Considering Our Strange Little Life

There has been plenty going on to occupy the CavFamily.  For one thing, we have put our home on the market.  We did this to preserve our equity since the prices are only going down, and we probably won’t get this much for at least a few years.  We hope to be moving elsewhere soon.  If I receive a new call, we’ll have a headstart on selling the house.

This means lots of work.  We have been “de-cluttering”, which mostly means packing up unnecessary items to create the perception of more space in the home.  The real estate agent is hopeful; our home is priced competetively and the market for smaller homes is better than for larger homes.  I got plenty of work done Friday and Saturday- to which CavGirl commented “You’re a workhorse, daddy.”  She picked this phrase up from Jon & Kate Plus 8.   The excess stuff is gone and the home is ready for the virtual tour photos.

With a vacation coming up, we also had to “de-dog” the home.  He is a shedding machine.  As a result, the prospect of asking our neighbors to not only let him out, but being able to vacuum the home on a moment’s notice if an agent wants to show it and how he might respond to strangers means he needs to go on vacation.  Just not with us.  Former neighbors agreed to watch him while we are away.  But, they now live a few hours away.  So, on a trip to visit family they stopped by last night to pick him up.  CavGirl was not quite down with that.  Tired and hungry, she had a mini-meltdown because the dog is gone, temporarily.

It was a good thing the dog is gone.  Shortly after putting the kids to bed, CavWife realized it was getting warm in the house.  The A/C was not working, period.  Not even the fan or heat.  I think the lightening storm must of wiped out the thermostat and a nearby fan used to create white noise for sleeping children.  It was a long, warm, sticky night in the house.  We had some doors and windows open.  No telling how the dog would react to the various noises and critters outside.  I didn’t get much sleep, crashing in the living room since it had better airflow.  Thankfully, the forecast says that it is only supposed to get to around 88 today.  Much better than 95+.  But I passed on the shower in the hopes that the A/C guy has it up and running around lunch time.  Then I take CavBoy to his re-evaluation for his hearing.  They wanted to see how the better tubes affected his hearing.

Saturday was a long, tiring day.  We had the joy of going to another wedding.  We sat with a friend and her 3 year-old.  CavGirl, CavBoy and their friend had too much fun.  We should have gotten a babysitter since I got so stressed out at the noise and endless questions.  I found them a huge distraction but the people around us didn’t seem too put off.  At the reception, I was able to spend time with a guy I rented a room from while getting my 2nd degree from RTS.  He also rented a room to the groom.  Like CavSon, he was born with a cleft-plate, so we spent time comparing notes as it were.

We left the reception around 2, after CavBoy’s diaper seems to have sprung a leak.  Too much to drink for that boy.  So we had to slip out the back quietly.  He crashed on the short ride home, but CavGirl was another story.  Her whining was a preview for the evening.  All my parenting tricks failed.  Nothing seemed to get through to her and grew increasingly exasperated.  It was a good prelude to my sermon on Sunday on how God loves us enough to discipline us.

This morning, our speech therapist called to say he wasn’t coming.  We requested a new speech therapist, but wanted the transition to take place when we went on vacation.  He decided “what’s the point”- ah, our son’s well-being…  We don’t want him to go 5 weeks without speech therapy.  This therapist seems to have little experience with cleft-palate kids (though he talked like an expert).  His recommendations were about 180 degrees different from everyone else’s.  He also refused to take his personal history as a recently adopted kid into account and determined his progress in 4 sessions was insignificant.  I’m not sure why he was informed of this change now, but I’m not liking how he bailed on CavSon today.  So now we are looking for a new therapist with experience working cleft-palate kids locally.  As if we didn’t have enough happening.

So, I have now escaped to my ‘office’ for cooler air and a quiet atmosphere.  Much needed for my sanity.  My stay here will be much too short.

Update: The A/C repair cost about $160.  It didn’t look good at first, but it turned out that the transformer and relay had been blown out by a power surge.  Had it taken a direct hit by lightening, the whole shebang would have to be repaired costing about $1,600.  So we are thankful!

CavSon’s hearing exam came back as borderline normal, which is great news.  He’s had a rough day since he didn’t sleep well.  He was crying most of the way home, even when I held his hand he was not comforted.  Not the best thing for my shoulder.

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Here, There and Everything

The last few weeks have been just that.  It has been good that I am not working because I feel like I’ve been all around central Florida.  I have taken CavSon for doctor’s appointments and testing in Lakeland and Orlando.  I’ve gone to meetings about job openings in Tampa.  Lunch with pastors in Avon Park, preaching in Avon Park.  I brought the laptop to the Geek Squad in Lakeland (reason for the decrease in the number of posts, and lack of pics of the family).  Gas is $4/gallon and I’m driving more than ever.  This weekend we all head up to Brooksville for a wedding.

CavSon may have some mild hearing loss associated with the frequent ear infections experienced by children with cleft palates.  Next week I bring him back to Orlando to make sure his left ear is healthy.  Our surgeon expressed some concern about that ear.  He has begun speech therapy (no driving, the guy comes to our home).  We are trying to work on the expulsive consonants (b, p and so forth).  He has to learn how to use the muscles in his mouth.  Much of what he says is a slur of vowels right now.

CavDaughter is going everywhere on her new bike.  A friend down the street got a new bike for her birthday, and decided to give her old, smaller bike to our daughter.  She is excited to be riding it, though she has not yet learned how to use the brakes.  This makes for some interesting moments.

She’s trying to “sow her oats” as only a 3 1/2 year-old can.  We are having to address an increase in disrespect and demandingness.    This can make for a long day.

While I’m in my borrowed office, I try to look for work on-line.  Not terribly exciting.  It confirms my internal call as I await a new external call.  I’m trying to keep up with what is going on in the world (theological, political, sports etc.) but am falling way behind since I can’t surf at night.  Perhaps this is good for me.  I’m not reading as much as I’d like, either.

The return of rain also means the return of mowing season here in Florida.  My brown desert hath bloomed all green.  I will need to put in increased lawn time now.

Put it all together and I feel quite harried and pressured as the future intrudes on my present.  I’m looking forward to a few days away from it all for the wedding.  Perhaps it will clear my head and heart.  But until then, I’ve got to work on a homily.

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Nearing Normal

I’d include a new photo, but I can’t seem to insert photos on the laptop, only the PC.  How very strange.  Nothing I’ve tried to resolve it has worked.  And now, back to our regularly scheduled program.

CS has been home for 2 days now.  We were not sure what to expect.  We heard some horror stories from some people.  A few mentioned that it completely threw off the children’s sleep patterns.

The night after his surgery he woke up frequently, often needing some water.  The second night, our first back home, I slept like a rock for about 9 hours in the back bedroom.  CW was happy since I snore louder and longer when I am in such a state of exhaustion.  So she had CS duty that night.  He woke up about every 2 hours.  Last night he didn’t wake up until 6:20.  So, he is pretty much back to his normal sleep pattern.  Big sigh of relief there.

One family we know said their son was going to have his surgery in June.  The doctor recommended putting casts on his arms rather than restraints.  Sometimes kids do figure out how to get free.  The first 2 weeks are probably the most important, so he won’t pull at the stitches on his lip (creating some ugly scar tissue) or put something in his mouth that will damage the repaired palate.  He is adjusting fairly well to the restraints.  He’s able to do most things.  We feed him and help him with his cup.  We give him some freedom around bath time as well.  I do get concerned when he’s running around.  It is a bit hard to break your fall with arm restraints.  But he’s doing well.

He was still a bit “off” from the anesthesia (we think) when he got back.  He is back to being his usual self now.   He had a rash on his torso yesterday.  We think it was the penecillan.  He’s still on his tylenol w/codeine, but should go to straight tylenol tomorrow.  The pain and discomfort seem to have improved greatly (this was another reason he was waking up so much).

The 2 of them have been playing outside.  Sometimes I cringe, fearing that he’ll get hurt.

CW is now the Magic Bullet Queen.  She loves using it to puree his food.  She even pureed a biscuit yesterday.  It has been a big help.  He’s able to eat most of what we eat, just with one extra step.  Okay, we also have to spoon feed him.  And sometimes CD as well.  She doesn’t want to feel left out.

 

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Home from the Hospital

If I have to do this again … shoot me.  I told CavWife this must have been payback for the China trip.

Yesterday morning I was up at 5:30 after not sleeping all that well.  CavDaughter woke me up twice, so that didn’t help.  Since I’d watched the Red Sox beat the Yankees late Sunday, I didn’t watch the come from behind victory against the Indians.  I was a good boy.  But tired even before loading CavSon into the car to head off to the hospital at 6 am.

He really did great yesterday morning.  I thought he’d become super-whiny since I couldn’t give him anything to eat or drink.  But he was in a good mood until crashing at 10:30.  I brought one diaper with me.  Shortly after arriving I noticed some leakage so I traipsed off to the men’s room to change him, seeing a sign that they had changing tables in there.  Sadly, 1. some guy occupied the bathroom for about 10 minutes, and 2. the changing table was in another bathroom.  I also learned they decided to save money on toilet paper and had an ample supply of sand paper in its place.  At approximately 8 am the magic moment I had feared came.  I asked the lady at the desk for a new diaper.  She directed me to the bathroom with a changing table!

A few minutes later they called us back for him to change.  A series of nurses checked in on us to make sure we didn’t need anything.  Very friendly people.  They put in a Barney video for him.  His first Barney experience.  I wanted him to hate it, but he liked it.  Blues Clues was not received quite as well.  He was restless and the surgeon was behind schedule.  I had not read a page of listened to anything but Barney.  Sadly, I’d left my headphones in the car.  After wearing him out he was ready for a nap when the surgeon came by to go over final details.  He was off for surgeon, happily waving ‘bye-bye’.

I spent the next few hours reading half the PCA Book of Church Order, which nearly put me asleep.  Then I went to the car to grab my lunch, once again forgetting the headphones.  After reading some of my novel, I gave up and went into the children’s waiting room which was empty.  A recliner was a great place to nap until the surgeon woke me up with the good news that he was in recovery.

I joined him in recovery, holding him until he was ready to head to the pediatric ward.  No reading, no sermons.  Up in pediatrics, he was doing pretty well.  But between the phone calls, crying and nurses talking to me I actually heard about 10 minutes of Grahame Goldsworthy.

Before he could leave in the morning he had to be drinking and eating.  He was pretty thirsty and quickly took care of the first.  For dinner he had some applesauce and babyfood bannanas.  Paydirt!  We just had to make it through the night.

My dinner was late.  A friend was bringing me dinner, but circumstances conspired such that he arrived at 8 pm, when visiting hours ended.  But we went off the cafeteria to talk.  He brought me a Joey Bag o’ Donuts and a beer from Moe’s.  He figured I probably would need one.  Oh, a true friend.

I was back in the room by 9:30 and started to watch a movie on the DVD player I borrowed.  After about 20 minutes I faced the fact I would not finish the movie.  I was in bed by 10, so very un-Cavman-like.  It seemed that every time I was close to falling to sleep something happened: a monitor alarm went off, he woke up and couldn’t get back to sleep, a nurse came in, he was thirsty ….  It was as if they had some special detection device.

When the surgeon arrived he found everything in good order and the wheels were in motion for discharge.  He enjoyed his breakfast of applesauce and scrambled eggs.  He also had time to work the floor, flirting with all the nurses.  One of the interesting things about the hospital that I learned as the transportation specialist pushed us in the wheelchair is that they don’t allow child patients out via the parking garage, where I was parked.  So, I had to leave him with the specialist while I went to get the car and drive to the other side of the hospital instead of 150 feet in the parking garage.

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