Well today has been a bit hectic. At one point in time there were three two year olds, a three year old, a 4 year old, 5 year old and a 6 year old. Right now there are three 2 year olds, a three year old, 4 year old, 5 year old and two six year olds. Jona had choir practice at 9 this morning so I walked down with my kids plus two other little girls and they played while Jona sang for an hour. We came home around 10:30 and I got a phone call from my mom saying that she needed help snipping beans. So we loaded up the stroller and headed on over. We finished up at around 12 at which time two more kids joined the crew. We walked back home and fixed lunch then had a bit of quiet time watching the Wizard of Boz (as McKenna calls it). The two kids who came at twelve left at about 2:30 and I still have the two origonal ones from this morning plus a couple of neighbor kids who have come to play.
It may seem a bit crazy but honestly I have enjoyed most of it. It is so wonderful to not have pain shooting down my leg or my back. It was so strange yesterday to go up and down the stairs and to sit and scrapbook for a while without hurting. I hope that this shot is the answer and that it will last. I guess only time will tell. The Dr. says that this can sometimes be a permenant solution, sometime they can last up to two years and other times they don't take. Please let this one take! *g*
Well the cortizone shot is over and it went well considering that when we showed up at the hospital thier computers were down and they were three hours behind. I was scheduled for a 4:00 but didn't get called from the waiting room until about 5:30. They took me in swabbed down my back with an antiseptic soap and then gave me a local which, I swear went right into my nerve and made my whole leg jump. Thankfully that was the most painful part. First they shot some dye into my back to make sure they were putting the cortizone into the right area and then they put the shot in. I just lay there on the table practicing visualization. Imagining myself in the woods at a beautiful pond with small waterfalls all around, birds singing, a nice cool breeze on my face. Then I heard the Dr. say "I just need to get around this bone here" I wanted to tell him to just "Shut up. I don't want to know what you are doing back there" but I just tried visualizing even harder. It was about 45 minutes from when they took me into the room until they wheeled me out. Then I had to stay on the gurney for almost another 45 to make sure my legs were working properly. It was only supposed to be for 30 but the nurse forgot we were there, which was okay because it was just the right amount of time. I felt really good right after, no pain or anything but the Dr. said that would probably be the case until the local wore off and then he said that the cortizone usually takes up to 48 hours to work. This morning I feel pretty good. I have a slight headache on the left side of my head and my leg is a little tingley still but there is a big improvement already. Though my back is getting tired from sitting here.
While we were in the waiting room the local news came on and they reported a story of a young boy who had died because his parents had left him in a car in the heat. They said that they were in a rush to get to church and forgot about the boy. People in the waiting room were appalled and were commenting on how stupid the parents were. I don't understand how the two of them would not notice that the child wasn't with them and I too am appalled with the situation. That said I would like to voice an opinion on situations like this.
I am not comfortable with people going after the parents and saying how stupid they are. We weren't there and we aren't them. People ask themselves, and others, all the time, "How could you forget a child??" I know how because I am one of those who have forgotten a child in the car.
It was probably about 5 months after my third child was born and I needed to go to the grocery store. My husband agreed to watch the boys if I would take our little girl with me. There are only 17 months between my little girl and my baby so needless to say I was a very tired and worn mother. We had two cars at the time and I had switched McKenna's car seat so that it was behind the passenger seat instead of the driver's seat. I got to the grocery store and pulled into a stall so that I was facing out and I wouldn't have to back out of the stall. I think that McKenna had fallen asleep (and I hope and pray this is the case but I don't know and never will) on the way to the store because there was no sound from the back seat when I got out of the car and because she was on the passenger side I didn't catch a view of her out of the corner of my eye that might have made me stop and realize that she was there. I went into the store and was so intent on getting the shopping done that I honestly did not remember that I had brought McKenna with me and that she was still in the car. I got to the check out stand and the cashier knew me as a regular shopper and she said to me "What no kids today?" All of the sudden I realized what I had done. My heart jumped into my throat and I bolted out of the store to my car and there was McKenna sleeping soundly in the back seat. I unlocked the car and pulled open the car door, got her out of her seat and held her as tight as I could, trying hard not to cry. I went back into the store to pay for my groceries. I was lucky. It was a late Spring day, it was overcast and the sun was just about to go down so the car didn't get as hot as it could have. When I got back out to the car and went to put McKenna back in her seat I noticed a little piece of paper that someone had stuck in the window. It said "Don't leave your children in the car by themselves." I wanted to find that person and say "Why didn't you come into the store and have them announce over the speaker that there was a child in a car by itself?" or do something to find me? I try hard not to think of what might have happened. All the way home I was on the verge of a breakdown and when I told Ty what had happened I just lost it. He did his best to comfort me. About a year or two later I saw a Dateline about what happens to a child that is locked in a hot vehicle. I cried the whole way through. I live with the guilt and the shame that this was something that I did. It is not something that I can forget and each time a the news reports on a story where a child was left in a car I relive my experience again. I was blessed. I can't imagine how the parents who have lost a child in this way must feel. To have to live with the fact that you were the one who caused your child's death, unintentional though it may have been would still be too much for me to handle.
I know that here in Utah there were five children (3 siblings and two friends I believe) that died because they climbed into the trunk of a car playing hide and seek during the summer. The mother couldn't find them and drove around with them in the blazing heat for a while searching for them before she called the police. Can you even begin to imagine what that woman must have felt when the police discovered where the children were and that they were dead? I doubt it. So next time you see a story such as these, please try not to judge to harshly. Yes it is a stupid thing that was done but the parents are probably doing a better job of flaying themselves than anyone else ever could. And that is something I do know.
Well we had a nice time camping with Ty's family. We went to a place called Payson Lakes. Very nice campground and the lake was awsome. They had done improvements to it so that there were places to fish or get down to the lake every 30 feet or so. The kids spent most of the time throwing rocks. Okay, okay...so did I. I love to skip rocks, it's a curse. George though that throwing rocks was "going fishing". Jona and McKenna both were able to reel in a fish on Grandpa Scott's line. They thought that was pretty cool. I saw an Osprey (we think that's what it was) dive into the lake and catch a fish. That was cool. Then it flew over George and I and we could see the fish in it's talons. The kids loved spending time with Ty's mom and dad. They don't see them as often as they would like, even though his parents just live in the next town over. My leg and back held up okay while we were there although I had to take a half a pain killer in the morning and one in the evening usually.
I really love the mountains and we don't get up into them as much as I would like. We are hoping to go camping more next summer. We sat down and made a list of stuff for camping so that when we do decide to go we can just take the list out and cross things off so we know we have everything.
I also heard from the Dr. just before we left on Thursday. I go in for the cortizone shot in my back tomorrow at 4 p.m. The Dr. gave us a booklet on the procedure but now I can't find it. I need to look for it a bit more and if it doesn't turn up I'll have to have someone run over to the office and pick me up another one. Well off to search for the booklet.
