Doc appt

Eleanor had her 15 month appt on Monday. She now weighs 19lb 13oz and is 30″ tall. So still a skinny-mini! We weren’t able to see her normal doc because of scheduling conflicts, and the doc we were supposed to see was delivering a baby, so we saw a pediatric nurse instead. I actually really liked her! It was a good appt.

Then Eleanor had to get shots. Apparently there’s still a nationwide shortage of HIB, and since she’s already had the first three and is no longer an infant she isn’t high priority for it anymore. So she just got Pc (meningitis). I was hoping that would mean she’d have little if any reaction, but no: she has been one cranky baby the last few days! Ugh. Today she was more her normal self, so hopefully tomorrow she’ll be completely back to normal. Someone had told me before that the reactions get worse with each shot, so I guess I should have expected her fourth Pc shot to be bad. She’s always reacted a bit to that one, though I never knew for sure if it was the Pc or HIB shot. Guess I do now!

Other than that, life’s going well. Enjoying the crazy warm weather here lately. It’s been over 20 days without rain, which in Seattle is unheard of in June. My grass isn’t happy about it, though. Our home improvement project still isn’t done since it seems like something keeps coming up every single weekend. My brother just graduated from high school (woo-hoo!), my SIL/BIL needed help moving, my MIL did something funky to her knee and can’t walk much so we’ve been down at her place helping out a bunch, etc. etc. It’s nice having things to do I suppose, and I like spending time with family, but I’m really hoping we can finish this project soon.

OK, time to watch Burn Notice!

Day with the family

We went down to see John’s mom today, and John and the other two kids (well, mid-20s adults), scattered Jim’s ashes finally.  The weather hadn’t been cooperating with a boat launch, but today was beautiful and calm.  The scattering went well.  The rest of us watched from the house, with a motley assortment of binoculars.  It was a little surreal for everyone, I think.  An important day, but not as sad as it would have been a month or so ago.  I hope it provided some closure for John’s mom and grandmother, and for the kids as well.   I have a feeling the tougher parts of this year will be the holidays.  Other than the scattering, it felt much like any other family gathering.  It’s odd how quickly life seems to become normal again, even if the normal isn’t what it was.

Eleanor warmed up to everyone right away this time, so her memory of people seems to be improving.  She hadn’t seen most of them in at least a month.  I keep hoping to hear a wedding and/or baby announcement every time I see them all, but I think it’ll be a while.  : )  We might just have to provide a playmate for Eleanor ourselves!

With all the budget cuts lately, my SIL the teacher may be losing her job.  Her husband is completing his master’s in teaching right now and would have gone on to teach next year, but it looks like he’s going to have to sub until the economy – and school budgets – improve.  My friend, also a new teacher, finds out next month if she loses her job.  I know all of these people will be ok financially should they lose their jobs (between subbing and/or their spouse’s jobs), but I worry about the other families who won’t.  This economy is just awful.  I hope it improves soon.  Fortunately it hasn’t hurt us yet, other than John’s work not giving out the usual cost-of-living and merit-based raises this year.  Tough to complain about a lack of a raise when you know people who are being laid off or having their pay cut.

And my last piece of news: Eleanor got her first head wound today.  : (  She fell down while walking toward a table and, you guessed it, bonked her face and gave herself a fat lip.  She even bled a little, though that stopped quickly.  We have her some ibuprofen to try to stem any swelling, and some soy ice cream ostensibly to get something cold on it.  (I tried an ice cube inside a towel, but she wouldn’t hold still for it.)  She loved the ice cream and calmed right down, haha!  I’ve been trying not to start a food as comfort habit, but I think this was a good exception.  She nursed well after that and took her pacifier to go to bed, so it must not be bugging her too much anymore.

Very sick father in-law

My FIL has been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer.  It’s inoperable and spread to a few vital organs already, putting him at stage IVb.

He was diagnosed on Tuesday and told he had maybe a year.  Everyone was shocked, obviously.  That’s how this cancer appears to be for almost everyone: swift and cruel.  We went down to see him and my MIL on Wednesday and other than being in pain and understandably more impatient than usual, he was his normal self.  It was a good visit.  On Friday they spoke to the oncologist who told them he probably only had a few months, which was more in line with what we had been reading.  It could even be weeks.

On Saturday we were supposed to go see him in the early afternoon but they had visitors left and right, so we postponed for a few hours.  My MIL ended up taking him to urgent care (after calling hospice) in the early evening, because he was acting very out of it and having vision problems.  They gave him half a bag of fluids and did a CT scan, where they found two lesions on his brain in the area that controls the optic nerve.  We’re pretty sure he had a stroke.  By the time we saw him he could barely remember who Eleanor, my SIL’s husband, or I were, had almost no memory of the last month or so, and he seemed to be under the impression that he was recovering from an illness.

This latest turn has been incredibly hard on the family.  Everyone expected him to be lucid for the duration, so in some ways it feels like we’ve already lost him.  Having to explain to him over and over why he’s in pain, and telling him that he just saw so-and-so yesterday, etc. has been heartbreaking.  On the other hand I have to believe that it’s easier for him, not knowing that he’s about to die.  He and my MIL had everything well-prepared, so it’s not like he needed to do any last minute things.  Maybe it’s better this way.

If you have a thought to spare send one to his family, especially his wife.  There’s nothing we can do for him now, except make him more comfortable and keep him as happy as possible.  That task is taking a huge toll on all of the family, but most especially his primary care-giver.  I don’t know how she does it.