Monday, March 01, 2004
Things have been crazy at the cave lately. The mother-in-law went in for facial surgery a week or so ago. Quick backtrack: Several years ago the MIL was diagnosed with an auditory neuroma (benign) which was growing at a rate which would kill her if it weren't removed. One surgeon tried to remove it but only got about 5% of it, but in the process he cut a facial nerve, which in effect caused the left side of her face to droop, kinda like a facial stroke. Luckily, another surgeon was able to go in and remove 98% of the remaining tumor, but could do nothing for her face. After several years of having to drink through a straw and in effect wear a bib for all her meals, she finally was able to convince her insurance company that this was not cosmetic surgery, and was able to get the problem at least decreased in severity.
Next on the list, The Better Half™ is suffering from mastitis so severe that the doctor had to lance the infection. Now she has an appointment with a surgeon to try to fix the problem permanently. So things have been hopping, to say the least.
The Knights of Columbus has been taking a lot of my time recently. That and church events. I am now the official lector trainer for our parish. For those unfamiliar with the term, at the beginning of Mass a member of the congregation reads two selections from the Bible, one from the Old and one from the New Testament. Then about halfway through Mass the same member reads a short list of prayers to the congregation. This person is called a lector, and it's now my responsibility to train people who volunteer to do this.
Little SR is doing better at feedings; she's up to about 25 ounces a day. Not bad for a little girl who's had three bowel resections, her gall bladder removed, has CP and is microcephalic. But she's cute!! The major problem with SR is that with the bowel resections, she doesn't have enough intestine left to properly process her food, so that when she has a bowel movement, the entire neighborhood knows it. The smell would kill a moose. Not only that, she has a bad habit of leaking past her diaper and getting poo everywhere. I mean everywhere. I'm talking rubber glove cleanup here, folks. I don't want that stuff on my hands! How can such a little person cause such a big stink? Inquiring noses want to know. ¶ 9:29 PM
Next on the list, The Better Half™ is suffering from mastitis so severe that the doctor had to lance the infection. Now she has an appointment with a surgeon to try to fix the problem permanently. So things have been hopping, to say the least.
The Knights of Columbus has been taking a lot of my time recently. That and church events. I am now the official lector trainer for our parish. For those unfamiliar with the term, at the beginning of Mass a member of the congregation reads two selections from the Bible, one from the Old and one from the New Testament. Then about halfway through Mass the same member reads a short list of prayers to the congregation. This person is called a lector, and it's now my responsibility to train people who volunteer to do this.
Little SR is doing better at feedings; she's up to about 25 ounces a day. Not bad for a little girl who's had three bowel resections, her gall bladder removed, has CP and is microcephalic. But she's cute!! The major problem with SR is that with the bowel resections, she doesn't have enough intestine left to properly process her food, so that when she has a bowel movement, the entire neighborhood knows it. The smell would kill a moose. Not only that, she has a bad habit of leaking past her diaper and getting poo everywhere. I mean everywhere. I'm talking rubber glove cleanup here, folks. I don't want that stuff on my hands! How can such a little person cause such a big stink? Inquiring noses want to know. ¶ 9:29 PM
