Poopocalypse 2.0

A few months ago, I touched on some issues that Alex has been having with his bowels. I'm not going to go into gory detail about it for a multitude of reasons, but suffice it to say that it is still an ongoing battle - and it's not fun for him or for me.

Today he had a follow up appointment with the pediatric GI doctor (who is AMAZING) and after discussing every possible scenario and idea, it was decided that he is going to undergo a colonoscopy on Thursday morning..... and they're also going to do the down-the-throat one (can't remember what it's called).

So, starting Wednesday, from the time he gets out of bed, he's not allowed to eat anything. It's Gatorade, popsicles, and jello only until after the procedure is done on Thursday - and for the kid who loves to eat even more than I do, this is going to be horrible. When he realized that he couldn't eat ANYTHING, he looked at me with a look of almost terror on his face, and in that moment I promised him that if he couldn't eat, neither would I.

It costs approximately $50 to prepare for
Poopocalypse 2.0.

So we went to the store after Scouts tonight and got what we needed. Luckily Gatorade was on sale so we got lots of that, but we were kind of limited on flavors for both that and the jello - nothing red, orange, or purple (we're going to separate out the popsicles). Lots of Miralax and some Dulcolax too. And pullups and wipes because I don't expect him to be able to control anything with what the doctor wants us to do to clean him out before the procedure.

We used a similar - but not quite so extreme - method to clean him out a few months ago, but unfortunately the effects were not long-lived. Honestly, we don't expect to find anything physically wrong with him, but we are attempting to rule out a physical cause for his issues so that we can better figure out how to deal with it and how to help him. He will be put under general anesthesia for this, but the entire procedure will take less than 30 minutes. He's been put under before and has always done very well - but it's still scary for both of us.

So, starting Wednesday morning, I might be a little crankier than usual - but it'll only be because I'm hungry. And stressed. And worried. But, this too shall pass - and hopefully it'll give us the answers that we need in order to pursue the best possible treatment.

And now, I'm going to go make finger jello, just because I can. And if I have to eat it, it's not going to be boring old jello in a bowl.




Note: Yes, I kept things vague as far as the "issues". There are a lot of different opinions floating around as to what is happening here, and for Alex's privacy I'm just not going to go into the specifics. I'm not thrilled about running tests like these on someone his age, but I discussed it at length with the specialist and we both feel that this is the best way to go at this point in time. 

A dirty day

Daniel didn't have school again today, so he and I spent most of the day with The Dude, running around and doing errands. The first place we went to was this little garage that sells used tires. This place was totally old-school - it's owned and run by a man who invited us out to the garage while he took the old tire off of the rim and mounted a slightly-less used one on it. Daniel and I wandered around the garage and took a few pictures while The Dude watched the guy change out the tire.

My favorite shot of the day

After that, we went and paid some bills, grabbed some lunch, and while I went and shopped for some plants for my house The Dude took Daniel to a dollar store and a video game store nearby. Daniel came out with a "treat", but I'm not sure which one of them enjoyed it more!

They had to trade hats...

After that, we went back to The Dude's house and hung out for a little bit until it was time to go get Alex from school, and then the boys and I ran to the grocery store to get a few things for supper before we came home. Then we went outside and started playing in the dirt. While I have a yard that is more than big enough for a garden, I have no outside water source (stupid ghetto-esque house) so I just got a few tomato and pepper plants to put in buckets on the porch.

I also got some strawberry plants to put in my hanging bags to see if maybe, just maybe, I could grow them this year. But when I got everything planted and ran inside to fill the watering can, I realized that I had a problem.

Figures. Guess I'm adding "watering can" to my next shopping list.

Alex found a pet

After we were done playing in the dirt in the front yard, we went around back for a while so that the boys could make sure that they got dirty enough to be happy.

While they played, I sat on the back steps and surveyed the yard and realized what I am going to do for the 6 hours that I am totally kid-free tomorrow (Daniel has a zoo field trip)...I'm going to be cutting the grass. Yay me.

After that we came inside, the boys got baths, we ate supper and watched TV, Alex pooped on the floor, the boys went to bed, I mopped the living room and worked on laundry.....

Yep. Just another day.

What should I write about?

I've been sitting here all night, chatting with friends and trying to figure out what to write about. I get bored just saying "we did this and this and this blah blah blah today" and I know that it has to get boring to read. So I posted a question on my facebook page and asked what I should write about and got several suggestions. So, I'm going to attempt to combine all of them.....

This could be interesting....

The first suggestion was from One Tired Mama, who said that I should write about what I'm thankful for - and that's really an easy one, but it's something that we all take for granted.

I am so incredibly thankful for my kids. Of course, they aggravate and annoy me on a daily basis - poopy pants from kids who are old enough to know better, jumping on beds, refusing to eat supper, arguing, bickering, and the like all get old very quickly. But at the same time, the hugs and kisses and love that I get from them make it all worthwhile. They really are great kids, and they've all been through a lot in their short lives, but I think that they are all coming through it alright. We still have our issues, and we always will, but we are a family and we love each other regardless of the crappy days.

I am thankful for my friends and family who have supported me over the years. I know that I put some of them through hell with my whining and complaining when things were rough - but they stuck by me and showed me how much they love and care about me, and for that I can never thank them enough.

I am thankful that right now I am financially secure enough to be a stay-at-home mom and to keep a roof over our heads and dependable wheels under our butts to get us to where we need to go at a moment's notice. I know that we can make ends meet, even if it is tight at times. And because of that, I can focus on the kids and what they need.

But I think right now, I am most thankful for The Dude. He has put up with a lot of crap from me since we started dating. He has dealt with my mood swings and my stressed-out frazzled crazy self, he has held me while I've cried, he has celebrated the good times, and he has shown me so much love and support that I never even imagined was possible. He is truly an amazing guy, and I have learned so much about myself simply by being with him. I now know that no matter how much I might have tried to fight it, it is possible for me to love and be loved again. And yes, in case there was any doubt from anyone, I LOVE HIM.

There....see? I used the L-word!

Now, back to that status on my facebook page...

While my neighbor does have a dog, she's a good dog, and she doesn't bark much unless there's something to bark about (usually). She does alert me if there's something going on, but for the most part she's quiet. So I really can't complain about barking dogs....

And as for butt plugs....I have to say that I will leave that one up to the experts, as I have no experience in that department. However, I will admit that I have been tempted to jam a cork into a few butts around this house - it might cut down on the amount of laundry that I have to do, but at the same time, it could increase the amount of paperwork that I would need to do once the State found out about it and took my kids from me.

My favorite "go-to dinners" was another suggestion. That one's actually a tough one, because I can't get all of my kids to agree on ANYTHING for supper. However, the 2 youngest will always eat macaroni and cheese (barf) or peanut butter and jelly. Generally, anything kid-friendly will work in a pinch....pizza is always good. Or stromboli, but that takes some planning since the dough has to thaw out for a few hours before I can make it. They like hamburger helper (barf) too. And sometimes spaghetti. And there's always the good ol' standby - anything from any fast food restaurant (which I've been trying to avoid lately).

And last but not least....how am I feeling about my walk tomorrow and the half-marathon on Sunday. Well, I'm not worried about the walk tomorrow, since it's just a walk. The Dude is spending the night tonight at a friend's house so that he can watch the NFL draft stuff, so we are picking him up on the way to the walk and taking him with us. It's an easy, untimed walk around one of the parks in Wichita so it'll be fun and it's for a great cause. While I am relieved that I don't have to wear Cowboys crap for it, I am disappointed that I didn't meet my challenge of raising $250 for it. There's always next year though....

Now the half-marathon on Sunday - yeah, I'm worried about that one. I did it last year in 3:12:32 and I would love to beat that time this year. Actually, I would love to do it in under 3 hours. But, I feel totally unprepared, and I'm just not sure that I can do it. I'm going to give it my all though - I have The Dude's mp3 player to keep my mind occupied, and I found my watch that I can use to keep my pace, so as long as I can stay focused and I don't hurt too much, I can do it. I know that I can finish it - I'm just worried about my time. But just like life, I will get through it one step at a time.

So there you go - a blog post brought to you by the wonderful friendly folks who follow me on facebook!

Getting down and dirty with The Dude

After I spent the entire morning running around the house like an idiot, cleaning and doing laundry, I went over to The Dude's house. We had plans to get down and dirty.

And we did. Well, he got dirtier than I did. But I helped. A little bit.

He had to replace a wheel bearing on his van. So we went and got the part and then got to work. It was a little harder to get it taken apart than either one of us thought that it would be, and so there was a lot of swearing and yelling and sweating and grunting and growling. I helped him for as long as I could, but then I had to leave to go get the boys from school and all of that fun stuff, so he had to finish on his own.

Although he did finally get it done, some of his tools didn't quite survive. Oops.

But the important thing is that it's done. He took it for a test drive over here (with me following him) to make sure that everything was ok, so now I don't have to worry about him driving it around anymore. I made dinner for all of us (and him and his mom) and we hung out for a little while before I sent him home to get some rest. After yesterday's beautiful weather, it was much cooler and windier today, and being outside in it all afternoon was a little more than either one of us liked.

And just for good measure, here are a few pictures of the final way that I rearranged everything in the front two rooms, after I got everything cleaned today. I still need to get fabric to make a curtain to divide off my "bedroom" but I'm not too worried about that. I might work on that over the weekend while I'm stuck in the house (see below for explanation)...

And...why I will be stuck in the house all weekend...

I sort of touched on this on my facebook page and mentioned it last night in the blog, but I didn't really go into details. I had Alex at the doctor the other day to talk about the constant bowel incontinence, and it was determined that he has a condition called "encopresis". Basically, he has a really big blockage and that is creating the majority of the issues. So, starting tomorrow after school, he will be getting massive doses of laxatives to "clean him out", so to speak. I already bought pull-ups and wipes and I am prepared for the worst. But, once we get things, uh, 'flowing' again - hopefully things will smooth out. I've talked to him about it, he knows what's going to happen, and so we are going to stay home and tough it out. I'm dreading the amount of poo that I will most likely be dealing with this weekend, but I want him to feel better and to be able to get this fixed. I feel horrible for punishing him for the accidents, now that I know that he couldn't control it all along. But, we're going to fix it. It's just going to suck in the meantime.

Poop train

After Daniel got sick the other day, he seemed to be fine all weekend. He didn't eat much, but he never really does (unless it's peanut butter & jelly) and he acted fine. This morning we got up and took Alex to school, and when we got back, he still seemed to be fine. We laid around for a while and enjoyed the peace and quiet after the chaotic weekend, and then when it was just about time for him to go to school, he raced to the bathroom where the diarrhea hit him once again.

*sigh*

I called the school and let them know that he wouldn't be there again today, and we took off for Wichita, as I had already made plans that really needed to be done today.

On the way there, we saw something interesting....I saw a jet cruising across the sky - it only caught my eye because the sky was perfectly clear and the contrail was so incredibly white against it. But then I saw it start to turn, and as I watched, it made a complete u-turn! I actually pulled over when I saw that Daniel was staring at it too, and we took a few pictures of it.

Anyway, we got to Wichita and picked up my carpet shampooer from a friend who was borrowing it (and returned her roasting pan that I've had for 8+ months - oops) and then ran to the other side of the city to deliver a custom costume that I made for someone and then we headed back to pick Alex up from school and then home, where we just hung out all evening. Daniel had a few more run-ins with the poop train, but he still seems to be feeling ok - so maybe it's just the remnants of the bug he had the other day or something.

On a humorous note, I have a really bad habit of leaving my camera out within reach of little fingers. So sometimes, when I transfer the pictures to the computer, I get surprise photography from the kids. Apparently Daniel was playing around this morning at some point. These are some of his shots:

Go figure.

A toy apple on my desk

The same toy apple and the hedgeapple from the other day

Daniel's eye view of the bulletin board

I really need to start putting my camera away.

On a side note: can anyone see the Aurora Borealis tonight? Wichita news stations are saying that it's visible if you look to the north - but I have too many trees and streetlights interfering, so I can't see it. Boo. :(

Poop rant and a sneak peek (not of poop though)

I have mixed emotions about this day. I slept - a lot, which I'm assuming was a good thing, although it really did make me feel like crap later.

I got a few things done around the house - always good.

And then I got a call from Alex's school informing me that he had pooped in his pants. OK, so I told the nurse that he has a change of clothes in his backpack for this very reason - he tends to "streak" his underwear, but it's usually a bit more substantial than a streak and necessitates a change of drawers, at least. The nurse politely informed me that I needed to come to the school and take care of it.

*grumble* *grumble*

OK, I was already out and about, so it took me about 1 minute to get to the school (literally) and then about 30 seconds to get from the van to the nurse's office. He was sitting there on a chair, waiting for me. The nurse was kind enough to go get his spare clothes from his backpack and I took him into the bathroom to start cleaning up the mess.

Oh boy. This was more than a streak. Yeah. Poor kid had made a royal mess. This was a full-blown diarrhea disaster. By the time I got him cleaned up, his bottom was red and sore and I took one look at his face and told him that I was taking him home. He said that his stomach started to hurt during lunch, so I'm guessing that he picked up some kind of a bug somewhere along the way. We came home and he just hung out on the couch and watched movies and relaxed.

I'm not extremely happy that the school let him just sit in the mess, causing him to get a rash from it. I would think that they could have at least removed the nasty clothes and let him sit bare-butt on the toilet to keep it from getting any worse. But instead, they let him sit in it - and I'm not sure how long it was from the time that it was discovered until the time that they called me either. Hopefully it wasn't too long.

Hopefully whatever it was, it was just a quick bug and he'll be better by tomorrow. =/

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Since I have my quilt blocks done for the Christmas quilt block swap, I don't have any really pressing crafty projects going on right now. So I decided to work on one that's been laying on the rocking chair in my living room for oh, a few months now. Yep, it's one of those ones that I started and then never finished, and kept getting distracted, and well, you know how it goes!

So here are a few shots of it, but I'm not showing you much because I don't have any pictures of what it's going to look like when it's done, and I'm not 100% sure what I'm going to do with it yet.

What will it be when it's done?

Your guess is as good as mine, at this point.

This disturbs me. On so many levels.

On a trip to Wichita a few weeks ago, Daniel and I stopped at an Arby's for lunch. While we were there, we both needed to use the restroom.

The toilets were the "magic toilets" as Daniel calls them. You know the ones - they're supposed to flush automatically when you stand up after you've completed your business, but instead they usually flush at the most inopportune time, resulting in an increase in the amount of toilet paper consumption as you attempt to eradicate any and all traces of splashage on your, uh, cheeks.

(On a side note, magic toilets caused Daniel to have a phobia of public restrooms for the longest time. Those things are just not designed for a little kid who can't sit still normally, and then when they flush with the same sound intensity of a jet engine and with enough suction to dispose of a baby elephant, they can be quite scary. Luckily, he's pretty much gotten over that fear.)

Anyway, I noticed this sign on the back of the toilet.

OK, this is just wrong.

First of all, who thought of this? What genius was sitting in his office (or on the crapper) and thought to himself Hey, I could make these toilets that flush varying amounts of water....

And then to go one step farther and have it calculate how much time I spent in the stall? Now that's just weird. How does it do this? Is there a sensor on the door? In the seat of the toilet? Is there a hidden camera? How does a toilet know how long I've been keeping it company?

Now, I have nothing against conserving water. Really, I don't. I think this idea is...interesting. But it's weird. I can just see it now - the people who already have the Big Brother Is Watching Us attitude must be up in arms over this already (you know the ones that I'm talking about, don't you?) and I'm surprised that there hasn't been some sort of a national outcry over it.

OK, maybe not. It is just a toilet, after all.

But still....if I'm going to do my part to conserve water, I need to rethink my plan to hide in a bathroom stall when I need a break from my kids when we're out in public.

Not that I would ever really do that.

Or would I?