Friday, February 20, 2009

Staycation

Our stay at home vacation has been wonderful... Relaxing, cleaning, taking the kids to do fun stuff... I can't believe how fast it's gone! The Hubs goes back to work Monday morning, and it'll be back to the daily grind again.
I'm still pretty bummed I didn't get to see my brother... But I know he understands, it's definitely not because I didn't want to be there... Because I was really looking forward to seeing him :(
I have my appointment Tuesday - it's coming up quickly, too. My regular doctor called and told me I can't wait until June, that the hospital will have to work something out with me. Sucks, but now it's starting to hurt bad enough I believe her. It's getting worse day-to-day, and comparing the size week to week is getting crazy... It's growing so fast.
Audrey and I are at the library... I overheard some people the next table over talking about how amazing it was that kids could work computers, and look at that little girl - she's got it all figured out and she's so young... How smart she is... I turned around, and they were pointing at Audrey! Made me smile :) My smart girl, indeed!
JT is napping at home with daddy. He was all played out. Wrestling with The Hubs has them tired by the end of the day... I'll miss that for sure when he goes back!
Onto some super-exciting news... I got offered an opportunity to write an article for Nike through one of my freelance sites!!! I am SO excited!
Now that we're well again, we're going to church (Emmanuel Presbyterian). We start a class at Vanderbilt for parents of kids with autism. It's Tuesday nights from 6:30-8:30pm. We really enjoyed the last class we took, so we're really looking forward to this one. It's so comfortable and fun to be with parents who truly *get* the weirdness of autism... And can laugh about it. It was an awesome experience.
I hope everyone is doing fantastic... We certainly have a lot of things looking up on our end!

Tuesday, February 17, 2009

Still Going!

Oh my! JT is still making HUGE steps!

His latest list of accomplishments:
  • Words - bubble, ball, he-llo (while waving!!!), hi, open, byebye
  • gestures - waving (see above), pointing at what he wants (not random at all, he points to show you what he wants, needs, etc - yesterday he pointed at me and said 'up' to be picked up)
  • gets his own food when he's hungry from the kitchen (yay JT!)
  • Easier to calm - can talk to him in the car at stoplights (yes, we STILL have issues with stoplights, lol) and he calms at least somewhat
  • Starting to dislike dirty/wet diapers (this is VERY good, since soon we are potty training...)

There is tons more, I will have to start noting them and updating more often. He is having an explosion!

I should also mention his words are VERY clear now... He still leaves off the last consonant occasionally, but from what I understand that's fairly 'typical' (as in typically developing children his age do that... It's not an autism thing!).

He pointed at The Hubs yesterday and said 'good'. At church, he looked at the handout (with 3 trees on it) and said 'tree. three tree.' Smart boy!

His IEP is March 4th, and he will start school (early childhood special education, through the public schools) shortly thereafter.

I LOVE having good news to post on here!!!

Wow!

Sorry for the delay in posts... We got rid of our internet connection at home (dial up was costing us $50 a month!!! and that's just rediculous... In the podunks, there is no DSL, and the phone company rips you knowing that dial up is your only option...), so coming to the library is my only chance to update... I will be more consistent now!

Latest news...
I found out I've met my first year max on my insurance. Because we had a 5 month lapse in coverage (between when I resigned and the next 'open enrollment' - insurance costs $260 A WEEK at hubby's job - it's through Great West - which is now Cigna - if anyone wants to barrage them with the rediculousness of the price), my personal max for year 1 was $25,000. Because of my two surgeries and multiple ER and doctor visits, I'm SOL until June 1. So, me and 'Bob' (yes, I gave my tumor a name...) are going to be thisclose. My doctor is working on finding something to help me, since she thinks it needs to be removed before then due to its rapid growth (duh) and nerve involvement. Not only is it growing (which means that something is going on that is not totally benign - although not necessarily cancerous yet), but the bigger it is the more they have to screw with my nerve - and that means more problems both short and long term with function.

I do have an appointment at the Vanderbilt Ingram Cancer Center with Dr. Kyle Weaver on February 24. I am looking forward to meeting him - hopefully he will have the experience necessary to do the surgery (even if it is in June, we can set it up and have everything ready to go... I'm paying out of pocket, but c'est la vie...). He might have other resources to help me get the surgery done if he believes it has to be done... Or, I would feel a lot better if he said it could wait in his medical opinion, and he would just set it up for June... Either way, I need to do this appointment. I almost peed my pants when I opened up a letter welcoming me to the Cancer Center, but I'm over it now... Mostly ;-)

JT is talking like CRAZY! I'm about to update his page too (see top right corner), so check it out to see his latest progress. Amazing!

The Hubs is off for the week, but due to the insurance issue (I maxxed the last week of December... So EVERYTHING I've had done with Bob is out of pocket... 3 GP appts, 2 ortho appts, 1 gen surgeon appt, 1 neurosurgeon appt, ultrasound, MRI and blood work) we are staying put... We can't really afford to go anywhere right now.

We found a church we really love. It's fairly close to our house (closer than most things... We don't really live 'close' to anything). I love the pastor, the people, and how informal it is. The people there are wonderful... And for the first time, going to church isn't about making me feel guilty about what I have done... But learning how to be a better person from now on. It's a wonderful experience. Never thought I'd look forward to church, but I honestly do!

That's about it for now.. Audrey is doing fantastic (as usual). Such a sweet little girl. She had a hearing test, and she passed with flying colors. The tech noted that 'when she pays attention' she was awesome. How my daughter got distracted in a soundproof booth is beyond me... But, have I mentioned I have ADD? Yeah, she's probably going to come by that one naturally... At least it's easy to manage - she'll just have to find her own 'The Hubs' to marry later in life to balance her out!

Love to all!

Tuesday, February 3, 2009

Found One!

Dr. Howell called, and he had 3 doctors for me... One here in Nashville (yay!!!), one in Memphis, and one in New Orleans.

They're making the referral for me to the one here, and we'll go to the next ones if this one doesn't work out... I'm hoping it does work out!

Anyway, good news!

Monday, February 2, 2009

The Sun'll Come Out... Tomorrow!

After calling for an update, I got word that Dr. Howell is calling me tomorrow with the names/information about the neurosurgeon I need. The nurse made it sound as if there are two neurosurgeons he's got left.

So, hopefully tomorrow I'll get some news... Because no news is NOT good news - at least to me!

Check out the kiddos' blogs - they're listed on the right sidebar.

Love to all, and hopefully I'll actually have something to post about tomorrow!!!

Sunday, February 1, 2009

Love to All

I love my Papa and Nanny. I talked to them both tonight. I'm going to see them soon.

I love you Papa! I love you Nanny! I miss you both. I am so excited to see my family.

I love Grant and Connor, too. I didn't see them today. I wanted to go to church, but mommy hasn't felt very good. She slept all afternoon. I'm gonna marry Grant someday.

Love you, bye.