February 12, 2008 - About time I updated, eh?

Okay, so I've really been slacking on my updates here. No excuses, except lame ones. I know, I suck. So here's a little rundown of recent activities:

1. Finally got rid of my houseguest.
2. Was in a minor fender bender.
3. Bought a new camera.
4. Updated Brianna's baclofen dosages.

Okay, now to address each issue.

First Event: the departure of my unwanted houseguest

This past Wednesday, to be exact. On Monday, I made her go to an appointment with a counselor at the YWCA. She was making no efforts whatsoever to find someplace else to go on her own, so I called, made her an appointment, and didn't give her the option of not going. She filled out some paperwork, was supposed to receive a bus pass, and, I was hoping, would have someplace else to stay. Unfortunately, though, she didn't end up staying there; she came back, on the conditions that she would be out of the house by 10:00 every morning to look for work, and she could only stay until Wednesday, when she was expected to attend a job fair for T-Mobile.

Well, she didn't get the bus pass. So, on Tuesday morning, I nagged her off the couch, where she had finally gone to bed around 6:30am. This was about 8:45am when I started nagging. She finally got up about an hour later. I gave her money for bus fare, and booted her out the door at about 11:30am. She spent most of the day out, thankfully, and I was able to get some stuff done out of the house without worrying that I'd come back to find everything I own of value having been pawned for drug money. Sounds great, right? Like she's actually being responsible? Eh, just wait.

That night, I made cinnamon rolls, believing she deserved some sort of treat, having been out all day looking for work. I was so proud of her. I told her that the next morning, Brianna had therapy again, and, since I was getting up at 7:30 to get ready, I would wake her up, too. I went to bed that night, having told her this, also telling her that she needed to turn off the television and get some sleep. I can't sleep upstairs if the television is blaring downstairs. Makes sense, right? Well, she didn't end up turning the tv off. I actually came downstairs and turned it off at one point. Of course, later, it was back on. Anyway, about 6:15am, I was just getting back to sleep after having to get up and deal with the television, when I hear a faint knocking downstairs. Of course, since I was hanging on the edges of sleep, it took a few minutes for my brain to register that the knocking was real. I came downstairs, opened the door, and there was some strange guy standing on my doorstep. He said Caity was supposed to have called him at 6:15am, and asked if this was where she was staying. I told him yes, but this wasn't a good time, as everyone was sleeping. Genius just stood there and stared at me. Finally, I hollered at Caity, who didn't wake up. I shut the door, and went and woke her up, told her there was some guy on the front porch. I then went upstairs, woke up my sister, and told her to deal with it. By now, Caity knew she was in BIG trouble. It is totally NOT okay to have some strange guy that SHE'S never even met before show up on MY doorstep, putting my life, my sister's life and, most importantly, my daughter's life, at risk. She didn't know this guy from Adam. He could have been a Ted Bundy wannabe!

So, Caity ended up taking off with this guy. She was gone all day, until she showed up at my sister's work and waited around until she got off work. As soon as she walked in the door I told her, "You need to get your stuff together." Not "stuff" as in her act, mind you, but "stuff" as in her personal posessions, and she knew it. So she started calling around, trying to find someplace to go. I told her she had a choice. Either we could drive her to a friend's house in Albany, Lebanon or Sweet Home, or she could go to a shelter. There would be no more nights on my couch. FINALLY, around 9:00pm, I got rid of her. She went to a friend's girlfriend's house. And from there, I don't know, and I don't care. I am so over it and through with her drama, I don't ever want to see her again.

Second event: A minor fender bender

Okay, so on Friday, I was on my way downtown, taking some cold medicine to my sister at work. I had Brianna in the back seat. I had my tax refunds in the bank. I was raring to go. Coming up on the intersection of Salem Heights and Liberty, the light turned yellow. Knowing I didn't have enough time to make it through, I stopped, like a good girl should. Unfortunately, the truck behind me decided that basic traffic laws and the laws of physics did not apply to him, and didn't stop. No one was hurt, thank goodness, and my car has only some small scuffs, but it was a big pain in the butt. I am still stiff and sore from it. The other guy's truck came out of it a lot worse than my car did. He pretty much crushed his bumper and his grill. Serves him right, as far as I'm concerned.

As soon as I got out of the car, I grabbed Brianna out of her car seat and checked her over. It was a good sign that she was crying. But I was so scared. I kept seeing images of her carseat failing, and her little body being ejected through the window again. Only, this time, she died. Thankfully, there was a nice man there who witnessed the whole thing, who offered to pull my car over to the side of the road, out of the line of traffic, since I couldn't seem to relinquish my hold on Brianna. I took the names of the two people who volunteered to be witnesses, took the information of the guy who hit me, and drove the rest of the way to my destination, fighting back tears and nerves. By the time I got parked, I was shaking so badly, and fighting back tears. So my sister got off work early, and we walked around for a while. That helped. I filed a claim with my insurance company, just to cover my butt, and all is now well.

Third event: Dream Camera Becomes a Reality

This one is pretty simple. For many many many moons now, I have been wanting a Canon Rebel Digital SLR camera. When I filed my taxes and found out how much I was getting back, I decided to get one. So on Friday, that's what I did, And I absolutely love it! It takes such amazing pictures! This is definitely one investment that I will get much use from.

Fourth Event: Updated Dosages for Brianna

Okay, so as I have previously written, we have been giving Brianna baclofen to control some of the tension and reflexes that make movement for her difficult. We started out with a 5mg dose once daily, and immediately noticed some improvement. However, it wasn't amazing improvement. So we upped the dosage to 10mg once daily. While we noticed more improvements, Brianna was constantly tired, and often a little too floppy. So we backed down to 5mg again. Still making her sleepy. So I called the neurologist she sees through the tone management clinic. First, I talked to a nurse for Brianna's other neurologist, who recommended giving the 5mg in two doses, rather than the one, to see if that helped keep her from getting so tired. So, we tried that last night and this morning. Then this evening, I got a call from the clinic neurologist's (Dr. Kao) assistant, who said that, since Brianna seems to need a higher dosage, to try giving her 5mg twice daily, rather than 10mg once daily, and see if that helps. So, that's what we're doing now, and we'll see over the next few days if that helps. I am really hoping it does. Meanwhile, the neurologist doesn't want to increase Brianna's seizure meds, because Brianna is having reflux issues. The nurse thought that perhaps the reflux issues were due to the seizure meds, but Brianna has been on them for almost two years now, with no vomitting previously. So I really don't think they are the cause. I think it's just really bad reflux, and the fundoplication is coming undone. So now we're looking at surgery again to redo the fundoplication. I'm not looking forward to that, but I know it's necessary for Brianna's health. Here we go again...