Logen- No Food?!

I'm not sure what's going on with Logen now. I don't know if this is a side effect of the Keppra of what. He's not eaten breakfast OR lunch since he's been home for the break. His teacher says he eats at school. I'm skeptical now. What they say is eating may not be eating to me. So, I'm calling the Neuro first thing in the morning to ask. Our last appt she brought up his weight gain- and some concerns. He's been in the same size since before Parker got here!!! Jan 2006 I remember buying some pants he can still wear. We increased the does to 2x/day on Thanksgiving- and we've seen no seizure activity since! (YAY Logen!) We shall see on the eating. Say a prayer for the little guy. And his Momma. I've been having some nasty chest pain the last few days. :(

Logen is now up to 6 medications a day. He's 5!!!!! This is insane!

Blog Safety Changes

I've read some things recently on Blog Safety. I've changed my blog's address- Splendid Mayhem is the new name. Also, PLEASE do not use my last name when posting- or leaving comments. If you have me on your blog as a 'blog friend', please take my last name and/or location off the list. You are free to use Jessica or the blogs new address- but do NOT include the last name. I will be editing many things in the next week for safety purposes.

I have also changed my Blog Friends list so that it does not include any last names.
Thank you for your cooperation!

Be Patient, I'm "Constructing Ideas"!

My page is under construction. I'm slowly going to be making some design changes!

Hope you all enjoyed your Thanksgiving!

100 Mommy Card Give-Away

Anelys @ 3 Little Flowers is giving away 100 FREE Mommy Cards in honour of Black Friday! All you have to do is go there!!!

You dont need to buy anything... Just make a comment to participate with the colors that you will like the card to have and how many kids you have... There are several ways to get to comment more that one time, so go ahead and read about it. (I added an extra entry by posting this for you to read!) Hmm... maybe I should have been selfish and not told you about it... hahaha

Check out some of her other designs! She's got some totally cute stuff.

Participate today! Ends Friday 8pm EST!!! Winner will be published on Saturday at 12:01am!

Updates On Us All

Things have been rough for the last few days! My hospital stay was less than desirable. I've never had my blood drawn that many times. I woke up at 4am Saturday to the lab tech rubbing my arm with alcohol. I gave up after that. And, if a respiratory therapist comes in to do an ABG (arterial blood gas) or 2 or 3 RUN! Those suckers hurt, left my arm in pain for a while (so much so I couldn't text or hold up my book)

So far- we know nothing more than we did going into the hospital. And, I'm home. I went in today for the echo stress test. With the holidays we aren't sure when the results will be given. They did start me on a heart med today just to see if we could control the fluctuations. My HR climbed to 197 today during the test. The lady seemed a bit surprised a otherwise healthy 24 y/o could manage a HR that high. Congrats to me... haha

I went to Wal-Mart with Adam and it was terrible. I couldn't see 10 feet in front of me. The store began tunneling in on me, things got blurry, and I felt 'floaty'. It's a horrible feeling to have. I can't exercise, I can't go to the store- so we have to get this figured out soon. 'Cause I've got things that I've gotta do!

So, that's what we know. Nothing. I know it's not just 'nothing' when my actual Doc (and not the nurse) calls to check on me and says she didn't sleep last night b/c she was concerned though.

Mr Logen is doing well on the Keppra. We've not seen a seizure since we started it!!! YAY! Still planning on the videoed EEG in December. He's enjoying his break and staying home! Those 6am mornings were wearing on him!

Parker is busy being Parker! He's calling Adam "Adme" and me "ess-e-ka". He's a little mess. At dinner tonight he looked at Logen and very clearly said (and know, nothing he's said has been 'clear') "Bubba is funn-e" We got him on video last night dancing to Christmas tunes. Priceless. Logen was chillin' eating Lucky Charms- we got that on video too :)

Adam is working like a dawg. It's 'peak season'. We won't know who he is until after Christmas unfortunately!

If it weren't for my drama, I suppose things would be fairly calm here. It's always something, isn't it?!?!

My Doctor decided to admit me to the hospital today (Friday 11/21). My heart rate shot up to 160 this morning and my oxygen has dropped to 74%. Will update soon.

Jessica HR/O2 Issues

I went to my Dr today for what I thought to be a follow-up. I ended up in the hospital having an emergent CT Angiography.
I've been having problems with shortness of breath (to the point I can't talk when in motion), chest tightness, dizziness, a floating feeling. It's increased when I walk up stairs, several feet, or get up and down. It's been going on for about 2 months. I wasn't concerned necessarily, but it's not getting better and ridiculous that a 24 y/o who doesn't smoke and is not overweight can't walk up 5 stairs w/o feeling like my chest is going to explode. So, I thought I'd tell my Dr today. Apparently it's not a good thing.
We did an EKG, chest xray, and labs in office. All were normal. (Haven't had an xray since my surgery in April- that was interesting to see!) So, before I left she put a monitor on me and wanted me to walk around to see what my O2/HR were. We walked about 15 steps and my HR went up to 129 and my Oxygen dropped to 80%. Needless to say she wasn't going to let me leave then. She called the hospital and sent me over there immediately. I've not had the contrast experience before and mine wasn't a great one. My Dr called me herself an hour after the test- I do not have a pulmonary embolism! So, she is going to schedule a Stress Echo-cardiogram and wants to do a Holter monitor for 24 hours. With the rule that if things get worse tonight I go to the ER.
My Step-Dad is a Respiratory Therapist so he brought over his little O2/HR monitor for me to keep a log for the night. My Oxygen has been crazy as well as my Heart Rate. O2 has been anywhere from 74% to 99%. And my heart rate goes from 98 to 125. (My average in the last year and a half has been 80)

So, would you keep both Logen and I in your prayers as things have gone nuts in our house?!?!? Thanks :)

More Seizures = More Meds

Logen: last night was strange. He had a (or several, not really sure) seizure lasting 45 minutes'ish'. He would go in and out of it. Out for 30 seconds (bobbing head, stiff arms, just basically he wasn't 'there') and back in for a minute. Repeat about 1,000 times. I lost count. We gave Klonopin, again. This makes him (and Adam & I) crazy. It irritates him. He is unable to sit still. He went on a cleaning spree and put every pair of shoes in the living room away. He picked up toys. And he did this for 20 minutes. (Logen doesn't just pick up things like this. He's usually asked to do so and still has to be directed) Another odd thing (about 15 minutes after K admin) he was standing in the shower and had a BM. And, he was completely unaware of what happened. When Logen has an accident (such as urinating out of a pull up, 'shower poo' is not an ordinary occurrence) he may not always know it's coming, but he knows once he's done it and he gets Adam or I's attention (or tries to clean it up himself). He made himself a human canvas. It was cute and he was very proud of himself. He sat in the living room floor with a pen and colored all over his leg. We considered it therapy, he had many vocalizations! We did get pictures and I will post when I upload them. He was up and down most of the night.

I spoke with the Neuro's office this morning. We are going to go back down on his dose of Zonegran (3 in the AM/4 PM) and add Keppra. We will do 1.5mL for 7 days, increase to 2x/day for 7 days and then give full report to the office to see where to go next.

Logen has a 24 hour minimum videoed EEG scheduled December 16th. We haven't quite figured out the logistics since Parker won't be allowed to camp over night and neither parent wants to leave Logen...

French Test

My 4th "big" French exam was Monday. I was really concerned about it... I think I did fairy well :) I ended up with a 95! There's nothing like getting a test back with very few red marks! Now, I'm worried about yesterdays exam, this afternoon's exam and this mornings quiz! I don't like waiting for test grades!!! Yesterdays was a fill in the blank/short answer.... that should be interesting!

Logen Update

That look in your child's eyes when they try really hard to do something their same age peers are doing and can't hurts. Logen tries... he works very hard. He is such a motivated little guy. And, that glimmer in his eye when he just can't quite get it crushes me. I hate it for him.

Update~ He had about 4 seizures between 4:30pm and 9:00pm. We ask for your prayers as we are working on figuring out whats going on. I spoke the neuro nurse several times today and yesterday. We are trying to figure out how to get his videoed EEG done ASAP. The neuro feels that we are no on the right med at this point, however- she doesn't want to change it w/o seeing ATLEAST 24hours of an EEG. I will update on this as I get more info. Continue the prayers!!! Thanks!

Increase In Seizures

We are waiting for lab results- if they are 'clear' then we will 'up' Logen's seizure med once again.

Logen had about 10-11 seizures from after school to bedtime Friday. We administered his Klonopin.
Saturday: around 5 seizures noted (hard to say since he doesn't sit right in front of us the entire time he's awake)
Sunday: 3 WEIRD seizures. A NEW form... we've not had before. He was sitting at the table and it was like he lost control of his neck. His head flopped back until we caught it and his body jerked slightly. His eyes were glazed over- he did not blink when we waved our hands in his faces. And, he giggled every time he came out of it. Strange!
Monday: 1 at school, several at home- 'weird' ones

Will update on this when I hear back from St Louis. I was impressed that the Neuro called to check on Logen Friday (I just listened to my voice mails this morning...)
I have a test I need to study for....

Our Fence Got "Tagged"

Sometimes after Adam left the house from lunch and the time I got home from getting Logen from therapy our fence was spray painted. I won't blog what my husband said b/c it's not the nicest- nor will I blog about what was spray painted b/c I don't want any publicity for whoever did this. It was sprayed in 2 spots though. The police that came and took the report said to get something painted over it immediately. He came from a big city where gangs were a problem and they told them to get paint over 'tags' quickly b/c a gang who sees that their sign is left up for lengthy periods will likely 'tag' again. He assured me that this is not something they see very often and their is no 'reported' gang activity in our town. Somebody needs to put these kids in an after school program or something. Spend time with your kids people!!!! What do you bet the parents didn't have a clue where or what their children were doing?!?!?!

You can bet I was knocking on all our neighboors doors questioning them- I just wanted to know if anybody saw anything! Why we got to be the lucky family this happened to... beats me.

* Side Note- Parker laughed when the cop came over and Logen was scared of him.

Just add this to my 'crap-o-la to do list'. It's not near long enough. Anybody have anything else they want to add for me to do?

Maternity Clothes & Christmas Decor

Yesterday Adam was getting the Christmas decor out of the attic. He yells to me as he's going through plastic tubs- here's an entire tub of Maternity stuff. What are you going to do with it? And, the crib and baby stuff?
I was like, what did you just ask me?! Are you serious. I don't wanna go there.
I didn't bring it up again after he said it. I didn't think my unstabable-self could handle it quite honestly. I chalked it up to 'he's a guy, and they just don't think like we do.'
But, really- what am I going to do with all of it? I don't want to let it go b/c 'what if' that miracle happens..... but, then do we really hang on to it forever?

(More) Kinesio Taping

We taped the little (big!) guy up today! I haven't posted pictures of this in a while, so I thought I'd post a few. I used my phone, so excuse the horrible lighting. I guess we are 'ghetto' b/c we don't have fancy-schmacy flash cameras on our cell phones.

I found a fairly interesting article about Kinesotaping for Oral Motor Control if anybody is interested, you can find that here.

Click here to view the 1st post made about Logen's taping experience. (July 2007)

I LOVE this stuff. We have seen some amazing results with the tape. When his pointer finger and arm are taped- the pointer finger is extended and he is able to 'point'. It is BEAUTIFUL!!!! He is so proud as well. You should see him walk around a jabber as he points to things. And, how could you not love this little guy?!

Thank You

Just wanted to thank you all for your kind, encouraging, supportive words. It really means ALOT.

~ Jess

Broken Heart & Swollen Eyes

Emptiness, shattered dreams, anger, fear.... that's how I've felt for the last 24 hours.

I'll start way back.
No period in October, late period in November.
Major pelvic pain in October- discovery: cervical infection. Treatment: 10 days of antibiotics.
October: nausea, vomiting, smells making me ill, a *bump* in the belly (nobody else noticed, but I saw me naked- so I did) I just *knew* something was different.
OBGYN appt yesterday: Positive pee test.
Ultrasound: Nothing. Uterus, a piece of shit. Swollen, can't keep a pregnancy piece of crap uterus.
Left with a script for an antibiotic (b/c of swollen uterus and I guess when you m/c they sometimes put you on an antibio) and diflucan in case it gives me a yeast infection. Wait to lose 'baby'.
Last Night: grief, sadness, pain (physically, emotionally)
This Morning: Woke up with pelvic pain. Pushed through it. Got Parker to his school. Went to bathroom b/c I felt something "down there". Sharp pains, big goopy, clumpy blood. Pain. Tears and pain. And, 1 broken hearted Mother who hurts. And I wanted to scoop it up and put it back in my sucky uterus and tell it to stick!

Anxious, Nervous, Scared

I'm freaking out about today's appointment.... would you keep me in your prayers today?

I have a test in all of my classes next week- getting ready for Thanksgiving break. I love it when they hit you 3 days in a row. :(

I gave Logen his Rx cough med and Motrin last night- no fever this morning. He still has a nasty cough and horrible, icky snotty nose. Poor Parker has it too! He's got another ear infection! :(

Parker's well child visit last Thursday turned into a sick kid one when daycare called 1 hour pre-appt and told me he had fever. He had only been off his antibiotics from the last ear infection for 7 days. I think tubes are in his near future!!! He's made it up to the 26 lb marker! I'm 100% that is not accurate, I argued with the nurse b/c less than weeks before he was 24lbs naked. At 2, they weigh with clothes on. So, on the charts it appears that in less than 2 weeks time, he's gained 2 lbs. Oh, well-- charts don't matter, right?!

Me!

Today- where shall I start. Tears, lots of them. It's just been one of those days. Everything has gone terribly wrong. Things I can say, others I can't. Being a single mom right now isn't making it any easier!

I need Microbiology. The community college has 7 sections all are closed. I looked at 2 pm today and find this out. Registration STARTED today. I called the science dept. She pretty much told me I was SOL. They purge students for non-payment January 7th, I might have luck then. U of A has 1 section of Micro, which I am signed up for but the problem is the lab section is from 4:30 to 6:20PM on Monday and Wednesday.

Other schedule conflicts- there are 3 other courses I HAVE to HAVE THIS semester or completed before fall. Guess what... they offer them once. First come, first serve. You don't pick the times- you go on a list and if you make it in, well- you'd better be happy. I made it in- not real sure how we are going to work it though.
Problem with Class A: Monday 7:30 am (who will get Logen on the bus and Parker to school? I have to leave by 6:15am to make this one! Adam leaves at 6:30 to make it to work)
Problem with Class B: Thursday 3-4:50 (I probably wouldn't get back to my van after my walk to the bus stop and bus ride until nearly 5:30, let alone a good 45 minute drive home. Who will get Logen off the bus and Parker from school since they close at 5:30?)
No Problem with Class C: Thursday at 1-2:20


I jacked up on my make-up exam today. I screwed up authoritarian and authoritative. There were about 5 questions about that. The test has 50 questions, worth 50 points. You miss 6- automatic B. I needed to miss no less than 6 to keep an A. A B will drop my GPA. I REALLY, REALLY, REALLY wanted a 4.0 this semester!!!!!!!!!!!!

A few other issues I can't mention. Please say a prayer for us (me). I have a Dr's appt tomorrow afternoon that I am VERY nervous about.

Just been a crappy day. The people on the bus at school today probably thought I was nuts. I tried so hard to hold back the tears- but I couldn't. I lost it and cried all the way home. Lost it even more when I walked in the door. I just need some prayer. Thanks!

Day 6

And Logen STILL has a fever. Low grade today, 99.9ish- still thick, nasty, green snot. Ick. We shall be calling the Dr tomorrow!

Surviving So Far

Adam left for the woods Friday after work (so we have not seen him since early Friday) He's out there with my Step-Dad and best friend's Dad. He will return next Sunday. We've survived the weekend! Parker's started calling Adam "Daddy Adam" and gets very upset when we say daddy won't be home today. Logen is just truckin' through. He's got his Momma and Nana!!!

I Locked Logen In The Van

Poor Logen. Momma's so mean! Wednesday after we left the Dr's office (with just an Rx for a cough med b/c we still aren't real sure what's going on...) we went to Sam's to get Logen's script filled. It was extremely windy!!!! I had opened the van door, locked all doors, tossed my keys in my purse- which was sitting in front of Logen's carseat when the wind blew the script right out of my hand. So, I turned to look like the idiot chasing a valuable piece of paper across a parking lot. When I caught it, I realized the wind had blown the van door shut. Not all the way, but enough to where you weren't going to open it. My keys, purse, phone, Logen- everything was right there in sight! I just couldn't get to it. 2 cart pushers were near by so I yelled at them to call something. A manager came out and told me they'd called the fire dept. I made sure they knew he did have a fever and was prone to seizures (and we were in handicap b/c of his CP) I didn't want the FD lolly gagging and Logen to seizure- there would have been nothing I could have done. At that point, I would have broken the window.
I stood there making silly faces at him trying to keep him amused. It felt like forever until they got there to get him free! They had a lock smith behind them so they didn't mess the door up.
Logen did get upset when the fire men got there, they crowded around the door to make sure he was ok. Then, when they got him out he gave me the biggest snugly hug ever!

I've Been Tagged!

1) I take Metamucil caplets (up to 12 of them a day!) and they don't work for me. Just started Yo Plus Yogurt, fingers crossed it does the job! I know TMI!!! ;)

2) I don't like the person I used to be. (Jr High/High School)

3) I LOVE to decorate for Christmas. I'm pulling my Christmas suff out this week and starting.

4) I hate the words "brain injury". I cringe when I hear them.

5) I eat way to much junk food, chocolate included! Every single day around bed time I'll say, I'm going to start eating healthier and working out tomorrow...

6) I talk to my Mom on the phone atleast 3 times a day and we send more text messages to one another than I can count.

7) I HATE deer season. I'm a deer woods widow for the next 10 days. My Momma is moving in b/c my Step-Dad is taking off & heading south too.

Mama Laura tagged me. And as the rules state above, I must tag 7 of my pals. I'm trying to pick who I've not tagged before.

1) Barbara
2) Anelys
3) Erin
4) Ellen
5) Kiera Beth
6) Suze
7) Dawn

Something Is Just 'Not Right'

I'm not sure what's been going on with Logen in the last 16 hours, but- it's not Logen.
He had ravioli, asparagus, and tropical fruit for dinner- he usually has no problem with any of these items. He hasn't had a problem keeping food in his mouth in some time. His ''suck" (which is more like a chew b/c he hasn't developed that skill just yet) has not been well coordinated either. It's been a few months since he's dribbled (out both sides of his mouth) more than he's gotten in his mouth. He did have private speech yesterday (and he hasn't had that in a few weeks)- and oral motor work was done and hit pretty hard, but I honestly don't think that was it. While that does fatugue Logen, I am pretty certain it wasn't that. There's a difference in what went on last night and what typically goes on after oral motor hasa been hit hard.

Last night, Logen did not sleep well. He woke up with a 102+ fever, shakiness, very thick green snot, and a pitiful cough. I've been giving him mucinex 2x a day since Sunday b/ he started with icky snot then- and I figured that would help clear it out. Hasn't thus far!

He has a Dr's appt this morning. I'll update when we get home! He's eating oatmeal right now, and doing pretty good with it- but the milk this morning. Oh, that really concerns me.

I'm In Posting Overload Mode

What does that mean? That I have something I am avoiding. Like a psych test tomorrow. And a French Quiz. Ugh.

Zzzzz

I love catching the boys crash in odd places or funny positions!

An Eerie Feeling

Maybe I caught a case of the 'election day' blues. I got up this morning with the weirdest, eerie feeling ever. I was scared to put Logen on the school bus. I wanted to hermit with my family in my home (like the feeling after 9/11, when we all just wanted to make it home to Momma and sit in her arms- I was still in high school then- so, I wanted my Momma!) I ended up going against my gut feeling and sending the boys to school. I called my Mom in near tears after dropping Parker off this morning. I still haven't figured out what was going on... but, that feeling was horrible.

I had sent a text to a close friend who reminded me that our Lord is good and to keep my faith in him. I've kept politics off my blog, b/c really- I'm not that politically savy.
I do know that our nation is very vulnerable right now and I think that's why I was so upset. I do not like when I do not know what's coming next. I've had several conversations with God today. I've not prayed for one party to win over another... while I do have a strong preference, I'm leaving it in God's hands now. We've all done what we can (and I hope my US buddies all got out and voted!) and we must have faith now!

So, here we go.... by tomorrow morning we will all know who the winner is! Lord be with us through it all :)

Hey Mr President!

I heard this song on the way to school this morning. Unfortunately, there are no videos on Youtube. (Or any where else for that matter!) Clicking on 'this song' will send you to Windows Media to listen to a brief clip. Here are the lyrics~

* Hey Mr President ~ The Warren Brothers *

Hey, Mr President

I don't think I'd want your job

I can barely handle the simple one I got

Hey, Mr President

How cool is Air Force One?

Are those guys in the House and The Senate ever gonna get anything done?

I ain't no Democrat,

I ain't no Republican.

We're fathers and mothers,

we're wives and husbands.

And we pray that we dance at our daughter's weddings.

And our sons grow to fine men.

And for peace on our land.

Hey, Mr President

How about that money I sent?

Must take a lot of pork barrels to run the government.

And hey, Mr President

Our kids in the middle east

I guess you gotta fight,

sometimes to find a way to keep the peace.

I ain't no Democrat,

I ain't no Republican.

We're fathers and mothers,

sisters and brothers,

wives and husbands.

And we pray that we dance at our daughters weddings

And our sons grow to fine men.

And for peace on our land.

I cannot imagine how hard it must be

To tell some soldiers mother

That they died for their country.

Mr President won't you thank her for me?

Hey Mr President

Do you ever feel alone?

Surrounded by all those ghosts in the White House.

Bet you wish you could move back home.

We ain't just Democrats,

we ain't just Republicans.

It's all for one and one for all we're all Americans

And we pray that we see our children's children.

And our sons grow to old men.

And for peace,

Yeah, peace on our land.

Hey, Mr President.

Mr Parker Is 2!

I have pictures and a lovely post with birth-2 pictures.... I'm trying to figure out next semesters class schedule since registration begins at midnight. I just wanted to tell you all...

PARKER IS 2!

Logen Hit His Head

It's been a rather eventful week in the Duncan home. Eventful = nothing out of the ordinary for us :P

Logen was at school on Thursday and the kids were lining up on the playground when he was pushed into the side of the school- which just happens to be rock. It left a round edema thats about a half dollar size (now, it's gotten bigger since documented at school) There are 2 superficial tears in the skin (aka spots where blood came up to the skin, but never came out). The nurse suggested we take him in with his seizure history. So, I left school and headed to get my Logen man. It was nice to hang out with just him for a few hours before we had to get Parker!! Even if it was accident related, it could have been way worse. The Dr said as long as he didn't pass out of vomit more than twice in 24 hours- he would be fine. The spot was soft and swollen (which in this case, is a good thing!)

He was not his usual self yesterday and I ended up getting him a bit early. I spoke with the nurse several times yesterday- we kinda came to the conclusion that his head hurt.
He's been ok today- :) NO seizures so far today!! He had a few here & there this week, nothing like it has been. I think our last medicinal increase is working- although the pattern has been -> he starts new dose, does good for about 12-14 days and starts having several seizures per day until the med is increased again. So, we are keeping a close eye on him!