. I'm relieved it isn't an infection ~ I hate putting her on oral abx ~ she's had allergic reactions to two different meds in the past, so finding the right abx is tough enough. I definitely would rather save those for when we know it's an infection. :)

By the time I got home from the pharmacy, it was already 2 PM. I was to pick T up at around 4, so I really didn't even have time for a nap. I made some coffee and pressed onward. I'm like the Energizer Bunny! I just keep going and going....

My cookies should be cool enough to ice now, so I'd better go finish them up. We'll be at my mom and dad's house all day tomorrow, so Happy Thanksgiving! I'll write a quick note when I get home tomorrow evening and then I have serious plans for my bed. lol I am wiped out from this week, and it's only Wednesday!

Night all!

NaBloPoMo ~ Day 25

Today is my 19th wedding anniversary. Hard to believe ~ at times, it feels like just yesterday, while at other times it seems like forever.

We were married at the tender age of 21. When I look at the pictures of the day, I see two children and wonder what on earth were they thinking? lol Of course, we've survived some pretty tough times over the years, but I still believe that we were meant to be together. Meant to laugh with and love each other for life. Meant to parent Maddy, with all the joy and fear that entails. Meant to be there for each other every day, in sickness and in health, for richer or for poorer, all of the days of our lives. So far, so good....

It was a relatively quiet day here. Maddy is still sick. She has lots of pretty (not!) green snot in her nose and her eyes, and now she's tugging at both of her ears. Our appointment is in the morning at 9:10 AM, which means that I get the dubious honor of staying up all night to care for her, then driving T to work so I can have the car, then going to the appointment, going to the drugstore for antibiotics (I'm sure she needs them ~ see green snot, above), and then finally coming home to sleep for awhile. I'll have to load her into the car to pick T up from work tomorrow night, too. Oh, joy. Being a one-car family really sucks rocks sometimes, and this is one of those times. Not to mention the absolute joy of a visit to the pediatrician at the height of flu season. Yay. I dread tomorrow. At some point, either overnight tonight or tomorrow, I have to bake some cookies and prep my other contributions to the Thanksgiving feast for my mom and dad's house on Thursday. I'm actually looking forward to that, though. I love to bake. :)

Since I have all night to stay up tonight, I'm planning on working through some of the shows I have on the DVR. Need to get it cleared out! lol

It's time for the evening diaper. Have a great night, and a better day than I will tomorrow. ;)

NaBloPoMo ~ Day 23

I'm still basking in the glow of yesterday's birthday celebration. I managed to get the house completely back in order today, as well as doing my usual ton of laundry. And our Cowboys won their game. Take that, migraine! It was a good day despite Spike's best efforts to keep me down. :)

Maddy is sick, though. Yesterday, during the party, I noticed that she was flushed and warm, so I took her temp. She had a couple of degrees of fever, so I dosed her with ibuprofen and watched her. She was really cranky after the guests left and went to bed early. She slept in this morning until 11:30! (After two additional doses of fever reducers.) She never sleeps late, so I knew she wasn't feeling well. She's quiet, alternating with crabby, and while she has been playing with a few of her new toys, she just really isn't herself. She'll be staying home from school tomorrow since she can't rejoin her SpEd class until she's been fever-free for 24 hours. (I think we're the only people who follow that rule, thus the recurrent illnesses she contracts at school!) It's a short week anyway, due to the Thanksgiving holiday weekend, so I'm not too concerned about it. Hate it that she'll miss seeing her Music Therapist, though ~ she loves that part of Monday.

Buddy dog threw up this morning, too ~ I think someone must have snuck him some table food yesterday. He has a really sensitive stomach, and any little thing will make him throw up. Such fun ~ and on the carpet, too. lol That's my boy....

T and I are tired. Getting everything ready, putting on the party, and then cleaning up afterwards was a production, but our house looks so good right now. I've actually contemplated taking photos! It's ready for us to mess it all up again next weekend ~ we'll get out the Christmas decorations on Friday and get the tree up and the lights up outside next weekend. :) With virtually all the shopping done, I'm actually looking forward to the Christmas season this year.

Better run ~ I hear another load of laundry buzzing for me. Have a great night and a fabulous Monday morning!

Turn around, bright eyes...

Man, you turn around for just a second, and suddenly it's December. The 4th, even. And there are 20 days until Christmas Eve. AND you have only ONE present under your tree.

*gulp*

At least the tree is up. Count my blessings, right? Considering that it's only been a month since we moved to the new place, I think I deserve huge kudos for that. Of course, looking around at the office, I can't really see the floor yet...and don't EVEN open the garage door (no, my car won't fit there yet...) but look! The tree is so pretty and sparkly! Aren't you distracted by the wondrous beauty? I am!

Maddy had an absolutely incredible birthday week. We celebrated on her actual birthday with cake and presents from Mom and Dad. The next day was Thanksgiving, so we went to Aunt Kris and Uncle Philip's house, and had...more cake and presents! We visited Aunt Retta and Uncle Gary, and Maddy ate about 5 bites of French Silk pie. Yummy! Then, last Wednesday (exactly one week after her birthday), the Make A Wish people came with a huge television for her. It's unbelieveably large ~ a 61" rear projection HDTV. It feels like we have a movie screen in our living room. I cried, she laughed, her daddy cried...very emotional. Then, on Friday, she got her new wheelchair. This thing is a Navigator of all wheelchairs. I mean it. It has ligh-up front wheels, her name is embroidered on it, it has the baddest bike-style handles for Mom and Dad, and has an especially designed honeycomb seat. She loves it. The butterfly wheelcovers should be here on Friday. (They didn't want to hold up delivery for them, so they brought it without 'em.) Unfortunately, it's so large that it won't fit in my car. *gulp* I foresee a car payment in my future....

So, we've had a fantastic couple of weeks. And now, we're talking up the Big Guy in the Red Suit (no, T doesn't own a red suit!) and planning on shopping like crazy people in the next couple of weeks. I cannot believe that Christmas is already here. It just doesn't seem possible. We're 10 days from the 1st anniversary of T's major accident, and so much has changed. We've moved, we have a new dog, Maddy is 10, and life? Seems impossibly wonderful. Full of joy. I don't know if it's the drugs talking (yes, I take an anti-anxiety pill every. single. day), or what, but I'll take it, thank yew very much.

For now, it's time to go and watch Studio 60, take a long shower, then change my Big Girl's diaper and head to bed. Blessings on you ~ and thanks for stopping by my blog.

Kim

I feel like I'm fallin' for Fall....

And that darned Moose A. Moose from Noggin won't stay out of my head! (If you don't know what I'm talking about, it means that you don't have a toddler or toddler-type who lives and breathes Noggin on a daily basis!)

Seriously, it was 98 on Friday afternoon. This morning? 52 degrees. That's a 46 degree differential in, what, 60 hours? We've had the windows open all weekend, enjoying a northerly wind and sunny, pleasant days. Simply beautiful weather.

I love Fall. This is my favorite time of year; from now until the end of November, anyway. I'm not too fond of December (too much Christmas mayhem!) but I love Halloween and Thanksgiving. Maddy's birthday and our anniversary also fall (ahem...) during the Fall (11/22 and 11/25). In five days, it will be October. Already! I'm planning on spending the week working on the Halloween decorations and perhaps some planning for Maddy's Decade Party.

Speaking of Maddy, she is feeling ever so much better the last couple of days. Her nose is almost completely healed. She's having a bed party even as I type this brief note. In about 30 minutes, I'll get her up and ready for school. The bus arrives at 8:05. By then, she'll probably be sleepy. lol She usually naps on Monday mornings on the bus. Smart kid. She stayed up waaayyy too late last night (was still up at 1 AM!) and will likely be cranky this afternoon. Fortunately, Daddy will be home tonight, and I'll bet we all sleep well...and early!

Our friend Bear stopped by last night. He had a date in a small town nearby, and dropped in on his way home. It was wonderful to see him in the flesh. I haven't seen him in what feels like forever, although we usually speak by telephone at least a few times per week. He recently finished school for his Class A CDL. He leaves on Tuesday to go OTR as a trucker! I'm amazed that he finally did it. He's turning 40 this year. I think it's something of a midlife crisis for him...he's wanted to go OTR for virtually as long as I've known him (which is a long damned time!) and he finally did it. Good for him, say I. He's really looking forward to travelling and seeing more of the US. There's a big part of me that wishes I could go, too ~ just get in a vehicle and drive...far away! (Not a big truck, though, please! I can barely park my mid-sized sedan; I certainly can't be trusted with anything as huge as an 18-wheeler! lol) He won't make much money at first, but he'll make enough to support himself and pay his child support...and he gets to go all over the country, to boot. Pretty awesome. By next fall, he'll have been OTR for a year, and he can look for local driving jobs, with better hours and better pay. He may even drive for T's company. Or, maybe he'll fall so in love with OTR, that he'll never come back home. Follow your dreams, Bear ~ we love you, big guy, and we want you to be happy!

Oops...gotta run. I just noticed a small, smelly puppy gift on the rug and I need to go spot-clean. Bratty dog. More later....

{insert pithy title here}

• Why is it that Fall officially begins in two days, yet the forecasted high for Friday is 97 degrees?
  
• Why, after almost 10 years on the waiting list, did we finally receive the Medicaid Waiver for Maddy, only to be told that her "Medicaid won't actually become effective until respite care is in place."?!?
  
• And if the second point is actually TRUE, then why does her Medicaid card state that her coverage started on 9/9/06?

Just a few questions I'm pondering as the hour creeps toward three AM.

I do have an intake appointment set up for tomorrow for an interview with a respite provider, but I have no idea how long it will actually take to get the provider in our home. I've already requested her new wheelchair, feeding supplies (including formula! yippee!) and diapers, and a slew of other Medicaid-provided items that will save us, on average $300-$400 per month for her care. Suddenly, I feel like we're going to be okay. Really, really okay. It's almost like hitting the Lotto, in a strange way.

Respite care isn't something we particularly need, but we definitely need the Medicaid coverage. It will pick up all medical expenses that our traditional insurance does not. A nice thought when you consider that her last hospitalization lasted for almost a month, and cost upwards of a million dollars. Our co-pay was only $500 for that nightmare, but with the new insurance plan, we'd be responsible for *gulp* 20%. Plus, our insurance has a "lifetime maximum" of $2 million. Two hospitalizations, and we've maxed out her coverage. At least with Medicaid, we don't have to worry about that happening. She can stay on it for the rest of her life ~ no maximums, and no co-pays.

I feel absolutely no guilt whatsoever about partaking of this particular social program. Matter of fact, I firmly believe that anyone who bears or adopts a child with special needs should automatically qualify for this benefit ~ no waiting. I know that's an unpopular stance with my conservative family and friends, but those people haven't been in the predicaments we have been in over the years with Maddy's health care expenses. I've fought with insurance companies, while working crappy hours for lousy coverage (and I worked for an insurance company!); my husband has passed up lucrative job offers because they didn't provide health insurance for dependents, and we've been "out of pocket" to the tune of, literally, millions of dollars over the years. We even had to file bankruptcy because of medical bills that we couldn't afford to pay. At one point, I applied for SSI for Maddy, hoping to qualify her for that so we could get Medicaid for her. Our family of three made "too much money". The Social Security Administration representative that I spoke to on the telephone actually told me to ~ and I quote ~ "Divorce your husband, honey, then you'll qualify for all kinds of aid."

I laughed out loud. This, from an administration that is supposed to have "family values" at its core? Yeah, lady, I'll look right into that.

Needless to say, we've made it. To the top of the list. Last December. And her Medicaid card arrived last week. Now, we've just got to get everything in the pipeline....

Had it not been for friends and family over the last several months, we literally would have starved. T was off work with his broken leg, and I am on permanent leave from my job, due to migraines and a bad back. No income = no formula, diapers, or food in the house. Friends stepped in and bought gift cards for food, brought formula and diapers, put gas in my car, paid for doctor's visits for Maddy ~ you name it, they were there for us. My family even helped with the mortgage and the electric bill. I thank God for them every single day. And I can't wait to start paying them all back...or paying it forward. Now that we're back on our feet (T, literally!), I hope that we're able to do some good for others.

The bell just tolled three AM ~ I need to go change a diaper and try to sleep. I just didn't want another week to go by without getting something down here...I'm trying really hard to make good use of this blog.

Thanks for reading...