Absolutely crazy week.

RanchersWife

Friday - I drive 8 hours to Baton Rouge to help oldest son move home from a summer internship.

Saturday - Packed apartment and drove home. Ate some amazing food. (Elsie’s Plate and Pie is amazing!) Yelled “PIVOT” and laughed a lot. Arrived home at midnight. 

Sunday - 8 year old started running a fever. 15 year old injured his privates while roller skating

Monday - 8 year old tested + for strep. Grandma fell.  freshman college kid noticed all cash missing from wallet, 15 year old strained to urinate and passed out into the bathtub. ER visit was inconclusive. They tried to say it was sticky Mountain Spotted fever and an upper respiratory infection.  Huh? 

Tuesday - Freshman college kid lost his phone and wants to give up.  Wednesday- ok except for me fretting. My sister’s family has covid. 8 year old read his homework like a speed demon and blew my mind. The teacher is going to think I’m crazy trying to tell her he has dyslexia. I have no words for what happened. 13 year old can’t find his binder and is in tears. 

Thursday - 15 year old has painful urination. Dr orders pelvic ct scan. 13 year old finds binder at school. 

Today - Freshman has made it through first  week of college and is headed home for some love and home cooking. I’m incredibly proud of him. First week of college is hard for everyone. His was harder than most and he has to work harder than most to do life. 15 year old is drinking lots of water and we will watch him. He has no broken pelvic bones or organ injuries. I’m prepared to take him back to the ER if I have to. Husband is completing the furniture move from our house to college for oldest son because his apartment is now available. Today is poop day for Grandma. She’s been restless and pacing since her fall. Maybe she’s sore. The bruises on her face are fading a bit. Should be much better by Sunday when we go to church. She can no longer speak words we understand or self start any activity. She’s eating less and drinking less. She can’t place pills into her mouth. Her blood pressure is normal to mow with no meds and after years of struggle to lower it. (Not sure what that means but it seems bad). She’s headed for a wheelchair or bed but she won’t stay seated right now. Up, down, inside, outside, bed, chair,...

I’m ready for this week to be over.

Iris L.

RanchersWife wrote:

Thursday - 15 year old has painful urination. Dr orders pelvic ct scan. 

Be aware of TORSION OF THE TESTICLE. This can cause loss of the testicle.  He should consult a urologist ASAP!  

Iris

RanchersWife

I asked about that.

M1

sounds absolutely exhausting.  Be careful out there, hope it improves soon all around.

Iris L.

I hope it is not torsion.  There are other causes of scrotal pain. Did he have a pelvic CT scan?  Ultrasonography is also a diagnostic tool.

Iris

Rick4407

Re: your mothers blood pressure.  My DW (76) also had high blood pressure for years.  Last year it became very low blood pressure, we discontinued her 2 meds.   Without the meds her BP has been normal for about 10 months.   No problems other than normal progressive loss of capability.   Rick

RanchersWife

Iris, he had a pelvic ct scan to check for injured organs or broken bones. He does not have either. I’ll be requesting a referral to an urologist.

Rick, that sounds like what we are seeing. We discontinued bp meds too. 

Iris L.

Good to know about the CT scan.  Torsion is rare, 3 cases out of 100,000 boys.  I had one patient when I was a pediatrician. 

Iris

mommyandme (m&m)

WOW!

A  Varicocele  (varicose veins in the scrotum) may cause pain. A urologist would diagnose that too.

Here’s hoping for a more peaceful week. 

abc123

I certainly hope this week is better for all of you! Hang in there!

RanchersWife

We are doing better. Thank you for asking.  Kids are healing and adjusting. (One in grad school, one in college, one in high school, one in middle school and one in elementary.) Grandma is sleeping more, eating less and is much more shaky on her feet. Hospice is a big help. Siblings are asking when we will place her. We don’t intend to do that. Our issues involve time, not behavior or safety. I just really need another me!  We still need more help than the 9 hours a week we have. She’s wonderful and works for us three evenings a week after her regular job. This lets me spend time with the kids or get groceries. Maybe after the first freeze the lady who mows the local sod farm will be available to help. She helped some neighbors last year with their mother.

Iris L.

RanchersWife, I hope your 15 year old is feeling better.  

Iris

RanchersWife

Thank you Iris,

We saw the doctor Tuesday and he thinks the ”stomach ache” is from his organs getting jostled around. That’s the only discomfort he still has. If he’s not all better by Tuesday we will search more. The ct scan is normal. That’s good. 

All the others are great. However, Grandma hasn’t been happy with the care we give. It’s no fun to drink water, take a shower, sit on the toilet, take meds, wash hands, not sleep all day, wait a bit for her food,...

Iris L.

RanchersWife wrote:

 However, Grandma hasn’t been happy with the care we give. It’s no fun to drink water, take a shower, sit on the toilet, take meds, wash hands, not sleep all day, wait a bit for her food,...

This is MY life.  Nevertheless, I'm glad I am still able to do and enjoy these things.

I'm so relieved your son did not have tortion.  Best wishes to you and the rest of your family!

Iris

David J

Rancher’s wife, most of the responders are women, who cannot possibly know how he agony your son had gone through. Tell him I’m glad he feels better!

RanchersWife

Thank you David, he is starting to act like his regular, happy self. His first cross country meet will probably be more like a regular practice since he’s not been running much. 

As things get harder here we are noticing small ways people are helping us. The cross country  coach is holding morning and afternoon practices. Since only my kids and one other come to morning runs she would be totally justified in cancelling mornings. But she hasn’t. My kids’ friends’ parents drop them off after events in town. When my son was hurt, someone offered to stay with Grandma if we ended up in the hospital with him. 

And things are getting harder. Grandma just fell again today. I now know I can lift her! 

Iris L.

Perhaps he should wear a cup when he skateboards.  They do fall a lot.

Iris