Tuesday, March 10, 2009

Wow. Just Not Me.

It has been a long time since I have felt such a physical lack of energy. The one-two punch of the head/cold for a week and then the stomach just has me drained. I think that the diagnosis at urgent care might be wrong as the stomach pain hasn't gone away. In addition the medication that I was given has the most horrible aftertaste that I have no desire to eat. When I do eat it tastes horrible. And if I don't eat, then the medicine itself is causing more pain. I'm going to the doctor tomorrow morning hopefully for some answers.

In the midst of it all, though, it's time for an update. Maybe I'll take time to give you one now. We've all been coughing for what seems like months, but other things have been going on as well.

Kyle (22) is taking his spring break from being a 3rd grade teacher to spend a week on a beach in Mexico. I wish him the best. I lived there and he just needs to be careful. I love Mexico, but there are some things you just don't want to do there.

Rand (20) seems to be a bit motivated by my new incentive plan which required him to walk to work in the cold rain early this morning. All of the sudden he took some initiative to get some things done around here today. He still works about 30 hours a week at the local grocery store deli, is saving money for a vehicle, and paying back a student loan for a year in college that didn't result in very good grades.

Mike (turned 20 this week) got out of prison last week and convinced Kyle to pick him up. Kyle did what he viewed as a very selfless thing (which actually, for Kyle was pretty selfless) and gave him some $ and a ride to our town. Mike has had dinner with Bart and received some cash for his birthday. He actually at this point is exchanging work for a place to live which is one of the better deals he has struck.

John (18) has apparently settled back into his group home. Something is messed up with his credits and he needs to straighten that out. The marines are saying he is still on probation, but he shouldn't be. He's trying to get in there when he graduates.

JImmy (17) has brought his grades up to only 2 Fs and 3 Ds. He is seldom hard to have around, he's a jovial kid, but he loves to annoy his more agitated siblings. He is looking forward to playing tennis again this Spring.

Salinda (16) is currently spending her boyfriend's spring break with his family, taking a laptop to do school work, which isn't getting done. She may very well fail a couple of her classes and I'm tired of stressing about it. She is the queen of "sacrificing the future on the altar of the immediate." She's thinking she might like to go back to regular school for fourth quarter but can't decide which one.

Ricardo (15) finally finished wrestling and came in 4th in the district, not bad for someone who started the sport when he was almost 14. He's going to join a freestyle club and also plans on playing soccer. He tries hard at school and it is starting to pay off.

Mercedes (14), other than being a bit two involved in 7th grade girl drama to keep her grades up, seems to be having a fairly good year. She's really wonderful to have at home 95% of the time and is very invested in our family system.

Tony (14) may be the death of me yet. His ability to agitate me and push my buttons exceeds that of Kyle at his age which really takes some doing. His grades are slowly going up and there are moments when he can occupy himself and not drive me crazy. He just finished wrestling and is deciding between tennis and track. He wants to try the shot put.

Leon (13), other than struggling with a couple grades, remains a sweetheart. He finished wrestling as well and other than an occasional blip, does very well. He is also finishing wrestling Jr. Varsity and plans to run track.

Dominyk (12) is in Boy Scouts and loves it. He is starting to become more independent which is good, but his combo of OCD and ADHD can put us over the edge some days. His weight continues to climb but abilify is only medication that works for him.

Wilson (10) other than being sick the past few days is doing great. He is quite popular, invited to everyone's birthday party, and has a couple good friends who are here often. He can still melt my heart but his Dad, well, talk about having someone around their little finger.....

So that's the scoop. I had many blog entries formulating in my head the past few days, but I just don't have the energy. Bart and I have both felt tired, drained, sick and burned out the last couple weeks. Hopefully change is in the air.

Thanks for putting up with this dry spot. I'll be me again soon. Just watch.

4 comments:

Angela :-) said...

Love this quote:
She is the queen of "sacrificing the future on the altar of the immediate."


And, I can vouch for the OCD/ADHD killer combo. Does Dominyk have ODD as well? I'm not convinced that diagnosis is right for T. I'm thinking it's more OCD.

Angela :-)

debbie said...

if it is any comfort... my son put on 17 pounds in 3 months when he started on his meds. he is only 6 so it seemed as if he grew by the day! we eat an extremely healthy diet and it made no difference at all! i think his teachers thought i was feeding him nonstop cookies at home! it has leveled off now but his appetite is like nothing i have ever seen before. amazing what those meds can do. the results are worth it though.

Other Mother said...

I'm glad Mike has found a niche for the time being. I hope it works out for him! Hope you get to feeling better, soon!

Linda B said...

I learned from another mom whose daughter was put on abilify that Topamax is a medication that can be used with it and not affect the med at all. What it does is decrease the side effect of being hungry all the time. I had been using topamax to prevent headaches--didn't know about the decrease in appetite when taken with abilify. Maybe you could ask your tiny psychiatrist lady about it.