THURSDAY'S THOUGHTS

I'm here! My computer isn't broke, nor are my fingers or thumbs broke. I know I'm long overdue for a blog update, so let's see what I can come up with tonight.

I know every time I blog I say we've been busy. Well, it's true, we seem to stay pretty darn busy around here! Last week was especially so. I worked the whole week. It gets a little cra-cra on those weeks being away from home so much and still trying to do what needs to be done for Colby. But I managed. Didn't throw any fits or break any equipment at work, so that's always a plus. Hopefully it will be a while before I need to work 5 or 6 days in a row. That boss of mine has to be running out of vacation days soon, right?!

This week, busy also. Monday we went to the pet store. We checked out the puppies, rabbits, birds, fish and ferrets. Leave it to my kid to be fascinated by the baby ferrets. Colby has lost his mind if he thinks he's getting a stinky, sharp-toothed, rodent-looking pet. We picked out 6 new fish. Yes, we're giving the fish tank another go. To jog your memory, we had 3 fish back in the winter. Killed them all within 3 months. The water in the tank is very cloudy right now. They tested it twice at the pet store and said it was fine. We're down to 5 fish as of now. I'm determined to get this son-of-a-bitchin fish tank running successfully. Monday night we took Colby to see TMNT. That's Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles for those who don't know. He liked it! He actually watched the movie and didn't jabber through the entire thing. Good job, Colby.

Tuesday we took Colby swimming for the first time since before surgery. I couldn't do a lot of the exercises/PT I usually do in the water with him since he's still on some post-surgery restrictions. He loved it, as always. Tuesday night was the open house at Colby's school. I thought it would be a good idea for Colby and his teacher to meet before he started school. It was miserably hot in that school building. I guess with people coming and going and the door being opened so much, the AC just couldn't keep up. Couldn't wait to get home. This hot weather can just go away at any time. First person I hear complain about the cold gets punched directly in their throat. I freaking hate hot, steamy, miserable, humid weather. Absolutely hate it.

Yesterday I worked, so Colby just hung out during the day. I know he was tired after everything he had done so far this week. Last night I ran around this apartment like crazy getting Colby ready for school. That's right, sweet boy's first official day back to school was today!! Luckily the nurse who has been working with us since we got home from surgery has agreed to go to school with Colby. This is a huge worry off my mind. He'll be great with Colby, but for now, he's a rookie in the sense that taking Colby to school is a whole different scenario than watching him here at home. New nurse, new morning bus driver, new teacher, new speech therapist. Me, nervous? You bet I was. I followed the bus to school and stayed in the back of the classroom for when the nurse had questions. Tomorrow I will do the same. Colby had a great first day. No crying, no whining, no choking. Can't ask for much more than that! Now we have to get through tomorrow, too, then Colby will have 3 days to rest up and get ready for school next week. Check out the pic below. Is he not the most handsome 7th grader you have ever seen? Yes, yes he is.

Colby and I have finished reading his Hardy Boys book. Now he needs to decide if he wants to start reading Harry Potter or another Hardy Boys mystery. That Frank and Joe, you just never know what shenanigans they'll get into, haha. I'm hoping for Harry Potter. But then again, if we start that book now, chances are a year from now we'll still be reading it. We're not what you call consistent on reading every night.

That's it for now. Need to unpack and repack the dishwasher, fold the clothes that just buzzed in the dryer, and go tuck in that awesomely awesome sweet boy of mine. More blogging when I get time. Soon I hope.

 

 

BLOGGING EARLY WHILE MY BRAIN IS STILL WORKING

August is designated as SMA Awareness Month, and I feel like I've done a big fat zero nothing in helping to spread the word. But then again, hopefully my blog continually helps to educate others on the everyday triumphs and heartbreaks that come along with this disorder. There's no way I could blog about SMA and simply give the facts and statistics associated with it - too emotionally tied to it for that. For now, let me just say this. SMA is a horrible, devastating diagnosis. However, I refuse to let my mind "go there" in relation to what SMA has taken from my son. I simply can't do that, or I would have given up and had a breakdown years ago. Instead, I choose to focus on any good or positive I can find. Not only is Colby alive and beating the odds, he is thriving, and that's more than I could ever ask. I'll work on some awareness stuff on the rest of my blogs this month.

 For now, I'll update you on what we've been up to lately. Our weekend was good. I watched a lot of golf. And yes, it was by choice. The PGA tournament was here in Louisville, so that was an extra incentive to watch. Plus I'm slightly weird, I just like to watch golf. Saturday we had no nurse, and that was fine with us. After doing the Cincinnati trip on Friday, Colby and I needed some down/chill out time. I did manage to give him a bed bath. Really just wanted to get his hair washed. It can get pretty funky after a couple of days. I think the only other time I left the apartment was to go to Mass on Sunday. Colby didn't leave the apartment all weekend, too hot and muggy to get him outside. But again, needed some down time and needed to get stuff done around the apartment, so that was fine, too.

We did light our candle for SMA Awareness on Saturday night. There is one Saturday night designated for this in August. Anyone who wants can light a candle as a way to remember all the angels who have passed from SMA, and also to honor those who continue to fight the SMA battle. And trust me, it is a battle/war. It was emotional and powerful seeing on Facebook all the candles lit from different families. I want to thank my friends who took the time to light a candle. It means a lot to me that you cared enough to do that. Maybe next year I could get my act in gear and arrange a group candle lighting. Note to self for next August.   

My mom came over Tuesday. We took Colby's wheelchair outside and cleaned it. I'm talking take an old toothbrush and clean every nook and cranny clean. Amazing how filthy that chair gets. It was nasty gross, with what I assume was a combination of food, dirt, slobber and various other unpleasantness that has collected on it over the last year or so. Looks fantastic now, though.

School in Colby's school district started yesterday, but of course he didn't go. I'd estimate Colby to be 80% recovered from surgery. He has done amazingly well, but not quite ready for bumpy bus rides, sitting up all that time in class, etc. I'm thinking I'll send him the last week of August or right after Labor Day. He is able to sit up 1.5 hours easily, sometimes up to 2 hours. Obviously he needs a little more time to heal and build up his sitting tolerance again.

Okay, that's it for now. I need to get a shower before the nurse gets here at 8:00. Not sure what we have planned for today. If the weather is decent we'll get Colby outside to practice driving his chair. Or in his case, practice spinning in 1000 circles. Kid drives me nuts. Why in the world doesn't he want to drive forward, explore his surroundings, decide for himself where he wants to go?! He obviously doesn't wish to do those things. So if spinning in circles makes him happy, I guess I'll let him do it. Lord, give me patience, and please hurry!

PLAYING BLOG UPDATE - Yes, I know it's been a while

A friend of mine told me last Sunday at Mass that I have been "blog-less" for a while. And yet here it is, 6 days later and I'm still blog-less! I got up early today just so I could give a blog update. Actually that's not entirely true. I also needed to get the laundry sorted and get a load going, so I took care of that first. Now it's time to catch everyone up on all things Amy and Colby.

Busy. That basically sums it up for me. As a lot of moms, especially single moms tend to do, I have neglected my own health a bit over the last couple of years. Now I'm playing catch-up. This week it was a checkup with my new family doctor and a dreaded visit to the dentist. I'm one of those individuals who hate, despise, and am all around terrified of going to the dentist. It's disgusting! The noises, the sounds, the smells - it's all just too much for this chick to handle. However, I have a tooth that has been driving me crazy for the last couple of months. I told myself as soon as Colby got home and recovered from surgery, I was going to get that tooth taken care of. Dammit. So I am. Went to a new dentist. They just did x-rays and a consultation this visit. Still hated it. The "bad" tooth has a filling that has come out, so I get that fixed along with a teeth cleaning next month. Blah, blah, blah. I'm dreading it. Stupid sadist dentist. Mammogram this coming week. Woo-hoo.

Wednesday I worked. I've been told by the pharmacy I have to take this awful pharmacy tech state certification test in order to keep my job there (insert extremely large sigh and eye roll). There are 2 of us that work in the pre-pack area. First we were told we had to take the test. Then we were told we didn't. Now we're being told we do. Super duper. The other pre-packer (is that even the proper term for us? Don't know) just took her test yesterday and passed. So now there's no getting around it for me. If I want to keep my job there, which I do, time to get busy and study. Sure. Great. No problem. I'll find time to learn formulas and pharmacy information that I'll NEVER use at my job. I don't know the first thing about retail pharmacy or compounding pharmacy because guess what - I don't need to know these things in order to do my job properly. Pisses me off to no end. But I'll do it. Soon. It's on my ever-growing, overwhelming "to do" list.  

Thursday was the dentist in the morning, then I came home and packed us up for Cincinnati. Colby had a follow-up appointment yesterday with the ortho surgeon. Can you believe it's already been 45 days since Colby had his spinal fusion surgery?! Holy moly time sure does fly. We went up Thursday night and stayed at a hotel near the hospital. I don't think Colby is ready for an up-and-back car ride to Cincy yet. Too much sitting, too many bumps, etc. And of course the road construction is awful no matter where you go. Plus our appointment was early, 10:10, and we had to get x-rays first. So Dad, Colby and I went up Thursday night and headed out bright and early from the hotel Friday morning. The surgeon said Colby looked fabulous, which I knew he would. Check out the x-ray of Colby's hardware below. Unbelievable. Colby's incision looks fantastic - no redness, puffiness or signs of infection. Every now and then we'll see a spot of blood at the bottom of his incision, but the surgeon said this is normal. He said everything looks good and he wants to see Colby again in 3 months. He gave the okay for Colby to go to school, but only if I think he's ready. And I don't. School starts next week on the 13th, but I've decided Colby needs a couple more weeks. So I'll probably send him back the last week of August or might wait until after Labor Day. Haven't decided yet. The full time nurse we have has agreed to go to school with him. Thank you, Jesus, this is such a win-win for everyone, but he still has to do orientation with the school nursing agency. So I couldn't send Colby to school until that's done anyways.

I see my blog update is getting long, so I'll close it up for now. Actually it's also time to give Mr. Colby Sweet Boypants his morning meds also. We have no nurse today, and that's fine by me. We're both tired from the Cincy trip, so we're going to have a spend-the-day-in-our-pajamas-all-day day. Oh who am I kidding, I'll be in my pj's and that kids will probably just hang out in his brief. Maybe some socks if his feet get cold haha. Colby has spent the majority of his summer naked, and he seems perfectly fine with it. Me too, less laundry. More blogging soon. I'll do better with updates, I promise. Well, I don't promise, but I sure will try. Bye for now. Hope everyone has a super duper weekend. Count your blessings. Be grateful. Smile and give someone a hug. Or throat punch, depending on what the situation calls for. Sometimes jackholes just need a throat punch, case closed.