April 4

{Previous Post Here}
Today Carlos met his new Primary Care Physician. Since we changed insurance plans March 1st, we had to switch. I thought it was a good idea to establish him as a patient in case something comes up unrelated to his treatment. I also needed one person to receive all his records. For now the ENT has been getting them but down the road, his primary needs to have them too.

She was very thorough with him and discussed a lot of his medical history and current issues. She suggested he get some immunizations since he hasn’t had any since childhood. She specifically wants him to get the Pneumonia, DTaP, Tetanus, and Meningitis.

Carlos wanted to talk to his Oncologist first. Feels strange that he even has one of those to to call.

My thought…I feel like it wouldn’t be a good idea because if he had any reaction, it could delay starting treatment. The Dr. stated her concern about him having chemo and lowering his immunity and the risks of being exposed to something during this time. I defer to Carlos on this one, as it’s his decision and he needs to make the one that he will feel most comfortable with. We have had a child hospitalized twice due to vaccine reactions so we feel more anxious than others might. At this point, he is waiting for the call back from the oncologist.

Now for the fun stuff…
Some sweet friends brought us dinner tonight! They have been friends of my parents for years but became our friends when we connected over having children with disabilities. It’s like a tribe, you become family the moment you enter it. We are blessed to know them and thankful for their sacrificial blessing today, they drove from Northridge for the quick visit. The hands and feet of Jesus.

Here’s how today went.
7 – 8:30 am getting Stacey ready for school.
8:30 – 9 Help Robby get out the door and drive him to school with Stacey.
9- 9:30 Finish getting Stacey ready – change her pants again and force feed her breakfast. Get her on the bus and spend a few minutes chatting with her driver. I like to invest in the lives of those who invest her life. She has become a bright spot in my crazy days.
9:30 – 10 start some laundry, make a few phone calls, check in on my parents.
10-11 Make Carlos and I some eggs and get ready for Dr apt.
11:30 appointment
1:05 leave Dr office
1:10 missed Stacey’s bus. Thankfully Michelle happened to have stopped by the house from work at that exact moment to get her and wait a few more minutes for us to get home.
1:30 – 3:30 get Stacey settled home, change her, give her a snack, and another snack and another. Chase her out of the fridge 39275924 times so she doesn’t sneak food she’s not allowed to eat. Put her shoes back on. Change her out of the shirt she ripped. Change her out of the pants she leaked in. Put her shoes back on one more time. Switch laundry loads. Handle a significant issue with the website for our non profit. (For more about our daughter Stacey, find her on FB at High Fives for Stacey
3:45- 4:15 Pick up Robby from school
4:14 – 5ish  Start preparing a big batch of Stacey’s food for the next several days. Visit with our friends who brought us dinner
5:30-6:30 Enjoy the feast they brought. Send the kids off to church. Answer some emails regarding our insurance. Freak out that two of our kids actually did lose their insurance and I will have to appeal and deal with that nightmare asap.
6:30 – 7:30 Clean kitchen. Finally finish prepping the big batch of Stacey’s food and freezing some portions.
7:30 – 8:30  Stare at the pile of laundry I had stacked on the sofa that Stacey pushed onto the floor so she could sit there. Shake head and walk away. Opt to start writing this update instead of folding laundry.  Contemplate pulling my Cricut out to make the decal my daughter asked for but decide that laundry should get done first so I do neither.
8:30-9ish Get Stacey into bed which includes remaking the bed. Unload a few cases of diapers that were delivered a few days ago.
9:30 Grab my leftover Coldstone ice cream and sit down to finish this.
10ish Kids get home and here we are.

I actually chose to write that out because I feel awkward having people bring us dinner. As I reflected on my day I realized that sure, I could have made something, but it was SO nice to get a break from one more thing to do. Especially on appointment days and on Wednesdays because the older kids work full time and Robby is at school until 4 and then they all had to head out to church where one works and the other attends youth group so they aren’t around to even enlist to help. So I’m grateful even if it makes me uncomfortable.