Andi’s exciting life.

We are far from out of the woods, but we brought Adelaide home tonight. She improved significantly today and is now trying to stand on her own and very alert and responsive. All she needs now is supportive care and time to see if she continues to get better, so we are bringing her home at least for the weekend. We got home shortly ago, and she definitely seemed to recognize her surroundings. We had to keep her from trying to get up and walk because she is unsteady and falls over without support, but she definitely wanted to get up and around. She ate like a horse, probably both because she is hungry after what she has been through and because the steroids are increasing her appetite. We are hoping she will get good rest tonight and be even stronger tomorrow.

I expected it to be very sad to bring her home since she can’t walk, but it feels OK for now. She seems like herself, just sick, and I am optimistic that she will continue to improve. There are no guarantees that she will recover completely or for how long, but we’re taking it one step at a time and hoping for the best.

Sorry for my silence this week, but we have been facing a very serious and unexpected illness in our whippet, Adelaide. Sunday she had an episode of stumbling around for a few minutes in the evening but then recovered and seemed OK. It happened again the next morning, and we took her to her regular vet. They kept her for observation for the day and said she seemed normal but advised we see a specialist because of some abnormal blood work.

When we picked her up from their office Monday afternoon, she was walking but didn’t seem quite herself. By Tuesday morning, she could barely walk, and I had to carry her in to see the internist. They hospitalized her, and a spinal fluid analysis led to the diagnosis of steroid-responsive meningitis or granulometous meningioencephalomyelitis (GME). Wednesday morning, she had one seizure, which was an alarming sign of her condition worsening. She went on to have more seizures and had to be started on a constant infusion of valium by Wednesday afternoon.

She has now been on steroids for 24 hours, and her valium is being tapered off today. The hope is that she will respond to the steroid treatment, and we will see an improvement as she begins to wake up. There is concern that, even if she does improve on steroids, she has suffered brain damage and will not be herself again. The biggest worry is that she will not respond to treatment at all. Today is a day of waiting to hear from the doctor letting us know what happens when the sedative begins wearing off.

This is so painful and heartbreaking. She is only six years old, and this happened so fast that we barely had time to know something was wrong before she was hospitalized. I haven’t seen her since Tuesday morning, but I’m planning to go visit this afternoon while a friend watches Falco. He keeps calling Adelaide at home, and he can’t understand what is happening, which is probably for the best.

I will post an update here tonight or tomorrow when I get the next update.

Since Falco is too young to read, I think I can safely list here some of my ideas for his birthday and Christmas gifts. Can’t wait to start shopping!

Play kitchen that we don’t really have space for

Playdough that he can mash into the rug

Realistic, annoying firetruck

Adorable toddler bed that he may climb in and out of all night

Bean bag chair in a possibly less busy print than shown here

Tricycle on a stick, which will require…

A cute, little helmet

I have less than four months until his birthday, so I need to start clearing out all the baby junk to make room for some big boy toys!

Does anyone else have to explain to their kid that halved cherry tomatoes are for eating and not wearing? For the last two nights, he keeps holding them on his head and saying “hat” repeatedly. At least it’s almost bathtime.

It’s not like it’s news to me, but I was reminded today that Falco is crazy and demanding and exhausting. I love him. I love staying home with him. But seriously, can’t a mommy get a break? He must say “Mommy!” at least 300 times per day. (I actually did math to come up with that guess, which is about 30 times per waking hour, which is probably an underestimate.) Even if I am right there, he says “mommymommymommy” just as his idle rambling. If I leave the room, I can hear him yelling, “MOMMY!” when he’s not following me (all the while saying my name).

I love to hear him say Mommy, truly I do. It’s not that I want him to say it less; I just wish he could do without me for a few minutes here and there. Not only does he not want me to be out of his sight, he wants to “help” with whatever I’m doing. If I’m reading, he’s taking the book from me. If I’m on my laptop, he wants me to pick him up so he can see and type. If I’m sweeping, he’s trying to take the broom from me and intentionally walking through and scattering the dirt pile. If I’m cooking, he’s wedging himself between me and the counter pulling on my legs and whining for attention. This is why we’re never home. He’s bored and restless and drives me crazy in our house, but when we go out he is an angel most of the time.

Today was playgroup, which I was grateful for because he only napped about an hour and I was tired and out of ideas or energy for afternoon entertainment. Another friend was hosting, so we went to this little boy’s house. The regular crew was there, and it was obvious (as usual) that Falco was the busiest, loudest, most wild of the bunch. I used to think it was because he was a boy and most of his friends were girls, but now he has two quiet, demure boys in playgroup, which kills that theory. This particular boy whose house we went to is quiet, plays with one toy at a time, and doesn’t get into things like pens and TV buttons at toddler level. Falco of course dumped out all the toys he could find, tore apart the train tracks that were set up, pulled books off the shelf, and periodically let out shrill screams while doing it.

It’s not that he’s being bad exactly. I mean, he is playing with toys and not actually breaking anything or being unsafe. It’s just that he acts like a wild animal. Nonetheless, he’s MY wild animal, and I’m doing my best to live up to the high demands of being Falco’s Mommy. Good thing he’s so funny and cute.

So, when I create a new event in Google Calendar, it says “e.g. Breakfast at Tiffany’s” as an example of an event name. Almost every time I see this (which is a lot), I think of the stupid 90’s song by Deep Blue Something and then have it stuck in my head. Eventually I forget about it, until I have to add another event and repeat the whole process. THANKS, GOOGLE.

This reminds me that today at gymnastics class, they were playing a CD with kids singing pop songs, my most despised form of children’s music. Why does this exist? It’s horrible. Why wouldn’t they just play “Hey There, Delilah” or “Rich Girl” by the original artists? How can children singing these songs possibly be an improvement? A few minutes after ranting to my friend about the pain it was causing me to listen to that garbage, I overheard two other moms talking about how the music was great today. “Oh! I love this song!” WTF? Do they not notice that elementary school kids are butchering pop songs that are already played out (and probably no good to begin with)? I’m sure I would think it was adorable if it was some kind of school concert that Falco was performing in, but crap like that has no business being professionally recorded and played to the public.