Amy and Colby: NEW HOME - ARE WE THERE YET?! ALMOST!!

Quick update while I watch the Broncos/Packers game and the World Series. Also watched the Bellarmine/U of L basketball game earlier. Ah yes, it's the most wonderful time of the year! Baseball is ending, football is in full swing, and basketball is starting up. Makes me happier than a pig in slop.

Monday I had to pick Colby up early from school. He was having trouble keeping his oxygen above 93/94 and his heart rate was higher than normal. That's no good. Plus his secretions were thick and stringy. Also not good. For the next couple of days, we gave him and extra IPV treatment each day. Tuesday it was cold, damp and rainy out, so I decided against taking Colby swimming. I'm sure he didn't agree with this decision, but I had to do what's best to keep him healthy. His speech therapist came over instead. She found him some games he could play through his eye gaze. He didn't seem to thrilled about playing them. I mean really? What 13-year-old boy doesn't like to play video games?! That would be mine.

Then the doozy came yesterday. I could tell when I was giving Colby his IPV and CoughAssist treatments something was up. I felt resistance when I suctioned Colby's trach. He was having trouble again keeping his numbers at average. Long story short, my mom and I ended up doing an emergency trach change for Colby. It's very seldom his oxygen drops dangerously low like it used to back in the “pre-trach” days. Saturday is dipped down to 31. Thank goodness it was only for a few seconds, although when that's happening, it seems like an eternity. There was a big plug on the end of Colby's trach. I thought oh hell, he's getting sick. Although his secretions were not discolored. Long story longer, his humidifier hadn't been plugged up for a couple days. Guess that explains the plug, huh? He's been fine since we fixed the problems yesterday. Sweet boy will keep me on my toes, for sure.

Notice I didn't say the nurse and I changed out Colby's trach. Probably shouldn't surprise you to hear this, but we've had another nurse quit. The nursing agency called and said she gave her notice. Not a 2-week notice, just notice she was leaving the agency. Perfect, just perfect. She was scheduled to work next weekend when we're supposed to be moving. I counted it up. We've had 14 nurses in our home in the last 12 months. Of those 14, we have 2 remaining. And those 2 have been with us the longest! One has worked here part time for over 2 years and the other one is our only full-time nurse. He has been with us about a year and a half. Makes me sick how these home health nurses have been. I'll deal with hiring and training a new nurse after our move. We'll just have to make due between now and then.

What about the house? We're getting so, so, so, so close to being ready to move! Last week was busy, busy. We painted the basement and scrubbed the floor down there. Appliances were installed. Fireplace was hooked up. Towel rods, door stops and toilet paper holders were hung. Lighting fixtures were installed. Flooring was installed. Counter tops were installed. Very productive week! I've been packing and organizing like a crazy fool around this apartment. Dishwasher needs to be installed, then it'll be time for the final inspections. Then once we pass those, which surely to goodness we will, we can start moving! We've also been working on building a temporary ramp to get Colby inside. Our deck and ramp won't be built until later in the month, and uh yeah, we sorta need a way to get Colby in the house.

Thank you to everyone who checked on Colby through the week. I thought he was getting sick. Then later in the week I started feeling icky. Not a full-blown cold, just super tired with itchy throat and a bit of a cough. I wasted no time. Started taking Emergen-C and diffused my OnGuard doTERRA oil. Drank more water and took my vitamins. I feel fine now. Tired of course, but I'll be that way until we're moved and settled.

Colby had trick-or-treat at his school on Thursday. No way could he wear the same Halloween costume twice! Oh no, that just wouldn't do around here. K-Mart had costumes half off, so I found Colby this one. It's called Soul Taker, but I told Colby since we were reading Harry Potter, we'd tell people he was a Death Eater. We didn't go out and do anything for trick-or-treat last night. Colby had had the choking incident and I was tired and groggy from taking sinus meds, so I was a lame mom and didn't take Colby out. Thought it would be best if we both stayed in out of the damp and rested. LAME-O! No use worrying about it now. It's over and done. Next Halloween I'll make sure I make it up to Colby.

Here are some pics. I'm getting in bed. I'll keep you posted on the moving situation. Hopefully it will be sooner and not later. We're so ready!