Progress....

I drove an hour to San Diego last night after the daycare closed at 7:00pm. It rained alot and very hard. I felt quite anxious to get to my cousin. Since he has had his stroke a week and a half ago, he has been having a series of seizures. Doctor says, this is normal when the brain has been traumatize by a stroke.

I am the closest relative to him and I am an hour away. He has been refusing to eat because his family is not around him. So, he asked the doctor to call me. He sounded quite groggie but I explained to him I would be down to see him that night. I felt anxious all day long as I waited for the daycare to close so I could leave.

Once arriving, he did not look like himself at all. He did not have his teeth in his mouth and he had not shaved. In all my childhood and adulthood, I have never seen him this way. At first, it frightened me. Then I put it into perspective.

The nurse was in the process of giving him his medications, which he was not cooperating. I asked her if I can do it. I was firm with him and he did take them. Often, I don't think nurses are caring enough. They tend to be overworked with many patience and don't have the time to be nurturing. This made me feel worse because I am so far away and unable to get to him like I'd like to. He is also refusing to eat.

I just spoke to the nurse today. I had a few complaints as to how they are doing things with him. It seems very 20 mins they are waking him up to check temperature, urine, give meds, etc. They pull the blankets off of him. They flip on those bright lights in his face. It seems to me they can do all those things at once and be done so he can go to sleep. I arrived about 8:40pm. They kept coming in there, at different intervals, until I left at 10:20pm! Then they get him up early in the morning for physical therapy and he is still groggie. He has not truly slept since he's been in there. In addition, they give him something to make him sleep and he is unable to sleep it off after being interrupted every 20 mins!

So, when I spoke with the nurse today, I let her know, I want the doctor to call me back as soon as he can and I want to be included in the meeting they are having on monday via conference call. The nurse asked me if I put in a complaint to the head nurse. I did not know about all that. This is my first time having to be the decision maker of a family member. When my mom died, my aunt did it.

I will wait to talk to the doctor. In the meantime, I will try to calm my anger. I am really upset. I'm sure it is because it is the fear of the possibility of the end if it is not handled correctly. I have to get my perspective back in focus.

Happy thoughts and prayers....lots!

Figured It Out

Wow! All this time, I'm thinking I am in pain caused by the stress of adjusting to the new schedule....hmmmm. I got to thinking. I've been without my supplements for about 2 weeks, procrastination. It is more likely that the reverse; the pain is causing the stress. I can't relax, can't sleep, can't rest due to the pain of the fibromyalsia. It's a constant discomfort very similar to what muscles feel like after having done a workout.

My son is off work for this evening. I had him to go pick them up. I took them immediately. Will probably take a few days to really get into my system. I also feel a bit dehydrated. Not drinking water as I use to. I'm having all the symptoms, shortness of breath, muscle discomfort, migraines, fatigue and unable to sleep well.

I look forward to getting back on track. I don't know what I was thinking. I need the supplements more at this point than ever with the new kids and the new schedule...guess I had a senior moment LOL!

Positive thoughts and prayers!

Tough Adjustment

I'm having a difficult time adjusting to the new schedule of my new kids. The kids are sooooo awesome. They are well behaved and polite. The problem is getting up at 5am, taking my son to school for 6:35am, taking the girls to school for 8:15am and, in the afternoon, picking up a child from a different school at 12:15pm. My previous schedule was getting up at 6am, never leaving the house and first kid arriving at 7am with no afternoon pick up.

Everything changed at the same time. My older son started school and his new job which caused me to have to take my younger son to school. Then, a few weeks later, the sibling set started at 5:30am.

I also have to get my grandson up that early because my daughter is not home from work until 8:30am. No one is home to keep him. As a result, my grandson is quite cranky due to loss of sleep. To make up for the sleep, I try to put him to bed earlier. This is difficult because his normal bedtime is 8pm. To put him to bed at 7pm, his mom is just getting up to go to work which her process disturbs him because he hears her between the bathroom and the bedroom. So, I thought about putting him to bed at 6 or 6:30pm, but that seems so early. Yesterday, my daughter took her shower way earlier which allowed him to have some time with her and him to get to bed about 7:30pm which not early enough. Seven pm would be much better.

I believe it is a transitional adjustment. I'm hoping it will get better in time :).

Positive thoughts and prayers :)

On a Good, Positive Roll

Things have been going soooo well lately, I don't know where to begin! :).

To begin with, the cruise was really, really nice! My girlfriends were absolutely crazy! We ate, and ate, and ate! We danced, and danced, and danced! We shopped, and shopped, and shopped! We went to Ensenda, Mexico. The staff were awesome. When I returned home, my grandson really gave me a hard time i.e. tantrums, throwing his toys, whinning a lot, etc. My daughter says he is upset because I left. He does this to her too. He only readjusted back to normal today. Took 3 days for him to accept his Nana back home. I felt bad for a while.

The tree was trimmed and put back in place. We will have to wait about a year to see if it survives. It may sound silly,but I talk to her and tell her I want her to grow back nice and strong. (The old saying is that we should talk to our plants so why not talk to our trees?).

The day care is flowing really well right now. The other sibling set of school kids did not come after all, but everything is working out fine.

It is getting late. I will write more details at another entry.

Positive thoughts and prayers :)

Everything

I was referred to another tree man by one of my day care parents. I spoke to him yesterday. He said, based on what I described, the tree can't be saved. So, we agreed to him removing the tree for $100. The other estimates were $400, $350 and $175. As I say, always trust your gut!

Well, I got to thinking... if they can tranfer, thus transplant large trees, why not "try" to replant this one? So, I called S. back and left another message. I figure he can replant it and just maybe it can be saved. If not, then we can go on and remove it. I really would like to save it if at all possible.

Good news for the day care :). Apparently, the girls' neighbor is in the same situation as they are in that, the grandparents also has custody of their two grandchildren. All the grandparents need is for the kids to be dropped off to school in the morning. It's a 10 year old girl and a 9 year old boy. So, that will leave me with 4 kids in the morning to drop off at school only :). Very easy and, for a small fee, I can use the extra cash. They start next tuesday.

I'm excited to say, we set sail on the cruise tomorrow evening :). Though I am excited, I am also slightly concerned about the stormy weather we've been having so much of lately. I would imagine that they take these factors into consideration for the safety of the people, however, the Titanic sunk...lol! This is only a very slight concern. Forgive me for my ignorance. It is my first cruise and I am very much afraid of water :). I will be packing my things tonight. Very exciting! I have alot of positives happening :). It is such a relief. However, I must stay alert. The sun shines for only a little while. Then it is time for some growing pains again. I know that sounds negative, but when times are difficult, that is when we learn, grow and become stronger. So, really, it's not negative. I will enjoy this season for now and reflect on how I have arrived here :).

Positive thoughts and prayers!...:)

The Tree

Well, I am disappointed to say, the tree can't be saved :(. I called a few tree service people. One told me over the phone that it sounded like it couldn't be save. I sent him a picture via email and he called me back and confirmed. Then I called another one, located close to my house. He came out and looked at it. He also said it can not be saved.

Believe it or not, it almost brought tears to my eyes! It's a tree! Why would it bring tears to my eyes? That surprised me to say the least. I am quite disappointed.

The morning went well again with the girls. Grandma told me they like me :). This is nice to hear, especially from older children. However, I am truly feeling the sleepiness this morning lol! I made a fairly strong cup of coffee, not helping :). I think where I went wrong is, I woke up coughing again so I took some cough medicine. I'm sure it plays a big part of my sleepiness. I did not think about it until after I swallowed...lol!

We are supposed to have some pretty strong storms this afternoon. I'm rather concerned because, in Orange County, we actually had a tornado. California doesn't get tornadoes. It was full blown with boats, cars and houses being blown away. Yesterday, I thought our windows were going to break. Right now, it is very calm and serene outside. Sun is trying to come out. Hmmm.... How bad is this storm going to be?

Many, many happy thoughts and prayers!

My New Enrollments

My new little girls are just adorable :). Unfortunately, they have had some significant hardships in their little lives, but their grandmother is doing very, very well in raising them.

Yes, they arrived at about 5:30am. It did get up very well. I took my bath and all the night before and did get some rest. I paid off to prepare myself. It was a busy morning with a new routine, but it worked smoothly :). Rather than taking the girls to the bus stop, I took them directly to school. I think I like taking them to school better. That way, I know they made it safely rather than leaving them outside, alone, with a group of children waiting for a bus. I didn't like doing that with my own son when he took the bus, so I took him at the very last minute. Unfortunately, I don't have that flexibility with the arrival of other kids, at differing times in the morning.

I did speak to the parents of the other 5 year old boy last night. They do still want to bring him. Mom is waiting for the start date of her new job :). That was exciting to hear.

In speaking with one of my other kids' mom, they are looking to put him in preschool, which is a good thing. When they first brought him to me, I meantioned to dad that he really would be better in preschool. He was ready then and he is definitely ready now. So, I might be loosing him in the next few months. Bitter sweet. I really enjoy him. He is such a sweet boy too! But it is for the better in his regard.

Happy thoughts and prayers!