New Pics!

Here's some recent pictures of Kyle - the only pictures of his surgery scar so far....

Update

Somehow I'm hanging in there at school but it's been a challenge. I thought for sure that I was going to fail the anatomy & physiology classes but I managed to get an A. Chris says he won't listen when I freak out anymore since I've freaked on almost every final, but have gotten all A's.

Now I'm done with the general education requirement and have moved on to the core classes. Right now I'm taking Essentials of Sonography and Introduction to Pharmacology with our new teacher Mrs. Rudolph. We're still in the first week so we haven't gotten too far along... mostly terminology so far. But today the teacher treated us to a "field trip" to the lab (next door to our classroom) and did an echo on one of my classmates to show what it will be like. It really got us pumped to see the echo done and know that we'll be starting scanning in a couple short weeks, ourselves. When Mrs. Rudolph put the transducer onto my classmate's chest and the image of his heart appeared on the monitor, I was at once excited that I could recognize the mitral valve! This may not seem like a big deal to some of you but considering I didn't know what the mitral valve was until earlier this month.... I'm tickled pink!

In the meantime, Kyle has still got about a million doctor appointments. My mom is taking him to most of the appointments and that's helping quite a bit. It's still exhausting juggling the scheduling of appointments, home health equipment, feeding schedule, insurance, normal monthly bills, household chores, and somewhere in the middle, a life! It doesn't take much to push me over the edge lately. I go three days and need to get out! I've been swing dancing with Jenn a couple of times and even gone out to Ybor a couple of times. But a couple of days of early mornings to get to school, followed by work at school, followed by long drives home, followed by getting feedings, cleaning out the feeding pump, studying, and nights interrupted by loud alarms from the apnea monitor, feeding pump or tempermental alarm clocks and I'm screaming for freedom! Unfortunately freedom in the form of going out with friends and drinking, dancing, eating, etc. usually costs money... which increases the stress on the day to day stuff.

Bank Problem Fixed

Our bank just reimbursed us today for all the fraudulent charges and fees associated with them. It's still a little rough because we got behind on a few bills because of it. But at least we have money again. Good timing, too, because both cars were almost on empty and we had used the last of the cash to put a few drops in the tanks ($5 doesn't go far at the gas station these days). Oh, and our cell phones are back on.

Baby's Home... Again.

I've been neglecting my blog. Not to make excuses, but I've been a little busy.

Monday morning, I went to the hospital instead of to school because they had said all weekend that Kyle was coming home that day. My mom and Hannah went with me. We met with the rep from Pediatric Health Choice in the parking lot of the hospital so that he could show us how to use the oxygen tanks and other oxygen equipment for at home. When he finished, we packed the oxygen tanks and equipment into the trunk and made our way into the hospital but as soon as we got in, the nurse had bad news. It didn't look like Kyle was coming home after all. The stupid thing is the reason. Even though they had planned discharge to include oxygen whenever he's asleep, they had not been giving him oxygen in the hospital at all. He was doing fine without it. But Sunday night (the night before I was supposed to bring Kyle home), his saturation levels were a little low so they had to use oxygen - while he was asleep. Because of him needing oxygen while he was asleep, they decided he needed more testing. They decided to do one more chest x-ray and a "lung perforation test".

So, I missed a day of class for an oxygen instruction (which I don't need) and paperwork. One day of class may not seem like much but this program is accellerated which means that one day is 10% of class - and if I miss 20% of class without make-up hours, I automatically fail. Meanwhile, Chris is out of PTO at work so even though Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) protects his job if he takes time off for Kyle, they don't have to pay him for the time he's out.

Add to all that... Chris worked at O'Keefe's restuarant in Clearwater over the previous weekend to make a few extra bucks and at some point dropped his bank card. As soon as he realized it, he called it in as lost and emptied the bank account so that we'd have money to use until the cards were replaced. However, someone apparently found the card and used it. They made several charges which were each complimented by a nifty little overdraft fee. We're in the midst of fixing this with the bank but in the meantime, his paychecks are going into the bank and getting eaten up with the fees.

Anyway, so when I left the hospital, I explained to the nurse that whenever Kyle did get discharged, they should call us and let us know it was definite and we would pick him up after work/school. They went ahead and kept him until Wednesday to make sure he was off the oxygen for a full 48 hours. Chris and I went Wednesday after school/work to pick him up. They gave us the usual list of follow-up appointments with almost a notepad's worth of scripts for medications, follow-ups, labs, etc. The whole way to the car, I kept feeling like someone was going to chase after us and make us bring him back in. The whole way home, I felt like I was kidnapping him! It didn't help that he was looking at us like we were crazy with an accusing glare - like he was saying "Where do you think you're taking me?" But finally, we were home with our baby and he's all ours again.

I started work with the "work study" program at my school, which basically means I get paid for running around doing clerical stuff for the teachers. So far, it's going well. The copier and I are working out our differences and I'm starting to get the hang of the filing system and such.

Classes have been hard but somehow I'm managing to keep an A average. I've got to admit, at times I feel overwhelmed - like I'm going to drown in responsibility but things should be easier after a while. Once I finish school (should I survive), I'll have a career helping others and getting well paid (what a lovely combination). And with time, Kyle won't need so much extra equipment or appointments (though he will always have more check-ups than most babies his age).

My sister (best friend ever!) is visiting from Indiana with her family this week. I wish I had off from school and work to spend more time with her, but as I mentioned before, one day is 10% of a class... I just have to keep reminding myself what I'm doing it for. It helps that one of the teachers I work for got a side job offer yesterday. For working 3 hours working on echocardiographs, she can get paid $400!!! Several of my classmates also have told me of their aunts, sisters, cousins, etc who work as CVTs (Cardiovascular Technicians) and get really good pay. I also found out that I may be able to do my externship at Kyle's cardiologists' office. They happen to be the only pediatric-specific site on the extern list.

P.S. Thanks to the fun with the bank account, our cell phones have been temporarily turned off. If you want our land line phone number, e-mail me.

Coming Home Again

Friday morning, Kyle had minor surgery to replace his G-tube with a simpler type called a "Mic-Key" or a "button". Friday afternoon, we found out that Kyle is most likely being discharged tomorrow (Monday). They say that he'll need oxygen for whenever he's asleep because his saturation levels drop when he's sleeping so tomorrow morning, before Kyle's discharge, my mom and I are going to be taught how to operate the oxygen equipment. Meanwhile, I'm doing a rush job cleaning up so we're ready for him to come home. We had expected that he would be in for another week at least.

A Happy Birthday

Hannah's birthday party went well. Her little buddies Jayden and James came to play and wish her a happy birthday. They flew kites, blew bubbles and had fun on the playground.

You're all invited!...

Hannah's birthday is Saturday so we're having a party for her.

The plan is to go to a nearby park, blow some monster bubbles, play on the playground, eat some sandwiches and cake and sing a certain song... We might even fly kites if there's some good wind going.

If it's rainy, we might be forced to brave the Chuck-E-Cheese, but hopefully it won't come to that.

Fair warning: Hannah is quite insistent on party hats - she loves them!

The party will be from 1-4pm this Saturday (March 10th).

Please RSVP (coriander_smiyles@yahoo.com) so I know how many sandwiches, party hats, bubble blowers, etc. to prepare. Kids of all ages are welcome.