Random updates

[mysid]

1) My younger daughter, K, has been growing out her hair to donate to Locks of Love, an organization that will use her hair to make a wig for a child who lost his/her hair due to chemotherapy or other health problems. She's had her heart set on doing so for quite some time (2+ years), but in the meanwhile, she's also gotten quite attached to her long hair. She's been saying that she wants to wait until her hair is long enough that we can cut off the minimum 10 inches required and still have shoulder length hair. Just imagine hair that long on a tiny little person!

We talked her into cutting it off before summer starts, and she begins swimming every day. (Her hair wasn't as long as she wanted, and it would mean cutting her hair just below her ears.) She agreed, and last Friday was the day. When we put elastics in her hair at the necessary height to cut off 10 inch ponytials, she looked very unhappy and I thought she would have second thoughts.

When the stylist made the first cut, I prepared for tears. Instead--a huge smile. She was just so proud of herself!




2) Months ago, my OB/GYN told me that I needed out-patient surgery (laproscopic removal of an ovarian cyst and a D&C to remove an endometrial polyp). The big day is this Thursday--or at least it was supposed to be. I called the doctor's office to find out what time I was supposed to be at the hopsital, only to find out that they never scheduled it. According to Mandy at the doctor's office, she offered May 7th to me as a possible date (via answering machine), and I never got back to her. The way I rememeber it, she told me (via answering machine) that May 7th was the date, and then when I called her back for more info, I got her voice mail and never heard from her again.

I'm PISSED. Not only have I been reorganizing my life so I can wallow in post-surgical discomfort all weekend--all for nothing--but more importantly, I wanted this done months ago, and now I have to wait a few more weeks. Ugh!

My husband is pissed because he cleared his work schedule for the day--now for nothing--and now he needs to reschedule his meetings on the new day Mandy is offering me. He wanted me to make a big fuss about the whole thing, but really, what would that accomplish? Yeah, I'm pissed as hell, but yelling at Mandy and others won't get me back my surgical slot that was given to someone else. Ugh! again.


3) My son has asthma, and an allergy to pollen is one of his triggers. Last week, he was starting to wheeze and cough more than usual, so I increased the frequency of his inhaled medication. That seemed to do the trick until Saturday. He came home from playing baseball in the morning, and all afternoon, his asthma kept getting worse and worse. (I think it was the combination of breating in pollen while outside all morning compounded by a headcold he'd caught.) When my husband and I were getting ready for bed, we checked on son and discovered that he was wheezing so badly that he could barely breathe.

I almost took him to the hospital, but hubby talked me out of it. (Don't ask; I don't know why I caved.) So, instead, I slipped a mask over his (sleeping) head and gave him more medication. Then I stayed in his room all night, listening to him breathe, and giving him one more dose of medication before morning. By Sunday, he was getting better--although still not good--and on Monday we went to the allergist. He was definitely better by then--of course--so we just got a couple of new prescriptions to avoid a replay of this weekend.

4) I have begun several QaF stories, but I can't finish any of them. Le sigh.
.

Comments

[secretsolitaire.livejournal.com]

1. Aw, good for your daughter!

2. UGH. That sucks to be all ready for something and then not have it happen. :-(

3. Glad he's feeling better!

4. Boo. What are they about?

[mysid.livejournal.com]

I have five QaF WIP's, including: a QaF/HP crossover (Gus/Teddy Lupin), one based on a plotbunny I adopted (B & J on a gay newlywed game), and a story inspired by stories in which Justin meets Brian when he gets a job in Kinnetik's art dept.

[secretsolitaire.livejournal.com]

Ooh, Gus/Teddy! That sounds intriguing. Hope you can get the words flowing again soon. :-)

[fantomeq.livejournal.com]

Ugh, they'd better get you in damned quick after all that trouble.

We're thanking the stars for Flovent. Beth's had her first cold with no breathing treatments. Unfortunately she's still allergic to egg, which I tried again today. I hope your son's doing much better.

[mysid.livejournal.com]

Yes, thanks. I think part of the problem was that he used to take an allergy med (Xyrtec?) which switched from being a prescription to OTC, which meant that our insurance would no longer help pay for it. It was just too expensive for us, so we tried to rely on his other two meds only. As of this visit, the doctor has him on a third med (Prescription! Yay!) which should do the job that the Xyrtec used to do.

He seems to have outgrown his egg allergy, thank goodness, but he's much more sensitive to pollen than he used to be, and he now has a tree nut allergy. No more Honey Nut Cheerios or Green Beans Almondine for us.

[fantomeq.livejournal.com]

I used to have good luck with Allegra for allergies, but living in the northwest, it's not strong enough now.

I didn't realize your son had food allergies too. At what age did he outgrow egg? Beth's three, and as I understood it, we're out of luck now.

Ugh, tree nuts. I wish tree nuts and peanuts didn't exist.

[mysid.livejournal.com]

He's nine. Several of his food allergies (including egg) were always more of a "suspected allergy" than a definite one, so don't go by his example.

[6frog.livejournal.com]

I get asthma, when I was young it was so rare, possibly not always correctly diagnosed, that in all the 13 schools I attended (my family moved a lot) I only ever encountered one other asthmatic. The matrons at the (boarding) schools frequently didn't know anything about asthma. Compare that with now. I think it has something to do with crop sprays and exhaust fumes.

But the treatment has improved immeasurably, when I was young we had ephedrine and adrenaline, both dangerous for kids to self administer and nobody told me to keep the adrenaline in the fridge so it would go pink, ie turn into nor-adrenaline and give me hallucinations. The result was that I never had an urge to take drugs while all my contemporaries were (I'm 70).

But to get to the point there has always been a treatment for very strong allergic reactions which is sometimes called de-sensitization. It is time consuming and has to be done under strict medical supervision because each time you go for another treatment they have to observe you for some time to check you don't go into anaphalactic shock. It's not used for nut allergy, there are too many kids with it and you can live without peanuts but if your son has an allergy to tree pollen it is impossible to avoid it in the air so maybe your health provider would spring for it if you could get your specialist to prescribe it (if s/he considered it appropriate). It might eventually work out cheaper and it would certainly be better for your son.

Anyway best of luck to you and your son. It often gets better as you grow up as long as you don't start smoking. Love from 6frog