Interrupted

My Life Thus Far
2010-01-09 21:56:50 (UTC)

No, I Did NOT Fall Off The Planet

I'm not sure exactly why I stopped writing. My best guess
would be I didn't want to. I didn't write one day, then
two. Before you know it, days turned into weeks, weeks
into months. Once in awhile I'd think about writing, but
never really followed through on the thought. I don't know
why I've decided to pick it back up now. It just feels
like a good time. Holiday is over, I'm not working as
much. I've stepped down from Category Supervisor and am
now back to being just a regular associate. No one has
ever been more enthused about a demotion :) I work 16
hours next week. That is going to be freakin' lovely!

Since there's no way I can make up for everything I've
missed over the past 4 or so months, I guess I'll just
cover the major happenings of the family and then pick up
from there:

ANNIE: Nothing new in her life. She's doing very well in
school, still active in Girl Scouts and still holds her
crown as Miss Popularity in the neighborhood :) She's more
like me every day (only much more social). I don't know
whether to be proud or worried!

KIKI: Her vocabulary is growing by leaps and bounds, but
her articulation is still an issue. Especially since she's
picked up my affinity for wordiness. A few days after
Christmas she had an accident (James next door dared her
to jump off a utility box in the field behind our house).
She sustained a left radial head fracture, but she's doing
okay. The sling can come off tomorrow and she should be
good as new. She's got a follow-up on the 14th to make
sure there's no long-term nerve damage (she couldn't move
her thumb), but she's moving everything as far as I can
see, so I think we dodged the surgery bullet.

KEENAN: Where do I start with him... The past few months
his allergies have become a real problem. He started
getting blistering skin rashes on his face and scalp,
chronic yeast infected diaper rashes, hives, he had
diarrhea every day, abdominal bloating, fatigue, a
constant runny nose, a low-grade fever every day. He just
wasn't well. So at his 18 month check up (just this past
Monday) I had a heart-to-heart with his pediatrician,
detailing all of the issues he's been having. We cut all
dairy and soy from his diet (his obvious allergens), but
there still wasn't much - if any improvement. His doctor
decided that testing him for Celiac Disease would be a
good idea. The test results take a good 2-3 weeks to come
back (they send them to an independent lab, apparently on
Mars). In the meantime, he recommended that Keenan adopt
the only treatment for Celiac; a gluten-free diet. Of
course I want what's best for my child as daunting as
eliminating gluten seems.

Snookums and I were doing research on the disease and as
we were going through the symptoms, he turned to me and
said "this almost sounds more like what's wrong with you,
than what's wrong with Keenan". Since it is a hereditary
disorder I suppose there's a possibility I could have
passed it on (even though Snookums is the one who had
known food allergies as a child). It might explain a lot
of my unsolvable health glitches. Snookums decided, on
that note, that not only would Keenan adopt the gluten-
free lifestyle, but as a sign of solidarity, the entire
family would make the switch. Keenan started the moment we
came home from the hospital, but we've been transitioning
the other children gradually. It isn't an issue what they
have to eat on the diet (the food is all healthy, tastes
great and comes in varieties of all their favorite
snacks), the problem is more what they have to give up. No
more Oreos or Happy Meals. At least not when Keenan is
present. All the food in our home will be gluten-free by
the end of the week. I just couldn't bring myself to throw
out good groceries.

Even though the test results aren't back yet and we don't
know conclusively if he has Celiac, both Jason and I are
astonished by how well Keenan is doing right now. What
else could it be? The hives are gone, the rashes are gone,
the fever is gone, his nose stopped running, his tummy
went down and the diarrhea stopped too. He's SO much more
active and he abandoned his customary 1-4pm nap on
Wednesday. We're convinced and we're going to keep doing
what we're doing.

Turns out Snookums, Kiki and now Keenan have something in
common: speech delay! We're waiting on the paperwork to
come in the mail to get the ball rolling. Keenan needs
further testing done, but the initial 18 month screening
put him at a 12 month cognitive level and a 10 month
communication level. About a 50% delay. So, looks like
it's back to Holly Ridge.

SNOOKUMS: He started shore duty back in September. It's so
nice having him home! Incredibly enough, I was working
more than he was between October and last week. He's
either always on leave or home by noon. It must be nice
getting paid to answer the phone for a few hours. I'm not
complaining though, he really picked up the slack around
the house for me while I worked. At first the house went
straight to hell in a hand basket, but after a few weeks
he realized that if he really wanted clean socks, he'd
better figure out how the washer works! He did. He also
figured out that spoons, cups, forks and plates don't
magically wash themselves :)

ME: I'm good :) I'm still eating well and exercising. I've
probably lost a little more weight, but I'm not obsessive
about it. I'm just finally settling into a permanently
healthy lifestyle. Every now and then I feel down (just a
little), but nothing like in the past. I'm doing well. I
really couldn't ask for more.

I can't promise I'll write every day, but I'll do my best
not to disappear for another 4 months! Ciao.

P.S. Thank you to those that let me know my writing was
missed. It's good to know I've made a little imprint on
the universe...




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