movin on...Oh my goodness......

Good morning! Big shout out to Dr. G, BP Grandmom, Grandpop, Big Sis, Scooby, Saint, and Betty for keeping the Easter brunch tradition alive without me. Dr. G picked up the hosting duties when I figured out that I would be booked for the weekend....which I was.....

OK, where was I? Ah yes....bed....I had a few hours of sleep while our hero was in the hospital being tested for....Myasthenia Gravis......That's right...a chronic neuromuscular disorder, which can be debilitating if not cared for properly.

Lots of crazy thoughts were going through my head....like...why? Why this guy? Hasn't he suffered enough?

No? OK.....

Can't he ever have a break?

No? OK....

When can he live a normal life?

Never? OK.....

Back to the city but first, I had to do my BP mom stuff.....like....buy everything that he liked to eat...grab socks, robe, pajama pants.....big chocolate Easter bunny.....reeses peanut butter eggs....My car was full and I wondered how I was going to get everything into his room since I had to park far away and pay $$$$ for a holiday parking space....

Somehow I managed to get everything in as I carried it like I was a mule...on the sides...back....in my pockets....then I get a text...

Can you bring me a hot chocolate?

Sure, let me drop my cargo off first.....

Finally, I got to the room and unloaded the goods. He was sitting in the chair looking pretty sick. I had the chance to meet his excellent nurse and we chatted. Exhausted, I put him back to bed and got caught up on his progress. He had a CAT scan and MRI and blood work. The results are conclusive....it's not a virus.....not ALS, not MS, not MD....or a flu...he has myasthenia gravis.

More later


Peace!

Movin on.....a nerve wracking Easter

Hello and Happy Easter! And yes...it is a happy Easter...


Where have I been for the past week? You may or not care to ask....However, it has been a doozy......

Fade to black......

AS you know, the big leftie has been sick for 9 or so months. It has been bad....really bad.....Bad like....I am scared bad.....

Anyway, we thought we figured it out with the allergies and asthma. Yet, his voice continued to be be garbled and he had laryngitis. It was weird.

After seeing countless specialists, the ENT finally noticed that his vocal cords were paralyzed.

Yes, the word is paralyzed.

Then he noticed that his upper body was weak as well as his facial muscles....

Are you thinking what I am thinking? If so, do you think that I had a major nuclear meltdown?
Well, I did.....but not too much since I had to spring into action.

The ENT wanted him to have a MRI of the brain and see a neurologist.....Feeling my angst yet? Oh, I had it.


Deep breathing....yoga....mediation......

We had to wait over a week for the neurologist's appointment but had the MRI on the Monday before Easter. Did I drive him to the appointment? Uh, is the Pope Catholic?

Of course, I drove him to his MRI and sat in the waiting room doing laps around my rosary. I was in full blown BP Mom mode. Nothing was stopping this person from storming heaven with prayers and getting my kid the best care...I do mean the best....

So, we waited for the neurologist appointment on Good Friday...and waited...and waited....I started to receive questions like this:

"Do I have ALS?"

BPM: Of course not!

"DO I have MS?"

BPM: Seriously? Stop googling this!

"Do I have MD?"

Thinking about this one, I was really happy that I use to support the Jerry Lewis Labor Day MD telethon.

NO! You probably have a virus that attacked your nerves and they will regenerate. Stop looking things up on the internet.

Yet, I did not take my own advice. Yes, as a health care professional, I know that he could be suffering from any of these afflictions. But for the sake of my sanity, I chose the road of denial. Yep, nothing is wrong...nothing is wrong...nothing is wrong.....

Dr. G was able to get a copy of the brain MRI which was normal....whew! I gave heaven a shout out on that one.

Next, Friday came....it was Good Friday. But was it going to be a good Friday?

The appointment was moved from 4:30 to 3 pm and we entered s real snazzy office....it was new construction and new chairs  and paint that was not chipped. Very nice....

We waited over an hour. Before the MD walked in, I said to the big kid, "he better apologize for keeping us waiting for over an hour." That would tell me what kind of man he was.

Then he entered...a little guy, balding....no eye contact...no apology....I started an immediate dislike simmer in my belly....

He went behind his fancy computer and never looked up. He asked questions and looked for lab reports. After a long period of questions and answers, he listened to the kid's lungs. I was not feeling the love at this point.

Then he began to speak and repeated himself six times.....you have a bulbous voice, garbled speech, weakness in your upper extremities. You need to be admitted to the hospital now. Not the local hospital five minutes from your house but the big teaching inner city hospital that can perform tests that we cannot on the weekend. You need to go downtown NOW!

OK, let's take a step back. In the four minutes that you have seen my son, you are going to admit him to an inner city hospital. Are you going to be his MD?

"NO, they have specialists for him downtown."

Crud...double crud...triple crud.....

In a way, I was glad that someone finally pulled the trigger to find out what is wrong, yet I could not help but think that this guy had a barbecue scheduled for the shore this weekend and did not want a 6'4" distraction.

Uh, so what do we do?

"I called downtown. They know that you are coming. You will be admitted through the ER."

Crud...double crud....triple crud....This means trouble. You know what ERs are like, especially on holiday weekends....and the inner city ERs act as primary health care for the people who do not have insurance, which is sad, because they wait longer than we did for this neurologist to see us. In other words, I predicted a long waiting period for us as we twiddle our thumbs and think the worse case scenarios. 

After having a quick dinner, we headed into the city. Yes, I was distracted and got lost going to the university hospital where I had completed my graduate work. Who cares? Saw an accident in front of me and I drove around it with ease. Nothing was going to stop me from getting to our destination.....

Then we got there.....If we were at the DMV, our number would have been 740 and they were only taking care of 164. Yep, crowded....dirty.....broken chairs.....crying children.....sad and sick people and us.....We found a spot and waited.

After an hour, we were taken to an ER room and left there.....all night...that's right...all night. The RNs and MDs were terrific, but we waited all night for a bed. During this time, I made multiple laps around my rosary which kept me focused on what had to be done. Before we left for the city, I stopped for gas. The kid went into the store and grabbed his TastyKakes, hot chocolate and Snickers bar. He gave me the Snickers bar which I vowed not to eat....until 1 am then I ate half...then at 2:30, I polished it off. Yes, chocolate and sugar works wonders to keep a momma awake. I kept telling him to sleep and I would keep a watch out for the staff.

Around 5 am, the big kid was finally taken to his room on the 9th floor. I met his nurse and knew I had to leave for some sleep or fall asleep in my car. I had a choice. She seemed great and I vowed to be back before noon. 

He was settled, so I left....drove home and landed up in bed at 6 am. 

More tomorrow.....

Peace!

Movin on....jumping and leaping

Good rainy afternoon....yep, rain again....why? I don't know but it fits my mood perfectly.

Why down in the dumps, BPM?


Fade to black......


As you know the big leftie has been sick for a number of months. He has seen everyone except a Shaman. Nothing...can't figure it out. As great niece Cupcake would say "what's the deal?" Actually she says "It's not my deal." Nice.


And so, we look for answers....

ON another note, godson is tearing up the track with his relay sprints. Pretty cool. Hopefully Saturday will be a nice day because I am heading to the games. His brother L Boy runs the hurdles. Actually, so does Lil A.


What is my take on this as a non runner?

Well......I think.....

They are crazy!

yep, that's what I think. Consider this....you are running down a track at record breaking speed, then you have to jump over an obstacle and not kill yourself.  Then somehow make it to the finish line erect.

As a non runner, I believe that a sadistic person developed this race so that they could sit on the sidelines and watch idiots like me run and jump at the same time. It must give them a chuckle or ten.


I admire anyone who does this and once again, feel oh so....how do I say it? Inferior...that's the word.

Am I inferior or just a smart cookie who knows her limitations and understands that running and leaping are not in the code of conduct for one BPM?

OK, I have to work on a final exam.

Peace!

Movin on...flagless

Good morning! This is a quickie since I am headed to spin class to work off the extra winter pounds. Then it is off to the honor society induction for work. Yep, it's a Sunday. Yep, I have to work. Didn't God tell us to rest on the 7th day?

Yesterday was my big volunteer day as I assisted with the Dash for Diabetes 5K. No! I did not run.....where would you get that idea? Instead, I signed up to line up the runners.

My shift was to begin at 2:45 and end at 4:30 leaving me a small window of time to make the 5p mass on the other end of town.

I was mentally prepared for the event as I parked the car and walked to the volunteer tent. The forecast called for 51 degrees with a slight breeze...not great, but not horrible. After thinking twice, I picked up my winter coat before leaving the house. At 51 degrees, there was no need for gloves or a hat, right?

On to the sign in...

BPM: I am here to volunteer

Ladies at the desk: OK, here is your chartreuse tee shirt with a sneaker on it and vest.

BPM: OK, what am I to do?

Ladies: You are one of the start concierges.

Start concierge? Moi? A start concierge? Is that a fancy term for the person who blows the whistle to line up the runners? Do I use my flag to direct traffic? Am I going to be on the microphone thanking runners for joining us for such a worthy cause? Wow! Me? Cool.....

BPM: Where's my flag?

Then it happened....a serious volunteer who is on the hospital board approached me....She was formidable and an expert in flag waving and lining people up. I was in trouble.

Big lady: You don't need a flag. I am the only one who has a flag. As long as I have one, you don't need it.


BPM: Gee, the directions said that I needed a flag.


Big lady: No. I have it. Follow me.


Crud,,,double crud...triple crud....no flag...but I did have a cool vest over my winter coat which sort of made me look kind of official.....

It was 2:45 and a winter breeze was turning into a frigid wind.

Big lady: Let's go. The race starts soon.

I followed Big lady to the start of the race. No one was there except a few cops standing on the corner.

Uh, Big lady...where is everyone? They don't expect me to run...do they?

Big lady: The children's race starts first then the 5K. It should begin any time now.

And so, I waited on the corner....the breezy wind was now howling.....I missed my hat and gloves but according to Big lady, we would be done soon....

Now it was three o'clock....it was getting chilly....

Looking again at my watch it was 3:15.....my fingers were going numb as I stood at my post with Big lady waiting for a runner...one runner...any runner....

3:25....I was shivering....flagless and now standing in the street. Finally runners showed up for a 4 pm start. Yep, Big lady with the flag was wrong. She made me stand out in the cold and wind for 90 minutes without a flag, gloves, hat or anything to do.

Finally the race was set to begin. Yes, there were runners....


Big lady then positioned my on the corner to stop traffic and people from interrupting the race.

Stopping traffic....no flag...just me in my yellow vest....That's rich.....which Mac truck is going to stop for me in my winter coat as my body shakes uncontrollably as I try to protect those crazy runners? I was hoping all of them would. 

The race began and I was set to drop my vest off and shake my way to my car.


Big lady: We're not done yet. They make another lap, then we wait for the stragglers and take down the traffic cones.

Traffic cones....do you mean that I am going out in traffic and pick up the orange cones and bring them to a truck? Uh Big lady, I do not think that a start concierge is supposed to play in traffic...especially if she does not have a flag with her nose running down her face and in the race.... Isn't there a stop concierge who can do that?

Finally....yes, finally, the last of the runners who were more like walk runners limped by and my job as start concierge was in the books for a year. A nice young man in a truck came by and picked up the cones. My big stop of the day was a woman with a stroller who was about to hit one of the runners. Yep, I saved the day....without a flag.

And so, we end yet another fantastically mundane moment in BP mom's odd life as I consider how I am going to take Big lady down next year and grab my own flag. After all, I am there to protect and serve. To do so, I need to be properly equipped. Right?

One last note...I am still cold 12 hours after the event. My blood has not defrosted and I am still shaking....fun, eh?


Off to spin....
Peace!