Alright, I'm going to buckle down and get more consistent on this blog.
Summer vacation is over today and it's back to work tomorrow (I work in the school system). Ali has been back to classes at the local community college for 2 weeks already and has made the decision to go back to her original college next semester. Her dad isn't pleased because he feels that she has unresolved issues that made her turn to anorexia. I know what the college can offer her in the way of a teaching degree and I feel that this college has the best options. She'll come out with more degrees and be more marketable. In order to get back into this college, she has to meet with an admissions counselor so I guess I'll be taking a day off from work in the next couple of weeks to take her.
Sam left for London last week for a semester of studying abroad. I am forever grateful for Skype and a webcam! She was homesick to the point of crying on the phone one night at 3 am, but really seems to love it there. Today was the first day of classes and I can't wait to talk to her.
My summer vacation consisted of sleeping late and catching up on my reading. I was hospitalized in early June with severe anemia and needed 4 pints of blood. Needless to say, it took a while to stop feeling exhausted all the time.
Monday, September 7, 2009
Friday, March 13, 2009
Big Changes
Big changes have happened!!! A started attending classes at the local community college and a normal life began again - she started eating and talking and wondering why she stopped eating. At this point, she's gained about 25 pounds and is happy and her personality it back!!
BTW, just so A didn't get alllll the attention lol - S complained that her arm ached back in October about two weeks after A came home. She didn't notice how bad it hurt until she had a flu shot and her OTHER arm hurt worse. So I told her to go to the wellness center on campus if it continued to hurt in a couple of days. A few days later, she called me from the wellness center to tell me that she was heading by ambulance to the ER to rule out a blood clot. She said we didn't have to make the hour drive because she would be back on campus soon. Three hours later (no cell reception in the ER) she called to tell me that she did indeed have a blood clot. Off we drive to the hospital to watch her learn how to give herself heparin shots in the stomach for 5 days. She was on blood thinner for 3 months and genetic testing done in the ER and then repeated last month shows that she has prothrombian gene mutation. No birth control with estrogen ever, frequent walking around on long trips, and special consideration when she becomes pregnant in the future. What a bummer!!
BTW, just so A didn't get alllll the attention lol - S complained that her arm ached back in October about two weeks after A came home. She didn't notice how bad it hurt until she had a flu shot and her OTHER arm hurt worse. So I told her to go to the wellness center on campus if it continued to hurt in a couple of days. A few days later, she called me from the wellness center to tell me that she was heading by ambulance to the ER to rule out a blood clot. She said we didn't have to make the hour drive because she would be back on campus soon. Three hours later (no cell reception in the ER) she called to tell me that she did indeed have a blood clot. Off we drive to the hospital to watch her learn how to give herself heparin shots in the stomach for 5 days. She was on blood thinner for 3 months and genetic testing done in the ER and then repeated last month shows that she has prothrombian gene mutation. No birth control with estrogen ever, frequent walking around on long trips, and special consideration when she becomes pregnant in the future. What a bummer!!
Sunday, January 4, 2009
Wow, what a difference 4 months make
I wish I could say that everything turned out fine.....I REALLY wish I could say that!!!!
A moved back home October 1st and dropped out of college. She had what amounted to an emotional breakdown and we had to allow her to move back home. She had dropped 30 pounds at that point. She was fortunate to find a job as a paraprofessional at the primary school and things seemed to be ok for a few weeks. She was going to get weighed at the doctor's office every two weeks. The week after Thanksgiving, she dropped another 5 pounds after holding steady for weeks. The doctor pushed for a "partial hospitalization" program, but our health insurance doesn't cover it (according to the program). A started counseling about the second week of December and the counselor happens to be the parent of a child that A taught in dance the year before. The counselor was so concerned with her appearance that she called the pediatrician and wanted her hospitalized. Since our insurance didn't cover the program, the doctor said that we could take her to the psych ward and be admitted to the eating disorders clinic by that way. After dropping another 3 pounds, A became hysterical with the doctor - mind you, it was the week before Christmas and she would have been hospitalized and away from home. The doctor agreed to let her come home if she had blood work done first and everything was ok - thankfully, it was.
More later, at this point, I'm spent.
A moved back home October 1st and dropped out of college. She had what amounted to an emotional breakdown and we had to allow her to move back home. She had dropped 30 pounds at that point. She was fortunate to find a job as a paraprofessional at the primary school and things seemed to be ok for a few weeks. She was going to get weighed at the doctor's office every two weeks. The week after Thanksgiving, she dropped another 5 pounds after holding steady for weeks. The doctor pushed for a "partial hospitalization" program, but our health insurance doesn't cover it (according to the program). A started counseling about the second week of December and the counselor happens to be the parent of a child that A taught in dance the year before. The counselor was so concerned with her appearance that she called the pediatrician and wanted her hospitalized. Since our insurance didn't cover the program, the doctor said that we could take her to the psych ward and be admitted to the eating disorders clinic by that way. After dropping another 3 pounds, A became hysterical with the doctor - mind you, it was the week before Christmas and she would have been hospitalized and away from home. The doctor agreed to let her come home if she had blood work done first and everything was ok - thankfully, it was.
More later, at this point, I'm spent.
Wednesday, September 3, 2008
So I'm not very good at this, am I?????
We dropped A off at college on August 22nd. I love the way freshman are treated on moving in day - seriously, I mean it!! We parked in the parking lot and sent A to get a new ID card because she lost the one she got at orientation already (love the ADHD girl!!). Then she filled out paperwork that I didn't have to sign because she's 18 - yeah!! Then ROTC people took a little golf cart with a trailer on the back to our van and unloaded all her stuff and moved it into her 2nd floor dorm room. We picked up her books at the bookstore, sent dad and sister to radio shack to pick up a computer cord and some batteries, and then sat around and watched her unpack. I was ready to leave when the roomate moved in with 4 people in her family and A looked at me and said "don't go". So we waited a little while longer. There were tears in her eyes and mine when we said good-bye. As DH and S and I walked to the parking lot, S asked if I was all right and I told her I couldn't talk about it. I rushed back to the van, unlocked the door, and sobbed loudly. I felt so bad leaving her there, I knew she was upset too, but in order to get anywhere in life, you have to make sacrifices and move outside your comfort zone and experience life. More later.....
We dropped A off at college on August 22nd. I love the way freshman are treated on moving in day - seriously, I mean it!! We parked in the parking lot and sent A to get a new ID card because she lost the one she got at orientation already (love the ADHD girl!!). Then she filled out paperwork that I didn't have to sign because she's 18 - yeah!! Then ROTC people took a little golf cart with a trailer on the back to our van and unloaded all her stuff and moved it into her 2nd floor dorm room. We picked up her books at the bookstore, sent dad and sister to radio shack to pick up a computer cord and some batteries, and then sat around and watched her unpack. I was ready to leave when the roomate moved in with 4 people in her family and A looked at me and said "don't go". So we waited a little while longer. There were tears in her eyes and mine when we said good-bye. As DH and S and I walked to the parking lot, S asked if I was all right and I told her I couldn't talk about it. I rushed back to the van, unlocked the door, and sobbed loudly. I felt so bad leaving her there, I knew she was upset too, but in order to get anywhere in life, you have to make sacrifices and move outside your comfort zone and experience life. More later.....
Sunday, July 20, 2008
Rambling
So, graduation parties continue this weekend and Ali is running on empty. She came home last night close to tears because parents and other kids at graduation parties keep saying "aren't you excited about college?".....and her true answer is no. She doesn't want to tell people that she needs her mom every day. I tried to explain to her that we have unlimited texting and I'm available at any time and she is free to come home every weekend for as long as she wants, but it's not the same as having mom wake you up every morning and my at the end of the day to tell all the high school gossip to.
So my fears......
1. She's gone on a health kick and she told her sister (who then told me) that she's lost 10 pounds in a month. I know that anorexics feel that life is so out of control and food is something that can be controlled. She does love her boobs so she did say to Sam that she doesn't want to lose more weight because her boobs would shrink - I know, too much information!! BTW, she's not anorexic, but she does have obsessive compulsive disorder which she chose to stop medication for a couple years ago.
2. She will hate college so much that she won't make it through the first semester. I'm hoping that she can make it through the first year and then, if she wants, she can transfer to a college closer to home.
3. She will make both of us such emotional wrecks over the next 5 weeks that we can't enjoy the summer.
Oh vay - I'm done for now. The girls are out getting manicures right now. Sam can't wait to get back to college to hang with her friends and have her independence again - thankfully!!
So my fears......
1. She's gone on a health kick and she told her sister (who then told me) that she's lost 10 pounds in a month. I know that anorexics feel that life is so out of control and food is something that can be controlled. She does love her boobs so she did say to Sam that she doesn't want to lose more weight because her boobs would shrink - I know, too much information!! BTW, she's not anorexic, but she does have obsessive compulsive disorder which she chose to stop medication for a couple years ago.
2. She will hate college so much that she won't make it through the first semester. I'm hoping that she can make it through the first year and then, if she wants, she can transfer to a college closer to home.
3. She will make both of us such emotional wrecks over the next 5 weeks that we can't enjoy the summer.
Oh vay - I'm done for now. The girls are out getting manicures right now. Sam can't wait to get back to college to hang with her friends and have her independence again - thankfully!!
Saturday, July 19, 2008
My reason for blogging
After blog reading for several years, I've decided to try my hand at blogging. I'm sending both of my daughters off to college at the end of August/beginning of September and for the first time in 19 years, I'll have an empty nest.
It was hard to send my older daughter, Sam, off to college last year, but at least I still had Ali at home for her senior year of high school. It has truly broken my heart this year to attend the last band concert, chorus concert, dance recital, honor society ceremony, and graduation.
It was hard to send my older daughter, Sam, off to college last year, but at least I still had Ali at home for her senior year of high school. It has truly broken my heart this year to attend the last band concert, chorus concert, dance recital, honor society ceremony, and graduation.
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