Rrhea, Rash, Ear Infections and Open Wounds

So, I feel like a totally crappy mom. My little Beau has been suffering a lot lately. He was fine after the antibiotics for the strep, but since then he's gotten ill in different ways. He started have massive diarrhea right after he started the antibiotics. This then began a rash. We treated it with extremely gracious amounts of Desitin which didn't seem to help, because the rash has sustained itself and additionally has created open wounds on his tiny little hiny. Now, to top it off, he still had a mucousy cough and runny nose which ended up being a full-blown double ear infection with one really, really bad ear.

So, it's more antibiotics for Beauzer along with prescription bum-paste and Immodium AD. Wowee kazowee! My poor little man.

In other new and interesting life changes, we've decided to adopt. The papers are final. We got a boy who's 6 years old and black. He's tall too. We're totally happy and excited, and he's very patient with Beau. We think they'll be good friends.

Our garden continues to grow. I picked a sprig of Romaine lettuce and shared it with the fam. YUM! Even baby romaine is tastey! We need to thin our carrots, apparently, per Dadpal. Tells you what I know about gardening. Oh well, there's a learning curve for everyone! I'm sure all will be okay as long as Hinckley doesn't get into the garden and dig it up. Oh, yeah, the boy we adopted is a Labrador Retreiver. We named him Hinckley after our previous prophet. He's a good old boy.

Are You Serious?

Believe it or not, Matt has strep throat, again. Yep, it's the 3rd time since January. We're getting really good at recognizing the symptoms by now, that's for sure. We believe the base of the problem is that Matt still has his tonsils. (I didn't know anyone had tonsils after the age of 6... I'm serious. That's when mine were cut out.) Anyway, the doctor told Matt that when he was feeling better to go back in to discuss removal. If it will quiet the snoring I think it will be a miracle in itself, besides the end of strep! So, I'm all for it! Other than that everything is good here. My knee is doing really well, the garden is sprouting, homemade bread still rocks the house, and I made lasagna for dinner last night. YUM!

In Beau news, he has recently acquired the word, "Yes." For me this is a delight, because he likes to say it, (as it's a new word..) so lots of my questions get answered, "Yes!" He also acquired the words "potty," and "peepee." I don't know why. He is getting more friendly with my friends' kids and now greets them by name. The other day two of his pals were over and I put him down for a nap. When he woke up I got a snuggle and then he looked at me and said, "Spencer?" (his pal.) Which told me he still wanted to play after nap time. It was cute. He's been getting more vocal every week with actual words and he also seems taller to me. It's crazy how fast he grows and learns. I'm amazed by him all of the time.

Surgery Update

My knee is healing just fine. I had an extremely low-key week after the surgery. So low-key in fact, that I was deliriously bored, thus on Monday my friend and I made strawberry jam. It was quite an adventure for two women who'd never made jam before not to mention that one of them was a gimp. Since the jam came out so wonderfully, the next day my friend came over and made bread. After two days of endless activity my knee was more swollen than it was right after surgery. And the pain?!? Oy ve. Needless to say, Wednesday was recovery day, again. And Thursday too. Oh well. It's not all that unusual for me to push it too far.

Oh, and on Tuesday, (bread day,) I had an update with my orthopedic surgeon and found out that I had not one, but two tears in my medial meniscus. Not only that, but the underside of the patella was hashed up and needed cleaning, I required a lateral release (cutting of the lateral tendon from the kneecap,) and had a cyst in the front of my knee just below the kneecap. So, I was quite a mess in there, apparently. I'm really glad I got it taken care of now instead of later.

S-day

I would say surgery went well.
Dr. Green went in and cleaned up the tear by cutting stuff away. He took pictures which are confusing to someone like me. Also, once he got in their he saw that a tendon on the opposing side of my knee was very tight, so he "loosened" it. Whatever that means, and so I have radiating pain up my thigh on top of the pain from 3 holes in my knee. My pain level has been okay, although fluctuating when I need another dose of Lortab. I definitely know that I need another one in about 10 minutes.
The overall experience was very strange for me though.
I pretty much don't remember anything after the anesthesiologist gave me an anti-anxiety medication. Matt told me I was awake and talking and that he gave me a kiss, but when I awoke I kind of panicked because I couldn't remember going in to surgery. I, being soft-hearted, got a little weepy because I wanted my hubby to comfort me and the nurse said, "Sorry, not gonna happen in here," which made me upset with her.
The sleepy medicine had powerful effects on me all day. Once we got home around 3pm I slept more until 7:30pm. I've gotten up on my crutches a little, but not too much because I get a little dizzy.
Tomorrow should be challenging, but I'll live throught that too. I am very fortunate to have so many loving people around me that are willing to help me and take care of me. I love and appreciate them all individually for everything. Even those of you who have simply thought of my well-being. Thanks!
Well, it's Definitely time for more pain meds. OWW-eee! ;)

Orthopedics

After x-rays and an MRI it's conclusive. My right knee has a oblique meniscal tear. This is an injury that does not heal itself and will need surgery. I don't know how I did it, but I do know it's painful. I go into outpatient surgery on April 7th. It should be fun. Below are a couple images of the knee f.y.i.. The bottom pic shows where the meniscus is located in the knee, the top pic has a diagram of tear types. I know you all really care, but I wanted to understand for myself, so I'm sharing.

We've had an interesting few weeks here at the homestead.

Matt is doing well at the job, but he's had several kinks in the first week of having his new rig. The fuel line has broken twice (on opposite ends,) which he was able to cure by 9pm. Also, he and his drill helper, Jeff, had an accident and nearly cut or broke Jeff's fingers off, but he just got a deep cut at the knuckles, no breaks or tears internally. Thank Heavens!! Matt had to create a safety policy for the St. George office and had many meetings with the bigwigs to get everthing in order. He's now the "Safety Supervisor." It makes sense to me. I just like that every week or so I realize he's lost a few pounds. ;)

I've started to research my medical problems. My knees have been clicking and popping since October and it's getting more and more painful as the days go by. The stairs are especially tricky, and even sitting is painful. I had x-rays and an MRI this week and will get the results April 2nd at my next appointment. I've also had an EMG because of my carpal tunnel and hope to sign up soon for surgery. It hasn't been acting up lately, but I promised myself I would have surgery before I even think about having another child because it was so bad in my 3rd trimester I had to get cortisone shots. (This DOES NOT mean we're ready for more kids yet, I'm just chiselling away at one of many issues). Also, my regular doctor is sending me to physical therapy for my recurring back and hip pain. Yep, I'm 27 and I'm falling apart. On the good side I've lost 3 pounds.

Let's see, what else...... oh yeah, I got out of jury duty before Easter. It took them 5-1/2 hours to dismiss me after they called me to the jury. I was totally surprised they even called me because one of the defendants was our crappy real estate agent last year. This only solidifies to me that he was crappy, by the way. So that was a long day and today I got my check for eighteen dollars and fifty cents. Thank you Uncle Sam! But really, I'm just glad I didn't have to sit through a 7 day court case about real estate. Yuck!

I've been getting together with a couple of my friends who have kiddies and we go to a new park every week. Last week Beau got his first sunburn cause Stupid Mommy didn't even think about sunscreen. Yes, I got burned too. This week we went to Nisson Park. The kids had fun playing in the water, but one got away (not Beau,) and took the step off the curb to the busy road just as his Mom grabbed him. Thank Heavens! I saw him too before he got to the road and started booking it across the park after kicking off my Crocs, and ended up slicing the bottom of my foot on a tree stump. Ouch! So, right now I'm a limping hunchback that climbs the stairs on her knees. No lie.

Beau is incredible. He maintains the mischiefness and loves to play outside while we do yard work. Now, when I go out he starts collecting pine cones and bringing them to Mommy or putting them in my blue bucket. It's just cute (and helpful)! He is really in love with cars and trucks. The Easter Bunny gave him a plastic John Deere tractor and a dump truck and a plastic rake and shovel for outdoor play. He loves to dig and copy us. His favorite new word is: "Mongey" (monkey), because I got Curious George stickers for him and he LOVES stickers! See.

Freedom Weekend

My loving husband gave me a freedom weekend, as it were, this weekend. He took Beau and I got to go to Las Vegas overnight with one of my gal pals of old. We had a blast seeing the sites, shopping, eating, laughing, and getting lost searching for Cold Stone Creamery at 10:30 pm.

From this experience I've concluded that all moms need a Freedom Weekend. I feel happy and a little revived as I've returned home, and my son was actually happy to see me for once! Miracle!

So, thanks to my hubby. He loves me.