Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah

Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah Zip-A-Dee-A

My oh my what a wonderful day

Plenty of sunshine headed my way

Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah Zip-A-Dee-A

Mister blue birds on my shoulder

It's the truth

It's actual

Everything is satisfactual

Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah Zip-A-Dee-A

Wonderful feeling

Wonderful Day

from Disney's Song of the South

by dumbledad

When I started the A to Z Challenge, we were still in the throes of Marty's never ending migraine. I was miserable watching my son suffer. Marty was miserable because he was in pain and his intense sensitivity to light and sound meant he couldn't do anything.

But, today, as I wrap up the A to Z Challenge, we're not in that miserable place. It's more of a zip-a-dee-doo-dah day. Marty is better. Marty is back to his normal self and I couldn't be more happy about it. The noise level in my house has gone way up and it truly is music to my ears. Now, I'll be honest and say I probably won't be feeling the same way about the noise in another month but right now I love it.

Yesterday, for the first time since the night of February 26th, Marty went back to his normal activities. He spent 3 hours at church with the kids from the youth group that will be going to the national Lutheran Youth Gathering in New Orleans this summer. They went out and walked, had dinner together, and did all kinds of trust building/team building activities. He came back exhausted but who wouldn't be after almost 2 months of no activity. And, today is a beautiful day. The sun is shining and all my kids are healthy. Today, Marty and I went to see The Hunger Games. I'm not sure what I loved more...the movie or the fact that my son was able to see it with me. Today, I am truly happy and loving life.


How is your day going? What have you been up to today?

Prayers: answered

My prayers have been answered and I have so many of you to thank. Marty is almost better...really! Within this last week, we've seen phenomenal improvement. Really bright lights still bother him a bit and super loud or sharp noises still hurt but he's on the mend.

I can't even begin to express how relieved Vic and I are at this moment. I really almost cried when he said "I think in another few days I'll be fine." Part of me was terrified that, once again, a loved one of mine would fall onto the wrong side of the medical odds. Part of me was truly terrified Marty's migraine would become one of these horror stories that went on for years and years. But, all I could do was keep on hoping...keep on praying...and those prayers were answered.

It's kind of funny but Marty has himself completely convinced that the only reason he is doing better is that we've had a break from the horrid weather fronts rolling through on a daily basis. I am sure that has helped but I also believe the prayers, the chiropractic care, the vitamins, and the meds have helped. However, I don't really care what he attributes his improvement to as long as he keeps getting better.

I can't even begin to express how much I appreciate all the support y'all have given us through this. The prayers, the ideas, the love...that's what's carried us through all this. Thank you, thank you, thank you to all of you with a few special shout outs...to Julia Crane, thank you for the k12 recommendation. He'll be finishing up his freshman year through them this summer & to Dora, thank you for the magnesium info. He's been on a mega dose of magnesium and that corresponds with when he started improving.

My Marty

My son Marty has had a rough go of it. This last fall he had finally reentered public school after 2 years of homeschooling. He had overcome his nervousness due to the bullying he suffered from in middle school and was settling in. He found a fabulous group of friends through ROTC and was working so hard in all his classes.

And, then he had that totally fucked up reaction to his allergy medicine and it took months to get him back on his feet. Despite fighting through all that, he finished the first semester with good grades and he was ready to rock and roll when the second semester came around. Marty was really kicking ass this semester. He was pulling straight As and was getting back into the swing of things with ROTC. Then, this damned, never-ending migraine from hell hit him. It's been going on so long that we're having to reactivate our homeschool, withdraw him from this semester, and have him get the credits he needs to advance to 10th grade through k12 online this summer.

Somehow, through his whole difficult reaction to his allergy medicine, Marty maintained an amazingly positive outlook on things. But, this migraine has been a lot tougher on him. He's got a tough enough personality that he could deal with pain but the light and sound sensitivity has been kicking his ass. And, he still can't focus on anything small without triggering a worsening of the migraine so reading has been out. He's tried multiple meds, IV pain relief, and even chiropractic care. It's been disheartening for both him and Vic and I to see one attempt after another fail at breaking the migraine.

Now, I'm keeping my fingers crossed that I'm really seeing improvement since the last medicine switch, but I'm sort of afraid to let myself believe that the end is in sight. Marty acknowledges that things are a bit better but isn't willing to credit the medicine. All he's willing to say is that maybe the better weather is giving him a break. Frankly, I don't give a damn what's causing the improvement...just that it keeps happening.

I would love it if you could send him a message of encouragement or a joke to make him laugh. That would mean so much to me.

Brought to you by the letter D

rained, dark, dreary, and, dare I say, depressed.My son is on day 38 of his migraine. The last time we went into the neurologist, they put him on topamax which is an FDA migraine preventative drug. While on the topamax, there has been some improvement but not nearly the improvement we want or need to see. I called the neurologist today and he wants Marty to up his topamax dose for at least the short term (he has another appointment on Monday, April 9th). When I told Marty this he got agitated and said that since he's been taking the topamax and especially since we doubled the dose a week ago on Tuesday, it's been getting harder and harder for him to get to sleep and he's been waking up easier. So, I look it up and sure enough, difficulty sleeping is a possible side effect of topamax.

The one fucking thing that has seemed to help at all and it's causing a different problem...damn it all to hell. It just isn't fair. Marty already went through that fucked up reaction to allergy medicine that caused all the problems last semester. He had been working his ass off this semester and now we can't catch a break when it comes to dealing with this migraine.

I am seriously worrying that he won't be able to finish out this semester. While I'm sure we could probably get it wiped off his record, that would still leave him a semester behind and out of sync with his friends. And, summer school isn't really an option. Because summer school isn't like it was when I was in school. Because of the economy and horrible budget cuts, there are only 30 summer school slots available at each school that offers summer school. That means that at Marty's high school of over 2200 kids, there are only 30 slots. And, freshmen are at the bottom of the totem pole for getting one of those slots...not to mention that it is impossible to complete an entire semester in summer school because of the way it's structured.

And, that is why today my post is brought to you by the letter D...d is for drained...d is for dark...d is for dreary...and, yes, d is for depressed.

45s, 380s, 9 mms...

in other words, Bullets.

I feel like all I'm doing lately is writing posts with bullet points. It's sad but that's about all I've had the energy for lately...

• Gabe is reading now. I'm so proud of my boy. He loves that I've downloaded a few books onto my Nook for him. His favorite is the Puppies book.
• It's amazing how much better you feel after a few days of TheraFlu and a decent night of sleep.
• It's sad when you consider a night that you get woken up at 6 am by a thunderstorm a good night's sleep.
• We've had two thunderstorms in the past two days that have been powerful enough that they made the house shake...kind of scary even when you like storms.
• My dog is a total chicken when it comes to thunderstorms. She's glued to you when there is a storm raging.
• I am loving my new, properly fitting, sexy, colorful bras. It's so nice having bras that make the girls look perky.
• It is seriously scary how much bigger my boobage looks when it's being properly supported and held up. We won't even talk about what cup size I have to buy...that really is scary.
• On Sunday, Joey started to get a migraine too. Luckily, the Migranal that didn't work for Marty stopped Joey's migraine in it's tracks with only one dose. It's a really good thing because it truly felt like it would be the very last straw if I had to deal with two kids with migraines.
• I took Marty back to the neurologist today on day 23 of his migraine. Since the attempts with abortive migraine meds didn't work, we now have Marty on Topamax which is a preventative migraine med and some vitamins which have been proven to help prevent/lessen the severity of migraines. Please pray these make a difference.
• It just kills me that I can't make him feel better. It also kills me that it's something he inherited from me that is putting him in so much pain. It really makes me feel like shit. I'm suppose to be able to take care of my kid and I feel like I'm failing him in this.

I'd love it if you share something that would make me smile. It can be personal, a joke, or a silly story. I'd really appreciate it.

I'm going crazy why don't you come along

*I'm going crazy why don't you come along
I'm going crazy just singing this song

• Day 20 of Marty's migraine, Day 2 of a 100 degree temp for me (thanks Gabe)...'nuf said

Once I had a little dog and all it ate was cans and when those little puppies came they came them pots and pans!

My old girl is more than a little spoiled. You'd think she was
allowed on the couch all the time. BTW, she loves the blanket
Michell aka BattyNurse made me.

I'm going crazy why don't you come along
I'm going crazy just singing this song

• Why is it you can dose a sick kid (Gabriel) with meds and they rebound and have energy to spare but give an adult the same cooties and we're dragging ass and feel like death warmed over.

Once I had a little cat and all it ate was yarn and when those little kittens came they came with sweaters on!

Joey's kitty, Butterball, fits right in with the family.
He's basically healthy but has medical quirks. The
seasonal fun of giving him allergy meds has begun.

I'm going crazy why don't you come along
I'm going crazy just singing this song

• I have projects galore, including moneymakers, that are waiting for me but I feel too damned crappy to do anything. It is driving me stir crazy.

When Mary had a little Lamb the doctor was surprised, when old McDonald had a farm the doctor nearly died!

• Doctors, doctors, doctors...I've had my fill of freaking doctors. We've spent more on co-pays and prescriptions and gas too and from in the past month than we did in the previous 3 months. I am done, done, done!

I'm going crazy why don't you come along
I'm going crazy just singing this song

What's driving you crazy? What's making you climb the walls? Share with me and make me feel a little more normal.


* The words in italics are the lyrics from a song we use to sing in Girl Scouts.

PS...sorry for all the bitching and moaning about sickness. I've just been feeling a bit overwhelmed.

A little of this and a little of that

• Marty finally saw some improvement of his migraine. He is still hurting and sensitive to light but he can finally sit down in front of a computer without getting nauseous. This gives me great hope that his final IV pain treatment will give him great relief.
• Gabe has been so incredibly sweet lately. He's told me I'm beautiful, that I sing nicely, and that he wants to always keep me safe. My little boy can always make me smile.
• Gabe got sick this Sunday. He was vomiting Sunday afternoon and night and had a fever of 102.5 midday on Monday. But, his fever broke Monday evening and he swore he felt good this am and was desperate to go to school. I didn't follow my gut instinct and let Gabe go. It was a bad decision because, even though he made it through the day, his temp went back up this evening. It never fucking ends.
• Did I ever tell you that when my kids were little, there were times they ate so many fruit loops that they turned their poop crayon green?
• I feel so bad that I haven't been commenting much and I haven't managed to visit most of the healing salons but my brain is fried. I have been trying to keep Marty company but his migraine pain has sort of forced him into weird hours. So, I've been staying up really, really late with him and then getting up early with Gabe and Joey...and, I've been doing this for about 2 weeks now. My reserve is empty and my brain function is hovering just above comatose.
• I found out black jelly beans turn your poop a slightly less vibrant shade of green...especially when the individual in question consumes almost an entire bag of black jelly beans. Don't ask me how I found this out.
• Vic has his second appointment with the bariatric surgery clinic. We're hoping that he can jump through all the proper hoops and get a date with the gastric bypass surgeon by early summer. Maybe this will finally let him beat that bitch, diabetes.
• My parents totally rock. These past two days they have helped me with my sick kids so I could take Marty to the neurologist for his pain treatment.
• My mom's physical therapists think she is slightly demented because she informed them that shoulder replacement be damned, she intended to teach swimming and life guarding this summer so they better get s moving.

What random stuff is going on in your life?

Migraines suck balls (the Super Bowl Edition)...

but they certainly make me productive.

I know that seems counter-intuitive but it's true. When I have a migraine, I simply can not sit down in front of a computer. The screen refresh rate is killer when I have a migraine. Sadly, I can't even take meds and then sit down in front of it because that damned screen refresh rate kicks it back into high gear. So, this has been the first time in the past 16 hours or so that it's been safe for me to go online.

Since my dear friend, *Vitamin V, kept the bitch of a migraine in check, I felt good enough to get things done. So, today during the day on Saturday, I folded two loads of laundry, dried one load of laundry, and washed one load. I put away all of Gabriel's clothes that had been folded over the past few days and made sure my little ragamuffin took a bath last night. On a side note, Gabe washes his own hair now. I just have to supervise to make sure he actually washes and doesn't just play in the bath. I made 6 dozen+ Oreo Truffles in chocolate, cherry, and mint flavors. I cooked Chicken Ranch Quesadillas with chicken for dinner (made 17 so there would be leftovers). I also helped Marty make a spicy cheese ball to have with crackers while we watch the Super Bowl on Sunday. And, I did all the dishes from Friday night (was a slacker on Friday) and all the dishes that were dirtied through baking and cooking and eating. Oh yeah, sometime in between it all, I also deep conditioned my hair.

If I could guarantee this level of productivity, it would almost make having migraines tolerable.

What have you been up to this weekend? Have you made anything special to munch on during the Super Bowl? Are you cheering on one of the teams or are you just watching the game for the commercials?

*Vitamin V = vicodin

Derailed by my body

I had great intentions about writing a post about how things don't work out how you intended because of limitations your body (or your spouse's body) place on you but, weirdly enough, that post got derailed by my body. I have the beginnings of a migraine and, if I don't get off the computer soon, I will get sick. Migraines and the screen refresh rate do not play well together in my world.

Hopefully, I'll be back on later today. Until then, I'll go eat some candy hearts with Gabe. To entertain me when I get back, I have a few requests...


1) Do you like candy hearts? If so, what kind do you like the best? I like Brachs candy hearts the best.
2) If you don't like candy hearts, what is your favorite Easter candy?
3) Please go leave a question for me to answer on my last post.
4) Don't forget to sign up for my 2012 book challenge.