Seattle Trip

We are back from our trip.  Morry and I dropped Evan and Noah off in Dallas and went to Seattle for a few days to meet Maya.

The boys were good for Grandma and Papa.  Unfortunately, I got sick and was not able to hold Maya.

I have had fever, aches, and a cough for a few days now.  I went to the doctor today.   It's mostly likely either West Nile Virus or Typhus.  Typhus is common in Austin apparently.  It's carried by fleas and common in areas with dogs like dog parks.  I haven't been to the dog park lately, but we did go to the lake a Barton Springs.  It's possible I got it there, though I don't remember getting bitten.  I may have bronchitis or pneumonia on top of that so the doctor ordered an x-ray.  I started antibiotics, but if I have pneumonia, he'll give me a stronger antibiotic.  We won't know for a day or two.  Neither are contageous, so that's good for the family.

When we got home today, Morry took the boys to Noah's school for the open house.  Then, they went to swimming lessons.  They stopped at Evan's school to see the class lists/teachers for this year.  Evan apparently got a good teacher and he knows 3 other boys in the class already.

I stopped at HEB on my way home to get the medicine my doctor called in. Even though it was about 2 hours later, it wasn't ready for some reason.  They made me wait another 25 minutes so I got grocery shopping done, even though I didn't feel so great.

For dinner Morry and the boys had pasta.

Here are some pictures from our trip.

Feeling Great to Feeling Bad

This morning Morry took Evan to school so that he could meet the new teacher.

This was the first morning that I did not have help. It was just Noah and me. I took Noah and Lizzy for a walk. I wasn’t going to take Lizzy, but she gave me those puppy dog eyes and I couldn’t refuse. I had a talk with her before we left. I told her she had to be good or else I couldn’t take her for walks anymore. It was really nice outside. We all enjoyed the walk and Lizzy did fine.

Around lunch time I started feeling a little achy and really tired. I decided to take my temperature. I didn’t think I had a fever, but I thought I would just check. Well, it was 99.3 degrees. Normally, I’m on the low side, so that was definitely a fever for me. The oncologist said to call if I have a fever over 100.5, but I went ahead and called anyway. I left messages for two nurses and waited to hear back.

Blanca came at 1:30 and Evan got home a little after that.

Around 2:00 the nurse called. They wanted me to go ahead and come in so that they could give some antibiotics and check my blood.

I was supposed to tutor 2 students tonight, so I called and canceled. I was looking forward to tutoring.

At the oncologist they took my blood from both my arm and my port. I also had to give a urine sample. When they took my temperature there it was 99.7. My white blood cell count went up .1 from yesterday, but another type of white blood cell count that determines how you fight infection was still low. They gave me a prescription for antibiotics. I need to return tomorrow to get IV hydration. That will take 2 hours. Then, on Thursday I go back for another blood test. What a pain!

Right now, I’m not feeling great. I wasn’t able to eat much. My throat is sore – it has been sore, but now seems a little worse. And, I have a sore on my tongue. This is starting to remind me of the poem “I cannot go to school today…”.

I took my temperature just now and it’s at 100. I need to keep an eye on it overnight.

Evan and Noah are in bed now in their separate rooms. I just heard Evan coughing a little. We put the humidifier in his room tonight. Noah seems to be asleep.

Evan’s New Teacher

This morning Evan woke up while Morry was still here.

Once Evan and Noah were dressed I took them for a run/walk. I didn’t take Lizzy today. I was worried it might be too hot for her. Last time she seemed pretty hot. I gave the boys cereal and fruit to eat on the run.

When we got home we got ready to go meet the Mom’s club. They were having an outing at an inflatable jumping place called Locomotion. When we pulled up to the building Evan and Noah were very excited to see a painted train on the side of the building. The place was pretty nice. It was very open and you could see pretty much everything. They had a large area with inflatable jumpy castles, ship, houses, slides, etc. There was also a little area with small rooms with themes (animal hospital, grocery store, diner, …). Evan and Noah had a great time. Both of them spent a lot of time on the inflatables.

After Locomotion, we went to Newflower to get a few groceries for the weekend. Evan and Noah got their free cookies at the end of the shopping trip. Both had blue icing all over their faces and hands.

Evan and Noah took good naps, but I had to wake up Evan a little before 4. His new teacher, Mai, was coming over to meet him. Morry was able to come home for the meeting too. At first Evan didn’t talk at all. He showed her his toys downstairs. Then, she had him draw a picture of himself with markers. He did pretty well. You could definitely tell it was a person, and he drew 2 long legs and feet below the head. It was cute.

Morry had to work a little from home after Mai left.

Once he was done working we made dinner. We had crockpot brisket and rice.

After dinner, Morry helped Evan play wii baseball and golf. Noah watched. I finished cleaning the pantry. Whew! It had been a while since the pantry was cleaned. I had to throw out a few expired things. It looks a lot better now.

We just gave Evan and Noah baths and put them to bed.