I Sound Like a Man

Blah!

I considered having that be the entire post for today, but figured that a good long update of moaning and groaning is in order. We at the Goodman abode are all sick- some much more than others.

Sara has had occasional sneezes and a slightly runny nose in the mornings. Fortunately that seems to be the extent of her maladies at the time.

Emma also has a runny nose in the mornings, but her fluid leakage is accompanied with some kind of obviously painful illness that causes constant and intense whining and frequent temper tantrums.

Ross has had a little bit of congestion, some aches and pains (from overuse on our new treadmill- yay!), and a LOT of fatigue due to his new prescription.

Last but not least, after finally admitting that my intense abdominal pains since Saturday deserved some kind of treatment, I was told by the doctors that I have another kidney infection, 4 sizable ovarian cysts, and an early case of Strep throat. Good times! We laughed when the doctor told me that the best way to keep pressure off of the cysts was to avoid driving.

This is not the first time that we have all been down and out with our own forms of illness, but it is, however, the first time that we have all had to co-exist in a small vehicle for more than 2 hours a day every day! Suffice it to say that we are getting on each others nerves a lot. Emma especially seems to be annoyed by every little thing, and it is very hard to keep patience and cheerfulness in my demeanor as she kicks the seat and throws her shoes at my head. (The latter only happened once, and she was immediately confronted with my best patented Mommy-Means-Business scowl after pulling to the side of the road. She took one look at me, knew I wasn't joking around and quickly said sorry and pointed out an imaginary bird flying somewhere.)

To be honest though- things are getting much better. Emma was much better today than she has been, and she was greatly rewarded for her good behavior with a lot of praise and some treats. Hopefully this positive attention will promote some more good behavior tomorrow. Sara has been an angel. She isn't sleeping through the nights at all anymore, but she is always happy and cheerful, and aside from her using me as a chew toy, she has been very pleasant to have around. The antibiotics have knocked out most of the pain from the strep, and all that remains is a very raspy/mannish voice.

Ross is getting his blood tested at the VA hospital again on Friday, which means that he will hopefully be getting closer to the correct dosage of Dylantin. They started him high for obvious reasons, and are gradually lowering the amount until the level in his blood stream is as low as they can get it while still being effective. They are shooting for the level they had him at before they switched him to Keppra. He was pretty close last time, so hopefully Friday will be our last trip to that dungeon of a hospital for a while.

Ross is doing well. His allergies have been acting up, and he has been wiped out from the high dosage, but he really is doing well. Work is going good for him, and he said he has really enjoyed working out on our new treadmill in the mornings. He has taken all of this really well and has actually had to remind me to stay calm at times. Of course, we have both had our moments of despair (how can a salesman sell if he has no transportation?) but he has really shown his amazing faith, and I am certain that the Lord is blessing us for it.

Thank you for all of your concern and prayers. We have had more phone calls and well-wishers in the last couple of weeks than we have had in probably the past year. I am sure your faith and prayers have had no small part in the blessings we are enjoying at the moment. We really appreciate it!