GOOD STUFF

Well, it's mostly good around here, I'm happy to report. Starting with Colby, my favorite topic of all time. He had appointments at Cincinnati Children's this past Wednesday and Thursday. We went up Wednesday night for a sleep study there in the hospital. That was supposed to be the easy part of the visit, but not so much. The main problem was even though Cincy called twice to remind us of the appointment, they failed to mention we would be discharged at 7:00 a.m. the next morning. Huh? Colby's appointments didn't start on Thursday until 10:15. I was like, so let me get this right, you're kicking us out in the morning? Just what in the crap are we to do with Colby, and ALL his supplies and equipment, for 3 hours?! Oh hell no. But in the end it all worked out and we were able to just stay put until time to leave for Colby's appointments (squeaky wheel you know.) The appointments on Thursday were a breeze. First up, lab work. I thought they would want blood work but they only wanted a urine sample. Cool. So we taped this baggie thingy on Colby's thingy and away we went to the next appointment, x-rays. Then from there we moved to cardiology for an echocardiogram and EKG. Then we met with the cardiologist, who said Colby's heart was just fine and she doesn't need to see him for 2 years. Happy, happy. Then we met with the pulmonologist who said Colby looked good and sounded good and for me to stop worrying about him so much. Easy for him to say, it's not his kid! He said overall Colby is doing fine. Don't change his bi-pap settings for now and just give him extra cough treatments or bi-pap time if he needs them. We'll get the sleep study results back in 10-14 days.

So you should have seen the 8-incher I was holding today! An 8-inch ponytail, that is. Got all my hair whacked off today to donate to Pantene's Beautiful Lengths. It's short, super short as a matter of fact, but the style is really cute. It'll take some getting used to. Thinking maybe now I need some highlights. Don't know, we'll see how this new-do looks over the next week or so. Usually I won't do any kind of color/highlights in my hair because it's too much work (and money) to maintain.

We were very tired after getting home from Cincy Thursday night. Those are long, exhausting trips. Even though by now I could pack Colby's stuff up blindfolded, I always worry I've forgotten something important that he needs. There's no way that could happen. I have a "don't event think of leaving home without this stuff for Colby" list that I check, double and triple check. But if I didn't worry about that, I'd be worrying about the van breaking down, getting stuck in traffic, getting bad news about Colby, etc. Like I said, exhausting, mainly mentally. So we slept in Friday morning. Ahhhh, that was nice. We've had a laid back couple of days, which is just fine with me. Got the apartment cleaned. Spent some QT with Colby. I'm sure things are going to get crazy around here with the benefit next weekend, Thanksgiving the week after that (how is that possible?!) and then boom, it's December and all the Christmas hoop-dee-do. Yikes. Don't know if I'm ready for all that or not. Too freakin bad, huh? Ready or not, here it comes.

Mr. Colby is going to be a star soon. Or should I say even more of a star than he already is haha. Years ago when Colby was a baby, a photojournalism student, Maggie, did a project on him and SMA for one of her classes. Well she has moved back to Louisville. She's a freelance photographer and has a very impressive list of jobs she's done. Now she's starting a magazine called THIS…is Louisville, and Colby Russ is going to be featured in the first edition in January 2012. So excited! She's been hanging out with us as we go through the everyday routine with Colby. I think Maggie has taken quite an interest in Colby (but you know, who wouldn't, right?) She even drove up to Cincy and took pictures while we were at our appointments. Can't wait to see the article!

Well, that's all folks. That's what is new here in Russ Land. I'm determined to get up in the morning and exercise, which is not going well by the way. I can't believe how sore I'm getting after workouts. It takes so long to get into even just decent shape. Then if you don't stick with it, like you have surgery or you're kid is in the hospital or something like that, boom, you're huffing, puffing and flopping around trying to do even the easy exercises. WTH?! I find it highly irritating. Gotta stick with it though.