Monday, March 14, 2011

1am wake up call for a natural disaster?

Being born and raised in the midwest, all we had to worry about is tornado's.  We'd have tornado drills in schools, everyone had basements, so when the sirens went off the family would head down to the basement.  I was lucky grow up in a house with a finished basement.  Fireplace, tv, toys, pool table..etc, so waiting out a tornado warning was easy.

When we were planning on moving to SW Washington state, I thought about natural disasters.  Mt. St. Helen's is only 65 miles north east of here - so we have a volcano in our back yard.  Also, being on the pacific rim, there are occasional earth quakes - VERY odd being asked if we'd like to add earthquake insurance onto the house policy.  Plus it rains like 388 of the 365 days of the year....ok, exaggerating just a bit, but flooding does occur too.  Along with mud slides.  Are you keeping up?  That's 4 natural disasters right there alone.  WHO KNEW that in the 4 years I've lived here, we'd also have 2 tornado's!!!???!!!  Ding - 5!!

 On Friday morning, 1am, my phone starts ringing.  OMG!!  My first thought is, who's hurt or who died?  Hey, I live 2000 miles away from my family, so it's going to be a phone call that I do get and REALLY who else would be calling at 1am on a weekday?  No, it wasn't family, it was my friend, Cris.  He was watching the news and heard about the Japan 8.9 earthquake that had happened a few hours earlier, that had triggered a tsunami.    The earthquake was devistating enough, but it also triggered a tsunami which hit the Japan coast with a 26 foot wave.  The quake also triggered a tsunami which was heading to hit the west coast.  At that time, they were predicting the tsunami to hit northern Oregon southwest Washington area.  Apparently, the news had stated that Clark County (the county I live in) would be affected, so Cris was calling his friends to warn them.  Ok, we live 70 miles from the coast - yes, we're on the Columbia river, but most of Vancouver is uphill from the river.  If we did get hit with a large tsunami, it can affect the water levels of the river, but I'm guessing that it would have to be a 100 foot wave to crash into the coast to have any effect on the area I live in. 

Well, being that we're now awake, we decided to get out of bed and watch the news.  We went to every station trying to find out what they were talking about regarding a tsunami hitting Clark County.  Couldn't find ANYTHING!!  All we heard was the earthquake/tsunami crisis in Japan and that the tsunami will be hitting Hawaii around 5am our time.   Seeing that I didn't have to work on Friday, C nominated me to get up and watch the news on how large the impact would be on Hawaii.  Better to be safe than sorry, right?

I got up at 5:30 and saw that the tsunami waves on Hawaii were only 5-6 feet, so I knew that it wouldn't be that terrible on the OR/WA coast.  They were estimating that it would be hitting the west coast starting around 7:15am.  Back to bed I went. 

Friday morning brought only news coverage of the tsunami hitting our coastline.  The larger impact happened in southern OR/northern CA.  However, a tsunami is pretty cool to watch.  As one newscaster stated, it was like watching HI/LO tide on steroids.  VERY TRUE!  The waves would start to come in higher and higher, within 20 min they would be high on the beach and violent.  Then within 20 min, they would retreat lower than low tide.  This would be the trough of the tsunami - there are generally 8-10 sets of tsunami waves/troughs.  And a tsunami isn't just one giant wave, no, a tsunami lasts 1-3 hours. 

My thoughts are with those people suffering in Japan.  Not only have they had a massive earthquake and large tsunami, but now several nuclear reactors are on the verge of a complete meltdown. 

Thursday, March 10, 2011

Sick of the sickies

UGH, this year has been brutal for illnesses.  Just when I start to feel better, a week later I have some new creeping crud, then C comes down with another form of it.  It seems like I've been taking care of myself, someone else or hearing about people being sick all winter long - can't wait for spring/summer when I can throw open the windows and air out this place. I've had 2 friends who've been hospitalized with pneumonia, my co-teacher, who has been teaching preschool for 19 years,  has been sick a lot this year too!  She should be able to lick a bathroom floor and not get sick!! 

This last round started last week when C's kiddo's came down with fevers and were sent home from school.  I spent a day running around getting medicines for them.  Although C and her crew weren't here when the kids came down with the crud, the family had been together the previous days, so we were exposed.  I started to feel stuffed up late last week and all of this week and last night my ears started to really hurt!  Probably a double ear infection...I'm 41, shouldn't I be exempt from ear infections?  However, my stuffiness and cough are almost gone.

Anyways, Tuesday night was rough, I had D and he was up all night long complaining about his ear hurting.  I got maybe 3 hours sleep and him - less than 7.  By Wednesday morning D was spiking a low grade fever and by the time we went to the dr (to check his ear) it was up to 102.7!  He has a moderate ear infection (only his 2nd in his life) and has been put on some antibiotics. 

C came here after work last night and said that she felt horrible.  Coughing like crazy and had a sore throat.  This morning she woke up with the cough, sore throat and not much of a voice.  And D just looked at me (2pm'ish) and he's got bright red cheeks - yep, his fever is back.  UGH!! 

So, I'm giving notice to all of this sickness going around - I'M DONE!!!  GO AWAY!!  NO ONE WANTS YOU HERE!! 

***Just as I was about to click the Publish Post button, C walked in the door looking tired/sick.  She left work early.  I've doped her up with some drugs and am sending her off to bed.    I need the quarantine and biohazard signs pasted to my front door.  

Wednesday, March 2, 2011

To tell or not to tell? THAT is the question!

There is one question that all parents ask themselves a time or two during the course of their parenting life.  Do I tell my child that he's going to the Dr for a shot?  UGH!  It sucks.  Here are the pros and cons for both situations.  


Don't tell:
Pros:  No crying leading up to the nurse walking into the office with the needle
           No obsessive questions before "the deed"
           Very little drama ahead of time
Cons:  You didn't tell
            You've corrupted your child from ever wanting to return to the dr. 
            Your child now hates you (not always a bad thing, but for this it is)


Tell:
Pros:  Child won't believe that every trip to the dr is going to lead to a shot (even though during the first 4 years of their life it pretty much IS)
           You maintain trust with your child
           You can talk about what's going to happen and hopefully comfort their fears.  
Cons:  Endless drama prior to appt
            Tears and boogers 
            Drama
            Endless talking about how it's going to hurt worse than getting a leg cut off. (Did I mention - drama)

I opt to tell


I hadn't gotten D or myself flu shots yet this year and during cards last night, I learned that the flu has just started in the PNW and was expected to last until mid to late May.  I'm finally feeling 100%, so I made up my mind on the way to work today that D and I were going to get our vaccinations.  I called his Dr before getting D off the bus and unfortunately there was no mist vaccines available, so it was going to have to be the shot.  UGH.  That's what I get for waiting.  

The appt wasn't scheduled until 3:20, so I told D just after we got home from the bus (2pm'ish) what was going to happen.  He started to cry immediately.  We talked about what was going to happen and that it may or may not hurt.  I also told him that I was going to get a shot too, so we can each help the other.  I asked if he wanted me to go first or if he wanted to go first.  He opted for his shot being first....WOW!! 


D cried the whole way to the dr., while walking in to the office, waiting in the waiting room, walking to the exam room and through the entire process.  THANK GOODNESS that the nurses at Vanc. Clinic are very quick.  He was sitting in my lap and when the shot was over he looked at the nurse and said that she upset him so much he pee'd.  WHAT!!???  He's sitting in my LAP!!  My heart sank...UGH!  I felt his pants, dry.   I felt my pants, dry.  He didn't pee....yet....but he had to go...BAD!  Off he went to the potty.  PHEW!  I haven't been pee'd on in several years!!  The boy is almost 6!!  


After some running around doing errands, I got my shot and we went home.  Flu shots done for the year.  Hopefully, we dodged a flu bug bullet. 
          

Keeping you "a breast" on the situation

It's been a week and a half since C had her lumpectomy and it's been a tough recovery.  I'm baffled that my c-section scar is as long as her lumpectomy incision!!  Ummm, an almost 8lb baby came out of that sized incision, but a smaller than 2" fibroid took the same sized incision....doesn't seem right. 

The good news is that the biopsy results were completely negative.  The recovery time was much longer than anticipated and I was getting a bit worried. (recap from previous blog) The Monday of the procedure, C was probably still pretty doped up and amped up from andrenalen, so the pain was minimal.  Tuesday - was completely miserable for her.  Lots of pain meds and OTC pain relievers.  On Wed, she slept almost the whole day and starting that night it started to snow.  I didn't want her to even attempt going in to work for fear that she'd have to jerk the wheel of her car and causing her unnecessary trouble.  We woke to several inches of snow on the ground, schools closed, but C insisted on going into the office across town.  Off she went and less than an hour later she said that she was on her way back b/c the office was closed (no one had informed her of that information prior).  She did run into a sticky spot on the road and had to correct her car - thus jerking the wheel and causing severe pain.  She laid on the couch for the rest of the day.  Friday, she stayed home.   All weekend she laid on the couch or in bed taking her meds and being in severe pain.  I was getting worried at this point.  It had been almost a week and she was still needing to take Vicodin every 4-6 hours.  Plus, taking Ibuprophine in between.  I asked her to call the dr. on Monday if she was still in such pain. 

Off she went to work on Monday, but didn't last the entire day.  She made it to about 2pm and was told by her boss and coworkers that she looked like crap and to go home.  She did.  Her pain was lessening (only needing a V at night), but she was still tired.  Yesterday, she made it through an entire day and felt pretty ok. 

I don't think either one of us were expecting her recovery to last a week - especially when the Dr. says that most people go back to work in a day or two.  I felt so bad that she was hurting and there wasn't much I could do.  I entertained the kids, made meals and made sure she was covered with the new heating blanket.  That's about all I could do....THAT's a miserable feeling.  Hopefully, in the next week or so all the pain goes away and it's just a memory.