27 October 2008

Some lists

Good things:
  • it's a good trip, when you arrive bearing apples, for friends whose refrigerator is full of apples, and they are happy.
  • it's a good host who obligingly makes your child the apple butter and ketchup sandwich she asks for, and who then enjoys watching your child eat said sandwich
  • it's a good sign when your new colleague comes into your office and says, "I don't think I've officially told you how happy I am you're here. I'm so happy you're here; you have a great temperament for this job."
  • it's a happy sound, the sound of the canning tops popping sealed after two more batches of applesauce are processed
  • it's a nice feel, warm fall wind
Um, challenging things:
  • it's a hard thing when your child loses it for 20 minutes on the highway. I kept thinking, "I want a chocolate bar, I want a chocolate bar," and let her scream out her demons.
  • it's hard to be six and almost-a-half and start thinking about your cat that is dying. Older kitty has chronic kidney disease. More news from the vet tomorrow.
  • it's hard to be calm in the face of kid anger. Two nights in a row CG has lost it at bedtime, two nights in a row she's gotten hitting/scratching/spitting mad, and two nights in a row it's hurt my feelings. I need to not let it get to me, the better to mediate on chocolate.
  • it's rather confusing to learn to communicate with new pediatricians. It's possible CG's doctor thinks she has asthma (which I don't think she does), and there is some seriously bad communication going on about what meds she's taking for how long.
Back to good things:
  • it's a fun thing to walk into kindergarten and hear the teacher telling another parent about how much fun the class always has on Mondays because they are just so focused.
  • it's a relief to hear a cough going away (even if the cough is the occasion for the poor communication above)
  • it's a very happy thing to have a new computer on my desk at work.

8 comments:

Rev Dr Mom said...

Apple butter and ketchup? Now there's a combination I never considered! :)

(from the one who loved mayonnaise and ketchup sandwiches when I was a kid!)

Liz Miller said...

I think I'll pass on the AB & K sandwiches. But I'd love a chocolate bar.

Can you summarize CG's medical history in a single typed sheet of paper? Some doctors (and others) have better comprehension of print vs. verbal reporting.

Phantom Scribbler said...

Comfort me with apples, that's my official motto. (I should probably read the book, huh?)

Also, in the ongoing effort to not lose it -- as much -- with the kids during The Witching Hour, I think I ate half that box of chocolate in a single sitting. I'm not sure it did anything for my patience, but at least it gave me enough of a sugar high to fake being able to cope. I admire your calm and your ability to meditate on teh chocolate.

So sorry about the dying kitty and the related kid meltdowns!

susan said...

Ah, perhaps I should get myself a box of chocolate, then. Real chocolate might enhance the meditation!

Liz, the health history is actually not the issue (although it is hard to summarize!): this is all arising from our visit to the partner-of-new-pediatrician-we've-not-yet-met to investigate a very deep, very rumbly cough that wasn't going away, and that was waking CG up at night. So as far as we're concerned, we took her to the doctor for an urgent sort of issue. (Although she has taken albuterol before, which is an asthma med, although she's taken it for various bronchial infections). Maybe that is asthma? Who knows. But we're mystified as to how mentions of a Big Chronic Disease are now working their way around the sides of conversations about what I thought was a cough.

But I probably will make a list of high points for her health history before we do her WCC in the spring. Good idea.

Unknown said...

Oh, I'm sorry the kitty's health is a worry!

kathy a. said...

very sorry about your cat. also the kid meltdowns.

it sounds like they have not diagnosed asthma, but the ped's partner wants to keep an eye on it because she's had cough issues and needed albuterol at times. my son has asthma; he had bronchial problems as a baby, and cough things off and on, but was diagnosed at age 8 when he had a full-on asthma attack.

the diagnosis terrified us at the time, but the whole point of asthma care is to prevent and manage symptoms -- my son was a *very* active child, and never limited by his asthma [except a few times when the symptoms got out of control].

if there continue to be concerns, they may ask you to take peak flow measurements and chart them for a while -- that just means she blows as hard as she can into a tube, to see how high a marker in the tube can go. we found that our son had more problems with pollens at certain times of the year, irritants like smoke, and any time he had a cold. at those times, we used prevention meds -- at least when we remembered. it took a while to get the hang of it!

i think it is totally fair to ask why talk of asthma has cropped up, and how concerned you should be. but also wanted to report that a diagnosis -- if one is made -- is not that awful, and can give you tools to manage the wheezies before they erupt into something nasty.

rachel said...

Chocolate for everyone!

Arwen said...

Apple Butter and Ketchup! That's deeply awesome.
Feeling bad physically often turns into tantrums here, too. It's hard when you want to provide soup and comfort but you become the external symbol of What Is Wrong instead.

Glad that you're finding support and new computers in your job. Coworker support is important.