Friday, September 27, 2013

Progress

We have a surgery date!!!  

It's still 2 weeks out, but it's better then January.  Danny will be an "Add-On" on Tuesday Oct 8th.  I do not know what time it will be at, as they will call him in as on add-on on Monday, so I'll have to wait to hear what time.  I just hope n pray it's not early am.  We will be going down to CHOW on the 1st for trache/vent clinic and then afterwards to a pre op appt with Ortho.  I will get more specifics then, like how long of a stay, and what they will actually be doing.  I know they are going back in to cut off the part of the bone that has regrown into a point, but other then that I really don't know details.  Which will drive me NUTS as you all know I'm a planner and a need to know kinda gal.  I'm just happy there is an end in sight to Lil Man's on going pain.  Just band-aiding the issues with meds is NOT our style.  I want it taken care of and NOW.  I'm sure the scheduled Ibuprofen every 6hrs is doing a number on his already jacked up gut.  The sooner we can get it taken care of the better.  But until the surgery I don't see getting rid of Ibuprofen as an option, as when he's due for it you know it.  I'm glad that his pain (for the most part) is being controlled with ibuprofen and repositioning of that leg ~ it's pulled away from the hip and rotated in drawing the tip of the bone away from the pelvis/hip area, without having to go to any bigger dog meds.  I will be asking if they can close the growth plate in the leg so this will not be an issue ever again.  As always the main goal, and even more now, is to keep him comfy and happy.  It will be awhile before he is back in his stander, but I don't think he minds chilling out in his swing for the time being :)

I signed Danny up to be matched up with a runner, to run 4 him.  He was matched!!
 This is Annie and she lives in Indiana.  She is going to run for Danny, and we are going to inspire and cheer her on along the way.  We are very excited !!



 Go Annie GO!!!

I have to gloat alil!!  I have been doing the Focus T25 workout along with Shakeology and my detoxing everyday now for 1.5 weeks....boy is it a workout.  But I am already seeing results!  I went to the Dr today and I'm so impressed.  Since I've started this I've lost 4lbs already, but most importantly I've lost inches.  About 1" all over (ea thigh, arm, my waist) but the most loss I've seen so far is in my chest........2" is gone!!  It's so rewarding to actually see the hard work I'm doing paying off.  I can't wait to see what I'm going to be like when the 10 week program is over with.  Hubba Hubba!!  I did take BEFORE photos which I'll save for later to show.  I'm not that secure yet, but I'm anxiously waiting to see what the AFTER photos will look like.

I am going to Oktoberfest tomorrow with my Mom in the am.  I can't wait to look at all the artzy fartzy stuff they have there.  We are going to get there early so we can see what everyone has.  Last year I found so pretty neat things..... I wonder what I'll find this year.  Good thing Dan is up North, heehee.

Avrianna went up north with him to get ready for next weeks Youth Hunt, so it's just me and my Lil Man :)  Going to do some cuddlin and move watchin in bed with him later.  He, or maybe it's me, loves snugglin in his bed.  He's got the best bed in the house.  The whole mattress is memory foam, its a hospital bed, and it has a massage feature.  Oh Yeah!!!
While Avrianna is gone I'm going to be doing some serious fall cleaning in her bathroom, closets, and bedroom.  Everything is coming out, but NOT everything is going back.  It will be so nice to be able to go through everything without her micromanaging all the things she thinks she "NEEDS" to keep.  This way she won't even know it's gone,

Shhhhhhhhhhhhhh - don't tell!!

Well I hope you all are doing well.  Thanks for stopping by to check up on us.


Wednesday, September 18, 2013

Bump in the road

"A Mother understands what her child doesn't say"


Just when you think you have an issue taken care of......

It is NOT!!

Danny has been in alot of discomfort, as I stated in the last few posts.  Well we once again went to the Dr's to do some "hunting"...this time with xrays.

This is a photo of his right hip/femur after his girdlestone procedure (where they cut off the head of the femur to alleviate his hip from dislocating), a couple years ago.
(It's backwards) ~ but here is the xray from yesterday.  As you can see the top of the femur is no longer flat, but it has now grown out into a sharp point. 
Owwwwwwwwwie!!!!  
Of course the Ortho Dr/Surgeon is out of town this week, so we are going to keep him comfortable until we can get a game plan when the Dr returns.  I talked with his PA today and she told me that the Dr is already aware of the issues at hand with Danny so at least he can brain storm alil.  I'm going to assume that there is going to be a surgery in Danny's near future.  
There are two issues that are going on with this ~
1. the femur bone has migrated up due to the shorten muscle in his leg and 
2. the bone has regrown UP (and into a point) from where it was cut off.  
There is alot of clunking and crying when moving his right leg or knee.  I'm not sure if the knee is a separate issue or if it ties in with the leg/bone.  Once we talk with the Dr maybe he can shine some light on the situation.  But for now comfy is our main goal!!

UGH!!

So we see alot of this face :( 
 Pulling at the heart strings!!

 Here are his scoliosis xrays that we took yesterday too.  Amazing how much this lil boy has endured in his 9yrs of life.  He is my HERO!!  What a strong lil Man!!  At least his back is healing and doing great from the spinal fusion.
WOW!!  Did you check out those screws?!?  Hell ~ did you check out all that hardware?!?

Today marks my last year in the 30 something range.  Yea it's my bday!  It's been a great day.  Danny has been pretty comfortable, I got some beautiful yellow roses, went out for breakfast, started a new workout (Focus T25), and got a banana cream pie :)  (kinda throws the workout out the window, but I can't say NO to banana cream pie!!)
Avrianna has a half day today from school, but there is no hanging out with mom as I'm not cool enough.  LOL  She has some friends over and they are playing Wii Dance.  Tomorrow we are going to go out for lunch to the Melting Pot to celebrate our birthdays as Dan's is Friday the 20th.  September is a busy celebration month for us ... our anniversary is on the 8th (it was 12 yrs this year), My bday, Dan's bday, and Bailey (my 4 legged baby) is going to be 13 on the 21st.

I will keep you posted with what the next step is going to be with Danny.  I hope we can get everything taken care of and have him back to a comfy state before our vacation in October.  I've had to cancel this trip 2 times already and I don't think I want to cancel it a 3rd time :(

Tuesday, September 10, 2013

Back on Track

Things at the Osero household are back in full school year swing.

We definitely like to be BUSY :)

Avrianna's first week of school went GREAT!  She is making new friends and really likes the teachers and curriculum .... so far.  Her week schedule is FULL....with School 5 days, diving 3-4 nites, piano 1 nite, Confirmation and bells 1 nite, and brigade 1 nite.  Mom's taxi service is up and running :)  There is NO more room for anything else, even though Avrianna would love to add more things on her plate if I let her.

The mystery was solved on Mr Danny.  We brought him into see the Dr (not Dr K as he was out on vacation, of course.  Danny loves to get ill when Dr K is out) and after a thorough exam she found that Danny's throat was raw with blisters.  He was diagnosed with Coxsackie Virus.  We still did a panel of labs with blood, urine, and stool as his system was out of whack.  We had thought he had another UTI, but thankfully the specimen was just contaminated so no further treatment was needed.  Everything else came back normal except Danny's potassium levels were low again despite adding in potassium into this daily nutrition already.  So we upped the dose to 2 packages and we'll see how that goes.  With all the results coming back normal, it looks like his autonomic system is going even more crazy when he is ill ... a new "normal" for us to get used to.
I officially took Danny out of the school system last week.  It was a difficult decision, but I just didn't see any advantage as there really hasn't been any progress in the last few years.  I will miss his teacher and therapists greatly they have become great friends through the years.

I have plateaued once again in my mission to become healthier.  This week I've stepped up my game and started to get out more to walk and I've made a valid effort to make better food choices.  I kind of let it slip alil this summer.  I did gain about 3lbs over the summer and that was disappointing to know that I let my hard work slip.....so it's GO TIME.  I am going to start something new and try an exercise workout....I've been doing alot of brisk walking anywhere from 1.5 miles to 4 miles depending on the day, but this is going to be a lot different for me.   It's called T25 from Beachbody.  I'm excited and worried....I'm just not sure what my body will allow me to do.  Well I won't know if I don't try,      Right?  Along with my natural supplements and this T25 workout I'm also going to try Shakeology.  I will post my highs, lows, and results with you guys......my wonderful blog support.

GOD HELP ME!!

Dan is loving that the weather is cooling off, the leaves are starting to change, and hunting season is right around the corner.  This year is going to be extra special as this is the first year Avrianna is going to be hunting with him.  Well not the actual season opener.....don't think I can subject her to that yet, LOL, but she is going to be participating in the Youth Hunt.  She is very excited...and so is Dan.  They both are like two kids when they are taking about getting ready, what they need, and practicing.  Avrianna got her own gun last week and they went up north this last weekend so they could get her gun sighted in, practice shooting and check the trail cameras.  Dan was floored when the first shot Avrianna ever took with her gun was .......

A bullseye!!  And the next 7 shots were also ALL in the red bullseye zone.
She's a natural!

Tuesday, September 3, 2013

Here's to a Great School Year!

6th Grade is here!!  First Day of School she's ready and excited....Bring it on!!  
 The bus stop is further away this year so Avrianna is going to ride her bike to a friends house down the street and then they will walk to the bus stop together.  I'm sure when she has to bring her trumpet in school I'll have to drop her off, but who knows ..... Ms Independent will figure out a way to get it all on her bike :)  This year she also will have to transfer buses so she'll have 2 buses to get to school and 2 buses to get home.  We live maybe 7 minutes away from school, but she gets on the first bus 1hr and 15mins before school starts.  We might be taking her to school more often then riding the bus.  We'll have to see how it all plays out the first few days.
 Where are the years going ??
Homeroom, Math, Reading, Science Teacher Ms Galica
Language Arts and Social Studies Teacher Mr Sollitto
Check out his room.....so cool :)

The last few day have been rough on Danny.  Once again he is in serious discomfort and I don't know why.  I have a few ideas....but nothing that is jumping out at me.  Man would I give anything for him to just be able to point in the direction.  SIGH!!  Most of his waking hours is grimacing or crying.  My heart is breaking!!

First day of school and he is resting comfortably, for now.  He was up at 4am crying away, so I'm very happy he was able to get some more sleep.  I did not register him for school this year, let's see how this goes with the school district.
I have a few calls into the doc to see what we can do to help him out.  I hope to have some sort of idea of what's going on very soon.  I HATE not knowing what's wrong and to see him so miserable is taking a toll.

With the summer coming to an end....So is the Garden.  Let the Harvesting BEGIN!!
We picked 3 - 5 gl buckets full of roma tomatoes and started getting busy canning.  We ended up canning 15 quarts of spaghetti sauce, YUM!!  I think we'll have at least another batch of tomatoes that big to get out of the garden yet.  
I'm not sure if we are going to have such a large garden next year, if one at all.  They are alot of work and we just don't have the time or energy to maintain it.  I said "that's what they make Farmers Markets for"....they can grow it :)  The only things that did well this year, was the tomatoes, zucchini, yellow squash, and strawberries.  SO much for the beets, peppers, beans, peas, cucumbers....not worth all that time when the stuff doesn't grow.  

I Saw this bumper sticker.....and HAD TO HAVE IT!!  


I wish everyone a safe and exciting 2013-14 school year.  Thanks for stopping by to check in on us.  As always....I'll keep you posted!