Most of September

Live is Never boring here. Even though September is just about half over, we have had a lot happening. I should start by talking about the last week in August. So here goes. If you couldn't tell already, this is going to be a Long post . This post has been trying to be written for little over half a week....

Last Week in August

Okay, so after trying to get a hold of my nephrologist's office unsuccessfully the week before, Mom, Brian and I took a group trip to the Barrington Office on Wednesday, August 29. We ended up taking to his assistant/reception/nurse (Doctor wasn't in yet). She is very nice, I actually like her. I had her pull up my bloodwork from Brian's birth (the ob's office was supposed to have faxed all the bloodwork from July to the nephrologist's office, but as usual, had not...a whole different story there, I'm not too happy with that). The reason she was able to pull the bloodwork was because it was done at Good Shepherd and every doctor that has admitting privilages can pull patient's bloodwork electronically (even if they had not ordered it) and view it. So, she pulled it and was very concerned that I was very anemic when Brian was born (heme was 9.something it was supposed to be over 12). I think the creatnine number was higher too, but I can't remember the specific number. The bloodwork number(s) caused her to make out a perscription for me to have bloodwork drawn immediately, and we scheduled an appointment for October 10th contingent on the bloodwork not coming back too funky.

So, off to Quest, Mom, Brian, and I went. I had a new girl draw my blood, at least she was new to me. I usually go in the mornings to have blood drawn, not the afternoon. She had some difficulty (like everyone does), but evently got it. Yay. I would have preferance going to Good Shepherd for bloodwork, their phlebotomists are very good at sticking me, but Quest is covered 100% by our insurance, and usually they are good too.

Friday, August 31st

Another Group trip day. This time we took a trip to the Lake County Health Deptarment's Midlakes Clinic in Round Lake for a meeting with the WIC counselor. It had taken quite a few tries on the phone to actually get this appointment; the phone line are almost always busy. Brian and I both had to be there for this appointment, Mom drove because I was too exhausted (still am pretty exhaused) to make safe driving decisions. The appointment went well. They weighed me, and checked for anemia witha finger stick (I came up at 14.4, so I am not anemic anymore), and they weighed and measured Brian. He was 9 lbs. 13 oz. and 21 inches long. We actually had the appointment with the site coodinator, who incidently, was the same person I had scheduled the appointment with in the first place. Both Brian and I were "certified," and we were given our coupons. Our next appointment is on October 1st.

For anyone who is unfamliar with WIC, it is a government-sponsored supplemental food program for low-income women, infants, and children. Hence the abbreviation WIC. I'll inculde a link in my sidebar. I wish I had known about this when I was pregnant...it would have been very helpful.

First Week of September (The REALLY interesting stuff begins)

Labor Day Weekend

Question: When is the Best time for a baby to be sick? (I mean that sarcastically, of course)....
Answer: Yup, you guessed it, when the Doctor's office is closed and it's a holiday weekend.

This all started Saturday morning. Brian had three tiny, tiny (pinpoint is too big of a description) red spots on his face. We passed them off as bug bites as I had killed a couple of mosquitos in his room the night before. He seemed okay otherwise. Then Sunday mornig came...He had five more on his face, and they were bright red. I called my mom and had her come check him out. While we were watching, Brian developed at total of 15 bright red spots on his face and two on his arm. Brian had also been very fussy the night before, and protested both the bottle and the boob, and he was not sleeping. So, something wasn't right. Mom came over with Dad, and we called Liz to look at Brian. Liz was a nurse, and is now a chaplain at Good Shepherd. So, Group trip to Liz's house with Paul, my Mom , myself, and Brian. Her advice was to call the on-call doctor (which we were going to do anyway).

We called the doctor, he told us to take Brian in. We weren't sure that the place he recommended was covered by our insurance, so we took Brian to Good Shepherd's ER because we knew it would be covered. (We called the on-call doctor back to tell him this and annoyed him even more...he was anoyed to begin with because we were interupting him at some sort of picnic...I just want to say the on-call doctor was not one of our doctors). So, off to the ER Brian, Paul and I went. We checked in, and had to wait a few minutes before seeing the nurse (she takes initial vitals, and stuff before they admit you, I call this person the "weed-out nurse" because she decides whether or not you actually need to be admitted). We gave her Brian's symtopms, and she took his temperature using one of those themometers for your forehead. He had a fever (100.3). Paul and I felt awful because we had not even thought to take his temperature. She also took his blood pressure (88/58), and weighed him (9 lbs. 13 oz.). Brian pooped right before he was weighed, all over the scale. The nurse had put down a towel before hand thankfully, and that was what Brian pooped on (not normal poop either...it was green followed minutes later , in a fresh diaper, by a yellowy-brown breast milk poop). The nurse made a call to someone, and said she was thinking it was something that started with a v, but had not told us yet....We diapered Brian, wrapped him in a blanket, and were told to take a seat in the waiting area.

We were taken to an ER room. This particular room was definitely a detox room, but it seems these were the only ones available at the time. So, we spent time in the room. We kept the door ope for the most of the time. We met the nurse tech, I think her name was Lisa. She took Brian's temperature and told us the doctor would be around soon. I had to feed Brian, so we closed the door, and of course this was when the ER doc came to see us. He politely excused himself and said he would be back in ten minutes. So, he came back, looked Brian over, and ordered bloodwork....Let me tell you how thrilled I was with that...not at all. My child has veins like his mom right now. The nurse came back in with another nurse, and they used a butterfly needle. Brian Screamed (this was definitely the "I'm in PAIN" scream, a new development we had first heard on Saturday night when the mosquitos were in his room). Paul and I were there with him. I was holding Brian's hand and stroking his head. After they were done taking his blood, I immediately wrapped Brian up tightly, and held him close to me. We rocked back and forth a little bit and walked around the room. He did quiet down, and eventually fell alseep on my shoulder.

The ER doctor came back. Brian's bloodwork had come back normal. But he wanted the pediatrician to talk to us. So, in came the pediatrician who tried to tell us Brian could have bug bites or Possibly a low grade respiratory virus. We were to watch Brian, and make a follow up appointment with our doctor on Tuesday. If his symptoms got worse we were to come back to the ER. So, we were discharged, and took Brian home. His temperature was 99.3 (rectally) when were discharged.

While all this was happening with us, apparently our downstairs neighbor's son was also in the ER. The police had brought him in for attenping to throw himself infront of a train. Brian and I stayed over at Mom's house Sunday night, so I could sleep. Paul got home, only to take our neighbor to the ER to see her son...when they got there, the ER staff would not let her becuase he was over age (21) and she could not remember the doctor's name who called her. They wouldn't even confirm that he was in the ER...So, Paul and our neighbor came home. Monday came and went, and Brian's spots faded. He did develop a few more by Tuesday, but none of them were the bright red shade they had been on Sunday.

Tuesday, September 4

I called and got Brian an appointment at his doctor's office for the afternoon. Because Paul had to work, Mom came over to help me take Brian to the appoinment. On our way to the appointment, my nephrologist's nurse called me back. They had gotten the bloodwork results back. Everything was normal except my creatinine was elevated (1.7) and my potassium was also elevated (4.9). So, that means, yup more tests. Can you come in tomorrow? Of course, I could. So, with a walk-in appointment for the next day to see the nephrologist's assiatant, we all trooped in for Brian's follow up appointment.

We saw Brian's doctor's partner. She ran strep tests on Brian and me because Paul's boss' kid had strep and we wanted to make sure Brian and I did not have it. Both were negative. She also had Brian's doctor come in and look over Brian. I told them both that the ER docs had tried to tell me it was bug bites and that I knew this was not bug bites. They both said I was right. Brian was diagnosed with the low grade respiratory thing...no one has given me a name for it. To my surprise, I also got checked out (we have a general practice doc, not a pediatrician, who has been my doctor since at least 1996). I was running a very high (for me) fever of 100.4. I honestly thought I was hot because it was hot in our apartment, and I was exhausted. Nope. So, I was told to go home and rest and drink plenty of water. I was told to take tylenol if I needed to. If I still felt bad on Thursday, I was to call the office. So, we went home. Brian had nap, and so did I. Mom stayed to watch over us. Paul went in after work for a strep test; his was also negative. His miserableness was being caused by allergies.

Wednesday, September 5

Again, Mom, Brian and I took a group trip to the nephrologist's office. The assiatant ran the scan, and it came back with good results. So, she told me she would be in-touch and would be mailing out perscriptions for more bloodwork and a kidney and a bladder ultrasound after she shared the results of this first test with the doctor.

Thursday, September 6

I had to call our doctor back. I was feeling quite horrible. My throat was so sore I had trouble talking. My head hurt so bad, I couldn't think straight, and my eyes hurt. I was miserable. Of course, I had to leave a message with a nurse. She called me back and talked to me. She told me doctor thought I had allergies, and they wanted to perscribe Allegra. I asked her if they knew I had kidney disease and couldn't take many allergy medications; she said yes, and they "think" allegra is okay. I was feeling quite awful, and I was not at all appy with they thought it was okay to take. She offered to let me, if I wanted to, call my nephrologist's office to see if it was okay. This annoyed me too, since when do patients have to call their specialists to see if drugs are okay to take? Well, I called, and it was okay, but even nephrologist's nurse had to call and sak him... So, the Allegra was called in, and Paul brought it to me. It was the generic, and insurance still charged $25 for it. And this was only a 15 day supply....allergies...yeah right. They are treating symptoms. I took a pill and started feeling sllightly human an hour later (my head wasn't trobbing anymore, I could think).

I had Another appointment this day with a different doctor entirely. I went to see the foot doctor for something on the bottom of my foot. He's not sure what it is (a blister that popped or a callus), but he gave me some cream for it. It seems to be working, but I have a recheck with him on September 20th.

Friday, September 7th

My Mom's birthday. Another doctor's appointment today. This time it was the check up with my ob. I had had to reschedule because she had had emergency surgery the week before. She had to have her appendix taken out. This appointment went well. Everything seems to be healing okay, if I still have trouble, they will see me and fix it. I am still tender and exhaused. I was given the 2 hour glucose tolerance form to check for underlying diabetes. And told to get it done. Mom, Brian and I went to this appointment. Mom and Brian waited in the lobby for me. Ob came out to see Brian after we were done. Mom took Brian home with her that afternoon so that Paul and I could get a few things done and sleep before going to the wedding the next day.

Saturday, September 8th

The day of the wedding. Paul had to work in the morning. I was trying to get packed and everything ready to go. I still ran out of time. Paul got home, we packed the car up, said hi to our downstairs neighbor's son, and were out of Barrington by close to 2 pm. The wedding was in Lake Geneva, WI. I was as dressed up as I could be, but still needed to change into my dress (it was ball gown, I couldn't wear it for an hour in the car without it not looking right when I got out of the car).. We were checked into the hotel by 3:00 pm. I was in my dress, and we were walking the the ceremony by 3:15 pm. The ceremony started at 3:30 pm. We were not the last ones there. After the ceremony there were cocktails, then dinner started at 6:30?.

Paul decided, after every course was served including cake, to check his cell phone. This was around 8 pm. He wanted to make sure my parents hadn't tried to call us about Brian...Well, my parents had not called us, but Jake and our neighbor, Jayme, had. It was odd to get a call from Jayme because I had talked to her earlier in the day to tell her we were leaving for the wedding that afternoon. Jayme's message was disturbing enough for Paul to be visably upset, and motion to me he had to go out in the hall immediately...he practically ran out the ballroom door. once we were out the door (just barely), he told me what Jayme had said. Our downstairs neighbor's son (the 21 year old mentioned earlier in the Labor Day Weekend paragraph), was dead. He had thrown himself infront of a freight train that afternoon around 3 pm. so, my evening was shot (enough that I actually had a half shot of amaretto when the bar opened, a big thing, since I don't drink). I wish Paul had not listened to his voice mail. We stayed the night at the hotel and went home the next afternoon.

Second Week in September

Monday, September 10th

I had to call my general doctor' s office because of the cough It hurt to cough. Bad enough to call them... They had me leave a message for the nurse who called me back and told me there wasn't anything they could give me for the cough because I am nursing. I pushed and said, "If I wasn't nursing could you give me anything?" She said, "No, you're allergic to everything. The only thing we could do was perscribe a chest x-ray which would rule out pneumonia." And if it was pneumonia? Basically, they would tell me to stop nursing and put me on heavy drugs. I told her I didn't want to do the chest x-ray yet, it wasn't that bad. She told me to call the next day to tell them how I was feeling...

Tuesday, September 11th

Humana's nurse for the Humana Beginings Program called. We talked for an hour about all sorts of things. She gave me a website for Paul to visit called newdads.com. We'll see if he actually looks at it. I did not call back my doctor's office. I was sick of talking to the nurses.

Wednesday, September 12th

I don't think anything happened.... This was Paul's day off. He went downtown to a job fair.

Thursday, September 13th

Mom, Brian, and I went to Quest for my 2 hour glucose tolerance test. This was the test to see if I was diabetic still. I actaully had to schedule it. We went in at 9 am and were out by 11:30 am. Yes, there was a lot of difficulty getting blood out of me. I was stuck at least 4 times when I was on;y supposed to be stuck 3 times. As usual, as we got home, the perscriptions from my nephrologist's office were in the mail. So more bloodwork next week.

Friday, September 14th

The wake for our neighbor's son was 3 pm to 9 pm. She told me she did expect me to be there and it was okay. Mom and Dad went around 4 pm, and Paul stopped by on his way home from work. At some point, my cell phone battery died, so I missed a few calls and lost the call I was talking to Paul on. I missed the call from my ob's office telling me I was not diabetic, and a call from my friend who wanted to come see me and Brian.

Third Week in September

Monday, September 17th

My Dad's birthday. This morning, I scheduled my ultrasounds at Good Shepherd for Tuesday morning. My friend came over around noon, and she, Brian and I went to Bolony's for lunch. We split the tuna fish sandwich. I was very happy to have tuna because Paul won't let it in the house. We walked over to the bank after lunch to say hi to Paul. We came home and talked. It is so good to have someone to talk to. My friend left for work around 2:30 pm. Paul came home from work around 5 pm. We went to my parents' house for dinner and cake.

Tuesday, September 18th

Paul's Day off this week. We dropped Brian off at Mom's house (he hasn't had any vaccines yet, so I didn't want to take him to a potentially germy hospital). Paul and I spent the morning at Good Shepherd for me. I had my ultrasounds and had them do the bloodwork for the nephrologist. We were done there by 10:30 am. We came back to our house, got together all the paperwork for the charity assistance for my hospital stay, Brian's birth, and Paul's ER visit from May. There were a lot of pieces of paper to photocopy: bank statements, utility bills, ect. We headed back to Mom's house around lunchtime because we had forgotten todrop off Brian's formula with him that morning. After lunch, Paul took the packet of information to the hospital and got ready to go in to work for a meeting; I stayed with Mom and took a nap. We left Brian with her and Dad over night so that I could hopefully get more sleep.

Wednesday, September 18th (Today!)

Suprisingly uneventful day. Mom, Brian, and I went out to Bed, Bath, and Beyond to buy bridal shower gifts for my friend. Her shower is on Sunday. Other than that, nothing exciting happened. I can say that I am thankful for that. Too many things have been exciting lately.