Here we go again.
Riley's surgery scar has opened up. It wasn't really bleeding, so that was good, but still, it's a big concern.
Dh took him back to the vet this morning. He had to leave him to get re-stitched. We had just assumed that the dog had been licking his wounds, and opened them up, but the doc didn't think that was the case. He said it didn't look like he'd been bothering it. The dog is just so active and bouncing that he basically just wiggled out of his stitches.
The poor thing will be hurting again, I expect.
Saturday, November 11, 2006
Friday, November 10, 2006
Bruised Again
I noticed yesterday that Nathan has ANOTHER bruise, this time on his other arm! It was bad, too!
The new one is red. It reminds me of the bruise you get when your skin is twisted - sort of red and speckled looking. But it is bigger than the last bruise, and much worse looking! I don't know where he got it, and Nathan has no clue.
I wonder if this happened with his last meltdown, but it just didn't show up well until now.
Getting Better
When I went off to work yesterday, the dog seemed much better. He was moving more naturally, and no crying at all. Phew. I'm not sure I could have left him if there wasn't some kind of improvement.
By the time I got home from work, Riley looked like his old self! He was bouncy and wagging his tail, moving without any apparent hesitation at all! That was extremely reassuring. Dh said he wasn't moving so well when he got home, but he gave him his medicine right away, and he seemed just fine, now. But either way, it was all a vast improvement over the night before. We were both relieved.
We have to take him back to the vet in a couple weeks for the follow up. He has a long scar, stretching from his anus to his tail, maybe four inches...? Yowee. I thought it would be much smaller.
I hope that means they got it all.
By the time I got home from work, Riley looked like his old self! He was bouncy and wagging his tail, moving without any apparent hesitation at all! That was extremely reassuring. Dh said he wasn't moving so well when he got home, but he gave him his medicine right away, and he seemed just fine, now. But either way, it was all a vast improvement over the night before. We were both relieved.
We have to take him back to the vet in a couple weeks for the follow up. He has a long scar, stretching from his anus to his tail, maybe four inches...? Yowee. I thought it would be much smaller.
I hope that means they got it all.
Poor Dog
I was scared to death all day about the dog. Dh never called me from work with an update, and at 2:30 he called to say the dog wouldn't come home until 4. He never asked how the dog was doing. He said, "No news is good news." Shoot. Not to me. I've dealt with cancer before. Silence is not good news. All this waiting and uncertainty was really getting to me.
Shortly after 4, dh called to say that the dog was home, and he was in a lot of pain. They gave him meds, but only five days worth. I guess that's a good thing, that they expect pain to subside so quickly...?
When I got home from work, Riley was just laying there. If he stood, he barely moved. He looked afraid to move, which was probably pretty true. But then he started the crying. Oh my! That poor dog! He would just let out this looooooong cry. I asked dh if he gave him the meds, and dh said no, not yet. He wasn't sure if he should, if it was okay so soon after the surgery. I insisted he call the vet right away and ask. That dog needed something right now.
The vet said it was fine to give him the meds now, so we did, but there didn't seem to be any improvement in his crying. That's when it occured to me that the poor thing was probably scared to death. He'd never been in pain like that, and didn't know that it would ever end. Finally, he fell asleep, and the crying stopped.
Poor little guy.
Shortly after 4, dh called to say that the dog was home, and he was in a lot of pain. They gave him meds, but only five days worth. I guess that's a good thing, that they expect pain to subside so quickly...?
When I got home from work, Riley was just laying there. If he stood, he barely moved. He looked afraid to move, which was probably pretty true. But then he started the crying. Oh my! That poor dog! He would just let out this looooooong cry. I asked dh if he gave him the meds, and dh said no, not yet. He wasn't sure if he should, if it was okay so soon after the surgery. I insisted he call the vet right away and ask. That dog needed something right now.
The vet said it was fine to give him the meds now, so we did, but there didn't seem to be any improvement in his crying. That's when it occured to me that the poor thing was probably scared to death. He'd never been in pain like that, and didn't know that it would ever end. Finally, he fell asleep, and the crying stopped.
Poor little guy.
Bruised
I got a call from the school today. At first I thought they needed me to come and get Nathan again. It was the principal, and she said she just wanted to let me know that Nathan got hurt at school. He was rushing to get outside for recess or something, and some kid pushed the door, and it hit Nathan right in the upper arm. He has a large bruise from it. They just wanted to let me know that he was okay now, but they didn't want me to find this bruise and wonder what the hell happened. I thought it was very nice of her to call. I also warned her that after getting hurt, Nathan would be ultra sensitive. She said they were well aware of that, and that his para was "hovering" over him. That's good. He didn't need another meltdown on top of this.
The bruise is pretty big, and nasty looking. I told Nathan if something like that happens again, and he just felt like talking to me about it, that he could ask the principal to call me at work and we could talk. Poor kid probably could have used a hug at the time, but maybe next time he can call and at least get a verbal hug.
Competition Catastrophe
Today was my son's Parent/Teacher Conference. I was looking forward to it, expecting his grades to be pretty good. Plus, I was taking off work a little early to go, which is kind of fun. But I didn't expect to get a phone call an hour early, telling me to come and get my son.
He had had another meltdown. Two, actually. They said they were trying not to call me, knowing I was coming in that afternoon anyway. However, things got so bad that they couldn't hold off any longer.
I knew that morning he had seemed ultra sensitive and emotional. I just asked him if he had any library books to bring back, as I hadn't seen any the past week. He burst into tears and said that he had gotten upset at school, and they didn't let him go to the library that week. Yikes. I didn't know what brought it on, and I had hoped it was just a brief mood; one that would improve with a little breakfast and his meds. He seemed pretty happy by the time I brought him to the bus stop. But I guess the mood lingered.
Around 12:45, they were playing a bowling game in gym. He did not do as well as he wanted to, and he got very mad. They finally got him calmed down, and then he went on to therapy, where they had him compete in a spelling challenge with another boy. Not a good idea. If he's already had one bad experience that day with competition and unsportsmanlike conduct, it is best to avoid anymore competitions that day. Nathan was determined to win, but the game ended in a tie. In Nathan's mind, there was no clear winner, so there was no prize (sticker) for anyone, even though they intended to give both kids a prize. He just flipped out.
When I arrived at the school, he had calmed down considerably. He was still not himself, but he was at least not angry any longer, and not violent. I wanted to bring him home, but I had to be back at the school in less than an hour for the conference, so I brought him to Grandma's.
It was on the way to Grandma's that he admitted to me that he had hit someone. The principal. She had tried to restrain him, crossing his arms over his chest, and he lashed out. Double Yikes.
He was behaving himself pretty well by this time, and I stuck around until the last minute to see if he was completely past the meltdown or not, but he seemed fine at Grandma's. Dh showed up (I had called him on my way to the school to tell him what was going on), and we left for the conference together.
Nathan had a pretty good report card. It was not as good as the last one, but still, all E's and S+'s (like A's & B+'s). That was good news! Plus, the reports from the team of therapists showed some real progress, which was encouraging after such a disasterous afternoon.
He had had another meltdown. Two, actually. They said they were trying not to call me, knowing I was coming in that afternoon anyway. However, things got so bad that they couldn't hold off any longer.
I knew that morning he had seemed ultra sensitive and emotional. I just asked him if he had any library books to bring back, as I hadn't seen any the past week. He burst into tears and said that he had gotten upset at school, and they didn't let him go to the library that week. Yikes. I didn't know what brought it on, and I had hoped it was just a brief mood; one that would improve with a little breakfast and his meds. He seemed pretty happy by the time I brought him to the bus stop. But I guess the mood lingered.
Around 12:45, they were playing a bowling game in gym. He did not do as well as he wanted to, and he got very mad. They finally got him calmed down, and then he went on to therapy, where they had him compete in a spelling challenge with another boy. Not a good idea. If he's already had one bad experience that day with competition and unsportsmanlike conduct, it is best to avoid anymore competitions that day. Nathan was determined to win, but the game ended in a tie. In Nathan's mind, there was no clear winner, so there was no prize (sticker) for anyone, even though they intended to give both kids a prize. He just flipped out.
When I arrived at the school, he had calmed down considerably. He was still not himself, but he was at least not angry any longer, and not violent. I wanted to bring him home, but I had to be back at the school in less than an hour for the conference, so I brought him to Grandma's.
It was on the way to Grandma's that he admitted to me that he had hit someone. The principal. She had tried to restrain him, crossing his arms over his chest, and he lashed out. Double Yikes.
He was behaving himself pretty well by this time, and I stuck around until the last minute to see if he was completely past the meltdown or not, but he seemed fine at Grandma's. Dh showed up (I had called him on my way to the school to tell him what was going on), and we left for the conference together.
Nathan had a pretty good report card. It was not as good as the last one, but still, all E's and S+'s (like A's & B+'s). That was good news! Plus, the reports from the team of therapists showed some real progress, which was encouraging after such a disasterous afternoon.
Wednesday, November 1, 2006
Halloween Fun
Halloween was great! Nathan went as Darth Vader, and dh took him around trick or treating. I stayed home and passed out candy.
Boy, did I have a lot of older kids! When their voices are as deep as dh's, I have to wonder what they're doing trick or treating. And I even had some grown ups asking for candy too! LOL!
It was cold last night, and I had a hard time getting Nathan to wear a coat, but I finally found one of my navy hoodies with thermal lining that I could wrap him up in, and a pair of gloves. Since the hoodie was so dark, it looked black outside, and didn't detract from the costume, and the hood was hidden under Darth's cape. He also had layers of clothes under the costume. He still looked like a little ice cube when he got home. And dh looked exhausted. They must have walked three miles.
This is the first year that the scary part of Halloween didn't seem to bother Nathan at all! I was glad of that. He went to a couple houses where the families made a big deal out of their decorations, including one house that had people in costume in their front yard that you had to walk past in order to get to the door to trick or treat. In past years, Nathan would have frozen and refused to budge, but this year he marched right past them.
(My little baby is growing up!) :*)
I was passing out candy last night, and went through one mega bag, and started on a second one. That's a lot of kids! We had this candy bowl with a skeleton head in it, and it would talk and sing (..."I ain't got no body...") It was quite funny, and a real hit with the trick or treaters - their parent escorts, too! Some hung around for a little bit, playing with the skeleton.
I love this time of year!
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