Sunday 24 February 2008

Rough Week

Corbin had an unusually rough week at school and home. Something about Lent sets him off and with his vocal tics at an all time high, communicating with Corbin is a challenge.

At one point we found out that he had gone on a food binge - eating all sorts of foods he shouldn't have. You can usually tell by the dark circle under his eyes. Corbin is allergic to dairy products and when he does eat cheese, the allergy manifests itself in his inability to control himself.

March break is in a couple of weeks so lets hope he can keep it together till then.

Posted by Adam

Saturday 23 February 2008

Grounded

Last night the boys were busted for playing in the laundry room - going in places they shouldn't have. I was upset and grounded them. I told them to put their pyjamas on and go to sleep. They were no happy.

The next morning the fun began. They ate breakfast separately and were told to stay in their room. Except for a typical meltdown by Corbin, they stayed in the room. Jeremy played with his leap pad and Corbin eventually got his Nintendo DS to play with (a reward for staying in his room and not bothering anyone). The boys even played some games together.

Around 3:30 pm they were freed from the confines of the bedroom, but TV and Playstation were off limits.

Hopefully the boys learnt a lesson.

Posted by Adam

Monday 18 February 2008

Family Day

I'm not sure how Dalton McGuinty and the Liberal party thought that a new statutory holiday in February was a good idea.

I love my kids, but I like Remembrance Day - kids at school, Tina and I not at work. You do the math.

We didn't have anything planned. And we didn't do much. Next year we may get away, but who knows.

Posted by Adam

Sunday 17 February 2008

Rain Is Not Good For Tobogganing

John & Cindy Pucher held their annual toboggan party at their house. Their backyard consists of a large hill - a handy thing to have in winter when you feel the need to catch some speed...and snow.

Corbin was having a horrible week and could barely keep it together this morning, so Jeremy and I headed down the 401 to Woodstock. It rained the whole way down. It was cool but sunny yesterday - perfect weather for sledding.

Yes, rain. Of all the days to rain. And Woodstock has received a ton of snow of this year. A week earlier about a foot of snow fell during a storm. Perfect base for an uncontrolled slide down a hill. The rain didn't let up once we arrived.

Brendan and Dianne and their three boys stopped boy, so between John & Cindy's two girls, Jeremy had lots of new kids to play with.

In lieu of tobogganing, we reminisced about the 'old' days and caught up on the past year or so. We had a great meal and watched the kids play and play and play.

When it was time to leave, Jeremy started to sob. He did not want to leave - he was tired - but you can tell he had a great time.

The trip back to Windsor was uneventful. It rained, heavy at times, between Woodstock and West Lorne. But it stopped, thankfully. Jeremy had enough of watching movies and fell asleep. We arrived back in Windsor just after 10:00 pm

Tina and Corbin had a good day. He came to grips with why he didn't get to go - a huge step forward for him.

Hopefully next year the weather will be better.

Posted by Adam

Saturday 16 February 2008

Get This House In Order

We spent most of the day cleaning and tidying up the house. Vacuuming. Dusting. Emptying dishwashers. Laundry. You name it, we did it.

Later in the afternoon, I gave the fish tank a good cleaning. Replaced all the algae covered plastic plants with new plastic plants and gave the glass and log a good scrubbing. Replaced the old heater with a new heater. Changed about one-third of the water. It was cloudy in the tank but that would disappear in a few days.

It was good to get the house nice and tidy.

Posted by Adam

Sunday 10 February 2008

Bitterly Cold Weekend

Saturday was a lazy day home. Tina and I did our chores and we each did some errands. The boys played with their toys in the crawl space and played some games on the Playstation.

Sunday was cold but sunny. We moped around the house and finally went our for a drive, ending up in Leamington for an early supper at Gilligans. The boys ate some of their supper - Corbin more than Jeremy. We headed back to Windsor via Highway 3 before settling in for the night.

Posted by Adam

Friday 8 February 2008

Our Time With Jeremy

I booked some time off to be with Jeremy and so that Tina could go to work. Originally, I did not book the Monday off, but when Jeremy went back to the hospital, I took it off to catch up on some chores and errands.

For the most part, Jeremy stayed in his room the first few days. By Wednesday, he was mobile and playing with toys in the living room. He was eating more food as well.

We did well while Tina was at work. Jeremy walked with me to school to get Corbin. He saw his JK teacher, Ms. Thompson, who was excited to see Jeremy and gave him a high-five.

I went back to work on Thursday - a crazy and busy day back. Tina did well with Jeremy. He was in much better spirits.

Today, it was Jeremy and me again. We played a few board games and he watched some more movies in the bedroom.

Jeremy is well on his way to a full recovery.

Posted by Adam

Sunday 3 February 2008

Back Home

Jeremy was discharged late in the morning. Corbin and I went over to the hospital to bring them back home. Jeremy was happy to be leaving the hospital.

At home, I set Jeremy up with the DVD player and let him rest on his bed. It was nice to have both Tina and Jeremy home. It was a very long four days.

Let's hope the rest of the recovery goes much smoother.

Posted by Adam

Saturday 2 February 2008

Day 2 at the Hospital

Both Jeremy and Tina slept for five hours last night - a huge breakthrough and a much needed rest. Tina told me in the morning that Jeremy was better was still experiencing some pain and discomfort.

Corbin and I went out for breakfast at the Maple Leaf before returning home to do some chores (laundry and lots of it). Later I took him to his appointment with the speech pathologist.


After that we headed over to the hospital to visit Jeremy. H
e did look better and was more alert.

Jeremy had some food for breakfast and lunch. He was so used to the nurses coming in to assess him, that he had his arm up ready for them to take a temperature, pulse and oxygen levels.


The doctor said one more night and then Jeremy will probably be on his way.

Posted by Adam

Friday 1 February 2008

Recovery Not Working Out So Well

While the surgery was successful, Jeremy's recovery took a detour.

He was unable to keep anything down, liquid or medicine. After the fourth or fifth vomitting, Tina and I decided to take Jeremy to ER and go from there. We got Corbin up and I drove to the ER at Windsor Regional Hospital around one in the morning. It was cold but had not started snowing yet. I dropped Tina and Jeremy off and returned home with Corbin.

In ER, they put an IV in Jeremy to administer fluids and gravol. Around 6 am, he was admitted into Paediatrics Inpatient.

It was a school day, so I got Corbin's lunch ready (I think that is first time I made lunch for the boys), and then his breakfast before walking him over to the school. Given the craziness over the past 24 hours, the morning went well.

I called Tina to see if she needed anything before I visited. It had started to snow during the night, so the roads were snow-covered. It took about 30 minutes to get to the hospital.
I brought Tina a few things she asked for.

Jeremy was not a happy camper. He was in pain and would cry every time he swallowed. Poor guy.


The doctor (really a couple of doctors and med students) on rounds stopped by to examine Jeremy and decide on a course of action. After having a med student check Jeremy, the doctors and students went outside to discuss our little guy.

The attending doctor said that for Jeremy to be discharged that the pain had to be controlled, that Jeremy was sufficiently hydrated and that Jeremy was able to drink and eat on his own. He noticed that Jeremy had a temperature and prescribed an antibiotic to be given via the IV.

Jeremy was given some liquid Tylenol for the pain. He started to drink a little while I was there. That was a good sign. Jeremy had good urine production, reducing the concern about dehydration.

I returned home to get Corbin from school and have some supper.

Posted by Adam