Ready For a New Week

I am not a big fan of last week. It was less than fabulous; however, we did get some updates that need to be chronicled.

I had a cardiologist appointment. For most of July (after I got over the GI bleed) I actually felt pretty normal, which was really, really nice. Around the beginning of August, I started feeling worse again. We hoped it was just a temporary fluke, but it didn't go away. Once again, we were having to leave church in the middle of a service because my heart started acting up. We started having to cut our grocery trips short because I got all wonky. That hadn't happened since May.

My blood pressure looked good (107/62), and there were no significant changes to my EKG, but my echocardiogram showed that things had gotten a bit worse. First of all, my episodes of PVC (where my heart contracts before it fills with blood) have gotten more common, meaning that they are happening closer together. I could tell that just from watching. That's about all I can tell from watching. After the echo was done, the dr was tied up with another patient, so the tech talked to me for a bit. I asked him what my EF (the percentage of blood pumped out with each beat) was, and he said it's gotten worse and is now at about 40. When I was first diagnosed, it was around 45; at my last appointment, it was 50/55.

My cardiologist came in and looked at the echo. He frowned and said there is no reason why I should be getting worse (although technically, I don't think they actually know why I developed this in the first place, but anyway), so he was going to say it was the same. Rob thinks he doesn't discuss bad news with clients because his clients are at a higher risk of heart attack, so why stress them out. Then he checked to make sure my beta blockers (the meds that slow my heart down) were maxed out (they were), doubled my ACE inhibitors, made sure I was taking my diuretic daily (I am), and added another diuretic, which made me think he's thinking congestive heart failure. CHF is very common with PPCM (the type of heart disease I have). It is where your lungs and chest fill up with fluid because your heart isn't functioning well enough to get it out.

I started my new meds/doses Friday night to give me the weekend to get used to them. As usual, the first 24 hours were difficult. I'm really hoping it gets better by tomorrow because I have to work and therefore have to drive. I seem to adjust within about 48 hrs usually, so hopefully I'm fine tomorrow. I only have three more weeks of my practicum and I'd really hate to have to repeat the whole thing. We've thought about postponing my internships, but I am only 7 months away from graduation. If I drop out now, I lose 5 years of work and flush all the $ we've spent on grad school down the drain.

We got some more bad news yesterday. Leah, my friend who was diagnosed with brain cancer a year ago, is not doing well. Initially they gave her 2-3 months to live, so I flew out to see her just after Laura was born. She responded well to treatment though and started doing a lot better. I was really hopeful that she would somehow beat this, at least for several years. Unfortunately, the cancer is back and very aggressive and not responding to treatment any more. She no longer has any short-term memory and is being moved to a facility that can care for her for the short time she has left.

I am so glad I got to spend time with her last year and that I have been lucky enough to have her as a friend for the past 23 years.

So enough of that . . .

Good things that happened last week -

Megan had 50 million back to school things. We had to get her schedule and buy her PE uniforms and get her picture taken for her student ID. Then we had to go get her netbook that is provided by the school district for each middle schooler (the high schoolers get tablets this year). Rob, Beth, Eva, and Megan attended a pep rally for Meg's school on Friday and Megan was assigned a locker and met her teachers. We also bought Megan clear lip gloss that she will be allowed to wear to school this year. She seems ready for this, but I don't know if I am :)

The one glitch with Meg this week was discovering that they didn't put her in art. I swear I wrote it down on her form, but they said we signed up for "wheel" (which is where they switch specials every 6 weeks - one term of drama, one of choir, etc). Changing her to art will change her entire schedule. I left the choice up to her and she really wants art, so we're going to try to get that changed on the first day of school.

Jack, Beth, and Kylie also had a back to school night and found out who their teachers are. Jack's teacher is Mrs. Donahue, one that somehow none of our kids have had yet (with 4 kids in the same school, there aren't that many teachers that fall into that category). Beth has Mrs. Foster, who was Meg's 1st grade teacher (she's now teaching 2nd grade - they switch around a lot) and is one of our favorite teachers ever. Kylie has two teachers (3rd and 4th have two), but her homeroom teacher is Mrs. Brooks, who has been her teacher for the last two years :) Mrs. Brooks was supposed to teach kindergarten this year, but they didn't have enough incoming kindergartners to need that many teachers, so they moved her up to 4th grade. We love Mrs. Brooks and are very happy that Kylie gets to have her again!

Somehow the summer is over. School starts Tuesday. I feel like I blinked and it was gone. I remember summers lasting forever when I was a child, but it sure doesn't feel like that now. I always miss having all the kids home all day, but I really enjoy the structure the school year brings to our lives.

Last weekend we switched kids bedrooms around for the new school year. Middle school doesn't start until almost 2 hours after elementary school, so Meg can sleep in. Megan had been sharing a bedroom with Kylie, Beth and Eva had been sharing one, Jack had his own, and Laura was still in ours. We switched Beth and Megan, and put Eva in Jack's room with him. Laura is now sleeping in her crib in Megan's room. This set up allows Megan to have her own room for the most part because Laura only uses it for sleeping. It will hopefully let her sleep in a bit later and she won't keep the other kids up if we let her stay up a bit later. Kylie and Beth seem to be loving it and Jack is thrilled that he finally gets to share a bedroom with someone. Eva's a good choice for bunking with Jack as she doesn't put up with his teasing; she just beats him up if he tries anything. The other girls get upset about it.

For the first time ever, we have kids actually sleeping on the top bunks. It's been a long time since we enforced having the kids sleep in their assigned beds. They like making beds on the floor or making nests out of their blankets and all sleeping together or at least sleeping in pairs. We decided we needed to get more strict about it though, so each child now has an assigned bed all to his or herself and they don't get to switch. It's working out beautifully and kids are going to bed more easily and staying asleep all night (except Laura, who wakes up once or twice to eat still). Yay! I feel like so many parts of our schedule have fallen apart over the last three years (for good reason); it's nice to feel like we're getting back to where I want to be.

School starts Tuesday, Brittney will be here Saturday, and Laura turns one (!!!) on Monday (a week from tomorrow), so busy week coming up! :)