Friday, October 27, 2006

This weeks Monkey Punch!

This past week, right after my hysterectomy, my son on his way down the stairs in our front foyer to catch the bus, tripped down the stairs. He injured his big toe. My husband and I (who both heard him fall) came to ask him if he was okay. Although he seemed a little irritated and embarrassed (been there, done that. . .last time at my dd's middle school right in the middle of the hallway! OUCH!) he said he was fine. So off he went to catch the bus, then the younger 3 followed suit. My husband who had been home already for 1 full week taking care of me and the kids after my major surgery and 2 day stay at the hospital as well as manadory bed rest at home HAD to go into work that day. So after getting kids off to school and doing some things around the house (I cant even load the dishwasher!) he tried to log on and work from home. He soon discovered that he had to actually go into the office and "put out some fires". So in the early afternoon he went to work. When Z came home I asked him how his foot was and he said it was fine. A little while later he told me it hurt and when I looked at it I saw that it was bruised and figured he needed to get an xray. Not that it really matters with toes, because they cant do anything but confirm a fracture. They dont cast toes, they just wrap them. I could have done that at home. But I am always very cautious with my kids and their health, I would much rather take them to the doctor and have THEM tell me oh they are fine, no need to worry, you did not have to bring them in then to not bring them in and miss something major. So I called my husband and left a message telling him that he had to take Z to the doctor when he got home. Z did not feel like he needed to go, he said it was fine.

So jump forward a bit to around 10 pm, when my husband arrived home and agreed that he needed to go to the doctor. We briefly discussed whether or not we should take him into the urgent care clinic or the reg doctor the following day. It was decided that the urgent care clinic was the best thing to do, that way he would not miss any school. So my husband took Z to the urgent care clinic. After the urgent care clinic Z came home with a soft-sided “boot” to wear for his slightly broken big toe. The next morning not long after he left for school the urgent care clinic called back and said that the radiologist who checks the x-rays said his toe was in fact NOT broken at all.

That afternoon, about 5 minutes after my younger 3 kids got home from elementary school, I saw a woman coming to the door. Must be a sales person I thought. So I went to the door to get rid of her quickly (or so I thought!) by telling her I had just had surgery. She had an id badge hanging around her neck and a stack of papers and folders in her hands, but honestly I did not pay attention to her id badge, cause seems like everyone has one these days. She began by asking for my husband. I told her that he was not home but I was his wife. She then asked me if I was Z’s motheProbablybly not a salesperson I thought, but I still did not know who she was. After I told her I was Z’s mother she said “We have gotten a report that your son broke his leg and you did not seek medical attention for it.”

I responded by saying, “First of all he told that he broke is big toe last night and they already called this morning to say it was in fact NOT broken. And second of all, WHO THE HELL ARE YOU!!” Only then did she “identify” herself as being from social services. A lot of the rest of the conversation is really a blur. To tell you the truth I was so shocked and totally annoyed that I can’t remember exactly what was said. I remember telling her that I had just had major surgery a WEEK ago and could not drive that is why my husband took our son in late in the evening. She also repeatedly asked me if she could come into my home and “look around”. Each time I told her, “Not without a search warrant you can’t”. She kept pushing that issue, like I was an idiot who did not know my rights. My other kids were on the steps behind me and she looked passed me and asked if those “were all my kids”. I told her, yes in fact they were all my children. I had 5 children and they were all my natural children and they were all healthy and fine.

Then she asked me if Zwas home. I told her no, that his bus did not get home for another 15 minutes and it came later then the other kids bus. She seemed to want to wait for him and I told her she was welcome to wait and see if he was indeed okay. I asked her for something in writing and she gave me a generic form with her name and todayÂ’s date. Then she got into her car and after a few minutes left. I waited in my foyer for ZÂ’s bus to insure that she did not try to talk to him alone or anything. Then I called my husband , who called our lawyer. Z arrived home around 4:10 and she was no where in sight and did not come back that evening.

Then I began running around and cleaning. . .doing all the things the doctor had forbidden me to do! Bending to pick things up, loading and unloading the dishwasher, washing dishes, doing laundry. . .all the things I had left for my husband and kids to do. I was beginning to hurt. Then one of my friends called back and said she had gotten at least one other lady from the church for sure and they would be there in an hour to help me crisis clean the house, in case they came back. I nearly burst into tears! Okay, I did. . .not that it was hard cause I had been doing that on and off since I closed the door on the social worker. I had not idea if or when she would show back up and if she would be alone or with a police officer and a search warrant! Talk about stressed out!

The next day I jumped everytime I heard a car pass and was looking out the window the whole day! I jumped out of my skin when a neighbor sent her son down to borrow some butter! Around 1:50, the phone rang and it was the social worker from the day before. She was cpositionto see if my positon from the previous day had “changed”. When I asked her what position, she said the one where I refused to allow her to come into my home. I assured her that no, my position had not changed. (I mean was there a constitutional amendment I did not know about in the past 12 hours!?!?!?) She then went on to insist that she needed the names and birthdates of each of my other children and that she wanted to interview each of them as well. Of course I told her no way was she going to be getting that information or doing that! I cited the fact that the “complaint” was against my husband and one son, Z, not the rest of the nonsensee spouted some nonesence about having the “right” to talk to all the children as well as to come into my home if she wanted to. I told her that I would double check with my lawyer and if he felt like she had a legal “right” to that information then I would give it to her at the meeting that afternoon. She was not happy at all. The last question she asked me was what school my son attended. I refused to give her that information as well. As I suspected when I spoke to my lawyer after that phone conversation he agreed that the information they requested was not needed by them and should not be given to them at all.

I had previously arranged for a friend to video tape the meeting scheduled for that afternoon. About 5 minutes before my friend arrived, the phone rang. This time it was the social workers supervisor. She was unclear about some things that had transpired at the first meeting and wanted to “clear some things up”. I told her I was more then happy to do just that. Then she proceeded to tell me that they did have the right to enter my home if they wanted to. I again reminded them that they were more then welcome to if they had a search warrant. She told me that she did not need a search warrant, she could come into my home whenever she felt it was needed. To which I responded, then why have you not been in there yet? Then I handed the phone to my husband. She continued to argue that they had the right to come into our home. She even went so far as to quote Senate Bill 757 saying it gave her that right. (We looked up that Senate bill later that evening and it is about deer hunting!). The conversation ended and we waited for the social worker to arrive. Meanwhile my younger kids arrived home from school and I sent them up to my friends house right away, as my lawyer had told me to do. My videographer and friend arrived and we all prayed together.

Then the woman arrived and we met her in the driveway of our home. When I asked her for her ID, she had to go to her car to get it. She began by asking my husband some questions. My son was next. Then she again asked to come into our home and to see the other kids. That is when we gave her our lawyers name and number. Before she left she filled out a form that stated that Z was indeed in a safe environment and my husband signed it. She tried to get us to sign a HIPA form, but we refused. She left after telling us that they would contact us to set up a time to meet with the other kids. We doubt that the lawyer will let that happen. There is no legal reason for it to happen.

Saturday, October 21, 2006

AWESOME SITE

Hysterectomy Support by HysterSisters.com

Friday, October 20, 2006

Long road to recovery begins. . .

I am home from the hospital now, have been since Thursday afternoon. Finding it hard to rest. Lots going on here and my staples are sore. . .

Tuesday, October 17, 2006

Surgery at 7:30 am today

Off to surgery now. A little nervous and still have a migraine but overall very happy to be getting this done! Keep me in your prayers. . .if you read this

Sunday, October 15, 2006

Red Lobster. . .or not. . .

Well today was my FIL's anniversary. . .of when he joined the Navy. Something like 66 years ago today! WOW! As usual he wanted to take us out to lunch, which for some reason causes a LOT of problems with my 5 ungrateful children! they all complain about where, do we have to go, not this place again, but I want to play with my friends instead. . .you name it they pull it. Well today, because of the anniversary, my FIL wanted to go to Red Lobster to celebrate. This sounded good to me! Sort of my last hurrah before my surgery and a place that none of the kids will complain about. So this morning as I made eggs for myself (and 3 of my other kids too!), I called the Red Lobster closest to us to see if they take reservations. And the one we normally go to is closed, so I call another one, that is further, but not too bad. They are open but do not take any reservations or even call ahead seating, so it is first come first serve.

So of course it is always hard to get everyone out of church in time to go home and get grandpa and go to a restarurant and get a decent seat with out a long wait. So we all rushed out of church and planned to meet at home to get grandpa then go get gas cause the van was practically on empty. We decided to wait on the gas and just go. Apparently my FIL told my husband that it did not have to be Red Lobster, just anywhere he can get shrimp. When I got into the van my husband tells me this and I am stumped. I do not have a clue what he would consider a good place to get shrimp, esp one that compare to Red Lobster. So we explain that we can go to where ever he wants and we dont mind driving to Red Lobster. He does not really say anything just throws his hands up. ARGH!! I hate having to decide something when I know there is the potential for him to get upset. Lets just say he is "set in his ways". Sometimes he can be very opinionated.

A little while later we arrive at RL and of course it is packed, afterall it is a Sunday afternoon, right? I go in to put our name in, followed by some of the kiddos. After I finally made my way through all the waiting people to put our name in, she tells me the wait is for 1 hour at least. As I turned around I shuffled the kids out too, cause I knew my FIL would not want to wait that long. Of course he did not. As we are leaving the restaurant a lady says to me, "He threw up." I looked at her like, huh?!?! She points to my youngest, who I am guiding out of the first lobby (you know between the 2 front doors), and repeats herself, "He just threw up.' Seemingly all at once I look at my son, who looks like he just threw up, right down to a dribble down the front of his sweatshirt, then at the lobby floor where a RL employee is putting napkins over what I presume is my sons "cookies", then back at the woman. Next I took off the offensive sweatshirt as we were (quickly) walking back to our van. We all pile into the van and my FIL says he wants to go to the Chinese buffet he sees next door. So we make our way over there, green little boy and all. When we got there I told my husband I was going to take our son to Kmart (it was in the same parking lot) and get him some medicine for his tummy. Even though the Kmart was close, my son no longer had a sweatshirt on and I did not want to make him walk feeling as bad as he was. A very short ride later we parked at the Kmart and I waited for my son to open his door before locking it. Apparently his arm was right where the lock is, cause he started screaming. I had pinched his arm in the lock when I locked the door. He climbed back in and over the driver seat to me and I carried him inside. Good thing he is a tiny 5 year old! I went and got the medicine for him and then some crackers and a new sweatshirt. I asked him if he wanted to go into the restaurant or just stay in the van. At first he said he wanted to stay in the van, then he changed his mind.

A few minutes later, after getting lots of sympathy (and some plastic bags!) from the Kmart cashier we arrived back at the buffet. He seemed like his normal perky self and we went inside with plans on eating white rice and maybe some noodles or other bland things. He ate some of that, and also ended up eating several chicken on a stick ( cooked in a teriaki sauce I think) and he even ordered a "Dr. Pibb". Everything seemed fine, I even got to eat some food. (it should be noted that he has had a recent history of feeling like this,esp when we were driving cross country. . .so this is not a new thing, just not usually when we are so close to home. . .) All of a sudden he says he thinks he needs to throw up and looks like it too! Remember this is a Sunday afternoon, and this place is packed. . .and HUGE. And where are we sitting? You guessed it all the way in the back corner, far from the bathroom, far from the front door and surrounded by families eating lunch. So I quickly asked my other son to go to the other side of the table so that I could scoot over closer to the wall to try to shield the other diners should anything "happen". The best thing I had to catch with was several napkins from the table. I tried to help my son and comfort him while at the same time looking for a way out that would not involve my son puking on or near other people eating their egg rolls. The front door might as well have been a mile away at this point! I asked my son if he thought he could make it to the van without throwing up. He said yes, so I grabbed my keys, my purse, his new sweatshirt and the napkins were at the ready, right near his face. We quickly left. No conversation, we just walked out. I think I might have told my husband "we are going to the van". I knew he realized that anyway and we did not have time for chit chat. . .or more tossing of cookies!

In the van my son was fine again and he saw my notebook from church and asked me if I had a pen. I gave him a pen and he wrote and drew for awhile. He has been fine ever since. No complaints before and none since. . . .

Our school has a 24 hour policy, if you throw up or have a fever you have to stay home until you have no fever or throw up for 24 hours. But given the fact that my son seems to have had this episode from car sickness and I have surgery to prepare for. . .he will be going to school! That is all I need,a sick kid on my last day to prepare for surgery. As it was I did not do much today. I had a migraine (still do). I did manage to make dinner, even though only my FIL, my youngest and myself bothered to eat. (the rest were asleep, out playing or over friends houses) Then he had to go to the grocery store, and so did I. When I got into the van I was met with a big E. We never did get gas earlier. So I filled up then went to the grocery store, then came home and put the stuff away, bathed the youngest, scrubbed my shower floor (gross textured finish. .argh), folded MOUNDS AND MOUNDS of clothes, washed more clothes, loaded and started the dishwasher, put the kids to bed, and then got a snack and came to blog. . . .

It is sad when going to the hospital to have a hysterectomy is like a vacation. . . .

Getting ready for surgery. . .Tuesday!

Well, I went to the doctor on Wednesday to discuss what the next step would be considering I had such a rough time during my period, even after the surgery. He told me there was no reason to wait, that he knew I needed relief. So we scheduled surgery for Tuesday, October 17. At 7:30 AM. WOW. That is early, that means we have to be at the hospital at 5:30 to do labs, and we have to leave here at 5 AM. My wonderful friend and neighbor will be coming over (agian!) at 5AM to be here with kids and get them up and ready for school. She is a lifesaver! Esp because she is NOT a morning person! The house is slowly getting clean. . .not the way I would like, but I only have so much time and help. I am tring to prioritize. The kids did manage to clean their rooms, but that means now my laundry pile is HUGE! On monday, my friend Cassy is coming over to help me with some meal prep. What a sweetie! More tomorrow. . .I am still looking around the hystersisters website. . .

Saturday, October 14, 2006

Homebirth Diaries

Homebirth Diaries
Congratz!!!! It is a boy. . .great job!

Saturday, October 07, 2006

Saturday Night

Well, it is Saturday night, and right now I am sitting at my computer listening to my 5 year old whine . . .he wants to sleep on the floor and since I told him no he is in there crying. . .

ARGH!!! And 3 of my 4 other kids are still awake. And my mother in law just called. . .and it is 11pm. There goes my relaxing evening playing COH with my hubby.

I spent most of the day in the garage- I cleaned it out in preparation for a garage sale next week. The main goal of which is to make money AND get rid of the bed. Well get rid of crap and declutter too. . .


Well, hubby is waiting for me to log on to COH now. . .more tomorrow!

Wednesday, October 04, 2006

back again

should be doing my homework, but it is 10:30 and my kids are not all in bed yet. I just got back from picking my two oldest and their friend up from youth group and then taking my son to Blockbuster because he HAD to trade his games and get a new one NOW. House is a mess, laundry needs to me folded, room needs to be cleaned ( kids made it messier while I was getting other kids from youth group), homework has not been touched ( I did read most of the chapter though. . .), I should be vacumming up the hair on the bathroom floor from cutting my husbands hair this morning, but I am just too tired. There goes what I thought would be the ideal evening. . .me and my husband doing our homework together then "cuddling". everyone else hijacked my plans. . .as usual. So instead of homework with hubby, I will play my new pc game, Penguin Puzzle or Drop, probobly drink another Coke (I had given them up. . .) and eat some chocolate therepy, then go to bed. . .when and IF my daughter finally finishes her homework and goes to bed (she told me this afternoon she did not have any homework!). And tomorrow is more of the same. Run off the newsletter, figure out what to make for dinner, make dinner, clean up the kitchen so I can make dinner, run errands, go to an appointment, finish (start) my homework, go to my class, mail my moms bday cards (late of course), and a million other things. . .welcome to my CRAZY world, alright! Where do I get off. . .

running around again. . .like always!

It seems like I am either feeling like crap and in bed or running around trying to catch up after the last bout or before the next one! Story of my life. Right now I am trying to get my world famous chicken pot pie going (cooked chicken yesterday and even made the stock!). Also doing laundry, finishing newsletter for the elementary school, cleaning my room, doing my homework for the class my husband and I are taking, yadda yadda yadda. . .well the kids bus is here . . .got to go now