EvansMom

Talk about having a full plate, and I won't even mention where my inlaws' Alzheimers, dimentia, and anxiety falls into all of this.  I'm getting mighty tired of the ER and the hospital in general.  Mom fell down the stairs (10 steps) at 2 a.m. on March 11th.  She went by ambulance and waited until the evening to have surgery.  She shattered the bones on both sides of her ankle.  She was in for about a week and then home for a few days or so.  On Monday the 22nd, Dad called me, very concerned and asked me to come out and check on her.  It's a half hour to their house and with finishing up a few things here, leaving Manfred a note, etc., I was at their house in 40 mins.  I could hear the rattling in her chest (suspecting pneumonia).  She was very sleepy, couldn't sit up on her own, had a droop to one side of her mouth, slurred speech and poor word recall.  She could also not use her good foot too well.  I called an ambulance and off we went again.  They sent us to the wrong hospital, but we found her without too much trouble.  She was admitted to ICU with pneumonia.  They think that the lack of oxygen caused the stroke-like symptoms, but Dad and I aren't too sure about that.  She finally home and recuperating okay, so it was time for me to look after myself.  Manfred and I spent Easter morning in the ER to look after my badly infected ear.  It was finally swollen completely shut that morning, so I knew I needed a doctor.  Just to back track a bit, on the day that Mom fell and broke her ankle, Dad and I visited a thoracic surgeon and got confirmation that it's definitely lung cancer for Dad.  The spots in his right lung were growing and now 4 cm and 7 mm.  Surgery was his best chance of a cure.  He needed a breathing assessment first to make sure his lungs were strong enough.  He did well on most of it and okay on another part, but good enough for surgery.  On the next visit to the thoracic surgeon, we expected to get a surgery date for sometime in April.  Imagine our shock when that was all off!  Pictures had now arrived from previous scans and there are also some spots on the left lung.  The surgeon wasn't sure if they're from changes in his body (ie, arthritic residue) or if it's cancer.  If the spots on Dad's lungs are primary cancer from the years of smoking, then surgery would give him a 70% chance of a cure.  If it's secondary cancer from the colon cancer found during his emergency surgery in November, 2008, then surgery would only have a 30% chance of a cure, so they'd need a different treatment instead.  Dad needs to have a biopsy done to determine the kind of cancer.  It's being done next Thursday (April15th), but unfortunately I can't take him, as I'll be out of town for Evan's special needs hockey team's tournament.  Thankfully a neighbour has stepped up to help and will take him.  After the biopsy, we need to visit another city (1 1/4 to 1 1/2 hours away) to see the department of nuclear medicine.  Dad will need to be injected with radioactive dyes.  Where they light up (if they light up) means that there is cancer at that spot in his body.  I couldn't help but think of my dear friend, Amanda, when I heard of this radioactive test, even though hers was for a different reason and a pill.  ;) 

Apart from that, Manfred and I have been homeschooling the kids lots throughout the year…after school and evenings.  Since starting that, Brandon's Math marks when from D's to B's!  :)  I've also had my "gentle and kind" battles with the school to make it a safe place for Evan.  I don't care that the bully has Down Syndrome.  She can't continue to hit my son over the head with a book, kick him, pinch him, hit him, and verbally abuse him.  Needless to say, I won that battle, as the school finally got it when they only had a few days left to fix things after months of this going on.  They knew that my letter was polished and ready to go off to the head honcho at the board office.  Things have definitely improved now that the Down's child (who was jealous of having to share Evan's EA with herself) has started to have consequences at school, other than just, "C., that's not appropriate."  {Insert eye roll here.}

We've also been very busy with hockey with both boys.  Evan is absolutely THRILLED to be able to play hockey like his big brother, and I'm ECSTATIC to have found a special needs team for him!  Brandon continues to play House League and Select.  This coming week-end is Brandon's last hockey, and Evan's will be next week-end, then ball hockey starts for Brandon, and both boys will be playing soccer starting in May.

Well, I guess I need to get going.  I need to finish up packing for the week-end, as we leave first thing tomorrow morning for a hockey tournament.