Much Better....

Things have calmed a little bit. I can't believe I'm doing so terribly awful with school, but I knew that full-time with a toddler and family responsibilities wouldn't work. Plans ended up being crazy for this semester. I have a new game plan (speaking of, I need to get that stupid thing down on paper for a class.....yippee), and that part of my life should improve a bit next semester. Even if it means I have to retake a class from this semester.

My surgery is tentatively scheduled for November 4th. THAT will help immensely! I have decided it is much easier to live life and make decisions when you aren't in a constant state of pain. I'm beyond grateful that I had my summer months to enjoy, but am now ready to go under the knife.

As for Luke? Well, he wasn't throwing fits, which Jeff and I knew. Everyone else thought that *could* be what was going on, but it wasn't. We knew all along. I finally ended up calling and talking to his pediatrician. The child had no fever (which, really, is not surprising. He is, afterall, my child. I'll explain later), was eating, though it wasn't much, was drinking fine, but was not himself. He'd go about his day in a normal fashion, but have moments when he'd just stop, sit on the floor and start scream-crying. Sometimes it was for about 10 minutes, sometimes it was for hours. Nothing we did helped. And it would happen at night. He'd sleep for a bit, then wake up crying for a long while. We were all tired! Anyway, the pediatrician felt that he must have had a mild case of a stomach bug that's apparently going around. The older kids have been able to express that it is very painful and can knock them down for hours at a time. Luke didn't have the results of this bug in his pull-ups, but he did have the occasional, shall we say, sounds and smells of it. He's been MUCH better the last couple of days. Eating like a horse (which is his norm), giggling, playing like a maniac, and sleeping well. Tears only come when he manages to run too fast and hit the wall, or something.

I do feel for him, though. My sister-in-law has stated that her oldest boy keeps asking to play with us. Luke does the same. He is constantly asking about JT, and "Kirsay," (Kristen) and Ryan. He brings their picture to us and tells us all about them. He sees a vehicle like they rented in Utah and says "Momma, JT!" He so badly wants them. It makes me sad, but also happy that he loves them so much.

The fever thing....my mom and I only develop fevers when we're either really, really sick, or when we're literally on our death bed. I mean literally. I didn't develop a fever with my e-coli infection until the hospital staff was sure I wouldn't live. My mom didn't develop a fever when she had appendicitis until after her surgery....which occurred 8 days after the thing ruptured....and the doctor gave her a 40% chance of survival. My son appears to be following the same trend. Good on the tolerance of pain, but bad for other reasons. I now have a much bigger sympathy for my parents since I now know how difficult it is to get the point across that something isn't right with my child, but whatever "it" is doesn't follow the textbook definition and symptoms.

I need to get a few things done, but will post later about "Uncle-Cousin" Matt's visit....