OUR WEEK IN REVIEW

The nurse will be here at 9AM today, so I'm enjoying a few quiet moments by myself.  Sort of quiet. The dishwasher is running, and that poor thing is on its last leg. Need to go tell the apartment office that it needs fixed/replaced, along with a few other things. Tell you what. Let's take bets. I'll go over Monday morning and tell them what needs done here, and we'll see how long it takes them to actually do it. Here's the to-do list: finish painting in the living room where they hung the new blinds, toilet handle sticks all the time, new faucet and lighting fixture in the kitchen, and now the dishwasher. My guess is 2 months, at least. In other words, they're slow around, and I find it very annoying. Colby is still asleep. I'm enjoying my morning coffee, watching Sportscenter and pecking away on the computer with my black and orange fingernails. Yes, I think it's official, I'm a Halloween freak.  

Monday was an interesting day. While Colby was at school I went and visited with the ex in-laws (the 1st set, haha. ) Hadn't seen them in probably 18 years or so. Had the most wonderful visit. So glad I went. Picked Colby and the nurse up after school so we could take Colby to get his flu shot. That kid is one tough dude, let me tell you. Took him to Kroger because I thought it would be easier/quicker than going to the pediatrician's office. Think again, there were several people in front of us getting their shot, too. Seemed to take forever. Colby did awesome. Didn't cry or whine one bit.  

Kudos to the principal at Colby's school for helping arrange swimming therapy for Colby. They have a pool at his school, but it's not ideal for Colby. It would be difficult getting him in the pool. Plus I could tell the school was leery to have Colby swim there, even if I was there to get in the pool with him, since he has a trach. The principal said, hmmm, we've never had a trached kid swim here before. Yep, leave it to us, we're trailblazers! We were able to make arrangements with the same facility we went to over the summer. They have a beautiful, modern swimming facility which is a much better option for Colby. So on Tuesdays the school bus will take Colby and the nurse to this facility. I'll meet them there and we'll get Colby in the pool. The lady who runs the pool at this facility found a perfect vest for Colby to use. It supports his head and neck, but still allows him to move his arms, hips and legs. Very excited for Colby to get to go swimming.  

Wednesday Colby got in "trouble" at school. He was being a total poop head. He refused to answer his math questions. I mean flat out would not do it. So the teacher gave him 5 problems to do at home. Then he refused to do them at home. He was being beyond difficult that day! So he got no Spongebob until he got his math done. Then I went ahead and tacked on some more time, so no Spongebob until 5:30. I told him the next time I got a report like that from school, it would be 6:00 until he got to watch Spongebob. The next time after that, 6:30, etc. Not sure if he was just having a bad day Wednesday or if the Spongebob threat worked, but he was more cooperative on Thursday and Friday. Stubborn doesn't begin to explain this kid's personality, holy crap.

I would love to tell you that the situation of ordering supplies with Apria has gotten better, but unfortunately it hasn't. I've talked to customer service, the RT that is in charge of Colby's account, and now the branch manager at the local level. I've called the processing center and got the name and direct line of someone who is supposed to be helping me get Colby's trachs. It continues to be a big, fat, horrible, frustrating mess. On the 17th I ordered 8 items. As of today we have received 6 of them. We're allowed 4 CoughAssist filters monthly. They sent 4 alright…4 cases! We have 200 CoughAssist filters sitting in the living room! Freakin' idiots! If it wasn't such a total waste of money, I'd pitch them in the dumpster so I didn't have to mess with it. But I know that's not the right thing to do, so I'll work on returning them. Oh, and Colby's trachs were supposed to be delivered Friday. Of course they weren't. The lady at the processing center said to call her if we didn't receive them. I called her, left her a voice mail message. She didn't return my call. Yep, same old, same old shit there.  

Thursday I had a much-needed girls' night out. We went to the Haunted Hotel. My friend and her sister go every year, and I've gone with them the last 2 years. I kept saying, okay, I'm not going to scream this year. I've done this before, I'm ready. Well forget that. Along with jumping out from the dark shadows and corners, they're allowed to reach out and touch you now. That's just messed up. It was a terrifying blast. So glad I went. Already looking forward to going again next year.     

Okay, I'm getting a little chatty here, so I'll wrap this up for now. The nurse will be here in 15 minutes. If she's on time, of course. That's always a big IF. She'll get Colby up for the day. I'm going to go walk, then start getting ready for work. Yep, my weekend to work 2nd shift on the counter. Simply just can't wait (note the sarcasm in that statement.) Later, taters. Time to get this day started.