No allergies?

Okay, so there have to be allergies. He went into anaphylactic shock for crying out loud!! I probably mispelled anaphylactic, but who cares. But so far all the test results have been negative. He's not allergic to any of the things we thought he might be allergic too, including bees, so maybe he didn't even get stung. Anyway, now, in addition to the epi pens and the pills he has an inhaler. He had to use it a few times today. Mostly in the store around smelly things. Or at least we think that's what it was. Like the potpourri and candles and stuff. That however does not explain his anaphylactic shock on the basketball court! Yes, they did test him for asthma and that test was also negative, like everything else. They just want him to have something to help him breathe while we're still in the diagnostic stage. At least his attitude towards hospitals has changed in the last few days. We drove past Gritman Medical Center today on our way to the store and Angela said, "Ew, Gritman." and Jeremiah said, "Hey, I like Gritman. They saved my life...twice." So, at least he realizes that as painful as it was, the things they did were good. Our doctor's office is now in contact with a specialist in Spokane, Washington trying to figure this all out. He's got an appointment with our regular doc on May 7th. It can't come quick enough. I realize that most people like negative test results, but in this case they know something's wrong and negative test results just mean that we still don't know what it is, so we don't know what to expect. Anything could happen at any time and when it involves him not being able to breathe it's kind of scary, to put it mildly.

Allergies: More of them in my family?

Okay, this is going to be a long post. I'll start at the beginning. Last Friday, I picked Chloe up from school at 12:30 or so as usual. I needed to get a card for a friend and a few other things so I took Chloe with me and we went to the Dollar Tree. While we were there I got a phone call from my 4th grade son, Jeremiah. He told me that he had been stung by a bee and was forming a rash and his teacher had told him to call me. When I'd left the house, Josh was at home, so I called Josh, hoping that I wouldn't have to quit shopping. I wasn't done. Josh was heading into a meeting, so I went ahead and paid for the things I had already and then drove to the school. By the time I got there he was complaining that his arms and legs hurt. I called Josh again and asked him what I should do. He told me to take him to QuickCare, which is basically a doctor's office that you just drop in at, no appointment necessary. But I had to stop by Josh's office first because he had his medical card for the insurance. By the time I got back in the car from getting that Jeremiah said he was having trouble breathing. QuickCare was just a few blocks away, so I still wasn't too worried. But when we got there he was wheezing. They told us that as much trouble as he was having breathing they were going to have us go to the ER. When, we got there he was turning blue. The nurses were mad that they sent us by personal vehicle. Their excuse was they didn't have a doctor in at that moment at QuickCare. At the hospital they gave him two shots of epi and an IV that they gave him steroids through. He wasn't very happy. They had to monitor him for most of the afternoon. We left the hospital and later we went to Celebrate Recovery. While we were there Jeremiah and his friends downstairs in Kids Club decided to have a dance off. They were listening to praise music and dancing and Jeremiah started feeling real tired, so he sat down and soon was struggling to breathe. To the ER we go again. This time no epi. They just had to calm him down and then he started breathing normal again. He had a breathing treatment and a chest xray, which was negative and again we went home. Saturday and Sunday went smoothly. He even went to baseball practice. He was prescribed epi pens and some other pills that I forget what they're called right now. It starts with a p. Anyway, of course the epi pens are only if he gets stung, but he had to take the other stuff for a few days to keep the swelling down. Then, on Monday he went to school and again was playing basketball at recess and got stung. Josh was actually on the way to the school with the epi pens to explain the situation to them and leave them with an epi pen and show them how to use it when his phone rang and it was the school calling to tell him that Jeremiah got stung and was having trouble breathing. This time it only took about ten minutes for him to react to the sting! Josh went there and gave him the epi pen shot (his leg is still sore from that)and then took him to the hospital. He called me and of course, I went to the hospital as soon as I got the message. We had just finished his last series of medications. This time they gave us five days of the pills and wrote another prescription for epi pens, which we promptly went and got. Josh was going to take him to baseball practice, but after the dancing thing on Friday, I suggested that that probably wasn't such a good idea. He agreed and I took him home. He went back to school yesterday, and it was raining (and then snowing, what's up with that?) so I knew we didn't have to worry about bees. Josh went to the school the day before after we got Jeremiah taken care of too see if he could find the nest by the way. He didn't find it. I know there's got to be one there. Anyway, the school day went well yesterday and then he started having trouble breathing on the bus ride home! So, Josh got him breathing better and took him to QuickCare. They drew some blood for testing, which we'll have to wait a few days for. They tested him for allergies I think. So, hopefully we'll have more answers soon. He's home from school today, just cause he's really tired. He didn't get much sleep last night. He said his leg still hurt a lot from the epi pen 2 days earlier. I guess the needles in those things are huge!

Grand Prix race at AWANA's

Well, the kids had a great time at the Grand Prix race at AWANA's, racing the little cars they made. All three of my kids made the semi-finals in their age categories. Jeremiah made the finals and ended in 4th, just short of a trophy. Maybe next year. However, he placed 1st and got a trophy for the best design and Angela got 3rd for best design. I will put some pictures on here later. Angela built hers to look like a pencil. Chloe's was a crayon, and instead of saying Crayola on it, it said Chloeola. Jeremiah was a typical race car look, but was red and blue with white stars on it. Apparently the judges were very patriotic.

Soccer

We had our first soccer games of the season last night. The girls had a great time. Angela was a little upset because her shin guards made her legs itch, but other than that, they loved it. She had to wear them under her socks. I guess it's a rule for her age group. Anyway, they didn't make that a rule for Chloe, thank goodness. She has really sensitive skin and it really would have bothered her. We avoid things that make her skin itch, like the plague! She REALLY had a great time! The first thing she asked when I picked her up from school is if she had soccer again tonight! Boy, she just wants to play all the time! Anyway, right now we're getting ready to go to AWANA's. They're having a special event there as well, that I'll tell you about later. It's a very busy spring here!

CATS and kids and soccer

We went to the Broadway production of CATS last night in Pullman, Washington, just 7 miles from where I live in Moscow, Idaho. It was the actual cast that performs on Broadway. It was amazing. Such incredible talent. My kids were reading through the performers names and other things they have done and were amazed to see people from Wizard of Oz and the High School Musical movies among others. Those are the one's my kids recognized. They were thrilled. They just thought it was a little too long. Chloe seemed to enjoy it the most. She's been performing for me today, mostly seeing songs about cats. She really doesn't remember any of the songs, she just makes up her own lines. It's quite entertaining. Today, we will be having soccer games. We were mistaken about them having games on different days, but at least one has a game at 5:15 and the other at 6:15. I'm not sure which is when, but I will find out all those details soon. Josh needs to give me that information when he gets home before he goes to work.

Spring is here (I'm sure of it)

Allergy season is here and I am miserable. I have year-round allergies, but they're definitely worse during this time of the year. And it doesn't seem to matter how much medication I take I'm always sniffly. It's really annoying and disruptive to my life and it's one of 2 reasons I hate spring. The other reason is the increasingly warming weather that reminds me that the unbearably hot summer is coming. Even here in Idaho it's unbearably hot in my trailer house. We do not have air conditioning and I can't spend a lot of time outdoors. The sun drains me of energy unlike most people. I've always joked that I'm allergic to the sun, plus since I'm severely allergic to plant life I'm quite miserable outdoors in the spring and summer, so this time of year is not very fun for me. And once school gets out I never get a break, because my kids are always around. Don't get me wrong. I love my kids. It's just when you're constantly sniffling and miserably hot they can irritate me rather easily and it's better for both them and me if I can send them somewhere else for a while and rest. I am looking forward to having wheels this summer, so I can take the kids to the pool or the wonderfully air conditioned mall or something to hang out on hot days. I do have to be home some of the time, so that I can do housework, Ugh! And that's a lot more miserable in the summer too, cause it's just so hot in the house. And it's messier because of the kids being around all the time. Summer's are crazy, but it is fun when we can get away. It would be nice if we could get away this summer. Josh has talked about going down to southern California and visiting his brother by the beach! Now that sounds like loads of fun. Sure it's hot in Southern California, but there are so many coolingly fun things to do that it won't matter. And when we're indoors everything's air conditioned. Yay!

He's home!

We all made it to church! It's a miracle! And Josh is home where he belongs. Tired and sore, but happy and healthy!

A Saturday without Josh

Well, we're having a good day. We went to Celebrate Recovery last night and there were tons of people there and we had a great time! My friend's band played. They're called 2nd Adam. Isn't that a great name for a band. I can't believe no other Christian band has thought of it. It just seems so perfect. Anyway, we were supposed to have a playdate with Angela's friend, Emily, but Emily got sick. But then, an old friend of theirs that used to live here, showed up in town and he played over here for a while. So, all in all it was a good day. I'll let you know how church goes tomorrow.

weekend without Josh

Well, my husband is taking off for a men's retreat after work today, so it's going to be just me and the kids this weekend. So, I have to pick up Jeremiah from baseball practice tonight. That reminds me, I need to ask Josh what time and I have to take everyone to Celebrate Recovery and get everybody ready and to church myself on Sunday. It should be fun. And chaotic, but fun.

bible study

Well, I finished up my Beth Moore bible study on Psalms of Ascent today. I'm not sure what bible study I will be doing next. I plan to lead one this summer again, like I did last summer, but I am seeing what they are going to do for "Siesta Summer Bible Study" on the LPM Blog before I decide. If I can do that one I will do it.

Children trying to get out of going to school

Well, it's morning. One of my children tried to get out of school today. A different one from yesterday. He gets teased a lot at school, so he doesn't like to go. I hope this problem gets resolved soon.

A good day

Wow! It's been a good day. I had a wonderful visit with my friend, KO, this morning. It was really and truly wonderful and not rushed like it has been in the past. We had plenty of time to do what we needed to do and talk about what we needed to talk about.

House, MD, Delghtfully Distasteful

Well, it's a new day and I think I changed my mind about the post I was going to do. I had a friend on facebook that indicated she was offended by a recent episode of House and I was going to do a whole post on how if you're offended by House, you probably shouldn't be watching it, because he can be quite offensive. The exact word she used for it was "distasteful" and I thought that was a perfect way to describe Dr. House. He's delightfully distasteful. That's why we love him. He says the things we wish we could say to people and he gets away with it. We know that we would never get away with it. That's why we don't do it. We let House do it for us. Do you have any idiots in your life? I know I do. Wouildn't you just love to be able to walk right up to them and say, "You're an idiot." Well, House does exactly that. If you want to avoid the horrible consequences that can happen in people's lives you also shouldn't watch House. It's a hospital. Of course people have problems and House does not ignore recent and past issues in his shows. He takes terrible things that are a reality in people's lives and finds a way to laugh at them in a very distasteful way. But isn't it wonderful? Don't you love it? I've met few people who don't enjoy an episode of House every now and again. It's a relief after a week of dealing with "idiots". Hey, and I'll admit it, sometimes I'm the idiot. Aren't we all?

Another thing I love that House says is that everybody lies. Isn't it so true most of the time? I mean, how many of us really tell the whole truth about everything in our lives? Don't we leave out a few details? When we tell our friends when they drop by that we didn't have time to clean the house, don't we leave out some idiotic detail about whatever stupid thing happened that interrupted our house cleaning? Or stupid game we were playing or something instead of cleaning? I mean, really. Sometimes we're just plain lazy, but we don't admit that. We lie.

Okay, so I guess I did end up doing an entire post on House, MD. And now I have a busy day ahead. I have a friend to meet with this morning for a special devotional and this afternoon I have to take my daughter, Chloe, to her vision therapy session if she's up to it. She wasn't anxious to go to school this morning. She's claiming she's sick. She was sick all week last week, so she really needs to go to school. And in between all those things I need to do laundry and clean the bathrooms, some of which I probably won't get to and I'll probably lie about why!

Just checking in

Sorry, it's been a while since I last posted. And now I just realized I've got to go pick up my daughter from school. I had a really great post in mind, but don't know when I'm going to have time, so for now just checking in.

In Season

I'm still so sick and wish someone would just shoot me. My family refuses. I mean, really, my son just passed Hunter's Ed, so I know he can shoot a gun. We've got plenty of guns. All he has to do is choose one. He must think I'm not in season. I'm IN SEASON!!! I've declared myself in season.

Another sickness

Well, guess what? I have the flu again. I think we got it from our neighbor when my daughter went to visit her a few days ago. Angela got it shortly after and now Jeremiah, Chloe and I have it. It's very similar to the last one. Fever, headache, lightheadedness, sore throat, cough, stuffed up nose. Really miserable. Should be in bed right now, but I'm not. Josh tried to order me to bed, but that didn't work very well. I want to finish some laundry.

Extra work

My family had to take my bed apart today and put it back together. It was falling apart. None of the parts are actually connected to each other permanently. They're just basically resting on top of each other, so when it gets wallered by kids and what-not, it falls apart. Plus each of the pieces is having problems. We really need a new bed, but can't really afford one right now. So we fixed it to where it works for the time being. Now I have to put all my books back in the shelves in my headboard. Ugh! This is all extra work that I wasn't expecting to have to do today, so once again, not going to be a very productive day. What else is new!

Kids home

My kids are out of school today and for the next 3 days. I have no doubt they will drive me crazy.

QuickVerse

I got new bible software! Or new to me anyway. My friend, KO, got the new 2009 deluxe version of QuickVerse and gave me her old 2008 starter version. It is amazing. I've hardly touched it and it is amazing. I'm excited!