A Relaxing Weekend and a Hectic Week

After an uneventful and fairly relaxing weekend, we had a wild week that seemed to get busier with each successive day. On Monday, Maggie and I took Will to school and brought water, orange juice, and apple juice for the staff as part of the PTO's welcome back snack. Maggie wheeled herself into Will's class to watch while I worked on getting the snack ready in the school's small kitchen. After school, Will and I went to get haircuts. He screamed like he was being dismembered and thrashed wildly; I was quiet and still.

Maggie went to work on Tuesday, going to the hospital to see one presentations and attend two budget meetings. Her supervisor took her there before sunrise, then I took Will to school before going to the hospital to meet her since we both needed blood draws for our annual physicals. Once we finally got done, we dashed back to get Will and stopped at home for a little while before driving to Will's pediatrician in Flourtown for a check-up.

Wednesday was as tightly scheduled as Tuesday and in hindsight, it was too much. Will went to school and our housekeeper came to clean. My sister-in-law Marie visited next, to get a resignation letter. Rebecca, a friend from church, then arrived to deliver a meal for us and chatted with Maggie while I prepared chicken nuggets (we saved Rebecca's meal). We were hosting dinner for Maggie's nephew Shawn with his wife and their two young daughters. A favorite meal of Allison's, the nuggets were well-received. I agree that they were good, but I was a bit surprised since I stopped making them and Maggie had to finish while I met with an inspector who was checking our basement for a waterproofing estimate. Amid all the commotion, he surveyed the basement, measured indoors and out, drew various diagrams, and calculated the estimates. Depending on what excavation was needed and what it would reveal, waterproofing would cost almost $20,000, but seeing potential problems, the total would more likely be almost $60,000! We refused to commit to the job as it is far outside our finiancial ability, but he found a serious problem, so I called our contractor the next morning.

Because this week is getting crazier as we go, I didn't call Alex first. We woke early, got ready, and headed out in the cold rain to go to Philadelphia for Will's two appointments at CHildren's Hospital of Philadelphia. First was a neuro-ophthalmology exam at 8:30am, but with the rain making rush hour worse than usual, we called en route and rescheduled. We arrived at 9:15am and checked-in early for an MRI scan, checking Will's head for anything that might be the cause of his seizures. We got breakfast while we waited for our 10:30am appointment, then had as good a hospital visit as we could. Will's intravenous line was placed with only one stick, a first! The nurse assigned to us was very nice and made the whole experience better than expected.

Will recovered from the sedation quickly, returning to us already awake and almost back to his normal self. We were discharged within an hour and dashed north as the afternoon rush began. Driving to Maggie's podiatry appointment next, she got her feet checked and X-rayed, with her cast now to be replaced by an air walker, a supportive boot with an adjustable air bladder. Large and black, it has a blue "button" for inflating and deflating the air bladder. It seems like something Darth Vader would have had to wear as he began his trauma recovery.

With our day's medical exams complete, we went home and arrived seconds after Marie and her family, who were coming to learn how to make eggrolls. I drove to a supermarket for additional eggroll wrappers (Marie and Glenn have four teenaged children) and returned to join the kitchen party. The final products, some with chicken and some with shrimp, were the best we've made so far. I ate at least six!

Concluding the week, I took Will to school and returned home to show our contractor the trouble found Wednesday night. The center of our house appears to have no structural support in the basement! The floor joists are resting on a block wall that doesn't reach the ground below and has no footings. With a new second story on top and winter snows approaching, Alex will install a temporary support next week to keep us safe until we can afford to excavate and rebuild the basement walls. It's an expensive job (estimate still to come) and I believe it will be an on-going project for the next couple of years to make it more affordable.

During Alex's visit, Maggie scheduled an ultrasound exam for her sore left leg to make sure the pain wasn't due to a blood clot and we followed Alex out the driveway to go to Warminster. This week being what it was and today being Friday the 13th, the pain was due to a blood clot and her surgeon recommended going to the emergency room for treatment. I drove her there, then left to meet a delivery of equipment for Will: a bath seat and a gait trainer. After a quick briefing and some signatures, we now have two more large items in the house that need places to live when not in use. Shortly after the delivery, I went to retrieve Will and returned to meet Susan, Will's former (sadly) physical therapist. She adjusted the gait trainer to fit him and gave me tips on continuing his progress. Maggie's sister Sue came next with Marie's daughter Jessie to watch Will while I tried to get some tasks done and she went to get Maggie. Once they got home, Karen, our pastor's wife, delivered a delicious meal of sausage and peppers with salad and cake. Finally, it was time to eat, relax a bit, and try recover from a hectic day and week!