All you might have some idea as to what I'm about to blog about.
So the good news is, the remicade is working like a charm. It's sooo fantastic. My colitis symptoms have all but disappeared, leaving me with nothing but headaches and fatigue. Trust me, that's a huuuuge improvement. The headaches usually go away with a little Tylenol, and for the heavy hitting ones I have a very expensive bottle of Motrin that has prilosec in it. It's called Duexis and it's just heaven-sent.
The bad news is, while I'm off the prednisone, it's left me with some pretty crazy withdrawal symptoms, and I'm feeling pretty dizzy most of the time. My blood pressure is wildly erratic right now, but that should work itself out in the coming weeks. I think that I'll just make my plans according to how my head is feeling. I mean, the remicade often cancels many of my potential plans anyway, just did too the germ factor, . So it's all good.
So there's your update.
So we've been "homeschooling" for two weeks. What we're doing now is really just finishing up Lucy's first grade year with busy work and lots of reading. We don't have a curriculum, but coming up with something for a first grader to do is about as difficult as boiling water. Our second grade curriculum is all ready to go, but I'd really like to start second grade with a More proficient reader. So we're mostly reading and doing math. And let me tell you, homeschooling with a two year old and two sixteen month olds is really not fulfilling my rosy vision of the homeschooling experience. I'd give you an example of ten minutes of our school day, but if you can imagine just about any scene from Jumanji, you're pretty much right there with us. For crying out loud, don't roll the dice!
No, it's not the idyllic picture of a loving mother in an apron with children reading at her feet while she crochets. There is much yelling. Much sighing. Much moaning. Much flopping and wailing. And then there are the kids...
But we're together. Lucy's mind is a hilarious, magical place. And it's all mine to enjoy. She is so full of amazing ideas and she gives them all to me. She spends her free time with her sisters, making houses, riding bikes, munching on cheetos, chasing her brothers. She is doing exactly what a six year old should be doing. She's playing hard, chasing bugs and sleeping like a baby. Her crazy dreams have settled down, she's doing less sleep walking at 11 pm and she's more confident now than she has been in months. She's chatty and willing to put her pride on the line, and I love that.
In a couple months we'll begin second grade. It's going to be quite the year. Molly will begin kindergarten, and Claire will begin an intensive internship in professional disruption. It's unpaid, if you're wondering. Her assistants will begin the year working on a report that will examine mommy's baseline sanity. From there I expect they'll come up with a plan for the year that will really create an environment completely hostile to any sort of learning. Lucy's most important subject in second grade will be "Defensive learning 101: absorbing anything at all with three little devils at your back."
And yet, I'm so excited. So many possibilities, and I don't have to miss a thing.
You know what really turns my crank? A quick "room-to-room," as it's called in the Cooke house.
It's only Wednesday and we've already had a very busy week. We busted out a whole lot of school on Monday, had a meeting and school yesterday and were out of the house for about five hours today. It just adds up to a lot of coming and going with little organization. Tomorrow we have plans to meet up with friends for yet another "thing" and the thought of trying to get ourselves out of the house in the shadow it was in was making me a little stressed. We are a fairly organized bunch, so when the house starts to crumble my brain starts to get seriously jumbled up. I don't know whether I'm coming or going. So tonight when Andrew called, I said, "I need help if I'm going to get through the rest of the week." So he ran an errand or two and once he was in the door, we got cracking. Mommy gives orders, Daddy keeps the kids moving and we clean the entire house in about an hour. Knowing that we'll all be able to wake up to a clean house motivates us like crazy and there is nothing better than knowing that I can get out the door easily and come home to a peaceful place. There is nothing worse than a busy day that ends with frustration over a messy house. Tomorrow we'll be able to arrive home and plop the kids into their napping spots without tripping on anything, and that already feels nice. The kids' clothes are laid out, the laundry is caught up, the dishes are done, the counters are clear, the floors are clean and my head is once again in order. I don't need it clean all the time. Heaven knows it's a cluttered mess much of the time. But when life gets busy, I can't function very well if my sanctuary isn't waiting for me. I'm a bit of a homebody, and going out makes me so tired and overwhelmed. I love walking in the door, taking off my shoes and just breathing a huge "it's so nice to be home" sigh. But it's not so nice to come home to more work. Am I right? Of course I am.
Now. I have a cozy bed waiting for me to curl up with a book and get snoozy.
Stained glass being the theme today, we made stained glass windows and stained glass luminaries! Thank the good Lord I have a week to recover from that...
"Sure, mom!"
If you're wondering, "sure, mom!" translates to "I can put one plastic cup on the counter, and Mo can eat a few Goldfish, and then we'll be just about done, here!"
I'm sitting in the infusion center and have about two hours to go, so now might be a good time to blog. In the other hand, I Ann wiped out and a nap sounds divine. I'll go until I fall asleep, I guess.
Today is my second infusion, since I had to cancel last week's appointment due to bronchitis. I started coughing last weekend, lost my voice and was feeling pretty horrid, but my gi sent me for a chest xray on Tuesday and we were still planning on the infusion, until I woke up Wednesday with a fever. Blast! So I did a zpack over the weekend and here I am today. I've been feeling pretty good colitis-wise, with just a few subtle effects from the remicade so far. The biggest issue I have is headaches, but that seems minor. I'm curious to see what side effects will continue to settle in as this next dose takes hold, as I'm still in the losing dose phase and haven't hit the drug level yet. That's a few more weeks out, so each dose may present new side effects. Like Christmas every week! My next infusion will be four weeks from today, barring any surprise illnesses until then. The first 12-14 days after the infusion is my most vulnerable immune system-wise, so I may be more susceptible to germs and general "Yuck" in that time period. After my next infusion, I'll have them every eight weeks, so my "strong" periods will be longer after that.
We are coming off of a fantastic week visiting with family. Auntie Kasie, Uncle Chris and cousin Matt cane to visit us for Matt's spring break and we had so much fun!
Want a full list of every little thing we did?
Drove to San Antonio. Saw the rarity family. Went to the river walk. Ate steak. Went to the Alamo. Shopped like crazy. Saw the Water Gardens. Ate so much food. Did some plumbing. Went to the trampoline park. Built a potato cannon. Rode Segways. Went to Dealey Plaza. Took in a Rangers game. Ate more food. Got spray tans..painted the China cabinet. Went to the scat lounge. Went to natural bridge caverns. Ate more food. Watched movies. Fired potato cannon. Regretted that.
