June is almost gone!

It has been a great last few weeks of June. Where did the time go?  Camp Quad, new friends, lots of swimming, new hair cut (yes he got a mohawk - he wanted it so why not). Very little time to stop and think. Nathan is loving having his brother around more, lots more for him to do. Andrew has had to use very little pain meds to help control the pain for almost 2 weeks. He has been sleeping good and feeling good. That was then and this is now. Now the pain is back, but not just for his hip, but also his knee. Because his hip hurts when he walks, he has changed how he is walking and his knee is hurting constantly. This is common for kids with Perthes. Unfortunately Andrew was up almost all last night crying in pain.  Good news is he doesn't remember much of it -nor does daddy. Bad news is I am so tired I almost walked into a wall. Just picked him up from camp, ate lunch, now time for a good long nap for both of us.

Only 1 month until his next set of X-rays. Keep your fingers crossed!

Happy 4th to everyone.

Schools out!!!

Andrew is now a 1st Grader! Where did the time go. As much as he loved school, his friends and teachers, school ended at a good time. The year ended tough for Andrew. Tuesday was "fun" day at school and was emotionally too much for him. He said he was sick, but it wasn't in his tummy like he said. It was out of frustration and sadness that he wanted to leave. He was tired of watching his friends being able to run around and have a good time and he just gets to sit and watch. In his words, this hip is making things boring. After a set of tears and a good talk from daddy. He was back at school to finish fun day and enjoy time with his friends. He came home happy and with little pain. Wednesday was the last day of school and was bitter sweet. Now he has to be stuck at home with mommy more of the time. Tough life!

Andrew is a trooper and the mental aspect is coming into play a lot earlier than we expected. Other kids and parents truly do not get it that Andrew wants to play with the other kids. When he is playing it always turns into something that he can't do. This is really hard for Andrew to understand why other kids don't won't just do something that he can do for more than 5 minutes. We are not being rude, I am looking out for my son when we leave and go and do something that he can do. Please mom's and dad's don't tell me he looks fine and tell me to loosen up a little he is just a kid. Really!!! No, he doesn't have a brace, cast, crutches or wheelchair and hopefully he never does, but he is in constant pain, not telling anyone because he doesn't want to be different and it shouldn't have to be obvious for a mom or dad to understand this isn't me being a strict mom. We are following the doctor's orders and doing what is best for Andrew. That is my job as a mom. The less running/damage he does now, the better off he will be down the road. If you can't understand that, I am sorry. Look into Perthes Disease a little more before you say something like that.

Whew...sorry about that, Ok, I am better now, thanks for the listening. Off to another day of who knows what.

A farm, soccer game and piano recital, we need a vacation!

Yet another busy week since my last post. After recovering from the previous week, Memorial Day was spent sitting watching movies and playing the Wii so that he could be ready to go Tuesday. Tuesday Andrew got to go on a field trip with his class to a petting farm. I got to go with and he loved it every minute of. It was a little hilly, which meant a lot of piggy backs, but all in all, not too much pain and a great day. Then nothing too crazy during the week, but another busy weekend for the family.  Wednesday night swimming lessons (Andrew), Thursday soccer practice (Nathan), Friday just craziness....

Saturday, Nathan had his best soccer game yet. He was aggressive and almost scored.  Grandma and Grandpa Gehm came to watch, which made things even better. We were all so very proud of Nathan, next stop for him, TBALL!!!! Starting Tuesday next week....I think?!?!

Sunday was Andrew's first piano recital and he did excellent. He played Star Wars and The Lion Sleeps tonight. We were lucky enough to have Aunt Mary Kay, Grandma Clark and Grandma and Grandpa Gehm come and listen to our little musician in the making. Thanks for coming everyone.

Now it is another week and a new set of pain meds. Even though it wasn't an physically active weekend, it still took its toll on him. He woke up fine, but by early morning his pain was up to a 3.5 (on a scale of 5). Normally he says his pain is a 1 at the most. Now he is better and riding his bike in circles over and over and over again. Waiting for him to get dizzy and tired so I can relax. I could really use some extra sleep tonight.