Reaching for the Stars!

Thank you everyone for your comments, suggestions and support for my last post. Poor DJ. I was so concerned about his condition that I could not think outside of the box. But thanks to all my wonderful bloggy-friends, I have ideas on how to help DJ.


I read over the material that the specialist gave us when DJ was diagnosed with encopresis caused by chronic constipation. We are still awaiting results from his stool samples in order to determine if his daily dose of penicillin is causing the constipation issue, or if it is caused by DJ's special placement of his "plumbing system", or if it is caused by scar tissue from his previous intestine surgery.


Taking my cues from the handout we got from the specialist and all of your wonderful suggestions we came up with three new ways for DJ to achieve the stars and points needed to get his own camera:

1. Take his new medicine without complaint - this is a big one since it is like drinking salt water!


2. Log/inform Mommy or Daddy of a BM (accident or successfully done in toilet) AND always try the potty when Mommy or Daddy ask - this is because the doctor wants him to try regularly and for us to fill in a chart with all the details, so his help is appreciated.


3. Make an attempt to make it to the toilet, or at least tell us of an accident and not hide it - this is key to the charts we have to fill out and the hiding or ignoring the accident is a big thing with DJ.

They are all still toilet-related, but we think they all are achievable. With the old chart he was at least 12 days away from getting enough points for a camera...now, he could easily get it in 3 or 4 days.

Thank you everyone. I so appreciate your support.

When you look at DJ, you would never think that he is so medically special and that his insides are so very unique. And there are times when I forget that he has a serious, often life-threatening syndrome. I never stop thinking of the other families I have "met" who are dealing with tragic, sad and painful medical issues related to heterotaxy. We are lucky. DJ is lucky...let's hope he stays lucky and this issue passes....pun intended!!!

So now, I am looking for high fiber kid-tested recipes. I have already started to add psyllium and ground flex seed. Any suggestions would be appreciated!

DJ is on PEG 3350 till September and at that time we will re-do all the tests and decide if further intervention or tests may be needed.

Thanks everyone for your wonderful support.

Crappy Incentive Program

Many of you may recall a wonderfully crappy day I had a few weeks ago. Well, DJ's crappy days kept coming...and we were all getting a bit frustrated.

So, we started an incentive program. Both Anderson and DJ have become camera obsessed. When they saw a kid's digital camera at the toy store, well, we ALL knew a star chart incentive program would be perfect.


The rules were simple: no more accidents. Each day they did not have a potty accident they would get a star. Five stars equals a point, five points equals a brand new, only for you, digital camera.


The boys were psyched about getting a kid friendly camera of their own.


Mommy was psyched about less laundry and less frustration.


Anderson, our 3 year old was, well, he was stellar! Tomorrow he gets to pick out his very own camera.


DJ, well, not so good.


He kept having poop accidents.


I started to keep track of when, how and why he would soil his underwear. I tried to follow all the potty training and toilet learning books. Being as supportive as I could be...but soon I found myself getting frustrated.

At first we thought it was DJ rebelling since Anderson started to use the potty. Then we thought maybe it was to get attention. Then we thought it was normal 4 year old behaviour. Then we thought it was more than that. Given DJ's medical condition we slowly came to terms with the fact that perhaps his accidents were really accidents.

With DJ's condition, malrotation of the intestines is very common. When he was 10 days old he had the ladds procedure done to correct this issue and he also had a shunt put in to bypass a sizable section of his small intestines at the duodenum. I started to worry about another twist in his intestines or a blockage. I also remembered that the surgeon commented that scar tissue could develop and cause future problems.

Off to the doctor's office we go. She sent us for a series of x-rays to determine if DJ was constipated.


Long story short - yep - it is medical. We are waiting for the 3 stool samples to be analyzed (ya...that was fun! NOT!) so that we can determine if his bowel and intestines are working properly and/or if the daily penicillin is causing the constipation. What we know right now is that he has a fairly serious back-up and the little poop accidents were caused be involuntary releases.

Poor guy.

I could write a million posts about the guilt I feel in terms of DJ having this syndrome...and all the fears I have that he will require medical attention throughout his life. I could write a million posts on how lucky DJ is to not have major complications due to his isomerism and polysplenia. When you list all the abnormalities and defects his major organs have, you would not expect DJ to be as perfectly imperfect as he is.

What a crappy thing for a little guy to go through.

All I can think about are the times when I lost my cool and vocalized my frustration of him having repeat accidents. Crap. I was not always a good mom - I was embarrassed, frustrated and impatient with DJ at times - especially those times when he would have an accident just as the school bus was turning onto our street or when we were out in public and especially when moments after I asked him to try to go potty, he would have an accident. I feel bad that I accused him of not "listening to his body" and I feel doubly bad that I did not believe him when he said " I did listen but my body did not tell me in time". I feel like crap.

And now, on top of it all, Anderson has achieved his 5th point...he is entitled to a digital camera. DJ has not, he is still at least 11 days away...if he does not have any more accidents...or so the incentive chart rules say.

Do I allow DJ to just get a camera? What does that tell him? What does that tell Anderson? Should I stick to the rules and continue to count DJ's clean days for stars? He is now on medication to help, we have been warned, day three may bring lots of runny, icky accidents. How do I prepare him for that? How do I take that into consideration when awarding stars and points?

CRAP! Why did I ever introduce this crappy incentive program. What should I do?

As I am typing this DJ just came to chat. He told me how Anderson gets a camera tomorrow and that he does not have enough points, but he will soon. I almost burst out into tears.

The accidents were not (all) his fault...but the guilt I am feeling sure is my own fault. CRAP.

Wordless Wednesday - WET!

A little nervous at first...

Now we cannot stop him!

Anderson LOVES jumping off the diving board!

Was Sigmund Feud non-partisan?

As I have mentioned in previous posts, I have a GREAT job - I love it!

I work for the Canadian Federal Government in the Communications Office/Media Centre of the Privy Council Office. (Click HERE if you want more information on my department.)

Basically I review the overnight news - print, TV, and radio - and help create a non-partisan summary reports. The main audience for my early morning report is the Prime Minister of Canada and his staff.

Did I mention the PCO needs to be very non-partisan.

Non-partisan.

Yep. Non-partisan.

I am having some trouble being non-partisan.

Recently the main opposition party in Canada released a new environmental platform. It has been all over the Canadian media. As you can imagine much of my work is currently related to the media coverage of this new platform. It has been named "The Green Shift".

In all my reports and clippings I keep typing "The Green Shit"...not good.

Not good at all.

I am pretty sure this is considered to be a Freudian slip of epic proportions!

Non-partisan. Nope. Not me. Not today. Not on this Green Shit. Nope.


PS - This is not meant to be a political post. I am TOTALLY for solid environmental platforms with realistic and obtainable objectives. I am doing my personal best to reduce my carbon footprint...I just cannot type!

Sunday Scrappin' and Yummy Radishes!

Click HERE for more Sunday Scrappin' entries. This is a great site to get ideas and inspiration for all your scrapbooking and paper crafts. Check it out!

This week's challenge was to use an animal print or animal photos in a layout. Well, I did both! And the actual layout I used is also a Ta-da that others may want to try if they have too many photos for a 2 page spread, but not enough for a 3 page spread.

Here are the layouts I did for our trip to Windsor last June. To accommodate the fact that this trip included a variety of pit stops and the fact that I had too many photos for 2 pages, but not enough for 3 pages I did a 1/4 flip page. This is very easy to do. I cut a album page to the size I wanted and scored the one side and used double-sided tape to secure it to the main page of my layout.

On the front of the demi-page I used photos taken during the first leg of the trip and acts as a title page. When the flap is closed you can see only half of the layout about our pit stop to African Lion Safari. And when you open the flap, the short side has photos and journal space about our pit stop in Burlington. This format allowed me to divide the layout into 3 sections and use all the photos I had chosen.

If you look closely, you will see that the letters of GO WILD! are actually an animal print and the thin strips on the main page also are an animal print used to compliment the lettering and the photos we took at this unique zoo in south-western Ontario.

I am pleased with this multi-page layout, unfortunately, the photos do not do it justice.

Demi-flap is closed and you see a one-page spread. One side about our long car drive and the other side about the zoo we visited.

Here, the demi-flap is opened and you can see a demi-page about our pit stop in Burlington. I will add journalling in the red box. On the opposite page there are a few photos about our trip to the African Lion Safari. I will journal in the beige box.

Totally unrelated to scrapbooking - well, unless you count that I will probably scrapbook this event in the future!

For the first time ever we planted a veggie garden. Well, I have done most of the work, but the boys did help planting some of the seeds and they have been thrilled watching the seeds start to grow and bloom.

We planted a veggie garden that included swiss chard, spinach, 4 types of beans, 3 types of tomatoes, peas, carrots, onions, squash, zucchini and radishes.

Well, today we did our first harvest! The boys are so proud! I just had to share the photos!





Have a great week! Thanks for looking in on the Fringe!

Yes....but...

WOW. What a great comments from my last post. I really appreciate all your kind words. I am very proud of what I did back then to get control of my life.

I left a very unstable, abusive relationship and started a journey of self-discovery. I took my life and my happiness into my own hands.

I wanted to follow up that post with a post on how I met my hubby. I met David only 4 days after I purchased Joey! But, then I realized I already told that story in THIS POST. (Boy, I love that story - once again it demonstrates what can happen when you follow your heart, and take matters into your own hands).

So, what could qualify to follow those two milestone posts? Well, how about the day I actually, totally, completely, realized the extent of my transformation and the day that my hubby-to-be demonstrated an amazing amount of support, love, and a bit of his realistic way of thinking. (BTW, all characteristics that I love about him!)

Did I mention that between the time I left Mark and the time that I met David I had joined Weight Watchers. In just over a year I lost 78 pounds. I had regained my confidence. I had shed my old, heavy, dead skin of sadness and replaced it with a body full of energy, happiness and excitement.

David is a runner. He is one of those weird people who enjoy strapping up his running shoes and hitting the trail.

Shortly after we met I joined a Running Room program. Slowly, I started to like running. Especially with David.

I decided to participate in the National Capital Race Weekend. This is an AMAZING weekend here in Ottawa. I signed up for the 5K run.

I trained. And trained.

You would have thought I was going to run back to back marathons.

My goal was to run the 5K in less than 30 minutes.

The day of the race came.

I was nervous.

David and I sat silently in the car as we drove to the race location in the heart of Ottawa.

Just as we reached the main street David glanced over at me. He did not see a confident, excited, pumped-up racer. Instead he saw fear and lots of tears.

He pulled over. Took my hand and squeezed it. Then he quietly said, " You do not have to do this. It is just a silly little run. "

I turned and looked at him. And then I began to sob uncontrollably.

David, it is not just a silly race. It is not about the race. It is about finally being happy. It is about taking control of your life. Rediscovering who you are and what you want out of life. It is about loosing weight, feeling good about yourself and taking care of yourself. It is about taking chances. It is about being optimistic. It is about meeting the man of your dreams. About planning your wedding and knowing that this is the man you want to be with for the rest of your life. It is about unconditional love. It is about knowing that one day you will be a wife and a mother. It is about life. It is about battling to get control. Finding that control. Finding yourself. It is a lot of things. A lot of things I never dreamed I would have in my life. A lot of things I never thought I deserved...but now know I have always deserved them...and knowing that I have them all now. With you. With us.

David hugged me tight, then pulled away, wiped my tears, and placed both hands on my shoulders, looked me straight in the eyes and calmed me down.

Yes Laura. It is about all of that. And you need to be very proud of all that. But, in the end, if you laid a rope from the start to the finish, it is just 5KM. I love you very much, and you can do this. This is just 5KM. You can do it. I love you more than anything. You have trained. You can do this, my Love. You can do this.

I ran the race that day.

It was a race of emotion and adrenalin. I remember the pride in David's voice as I ran past him. He was cheering me on and snapping photos.

The race was the pinnacle of my transformation. It represented so much to me. Yes, it was all those things I described - maybe even more, but in the end, it was just 5K and I did it in 26:50! A personal best by almost 4 minutes!!

As a side bar, I have decided to recapture that great feeling of accomplishment. After 3 babies in 38 months, my body is out of shape. So, I have decided today, to set a goal. I have decided that next May I will run in the National Capital Race Weekend. Maybe even the 10K - you know, since my life is at least twice as great as it was when I ran the 5K!

Comments

Thank you to my wonderful readers for letting me know that my comment link is not working...I always LOVE hearing your comments on my posts...please feel free to email me or leave comments on this post...sorry, I am not sure what is wrong!