Ten Things I am Thankful for....

.....in no particular order:

1. My husband, although something tells me I might not be on his list. I figure that anyone willing to stick with me for 17 years has earned their spot on this list.
2. My kids. Yes, there are moments I'd sell them to the first band of passing gypsies but I know I'd be lost without them.
3. Health. There's nothing like having a chronically ill child to make you appreciate good (or at least stable) health.
4. All of our friends and family that have supported us these last eight years. You’ll never know how much you’ve lightened our load.
5. All of the empty bottles of wine that have supported me these last eight years.
6. The doctors, nurses and many, many others who have cared for Max throughout his journey. There has definitely been the good, the bad and the ugly but we have learned from each of them....some to grab onto for dear life and others to run from as fast as possible!
7. The many advances in medical care and technology that have saved my son's life.
8. Sleep, never underestimate any stretch of uninterrupted sleep longer than 30 minutes. Hence my next list item....
9. Coffee, coffee, and coffee!
10. Last but not least....Max thinks I should add the New York Yankees, Jeter, A-Rod, and Posada to my list as that was on his list in his Thanksgiving letter (no mention of his devoted family but who's holding a grudge?). 
    

Wishing everyone a very Happy Thanksgiving!

It’s Still Quiet

Thank God it’s been very quiet around the Marangella ranch although now that I’ve actually written these words I’ve probably jinxed myself.

Max is a bit junky this week and although his “rattled” breathing and runny nose frighten everyone during the flu season we know it’s just Max being Max in all his asthmatic glory. As note after note regarding his snotty nose comes home from his teacher I faithfully continue to send him to school because if I kept him home every time his nose runs he’d never see the inside of a 3rd grade classroom. I am certain they think I suffer from “bad mommy syndrome” because I send my sick child to school infecting the entire Western Civilization or at least one elementary school but my theory has always been that if he can breathe he can go, it’s not like anyone is going to catch asthma from him. So until I get a letter from the Board of Health he’s going to school if for no other reason than to save our sanity for eight hours a day. Let them answer his gazillion questions for a while because I just can’t keep making up answers fast enough.

There’s really very little other news to report, I’d almost verge on saying we’re becoming boring. Boring, now there’s a term I wouldn’t have use in the same sentence with “Max” but things have been uneventful and for now we’re enjoying it!

Finally!!

This time I have a really good excuse for the absence of updates.....Blogger has completely changed how these blogs work and I've been locked out for days! This evening, as I was ready to give up completely, one last ditch effort got me in. I don't know who was more nervous, me or Max. He was afraid his peeps would no longer be ale to follow his every move. The kid cracks me up, sort of.....He asked me if I couldn't get in because I forgot the password, after all "that's what happens to old people, they forget!"

Now that I've mastered new technology and I've gotten past my son's wisecrack it's time for an update from the insane asylum. This past weekend our friend Wendy gave us tickets to ride the "Polar Express" up in Williams, AZ. It was cold and snowy and for the first time since we've moved to Arizona it actually FELT like Christmas! The kids had a blast! I swear I could put those two kids in a car and hand them a sandwich and they'd be willing to go anywhere!

In keeping with the holiday spirit Max and Christie went to see "A Christmas Carole" tonight. I am presently enjoying the peace and quiet of being home alone, something that rarely if ever happens in this house. I'm sure this tranquility will soon be shattered as Max should be running through the door any minute now.

I better go have a sip or two of wine and wait for the invasion, have a great night all!

It was soooo cold! We even saw snow!

This One's for Max

New York Yankees

World Series Champions

2009

Tricks, Treats, Dances and Baseball

Although I always look forward to the weekends for a little R and R it never seems to work out that way and this weekend was no exception! Ellie had her first high school dance on Friday evening. Because this is the first academic year for her school it wasn't a homecoming dance but rather an "Up and Coming" dance. Either way it made me feel OLD watching her go off to her first formal dance. I guess it will only get worse when these events include boys.....I'm really not ready to go there!

Of course Saturday was Halloween and I'm happy to report we have almost NO candy at our house. Ellie really didn't care one way or another and Max did the obligatory round of three or four houses rushing to get home to watch the Yankees whoop the Phillies. In fact most of our weekend has been spent in front of the TV cheering as our team FINALLY seems to be heading towards the championship title. We've been waiting a long time for this, ever since '01 when Max was still in the hospital and the nurses dressed him in a D-backs' onsie just to make me cry!

Have a great week and don't eat too much candy!

No news is good news…..

…..I guess. Life has been so crazy the last few weeks I’ve had little time to think let alone update. As the kids came off the “piggy flu” we thought we would get a bit of a reprieve…except it’s us and we don’t generally mix well with tranquility. When asked recently how things were going at our house I replied, “Well, so far no one’s bleeding profusely and the house hasn’t blown up so I think we’re great. Thanks for asking!” Of course the inquirer responded with a look that suggested I must be insane (this guy catches on quickly) so I went on to explain that I long ago learned to set the bar low on what was good and what wasn’t. No reason to deceive myself, right?

As for Max we had a few check-ups recently and thankfully he seems to be doing well. I did get a shock last week when I called to get a refill on one of his heart meds, the nurse asked me if I knew that the doctor had retired months ago….I thought to myself how could I possibly know this when no one saw fit to call me with the news or at a minimum send me a letter. I admit I sat on the other end of the phone with my jaw dropped open like an idiot, for once in my life I was completely and utterly speechless. Once again my son, the high-risk cardiac patient, is without a local cardiologist! I really and truly hate this game of finding a doctor I can live with (not necessarily outstanding mind you but someone you trust enough to bring your child to) only to lose them a short time later. I guess it’s really the management of a chronic child, the doctors, the hospitals, the therapy providers, the insurance companies etc., etc. that makes me the craziest because there really is no end to it. As soon as I resolve one issue another one erupts. I swear I don’t know how I’m not addicted to drugs or alcohol or both!


In Ellie news, she just finished swim season on a high note as she “placed” in her individual category at the regional swim meet, which means she is one of the strongest “freestyle” swimmers in the metro Phoenix area. Hopefully we’ll be able to get her into a club team where they groom the next Olympic gold medalists in the hopes that one day she will have some kind of multi-million dollar commercial deal with one sponsor or another (my retirement plan depends heavily on this).

As for now I think that’s all my “printable” Marangella news, thanks all for checking in!

Quarantine

This week we have been in “quarantine mode”. Ellie was the first to fall over the weekend with a super high temp (103.8), sore throat, and a cough that would scare just about anyone. As we started our week things just went downhill fast. On Monday I had Michele take Ellie into the pediatrician, fully expecting a diagnosis of the common flu or at worst strep throat. But as we all know nothing is that simple at our house. I soon got a frantic phone call from Michele saying Ellie was positive for H1N1 (a.k.a. Pig Flu to the kids) and Dr. Schwartz wanted us all treated immediately before Max got it. Too late. I picked up a very snotty, wheezy child from school not much after Ellie’s official diagnosis. Max was already down for the count. And so it begins…..

I was able to get our prescriptions filled for Tamiflu with little problem (if you overlook the cost of the stuff) but Max’s pediatric dose was nowhere to be found, anywhere, anyhow in a thirty mile radius of the house. Seems the pharmaceutical company didn’t see fit to produce any in time for the flu season….maybe by November I was told. Now in an absolute panic as I watch Max’s breathing getting rougher and rougher I realized a trip to the hospital might not be far off because it would be the only place we could find the right dose. In my desperation to avoid “dirty” hospitals I called a local compounding pharmacy which was able to make me some from scratch (Max’s interpretation of the situation). Yet another disaster evaded by no less than 30 – 40 phone calls on my part.

So the kids have been home all week much to Michele’s chagrin and won’t be allowed back to school until after Fall Break which is next week. I have found that once I mention that my children have been ill with this dreaded flu people tend to take a HUGE step back as if we have the plague. I must admit the first couple of days were crappy but not much more than any other flu would be, in fact, I think Ellie was sicker than Max. Michele is now convinced the whole thing may be hype produced by the pharmaceutical companies and the media. Who knows, I just hope we can check this one off our list of maladies.

As always, thanks for checking in!