SportsMum

It's Baseball Season...

noreply@blogger.com (SportsMum) — Sun, 05 Apr 2009 20:04:00 +0000

...And this is what my boy's having been doing in their spare time for the past few weeks...and not one of them has an ounce of talent at it, which is a very good thing! :)

It's That Time of Year Again!

noreply@blogger.com (SportsMum) — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 11:50:00 +0000

This week one or all of my children have had baseball practice every night...
Twice they were all on the fields, at exactly the same time, at three different locations - for TWO HOURS EACH!

Add this year's newest wrinkle, Cameron playing on the Freshman team, and we can include extreme travel to the mix!

You would think one of the coach's would have mercy on us, after all, it is my husband!

I think he is just doing this so he can see how creative I become with crock pot cooking!

He found out when I made him microwave his own beef burritos at 8:30 the other night...

It's Time To Quit

noreply@blogger.com (SportsMum) — Sat, 07 Mar 2009 18:24:00 +0000

I can't volunteer anymore.

I have always been one to put myself out there, take leadership roles, get things done..only to inevitably have it bite me in the a...

Obviously my personality really doesn't lend itself to this type of endeavor as I am terrible at taking criticism and when you take on these positions you are ALWAYS criticized.

I want to just start to cocoon and be quiet - for the rest of my life.

Facebook Could Be The End Of Blogging As We Know It!

noreply@blogger.com (SportsMum) — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 12:26:00 +0000

I am addicted. And it has killed my blogging!

So much has happened over the last few weeks - I hit my friend's van in my driveway and caused $700 in damage - Caeden was "misplaced" by a substitute bus driver (who subsequently lost his job) only to be found AN HOUR later by yours truly at a house along his bus route - Cameron has had two weeks of baseball tryouts AND was invited to attend the 2009 Youngstown State University Summer Honors Institute for Gifted Students - and the World Baseball Classic has begun and Jackson is in heaven!

Hey wait...I was able to tell you everything in one simple paragraph, just like Facebook! And you are my friends too! Anonymous but friends just the same...:)

I Would Have Made a Good Looking Man...

noreply@blogger.com (SportsMum) — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 02:53:00 +0000

My friend found this photo of me from our senior year high school band trip. As I was loading it Caeden came in the room and said "Hey There's Cameron!"

You be the judge...

Bronchitis

noreply@blogger.com (SportsMum) — Sat, 07 Feb 2009 21:51:00 +0000

What more is there to say? Coupled with the beginnings of another sinus infection, Jackson is back on antibiotics.

Sigh....

Will This Ever End?

noreply@blogger.com (SportsMum) — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 03:02:00 +0000

Jackson has a fever...

I can't really say again because he never had one before, even when he was so sick.

He wanted so badly to get back to normal. He was going away to church camp tomorrow for the very first time. Now he will be going to the doctor as soon as I can get him in...

:(((

How Quickly They Heal...

noreply@blogger.com (SportsMum) — Tue, 03 Feb 2009 00:51:00 +0000

Jackson was cleared for sports a week ago...to his profound disappointment, he had missed too many weigh-ins in his wrestling league and therefore could not enter the District tournament.

He was, however, able to enter the internal medal round for his weight class.

He kicked butt (literally) and won it all!

(Sorry no photos - Mum was too preoccupied with preparing for the SuperBowl party to remember her camera...)

Near Complete Resolution

noreply@blogger.com (SportsMum) — Tue, 27 Jan 2009 15:43:00 +0000

What can those three words mean?

For some it's the end of lengthy contract negotiations.

For others it can be the end of a conflict.

For us it means the end of a nightmare...
Jackson had his final scan yesterday and it showed "near complete resolution" of the pharagyneal abscess and the doctor's blessing to go forth and resume all normal activities!

We are "resolved" to never have this happen again!

Tha Pharmacy

noreply@blogger.com (SportsMum) — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 15:01:00 +0000

I am in awe at how many pills Jackson has to take to battle this infection. He does this twice a day.

Then I was horrified when I added these bottles to the selection we keep next to our coffee maker - highly visible so we don't forget to take them.

It seems no in in the family is exempt from our pharmacy. The glucosamine and baby aspirin belong to our 10 (or eleven) year old dog, Bailey...

Back To The Land Of The Living

noreply@blogger.com (SportsMum) — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 20:04:00 +0000

Jackson came home Monday night. Tough few days - ultimately they wouldn't do the surgery because of the location of the abscess.

I've come to the conclusion that it is VERY STUPID to rotate doctors every 24 hours - we had five doctors in five days. Continuity of care? Not likely...

One of the first doctors only ordered two doses of steroids. Had this treatment been continued without interruption, we probably would have been home Sunday. As it was, the follow up scan showed the abscess had organized and GROWN - not the result we were looking for with the second scan.

Long story short - two doses of steroids and a good night's sleep and Jackson woke up Monday morning with full movement in his neck. He came home to 12 pills a day for six days - we'll know if we're completely out of the woods with the "final" CTscan next Monday.

Here is a chronicle of his hospital stay in pictures. The best is the shot of the Chicago Bears jersey. It is an original 1980's Mike Singletary jersey from our pastor - he just happened to have it hanging around in his closet for the last 20 years. BTW - did I tell you that Jackson is the BIGGEST Chicago Bears fan in the history of the Chicago Bears?!? He'll be very happy I mentioned that...

Day One...
Da Bears...
Cardinals and Eagles Playoff Game...
Going Home...

It Got Worse

noreply@blogger.com (SportsMum) — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 23:08:00 +0000

We found out the "what's next".

Jackson is in the hospital.

We went to the orthopedic specialist at 2:05 yesterday and I could tell from his demeanor that he was looking at something far beyond what he expected. From his simple observation, and probably what he smelled (more on that later), he said he suspected that Jackson might have an infection in his C1 and C2 vertabrae or a peritonsillar abscess. He left the room to consult with our family doctor about next steps. Good to note here that while he was gone Jackson mentioned that he'd had a lot of trouble breathing at lunch that day.

When he returned, after overhearing several muffled phone calls, he said they were "waiting for us" at Akron Children's Hospital up the road as they needed to run a CTscan to determine what was happening. Word from the wise; when they tell you the hospital is waiting for you, it's never a good sign!

They ran the scan and did bloodwork, which he handled fabulously. Right after the USAirways plane crashed into the Hudson they came to the waiting room, "the test was positive..."

The Radiologist came to speak to me separately. "This abscess is a large mass, touching his airway. Do you understand how extremely lucky you are that you came today? This would have blocked his airway within a matter of days...and we wouldn't have been able to do anything at that point. What in the world made you come today? He doesn't show ANY symptoms of this."

My answer, "God, and an incredibly brilliant Orthopedic Specialist who hadn't had to look into a throat since he was an intern".

The cause? A strep throat infection that no one noticed because he has an incredibly high pain tolerance (Aspergers) and he doesn't get fevers (a genetic flaw inherited from his Dad). We thought we were dealing with a a muscle spasm, at the back of his neck no less, when all along it was an abscess at the front that was pushing on the muscle in the back and causing his loss of motion.

And the smell? (which I had noticed and thought it was from his meds). A strep infection has a very particular smell that comes out through the pores - now we know.

The prognosis? He's on heavy I.V. antibiotics and steroids to reduce the mass (we hope). They will do another scan on Sunday morning. If all is well he will come home on oral antibiotics. If not, we will be driving to Akron (the main hospital) for surgery to drain the puss from the mass...

John and I are doing rotating shifts. I had last night, tonight is his night...and I'm going to bed.

Could This Get Any Worse?!

noreply@blogger.com (SportsMum) — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 15:13:00 +0000

Now I think I have strep throat. I have never had pain like this in my throat - EVER. Heading to the doctor in 1/2 hour.

And taking Jackson to an Orthopedic Surgeon at 2pm - but he seems better, at least mentally he's starting to come back.

What next?!...

Time For A Second Opinion

noreply@blogger.com (SportsMum) — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 13:23:00 +0000

This has gone on long enough...

The neck is still not better. He's not eating, he laid on the couch from the time he got home from school until he decided to go to bed at 8:30, he has a weird smell coming out of his pours (probably the meds), and he fluctuates between screaming at me and crying.

He won't put heat on his neck because it smells (it doesn't but his senses make him think it does), he won't let me touch it to gently massage the muscle (the doctor has also told me to not touch it), and he won't try to move it to loosen it up.

He's fading away before my eyes - all this because of a stupid muscle spasm!?!

Give me a break - something else is wrong and I'm not going to wait for the "meds" to kick in anymore.

Look out medical community - SportsMum is on the warpath!!!

Ugh - Snow and Sickness

noreply@blogger.com (SportsMum) — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 15:44:00 +0000

This actually would have been a great weekend had it not been for Jackson being sicker than I have ever seen him!

We had a "snowstorm" Friday night and Saturday. It really wasn't much of a storm by Canadian standards - lots and lots of snow (about 12 inches)and Ohioans really don't know how to clear it away quickly. Or, as Canadian's would do, simply plow through it in their four-wheel drives.

We would have gone sledding except for Jackson's misery. Instead, Caeden invented a new game - "Professional SNOW Jumping"

So about Jackson...the sleepness night I spoke of earlier in the week became unbearable as the muscle spasms in his neck contracted to the point of excruciating pain in his ear and throat. We had xrays on Friday that showed his spinal cord in his neck pulled back as far as it could go from the muscle spasm. The doctor put him on an anti-inflammatory AND a muscle relaxant.

I don't know a great deal about meds as I truly hate taking them myself but I was horrified by the effect the muscle relaxant had on Jackson. He was a virtual zombie from Saturday morning until last night. I made the decision not to give him his second dose yesterday and he woke up this morning with (almost) his personality back. The neck is still a little funky (and he's still getting the anti-inflammatory) but I will NEVER give him the other pills again.

I will admit, he was still an absolute BEAR this morning but so is his mother when she's sick. Not so glad he inherited that trait from me...

The Spelling Bee - Round Two

noreply@blogger.com (SportsMum) — Fri, 09 Jan 2009 22:46:00 +0000

Jackson once again made the finals for the Spelling Bee at his school.

He bravely entered today's contest with 600 mg of ibuprofen in his 100 lb body and a gait resembling the Hunchback of Notre Dame. (His neck is still majorly out of whack)

While he was one of only 8 fifth graders last year, this year 21 sixth graders made the cut. He finished in the top three.

The "you've got to be kidding" moment of the event was when all remaining 20 or so finalists (including Jackson) had to spell the word BEQUEATH. Every single kid misspelled it and they were left with no winner. I swear I heard one of the kids spell it right but the moderators missed it. So they ended up calling all the remaining kids back and starting with a new word.

The word Jackson ultimately went down on was GESTAPO. The moderator pronounced it GUS-TA-PO and how do you think Jackson spelled it? GUSTAPO.

Sleepless Night with a 12 Year Old

noreply@blogger.com (SportsMum) — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 15:59:00 +0000

I thought our sleepless nights with children were over after the toddler years.

Jackson has had persistent nosebleeds for the past several months. We received a cream from the doctor that we are to insert into the nostril twice a day but, having significant sensory issues related to texture and smell, this has not been a successful endeavor. He has either sneezed it out or developed a nosebleed after it's in. Now he simply refuses to let us give it to him at all.

So - he ran to the side of my bed at 1:00am with a nosebleed. It lasted over half an hour.

So I placed a humidifier in his room, thinking it could be the dryness of winter. He was up at 4:00am complaining about the noise. He went in my bed and I went in his.

Then he came into his room to find me at 6:00am saying he couldn't stand the pain. No, not from his nose. He's also been dealing with an incredibly stiff neck since Tuesday morning. Is it viral, wrestling, hockey? Who knows, but he is walking around like a human statue - refusing to move his upper body from its frozen position.

He went to school because he doesn't want to mess up his perfect attendance record but I expect a call around noon when the (doctor prescribed) 600mg of ibuprofen wears off.

Should I mention I am taking the same dosage to deal with the sleep deprived headache I have?

The Holiday in Pictures

noreply@blogger.com (SportsMum) — Sun, 04 Jan 2009 15:46:00 +0000

Time to share...

These first few pictures are from our trip to Canada. Cameron's friend, Devin, joined us for this annual excursion. I had to apologize to him after, as John and I do not travel well together. He just said, yeah I've never heard you two holler like that before!

The last pics are from New Years Eve. We were joined by Cameron's girlfriend's family, who we happen to be friends with. Won't that be awkward when they stop seeing each other?!?

Looks Like We Made It...

noreply@blogger.com (SportsMum) — Thu, 01 Jan 2009 15:32:00 +0000

We made it through another holiday season. Except for the annual sojourn to Canada, this was one of the simplest and peaceful holidays yet.

I expect the reason for the calm is this is the first year in over six years that John actually has a job and can take paid holidays for Christmas! We slept in almost every morning, played with our new Wii, watched every Indiana Jones Movie, and The Dark Knight, and Narnia Prince Caspian...

I have come to believe this is really what the holiday's should be. A chance to reconnect with family - not just the extended family of grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, and second cousins once removed - but the family you run to practices and games, music lessons and concerts, friends parties and sleepovers; the family you live with and take for granted everyday!

So here's to family - my family and yours. May we all find time to just "be" with each other in 2009!

The Christmas Concert(s)

noreply@blogger.com (SportsMum) — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 16:30:00 +0000

It always makes me laugh that we parents take our video and still cameras to every concert our children are in, but very seldom manage to get close enough to actually see our own children!

Witness this photo of Jackson's Christmas band concert last week. Can you see him? He's the dot on the right, with the glasses, in the white shirt, wearing the grinch tie...

Alas - I was able to get real shots of Caeden in his final elementary school chorus concert. But I had to arrive 45 minutes early to do it - and I have the grumbles and whines from Cameron and Jackson to verify that we were there that early.

It was worth it :)

Why So Long?

noreply@blogger.com (SportsMum) — Wed, 10 Dec 2008 18:53:00 +0000

It has been so long since I last posted that my blogging account had deactivated!

Why?

I have no idea. I have not been motivated to write about anything. And it's not like we haven't done anything. Thanksgiving, Christmas Tree shopping, Jackson began his wrestling season...I have a wealth of blogging entries to share. Just no motivation.

I figured if I posted this lame entry, it would inspire me to revisit and continue my blogging journey.

The test will be if I come back tomorrow...

It's Going To Be A Crazy Week...

noreply@blogger.com (SportsMum) — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 12:50:00 +0000

Can't write...no time...

1. Two big projects to do by end of day tomorrow...

2. Parents arrive sometime in the afternoon...(please hold off snow!)

3. House needs to be cleaned (parents arrive TOMORROW!)

4. Twelve people for dinner on Thursday (house still needs to be cleaned!)

5. BLACK FRIDAY!

6. Christmas tree hunting Saturday (house will need to be cleaned - again!)

7. Parents leave Sunday...and the house won't need to be cleaned :)

I Need A Magic Pill

noreply@blogger.com (SportsMum) — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 22:21:00 +0000

There needs to be a pill invented for days like today. One that pulls all the lose ends together and makes the world stop spinning - if only for a brief moment to catch your breath.

I logged about 200 minutes on my cell phone today. Nuff said...

It's Going To Be A Long Winter...

noreply@blogger.com (SportsMum) — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 12:50:00 +0000

We woke up to this...in November...before Thanksgiving...

Don't get me wrong, I love snow...but only until Christmas!

I Am A Junkie

noreply@blogger.com (SportsMum) — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 12:48:00 +0000

A Food Network junkie that is...

On Friday I was able to satisfy my insatiable cravings for all things Food Network by attending the Fabulous Food Show in Cleveland.

My biggest thrill was actually seeing Guy Fieri LIVE.

You don't know Guy? OMG - Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives, Guy's Big Bite, The Ultimate Recipe Challenge - that's all Guy!

Of course I might as well have been watching him on television as there were a thousand other people also in the room.

Oh yeah - and I saw Paula Deen too! She's the one with the silver hair, behind the lady in the black coat...
The Galloping Gourmet never had this kind of adoration.