July and August have been 2 of the hardest, draining months of our lives. We seriously can't remember a time so exhausting since we have been married! Allow me to recap all that has gone on in our house....
-First week in July I got a call from the dermatologist that a mole they had removed had come back as melanoma and I needed to see a cancer specialist at Kirklin Clinic. Appointment was made for 3 weeks later.
-July 13: Will fell off the bed and fractured his collarbone.
-July 22: Appointment at Kirklin Clinic with Dr. Urist. John and I went in fully prepared to have the doctor remove some extra skin around the place the mole had been taken off and be done. This appointment proved only to be a consultation and we learned the whole surgery was going to be a little more involved than we originally thought. Surgery scheduled for July 28.
-July 28: Arrive at Kirklin Clinic around 10. I had to have a dye injection done first so they could see which lymphnode was feeding the tumor in my arm (when I say tumor, it was very very small). Once they found the lymphnode, they marked it in my armpit and sent me over to outpatient surgery. The surgery lasted about an hour and a half. They had to put me completely to sleep since they removed the lymphnode in my armpit and took out a significant amount on my arm. We got home around 6:00 P.M. It was an extremely long day!!
-July 30: I take Will to the Doctor. He is not acting right-crying a lot and running fever. Holding his ear. Dr. said his ears did not look normal but were not infected, just red and inflamed. Gave us ear drops and a prescription for Omnicef, telling us not to fill it unless he took a turn for the worse over the weekend.
-July 31: John works (Saturday)
-night of July 31: Will's fever spiked so we started the Omnicef.
-August 2: Will started daycare...(you've probably already read this detailed account earlier on the blog)
-August 3: We took Will off the Omnicef. The side effects were awful.
-August 4: Will goes back to Children's to have another x-ray to make sure his collarbone is healing properly. It is. I get a call this afternoon from Dr. Urist that all margins from the skin removed on my arm came back clear but that my lymphnode had some abnormal cells in it. He was not too concerned but wanted me to have a CT PET scan to ensure cancer was not anywhere else in my body.
-August 7: John works (Saturday)
-August 9: I start back to school. Teacher Work day.
-August 10: In meetings at school. Leave about 2pm headed to UAB for a follow up with Dr. Urist and my CT PET scan. If you know me, I do not sit still and do absolutely nothing very well. I had to sit and do nothing for 2 hours for this scan. There was not clock so I couldn't tell if 5 minutes or 50 had passed. I thought I was going to go crazy.
-August 11: I get the results from CT PET scan around 11:00-ALL CLEAR!!!! Meet the teacher started at 2pm.
-August 12: First student day
-August 13: Pick Will up from daycare and he doesn't seem to be feeling well (he has been in daycare 2 weeks at this point). Friday night Will wakes up several times...
-August 14: John works (Saturday.....AGAIN) Will misses out on his friend's birthday party because he has some diarrhea and I was afraid to get him around other kids. My friend Holly comes in town for Alabama's bid day on Sunday. My mom comes over after I put Will down for a nap. I leave with Holly headed for Tuscaloosa for her to go to Alpha Gam's serious night to see her youngest sister that is going through rush. My mom calls me about 2 hours after I left and said that Will is having labored breathing. John is on his way home from work so I tell her to have him call me when he gets there. John calls and says he thinks he needs to take Will somewhere now, he is wheezing pretty bad. I call our after hours number at pediatrician and get Will an appointment at Children's Hospital After hours clinic. John takes Will for his 5:45 appointment. Turns out he has bronchilitis and a double ear infection. Dr. gives him a breathing treatment while he is there, prescription for Augmentin, and an inhaler. John finally gets Will home about 8:00. Holly and I get home from Tuscaloosa about 11:00. Will is up about every hour because he can't breathe.
-August 15: John had to go into work until lunch time (SUNDAY). I am completely over him working on the weekends and really overwhelmed with all that is going on with Will.
-August 16, 17, 18 My mom stays home with Will because he is sick and we don't want to send him to daycare. Will thinks we are back to our old arrangement with Kiki keeping him during the day.
-August 19, 20: Extremely hard daycare days. Drop off was a nightmare! Thursday when I got to work I completely fell apart.
-August 21: Another Saturday.....John WORKS. AHHHH. John had to choose several Saturdays to work between July and December and so he chose them all in a row in August so he wouldn't have to work during football season.
-August 23: My parents leave for Alaska and will not return until September 8 (that's 17 days). I go ahead and prepare myself for Will to get sick again. It would only make sense, since my parents would be gone and unable to help me. Murphy's law.
-August 26: Will has up to this point had a great week at daycare. Drop off is getting easier. That night after dinner we played outside for a while and then came in for bath, books, and bed. As soon as I turned his light out to rock him before bed, he started coughing. That deep cough like he had 2 weeks ago with bronchilitis. It is very croupy sounding and he can't breathe without a rattle. I hold him and let him sleep in my arms until 11. I was really afraid to put him down, for fear he might stop breathing. Around 11 he was not comfortable laying with me so I finally put him in his bed. We decided that he probably shouldn't go to daycare the next day so I put in for a sub. I go up to school very late to make lesson plans and get copies run off for my class.
-August 27: I call first thing in the A.M. to get Will an appointment at the pediatrician. Our pediatrician is out of town for 11 days...go figure. We see her partner. She is very worried about his breathing and gives him a breathing treatment while we are there. She looks at his ears and says they aren't infected, but red and inflamed. We have been hearing this since June. She reviews his chart and said that he needs to see an ENT. She prescribes 2 different inhalers, Singulair to help with breathing, and an antibiotic that she tells us to wait and fill over the weekend if he doesn't seem to be getting better. Luckily, my cousin's brother is an ENT. We were able to get an appointment that afternoon. As soon as Will woke up from his nap we loaded back up and went to the ENT. Will was not a fan. Dr. said his adnoids need to come out and he needs tubes. He did a nose culture and recommended we go ahead and start the antibiotic that pediatrician gave us, saying he was clearly infected and the sooner he started taking that, the better. Surgery is set for the following Wed (Sept 1) and I fill the antibiotic on the way home.
-August 28: in the early hours of Saturday A.M. I wake up feeling very sick. My stomach had bothered me yesterday, but I was so busy with Will that I didn't really think much of it. About 1am I start throwing up. I am freezing with chills and feel very sick. By about 7am Will is awake, John takes care of him while I lay in the bed. And now I am laying in bed, not feeling normal, but not feeling nearly as sick as I did earlier. John is out with Will on this beautiful Saturday at the park and I am stuck here.
Doesn't this make you tired just reading it :) I have never been more ready to say adios to two months in my entire life!!!! We are looking forward to September-hopefully it will be a calm and less stressful fall.
Since John and I got married, I have been given some grief about marrying an Auburn fan. Not just any Auburn fan, but a freak of nature that lives, breathes, IS Auburn football 365 days a year. When we found out we were having a boy, the first thing that came into my mind was that John would have a little football buddy. I never once thought about putting him in my alma mater colors or even trying to get him to say "Roll Tide." This is probably appauling to my family and those that can't possibly understand why I would enter into a mixed marriage in the first place, but the simple fact is that Auburn is John's passion. I love that about him. Do I enjoy the fact that he can get neurotic and crazy and a little over the top September through December, not necessarily, but that is just a part of who John is, which makes me love him all the more. I would never dream of trying to get Will to cheer for my team because that would be devastating to John. Well, lets be honest, he wouldn't let that happen, but the point I am trying to make, is that I would never try. It would be like a slap in the face to my husband.
I love the fact that John plays football in the backyard with Will, teaching him "Touchdown" and "Down, Set, Hike." I love that he taught Will to recognize the AU on anything since he was about 10 months old. I love that when he went to the first game this season, he told me to make sure Will was in front of the T.V. to watch the eagle fly and see kick off since he couldn't be there with him. I love that when he came home from that first game he had about $50 worth of AU loot all for Will-a jersey, new hat, and a football.
John is creating some precious memories with Will. Of course I still cheer for my team...but it doesn't bother me in the least bit that by the end of this football season, my son will be screaming "War Eagle!" On that day John will beam with pride and I will swallow mine, because I will know how special that will be for a daddy and his son.
Cousins: John with Will (20 months), EJ with James (2)
