Oh, Murphy and Your Law.....

I escaped to the Fortress of Solitude (aka the movie theater) last night, alone, just because I needed a serious break from reality. Thanks again to my friend Ruth for suggesting that I take a time-out there.

As I was waiting for the previews, I thought of Mr Murphy and his law-anything that can go wrong, will...and then I laughed to myself.

I feel like I should be walking billboard for this adage, lately. Especially in the last 72 hours. If I were Jewish, there would be a lot of 'Oy' scattered throughout this post.

I mentioned that we are in the middle of an intense med wean. We have now had to come to a standstill. The road just does not fork presently in order for us to take another direction, at least until after we get home from Ohio.

Cole is not doing so hot right now, there are still a lot of seizures and 4 out of 5 days at school last week he needed rescue meds and oxygen. His sleep has been wack-a-doo, his appetite so-so. His behavior...still bad. Until further notice, being outside is now off limits. It has been a definite trigger.

We can not go any lower on the Keppra without adding something else, because that will cause him to have more big seizures. Less behavioral issues, but the larger ones and overstimulation problems have definitely increased since the initial wean of this med.

We can't start the Clobazam because 1. It will change his body chemistry and therefore his scent...not good for the dog right now. 2. We always have at least a 2 week adjusting period when starting a new med. Sometimes it's a honeymoon, sometimes it is really bad. Either way, we will not be able to tell what is what when we add a new environment and being really overstimulated at training into this equation. Is it the meds? Is it the temp? Is it? Is it? 3. Some people see a decrease in seizures when they first get their dogs. Not seizure freedom, but a small decrease. We need to know exactly what is going on with his baseline so we can see if he changes. 4. It just plain might not work. It's a lot like two other drugs that we have tried that actually made things worse. So, we just have to hold on to our hats and pack a lot of rescue meds around. Dog-who-is-yet-to-be-identified...we're going to give you lots of practice.

All the while I have had the lovely experience of shuttling back and forth to the dentist and being on antibiotics. I have an infection somewhere in my mouth, hopefully not IN my tooth. I probably need a root canal and a crown, and get this...our insurance is not active until Jan. 1 (that's a fun story)! I have an appointment with an endodontist on Wed to see just how much work needs to be done. Y'all know that mouth pain is no bueno and in turn I'm averaging around 4 to 5 hours combined sleep at night. I might actually be flying to Utah over the weekend so I can get my procedures done first thing on Mon. Turns out, without the help of insurance...it is WAY cheaper out west. Even with the plane ticket. Plus, I trust our guy out there. Here, is uncharted territory. Who knows, maybe I'll be able to throw in a lunch with my besties? Now, I am also having pain on the other side...say what?! More info on that once I see the endo on Wed. Maybe he will know what the heck is going on in there.

I sent a 4 page letter to the Superintendent, Principal and some other important people on Thurs about the dog and the law. Have not heard a word back. We had to call a plumber. The car needed a bunch of work done in order to pass inspection. We had to steam clean our couch. Still working on the oxygen fiasco. Getting closer to a solution. Six months later, but still, progress! :)

Sunday, Cole had a small seizure as he was going down the stairs and it threw off his balance. He tripped and fell down the last two or three. He kept saying his foot hurts, there is a bump on it and he was still limping Monday. Plus, an increase in seizures which means he is either in pain or getting sick. Nothing else had changed. So, we took him in for an x-ray, which was clean. Does this sound familiar? Last July, we let it go and came back 4 days later to find there was a stress fracture, (this is the other foot). With his history of high pain tolerance and a previous break, we were not going to take our chances. SO-Cole is in a splint and has to be non-weight bearing until we can see the pediatric orthopedist on Friday. Cole. Non-weight bearing. This is going to take some creativity.

On a positive note, I have been cooking a lot lately. Unfortunately, it tends to happen when I am really happy or really stressed. Been cranking out some good stuff. I watched a Doris Day movie in my bed. Cole giggled. None of us are IN the hospital. Our couch is clean! I think we have a couple of nurses with good potential (now if we can just fill all of the shifts).

It was so nice to just sit in the dark, with hardly anyone there, and eat my sandwich and cupcake in peace last night. FYI, eating a cupcake in the dark is dangerous. I had crumbs in interesting places :) There was no one to take care of. I was forced to turn off my phone, no waiting for matches, e-mails, calls, or interruptions. Just me, turning my brain off and becoming engrossed with the story. It has been so long since I did something like that. Superman goes to the Fortress of Solitude when he needs to be alone. Me, I'm going to the movies. Murphy can't bug me there, even if it is only for 2 hours.

*I'm so frazzled that I was speaking about yesterday, today, etc...when some of this stuff happened over three days ago. Mercy! I have fixed it.*