The Post that I promised you Yesterday, but I am giving you today!

Yea, so I have a little bit of a problem with motivation these days. (Seriously, right after I wrote that first sentence I went and spent 10 minutes mindlessly surfing Facebook.) Speaking of Facebook, I am sure that some of you read about Beki and her trip to the Hospital, so I figure that I will start this post with that little narrative.

Beki gets a sinus infection twice a year - it is just one of those things that has always happened to her. Usually she is miserable for a week, then we take her to the doctor, who gives her drugs, which make her even more sick, until magically 3 days later she emerges from her sick semi-coma and is back to the real world. Well about two weeks ago Beki started to get sick. After a week of not getting better she went to the Student Health Center at the University (because we no longer have health insurance - thank you Prince George's County Public Schools) and they gave her some drugs. Around this same time The Boy was sent home from school with Pinkeye, and I came down with something as well. I was just waiting for the Monty Python guy to come around asking us to "Bring out your dead!"

Beki's first set of medication did nothing, well, except for make her want to puke, so she went back to the Health Center and they moved her to a different medication - which did nothing but make her even more nauseous. So this past Monday Beki was home in bed, The Boy, thanks to his medicine drops, was Pinkeye free (He didn't think that his eyes looked pink, he thought that he had Blueeye), and I was mindlessly trolling the internet looking for jobs that I am not going to get. When the time came to get Owen from school, I asked Beki if she wanted to go back to the Health Center, but she wasn't sure, so she stayed home. (Beki has a high tolerance for pain...she didn't even want to go to the hospital when she woke me up at 4:30am on the day that Owen was born.) While I was picking Owen up from School Beki changed her mind and phoned me to tell me to hurry home so that I could take her to the hospital.

(This next paragraph will cause one of two reactions: Either you will see it as the Hand of Providence, or as an "Amazing Coincidence.")
Our church meets in groups called "Wards" that are arranged geographically. A month ago our ward was split up amongst three other wards. This means that we have been going to church for the last few weeks with about 75% new people that we had never met before. (I know some of you are thinking, "Boo! Why are you talking about church? Well, wait and see.) Right after Beki got off of the phone with me, a lady from out Ward - who neither of us had ever met or spoken too - called Beki out of the blue. She said that she just felt that she should call and see if we needed any help with anything. I don't think Beki was making coherent sentences at that point, so Melinda (that is the lady's name) said that she would just come over. I was really confused as Beki tried to explain to me that someone was coming over, but sure enough some lady showed up and offered to take Owen while Beki and I went to the doctor. I am sure that you are screaming at your computer screen "Wait! You sent your child with someone that you didn't even know?!?" Yup...and they kept him for TWO DAYS!! (This is a great thing about church, I totally trust someone from church with my child. Of course it didn't hurt that we had checked and found that she was the Relief Society President.)

[FACEBOOK FAMILY FEUD BREAK!!!!!]

So, with the Boy taken care of (He was more than happy to go with Melinda when she mentioned that she had two little boys and lots of Toys!) I got Beki in the car and down to the Heath Center. I had to drop her off and then drive over to the parking garage, so I got back to the Health Center just in time for the doctor to tell me that they couldn't do anything else for her, and that I needed to take her to the Emergency Room. So back I went to the car, came back and picked her up, and then fought our way through traffic to the Hospital. The GPS said that it would only take 10 minutes to get there, but of course that would be if no one else was on the road...it took us a half hour. (I will have a whole little paragraph about driving at the end, it pisses me off sooooooooooo bad.) Once we got to the ER, we had to wait for TWO HOURS to be seen. Now, I know that two hours doesn't seem that unreasonable for being seen at the ER, and I agree, but it is the kind of people that were in the waiting room that has me so ticked off. (There will be a little paragraph about this too.)

Once we finally made it into a room things started to get better. The nurse Glenda (the good witch) was very nice and drugged the crap out of Beki, got her some pre-warmed blankets, and got everything taken care of so that she could turn out the lights (which Dr. Lopez immediately turned back on when she came in...it was kind of funny, except for the part where my wife was lying on a gurney in the Emergency Room.) Their initial thought was that her Sinus Infection had caused meningitis, so they took her off for a CAT Scan and then they  performed a Lumbar Puncture to take fluid samples. (Lumbar Puncture = Gigantic Needle) Once the tests were done we were going to have to wait for the results, so Beki was finally able to get some rest, as long as they kept giving her drugs for her headache. In the end the tests showed that there was no infection in Beki's brain, but the headache caused the doctor and nurse enough concern that we decided to admit Beki to the Hospital.

And then the positive experiance that we had enjoyed at the hospital ended. Apparently when you are sent up from the ER, all of the records that they have made about you don't go with you. So the Nurses upstairs had no idea that Beki was supposed to be on Drugs, and they wouldn't let her drink anything until the doctor showed up - which wasn't for another 6 hours - and they didn't listen Beki when she would try to tell them what was wrong. Add that too the Walrus in the other bed in the room (um, the Walrus gets her own paragraph at the end...roommate from hell!) and it was a long, miserable night for Beki. I got home from the hospital at 4am, and when I went back the next morning, Beki looked even worse than when I had left her the night before. See I always thought that the hospital should make things better, but I guess that I must be mistaken. The doctor ( a new one) finally came and took more samples, but it would take 24 hours to grow the culture, so that meant another day of the Walrus and really bad hospital food. (I tried some...it really is bad.

The next day Melinda brought Owen back, and we went to go see Mommy in the hospital. The doctor had decided that Beki has Aseptic Meningitis:

Aseptic meningitis, or sterile meningitis, is a condition in which the layers lining the brain, meninges, become inflamed and a pyogenic bacterial source is not to blame. Meningitis is diagnosed on a history of characteristic symptoms and certain examination findings (e.g., Kernig's sign). 

The term aseptic is frequently a misnomer, implying a lack of infection. On the contrary, many cases of aseptic meningitis represent infection with viruses^[1] or mycobacteria that cannot be detected with routine methods. While the advent of polymerase chain reaction has increased the ability of clinicians to detect viruses such as enterovirus, cytomegalovirus, and herpes virus in the CSF, many viruses can still escape detection. 

Aseptic meningitis can result from non-infectious causes; it is a relatively infrequent side effect of medications, and can be an early finding in autoimmune disease.

"Aseptic meningitis", like non-gonococcal urethritis, non-Hodgkin lymphoma and atypical pneumonia, merely states what a condition is not, not what a condition is. Terms such as viral meningitis, bacterial meningitis, fungal meningitis,neoplastic meningitis and drug-induced aseptic meningitis can provide more information about the condition, and without using one of these more specific terms, it is difficult to describe treatment options or prognosis.

Since it is probably viral there is not a whole lot that they can do for it, but they gave her some new medications and we got her ready to go home.

 Hanging out with Mommy on her Hospital Bed.

 Until the boy found the controls... first we go down...

 Then we go back up!

Mommy was ready to go change so we could go home!

While she is definitely doing better, she is still feeling pretty tired and weak, and her head is still bothering her, but as long as we can keep the Boy from bugging her to death, we should be ok.

Much happier to be home in our bed. (I know that she doesn't look like it, but she is.)

As I was looking at our pictures over the last few weeks, I found that we did do some fun things before everyone started getting sick. This summer we bought a kite for the Boy, but we never got around to using it. One day, while I was home sick in bed, Beki and Owen went out to the High School to fly the kite.

 We got the kite from Costco, so it is pretty hardcore.

 The Boy was very excited...

 Beki got it going first...so think about who that means was running the camera...he's got skills!

 Then it was the Boy's turn!

Run! The Dragon is going to get you!!!

 Not sure if this classifies as child abuse, but it was the boys idea. He told us that he was a puppy, and that his wrench was his bone, so I threw it...

 And he went and got it...

 And brought it back to me!

 He tried to have mommy throw it...she wasn't so sold on the idea.

 So the Boy helped her blow-dry her hair instead!

While I have been pretty cynical about our current financial situation and my lack of a job, we have been working very hard this month to focus on the things that we are thankful for, because there are a lot. To help us on our quest to be thankful, we built a Thankful Tree!

 We taped some construction paper together (Why isn't it brown you ask? Well, because the giant pack that we bought didn't have brown...go figure.) Then Beki drew a bare tree on it. (I know that I am the arts guy and my wife is the scientist, but she is a much better artist than I am.)

 However, I am AWESOME with the scissors!!

 Owen likes to cut too!!

 Our Thankful Tree doesn't look very Thankful at first...

 But each day we each write one thing that we are Thankful for on a leaf (Red for Owen, Orange for Beki, and Yellow for me) and stick it on the tree.

Here we are now...looking like a very thankful Thankful Tree!

Chris' Angry Rants - As mentioned above, I have quite a few that have been building up for some time. 

Rant #1 - Driving in DC

I am pretty sure that I have complained about this before, but driving here sucks SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO bad it will make your eyes bleed! I've been thinking about this for some time - I have a lot of time on my hands for thinking - and I have come to the realization that the driving problems out here aren't caused by lack of roads or too many cars. It is all about the people driving, and how they have no idea how on earth to drive. I am by no means a perfect driver, but I think that I do a very good job of getting from point A to point B. I pay attention to the things going on around me, get in the correct lane early, and don't do anything to distract my attention from the road. Most people here see their car as an extension of their office or home and they talk on the phone, read the paper, put on make-up, sleep, whatever while driving. And if it happens to rain, it just gets worse! (And it rains all the time here!) This is what it is like driving here:

Driving in the Rain:

Brake.....Brake...Braaaaaaaaaaaaaaake, Brake, Braaake...Brake...Brake, Brake, Brake...BRAKE

 Driving Downhill
Brake.....Brake...Braaaaaaaaaaaaaaake, Brake, Braaake...Brake...Brake, Brake, Brake...BRAKE


Driving UPHILL
Brake.....Brake...Braaaaaaaaaaaaaaake, Brake, Braaake...Brake...Brake, Brake, Brake...BRAKE


Driving in Traffic
Brake.....Brake...Braaaaaaaaaaaaaaake, Brake, Braaake...Brake...Brake, Brake, Brake...BRAKE


Driving out of Traffic
Brake.....Brake...Braaaaaaaaaaaaaaake, Brake, Braaake...Brake...Brake, Brake, Brake...BRAKE


Going through Green Lights:
Brake.....Brake...Braaaaaaaaaaaaaaake, Brake, Braaake...Brake...Brake, Brake, Brake...BRAKE
(Nothing pisses me off more than that one, the light is @#$%*&! Green!!!!!!!)


After Pulling out in Front of You:
Brake.....Brake...Braaaaaaaaaaaaaaake, Brake, Braaake...Brake...Brake, Brake, Brake...BRAKE


After Cutting you off without signaling:
Brake.....Brake...Braaaaaaaaaaaaaaake, Brake, Braaake...Brake...Brake, Brake, Brake...BRAKE


It sucks sooo bad!!

Rant #2 - The ER Waiting Room

So there we are, in the waiting room at the Emergency Room, and as I look around the room I can't help but thinking that it looked like we were in the waiting room at your local family doctor's office. To me, if you are in the ER, you had better be bleeding, violently vomiting, unable to walk, or missing a limb. Most of the people who were in there probably just needed a visit to the regular doctor, but most of them probably don't think about going for preventative medicine. And in case you think I am just being mean, Nurse Glenda totally agrees with me, and they frequently send people away telling them to go see a doctor. 

Rant #3 - The Walrus

I know that you aren't supposed to judge people, and that you should be nice to everyone, but the woman that shared the hospital room with Beki was a Walrus. 

First, she was the size of one - nothing wrong with being morbidly obese, but when your morbid obesity give you diabetes, which you then ignore until things get so bad that you develop sores all over your feet and body to the point that you have spent FIVE MONTHS in a hospital bed, I am not going to have a lot of sympathy for you. 

Second, she screamed, moaned, whimpered and whined all night. Again, I understand that your choices in life have given you a treatable disease that if left untreated can make your life miserable - but you have been in the hospital for FIVE MONTHS, at some point you need to accept the consequences and man up! The first night Beki got no sleep because the Walrus was yelling for the nurse all night. The second night the Nurse went down to the Maintenance Department and got her some earplugs.

Third, she expected everyone to do everything for her. This almost led me to walkover there and see if there was some vital system that I could unplug to do us all a favor. I had just helped Beki get up out of bed with her IV cart so that she could go to the bathroom. As she is walking to the bathroom, the Walrus starts barking about her lights over her bed and not being able to turn them off and NEEDING my wife to turn them off for her. Before I could get around the curtain and punch the Walrus in the face, my darling and much kinder and Christlike than I wife went over, dislodged the control from under the Walrus and turned off the lights. She couldn't even operate the TV control. It took Owen about 7 seconds to figure it out, and he's 4!

At some point don't hospitals send people home? I am sure that the government is paying for her to be there - which could lead me to a whole new rant: How is it that everyone else can get the state to help them, but when I just want someone to help me make things work until I can get my employer to actually let me work, everyone ignores me? Maybe I should register as a Democrat instead of an Independent...