Category: Health & Wellness

The health chapters.

Queen of the Juggle > Health & Wellness

More sickness…OMG! Ryan colors for the first time and Sherri gets to see the RTO at Montreaux

Posted on by Sherri

Wow, what a week! We just tackled the Swine Flu less than a month ago. Then here we go again. Ben first…puking and all the rest of it. Both ends. Poor kid! Lots of vomit in bed. Then Gary, then Kaitlyn. I’ve done more laundry of pukey sheets than I can count. The carpets in the boys room are looking pretty nasty. Nights are worse than the days, although Ben was really not having a good couple of days. Poor kid. He just was so puny. Grandma really loved on him a lot.

It has been a tough week for all of us. Family friend passed, more attorney stuff for both mom and Chip and I, financial worries…all of it. A lot of pressure. All of that along with another flu bug really pushed all of us to the limit.

Luckily Gary was the last one to vomit last night in bed, Kaitlyn is on the upswing and so is Ben and Ryan. Chip had a small bout and fortunately for me I didn’t get it (knock on wood) and neither did Gillian.

The bright spot of the week was that we sat Ryan down yesterday the table and he colored with crayons! We’ll save the first drawing and probably even scan it. These precious moments do take the edge off of the trying times. Chip got it on video and I took pictures (see attached).

The other bright spot was that I had the opportunity to attend the Legends Reno-Tahoe Open golf tourney at Montreaux. What a beautiful place with very large homes. I was invited by Bevin from RSCVA. Michelle Engleman from the Grand Sierra and I were her guests. We were invited to hang out in the Lakeridge Golf Course hospitality suite. It was a fabulous afternoon that began with a tour of Michelle’s new house in University ridge. It’s a beautiful one story home. I also met her husband Aaron. Great people. So we enjoyed a wonderful afternoon, having great wine and complimentary food all afternoon. Little did I know that mom and Chip were at home struggling with Ben and the other crappy stuff that came up this week. When I woke up on Friday and talked to mom and Chip I felt pretty guilty that I had a fun, carefree afternoon with friends. That didn’t last long when Kaitlyn began feeling the bug and Gary and Ryan followed right after. By 7p on Friday I was exhausted and frustrated and drowning in sheets and blankets full of vomit. By 4 a.m. I was on the phone with the nurse line making sure I didn’t need to do anything else for Kaitlyn who was really hit hard by it. It’s just the way the cookie crumbles I guess. Saturday was a little better, still lots of sick monkey laundry. I was happy to just take a shower and do a little running around.

Today is far better, just reflective on the state of life right now. It’s a bit rough and changes are in order for me and how I handle daily life. I’m grateful that the kids are on the upswing and thank goodness we have each other. It causes me pain to know the girls will only be here until Aug. 19 – 10 more days and we’ve had 10 days of sickness.

Really? Influenza A? Swine Flu??? You’ve got to be kidding!

Posted on by Sherri
We were so excited because the girls would be spending 5 weeks with us for their summer visit. It was a little scary and yet exciting to have the family together for a good amount of time. Both girls flew in on 7/13. Kaitlyn had called me earlier that day and said she wasn’t feeling well. I asked her if she was nervous or if she ate something that didn’t agree with her. She said no. I told her to rest, lay down and hopefully it would be better later in the day. So I went to get the girls at the airport. Kaitlyn and Gillian walked out of security and I gave them both huge hugs. It had been over a month since they had been to Reno, so I was really happy to see them. Kaitlyn just looked awful. Pale and she said she definitely didn’t feel good. I stopped at Trader Joes and Longs on the way home because it was near the airport. Kaitlyn stayed in the car and was pretty lethargic. It just didn’t seem right. We got home and I took her temp and it was 102. I started freaking out. Then came all of the other stuff that goes with flu. The poor kid was miserable. She made it through the night and the next day she said her throat hurt. I thought maybe she had strep throat so I wanted to get that taken care of right away if she was going to be sick with something contagious.

We head to the doctor that afternoon. Kaitlyn was still so under the weather. Seeing the doctor was an afternoon ordeal. She was not poked, but boy they swabbed her throat and her nose twice! Poor kids. Turns out that Kaitlyn didn’t have strep, but did have Influenza A flu. The next bit of news was that it could possibly be the same strain as Swine Flu. WONDERFUL! So the doctor said since it could be swine flu, we ALL as in all 8 of us needed to take Tamiflu just in case it is swine flu. So she wrote us 8 prescriptions. I couldn’t believe it was happening. OMG. The girls had just arrived the night before! I was beyond angry that the time was being eaten with illness rather than family time. Kaitlyn was really great about not touching the boys when she arrived. She herself said she wasn’t feeling good and didn’t want to pass on any germs. So along with illness, we waited at the pharmacy for 2 hours to get all of the medicine. The copay bill came to $307.oo. That was with our insurance. Kaitlyn and I headed home after that…now 7 p.m. in the evening. She’s feeling crappy and I’ve simply had enough. All of us did our job and did the Tamiflu. The boys had liquid and apparently it didn’t taste good. Quite the chore to get it into them. A few days later we did learn it was swine flu. Wow. I certainly had quite a bit of anger towards her dad because he had been sick a few days prior.

Boys 18 mos. checkup – well really 21 months

Posted on by Sherri
Had a doctors appointment on June 10. What a calamity that was! Chip went for the first time. We had a brutal “practice run” the week prior because I, with my full mind, thought our appointment was the week before. So the week before we got up, got the boys going and then what do you know? I thought the doctors office was so easy to find that I didn’t bother with a map or a phone number or anything. Mostly because both Chip and I were so trying to get out the door and not be late (yeah, right). So we drove in the correct neighborhood, but I could not remember which building it was. On top of road construction it was amazingly interesting (not in a good way) to try and figure out where we needed to go. The even bigger discovery was that neither one of us had our cell phones. How crazy and irresponsible is that??? Chip was so wonderful, not once did he criticize and he had SO many opportunities. Once we arrived at the office, very disheaveled I might add, the nice woman said they couldn’t see us. Oh my god! I understood, but also wanted to ask her if she had any idea what it took for us to get out of the house? So not her problem.

We finally “rearrived” on the appropriate day, did not get lost and was on time. We saw this crazy nurse who was quite possibly the loudest person I had ever met. After the lecture about shoes, what should be in our car for emergencies and lastly an entire dissertation about her experiences raising children that included the hardships of raising children after having knee surgery. Chip and I just kept looking at each other. Meanwhile the little guys are stripped to the diaper and all over the dirty floor (yuck!) and trying to manage a pedialyte pop, which was a first for them. Didn’t take long for restlessness to set in and pretty soon as nurse know-it-all who means well boys were starting to get cranky. Finally Dr. Tammy Roessler came in. Chip an I felt saved. She’s so great.

One of the things I really like about her is that she’s really realistic about caring for kids. She understands what we’re dealing with. However, she broke it to us that we really need to take them off of the bottle before they’re 2 years old. OMG! I can’t imagine what that will be like.

Glass Half Full

Posted on by Sherri

I’ve been thinking a lot about blogging lately and finally have taken some action! Here’s the first one…

So many ideas have been running through my head this last week. I love it when it feels like there are no limits. This particular post is a long one, but then again, my thoughts have been going crazy rattling around in my head.

As most know, we moved to Reno last July and it has been a rough road. Since about last August, my glass has been pretty much half empty. The lists of why is long and distinguished. Lots of financial stress, the terrible move we endured with Puliz moving company, houses in Vegas, the legal battle with John over the girls (and losing the very expensive battle), beginning a new job that I quickly discovered that I’m not truly passionate about, discomfort at learning this new job and not really liking the whole hotel/casino deal, and finally working at an office instead of at home like I had for the last 6 years. Combine that with little free time and consistent weight gain. What a wonderful place to be. Not so much.

This week a childhood friend of my mother’s is visiting. Artis and mom have known each other since before kindergarten. Both have seen and been through a lot. Artis was diagnosed about a year ago (I think) with pancreatic cancer which really was a rare bile duct cancer. She’s had surgery and is trying to recover. Her cancer cannot be cured. She’s optimistic about miracles and experimental treatments, but her doctors have told her that it’s terminal. I personally have not spent much time with Artis in my lifetime, but having her here and staying with us has really forced me to think about things in my own life. Observing the various levels of difficulty that she is enduring with doctors, medication, and her body make my life look like a cakewalk. Artis is also battling her illness without any immediate family support.

Over the last few days it has become apparent to me that I clearly have been looking at my life situations as “glass half empty”. I’ve replayed some of my conversations with my family and friends. They’ve been about how bad things are. How my relationship is broken with the girls, how hard it is to financially recover from the move, how I’m ashamed that I’ve gained so much weight. Frustration over my job. How dirty my house is and on and on and on.

When Artis arrived this last Wednesday evening, I saw a frail woman who was clearly exhausted by the 8 hour drive she made from Vegas to visit mom. Although I didn’t know her well prior to this visit but Artis came right in and felt comfortable talking about her illness and struggles. She asked me to help her with some medication and I did. After Artis went to bed, I was really emotional. Sad for her. It stuck with me through the night. I wondered how I could possibly think for a moment that things were so bad for me when this woman, who has endured enough heartache, and has rebounded from terrible situation countless times, gets terminal cancer.

I went into work the next morning, raw with emotion. Still, I couldn’t stop thinking about my own negative thoughts. Everyone I know has been told the sad story of what has happened to my family since the move to Reno. As the workday wore on, began to feel grateful. Grateful for the people in my life, grateful for being employed. Grateful that I can work on repairing the relationship with the girls. Grateful for my amazing husband. Grateful that the people in my life happy and healthy. Grateful that I can turn around weight gain. I know what to do. Although I was really tired the entire day, it was clear that I can’t wait another day to try to improve my situations. Life is simply too short. Very cliche I know, but I truly felt and still feel that way.

As mom, Artis and I have talked these last few days, I find that Artis has faith, is optimistic and will talk to me about anything. She puts herself out there. We were talking just last night about home decor and my aspiration to turn my house into a comfy lodgelike environment. I remarked that maybe someday it’ll happen when I win the lottery (I don’t gamble) and then I’ll finally be able to do it. Artis right away jumped in and said that are so many things I can do without a lot of money. She began talking about finding things at yard sales, wrapping twine around vases and ways that I can put nature into my vision of pine cones and rustic furniture. She became passionate about how to do things simply, naturally and creatively. As we talked, I found myself engaged in the conversation but also watching her. She was in the moment. It was a beautiful thing. She’s living so in the moment, both mom and Artis are going to teach me how to paint with acrylic paints on a blank canvas. Artis taught mom not too long ago and I’m happy that she’s up to it and willing to spend her time doing that rather than something else. I can’t wait!

As for myself, I have a renewed commitment for living in Reno, which by the way has been beautiful, and working toward changing the various situations I’m dealing with. Perhaps Artis has impacted me so deeply because I wasn’t able (thank goodness) to watch my dad deal with his surgery and cancer. We were busy resting and growing little boys. I guess I’ve never seen it so closely. I’m trying not to over think it. So, with that, my glass is full!