Tuesday, Part 2 - Let's put this day to rest!

Well, let's see...I started not feeling great this afternoon. It seems I am prone to some stomach issues right in the middle of The Month (sorry guys). I get very tired and I can literally almost feel the hormones/chemicals slipping out of wack. Plus I was a little on edge about Chris today - he insisted on going to school although he still had about a 100.1 temp this morning and had one more seizure last night. He's such a trooper. The phone never rang though and he seemed fine when the husband got home around 4:30. He looked 'better' to me when I got home at 5:30. Off I went to the grocery store and I got a text message 'Chris is Down'. UGH UGH UGH.

I had to give him a dose of Ativan after one more seizure....Chris tends to get them in clusters and the Ativan is supposed to 'quiet' the brain and prevent more activity. Unfortunately, it really dopes him up to where he can barely walk, and well, basically it makes him stupid. He managed to come to the table for dinner when he proceeded to dry heave. Not sure what this is all about. He could have a sinus infection, from the bad cold he had over vacation. But he has no drainage or anything. He says nothing hurts or feels bad. He just has this up and down fever. I'm worried now that he is having a relapse of the bladder infection, which could open up a whole new can of worms. Not only is it unusual for boys to have UTI's, but recurrent episodes usually indicate A Problem. However, he has not had any accidents or indicate any other symptoms of this so, I dont know! So, to the doctor we go tomorrow...for him to be having multiple seizures over several days means something else is going on.

I am under a FMLA (family leave) through the end of the year for Chris, but unfortunately I don't get paid now for my time off, because I've used all of my time up already. It's basically 'excused' time off without pay. Not really important but it bothers me a little.

Then I am looking through the mail and see my youngest daughter's 3rd grade reading/math achievement test results from the spring. She did NOT do well...alarmingly so. As in, for reading, she did not even meet state minimum standards? So THAT is bothering me. Grace had a lot of medical issues of her own last school year. It started with mystery 'eye pain' in the fall, followed by severe stomach pain episodes that would last for 2-3 hours. Soon it got to a point where I was charting the episodes happening every other Monday at 7pm. And then weekly. It was crazy. Picking her up at school at least once a week for awhile there. The eye pain preceeded the attacks by 24-48 hours. A trip to the neurologist yielded a diagnosis of 'abdominal migraines'. Then she started having episodes of seeing 'colors' - brief flashes of pink and yellow lines. After it happened, she would feel a little sick and had a hard time concentrating in school. She had a hard time in school in general last year...she kept complaining that she just couldn't concentrate or understand things - especially math and reading comprehension tasks. I started wondering if she was having brief seizures so more tests - MRI, EEG etc. - all came back 'normal'. One EEG showed some slowing in her left occipital lobe, which was interesting because she had just had an episode of colors just prior to being hooked up to the test. But a 48 hour EEG monitoring a couple of weeks later was normal.

Anyway, I wasn't surprised by the poor test result given all of this...but it kind of put me back in 'watch mode' now. She has been perfectly fine all summer, no stomach aches, headaches, or color visions. Her neuro says this is normal in migraine patients, and activity could pick up in the fall. Last year it started in September. So now I am on guard and hoping she does not go through this cycle again. If the episodes begin again, we will put her on a daily migraine medicine. Last year we treated each episode as they happened, but this time we will treat her proactively. Since school started she has been complaining that her 'eyes hurt' and she can't see things at school. So I guess I will schedule her an eye exam to get that checked out. I really hope it's not an eye pain of a different sort!

So...yesterday I felt like Super Woman :-) today...not so much! I did NOT do my strength training tonight - mainly because I don't feel great. I am so glad I did not have a run scheduled because I don't think I could have done it - I was not craving physical activity today, that is for sure!

I guess my main reason for getting this down on my blog was basically just that....getting it out. I don't want to come across as a whiner by any means. The 'old me' would be doing some emotional eating right now (M&M's) to cover up the anxiety. I'm so glad I have gotten to the point where I recognize this! So despite my missed workout, I think a checkmark still goes in the Victory column. Blogging is good therapy - even if no one reads this, I got my rambling thoughts down and it's good for me.

And with that, I am putting this day to bed now, and tomorrow is a new day and I'll be ready for whatever it brings!