Ellis had another blip on Wednesday that scared all of us: loss of appetite, full belly from constipation, and general unease. I readied myself for another ER trip. I told Chris and we just stared at each other…if our eyes could talk. So much is discussed (disbelief, shock, exhaustion, resignation, humor in the sense of here we go again), in those silent seconds. The house becomes unusually quiet with uncertainty but we all try to have a normal life too. It feels like a big improv act!
With medication, rest, and a long nap, her condition improved. We had already bought tickets to our annual outing to Glowfari at Oaklamd Zoo, which we thought we couldn’t make. Yet Ellis got better in time and we enjoyed a night out. When you see from the outside, everything looks fine. But the day to day of micromanaging her condition is a sensitive task of many many decisions and panic. I don’t take the good days for granted. We were 4 happy campers in the car last night!
Elliot has matured a lot through the years too. When we left for the ER last Friday night, he hugged Ellis and told her, “hurry back home. I’ll send you some memes in case you get bored.” In the past, he’d just cry following me around while I got ready and wave at us through the window in tears when he’d see my car leaving the garage. Now he asks if I need help packing the hospital bag and ask which of her beloved blankies she’ll need to take with her to the hospital: is it the star one or the bears?
Today her doctor changed her medication, one she’s been on since birth. And I learned a new trick: when she doesn’t look well, stop 2 of her daily medications. All these tweaks! It’s amazing how they all work together.
Praising God for a good week even though we had the blip. Praising God my mom is back home from the hospital and recovering after getting an emergency surgery for a pacemaker. Praising God my dad is healthy to take care of my mom. Ummm, I’m ready for Thanksgiving break.
13 responses to “Midweek paranoia but we still made it to the annual Oakland Zoo’s Glowfari”
I can feel your stress Esther and the weight of the ‘blips’ but also the relief on the good days, like the magic of the Glowfari at the Oakland zoo!
I know you understand what it’s like to have medical stress! You keep smiling and doing yout thing but the heavy weight of it still persists in the back of your mind.
Glowfari was a great experience for all of us…Kids love it. We try to go every year and I remember the first time we went and ellis was in a stroller.
I’m glad you were able to attend the Glowfari. I’ve never heard of it, and it certainly seems a cut above some of the usual holiday light displays. I’ll bet it was fun!
Thank u! It’s not a holiday lights thing although all the lights during the holidays give it that feel. The lanterns have themes for different parts of the zoo. The upper area was sea life: you take a gondola up to that area. The lower areas had a bug theme and the main part was the city of Oakland remimagined with wildlife. Last year’s theme in the main area was Egypt.
You’ve been through a lot this week! I’m so glad the family was able to go on the planned outing. The kids looked like they were having a lot of fun!
Tell me about it! One day it’s good and I forget the bad days and vice versa. The medicine tweak should help. She’ll be getting therapy again to help with the growing pains and medical stress…we stopped in August cause her psychologist moved hospitals.
It was fun for all of us! Thankfully, it didn’t rain and the evening was mildly cold.
Sorry you had to endure the little blip, but I’m glad Ellis recovered in time so you could enjoy a much-needed holiday break. That’s interesting as to the tweak in the meds after all this time – well, it pays to experiment to find the perfect “fix” so hopefully this one works 100% for you. You, Esther, must be Super Mom to notice even the most-minute detail to keep everything humming. This looks like fun and I think I remember you going in the past to this event.
Yes, we were relieved she got better just in time. It’s crazy how it goes up and down so quickly, and my nerves get shot. Thr medicine tweaking occurs when something goes wrong and that seems to do the trick. Hoping this tweak works out.
Thanks for the encouragement of being a Super Mom…I dont feel like it except Emmy hyper vigilance pays off. More Iike paranoia. But I appreciate the empowering comment.
We try to visit every year, and they change the theme for the lanterns. Lots of fun to see the pretty lights and wander around the zoo at night. We’re all night owls, so it’s a perfect outing for us.
Well a lot of guesswork is involved sometimes and if not, you’re going with your gut, not wanting to be an alarmist, so yes, it is tough. Hopefully the medicine tweaks will help – fingers crossed for that. I thought I remembered you being there in the past. It looked like it was a fun event. We have “Wild Nights” at the Detroit Zoo, but it is nowhere near me but I’ve seen videos of it on YouTube, a whole walk-thru of the event, so it does look fun and the money raised goes to support animal conservation.
Hopefully! She will need bloodwork after a week of taking the new medicine. First week of December will be busy for us with appointments.
“Wild Nights” sounds like a blast. Something about being at the zoo at night is fun with all that open space and nature all around.
Good, get those appointments out of the way, so you can enjoy the flavor of the holiday season, some R&R too. “Wild Nights” does sound fun – mix and mingle with the wildlife. We have a new baby giraffe born yesterday – no name yet. I guess that is rare, which surprised me. I remember the camera in April the Giraffe’s pen years ago and following that saga of her pregnancy, birth of the baby and then watching them. Millions of people were in tune with that event.
I can’t wait to get them out of the way! This is a lazy week for us.
The births of new animals in zoos is always a fun surprise. A baby giraffe! Oh, gotta be so cute. I’m not sure which zoo just had baby Capybaras. I wonder when baby animals get to be seen by the public and how that decision is made by the zookeepers.
Yes, that is good … you need R&R. I had to Google “Capybaras” as I didn’t know that animal. I know they are keeping the mama and baby giraffe tucked away until it’s a little older. I think so, as they had an animal handler on the news saying they will have privacy for now to bond.