Sleeping in San Diego or Unintentional Valley Girl

Mike and I sat in our living room and spent a few moments together this morning.  The sun just begins to peek into Woods Valley and strike along the rock face behind our home.

My morning coffee spot

Woods Valley is our small valley that is located in the larger town of Valley Center.  We have big windows in this house to take full advantage of that view.  I haven’t had the heart to cover them up yet.  I may never cover them up even though my mom says it’s creepy at night.  We have golfers pass behind the back fence during the day but very few are interested in leaving their game long enough to stare in our house.

A look at our beautiful rock faced valley wall and a few golfers thrown in.

At night it’s just owls, bats, and coyotes along with a cacophony of other creature noises.  I like the night noises.  You’d think an insomniac like myself would go crazy with it all but I sleep better here then any other place I’ve lived.  It’s not a bad place to wake up to either.

Night comes quickly in Valley Center

Peddler in Escondido

I’ve seen this traveling Avon showroom around Escondido several times now.  Escondido is the next town to the west and a little south of Valley Center.  The reconditioned camper reminds me of traveling peddlers from the old days.  I figure you’d only see this in a dry climate.

Have I mentioned  I love it here?

I’m a peddler

I’m a peddler

and don’t you want to buy

Many things I have in store

so many things you never saw

so many things you never saw before

so listen while I name them more.

– Jim Douglas 

Small Town Moments (STM)

I’ve had a few small town moments (STM) these past months that almost make up for the lack of a Starbucks in town. And, yeah, it makes me think of that John Mellencamp song too.

STM #1

After the dog attacked my mom when she was jogging, several women in the community called and dropped off dinners at my house.  This was beyond kind and was very helpful since my house was full of family.

STM #2

A few weeks ago I ran into our local dentist’s office to make an appointment and at the same time dropped off his wife’s cake pan and pick up a bread starter.  While at my appointment my dentist, Greg Carlson, mentioned that his wife noticed that my status update on Facebook that morning was all about my anxiety about my appointment.  This actually made me laugh and helped me relax.  I’m a freak at the dentist.  This was one of the better visits I’ve had.

STM #3

My neighbor invited Benjamin and I to the Middle School production of Oklahoma.  The auditorium was packed.  During intermission I saw families with children of all ages.  I saw parents and grandparents.  Even the local sheriff stopped by.  I love the idea that my kids will grow up with this kind of community support.

What’s An Ag?

One of the first things I did when we moved to Valley Center was to coordinate and consolidate the school calendars with our family calendar.  After all, I’m a mom and a former teacher.  I’ve got a kid with Type 1 Diabetes in second grade and another child in preschool.  I understand the importance of being prepared for field trips, pizza days and book fairs.

I noticed that in April the Primary School and Elementary School students would be attending Ag Day.  At least I thought they’d be attending.  I wasn’t sure exactly what Ag Day was and therefore had not a clue about what one might do with or for an Ag.

It’s okay to laugh, you won’t be the first one.

I spoke with my husband and said, “you don’t suppose this is referring to agriculture?”. He told he was pretty sure Ag Day was really Agricultural Day and would in some way be relating to the fact that we now live in an agriculturally based community.

A beautiful Ag Day

I have a lot to learn.  When I mentioned Ag Day to my sister-in-law she said, “Is there also an Urban Day where you can get a coffee, do some shopping, go to a book store and then get Vietnamese for lunch?”.  I have a LOT to learn about being in the country.

I’ve now attended two Ag Days.  Valley Center School District has a school farm.  Parents and volunteers came together to showcase the agriculture, the ranching and the beauty of this paradise we live in.  It’s very dusty.  There are lots of kids and my fear of snakes was on overload.  I’m not going to lie, I was a fish out of water or perhaps a better metaphor would be a Mama far away from Starbucks.  It was lovely though, to see the children learning about palm trees,  planting and how to be better stewards of our environment.  It was also priceless to hear my son at the dairy exhibit exclaim slightly horrified, “Milk comes from THAT?!”.

Benjamin inspects a milk cow

Along with the whole country community thing comes a wonderful sense of belonging.  At this last Ag Day I saw quite a few parents that I am beginning to know.  They were all kind.  They laughed with me about my ignorance.  They checked in with B.  They offered us cool water.   This really is such a great place to raise our boys.

 

Attacked While Jogging

Thank you all for your out pouring of love and support yesterday.  As most of your know my mom was attacked by a dog while jogging in our neighborhood yesterday morning.  Mom is here with Nana who is 92.  She brought Nana down to see the boys and baby Jane and to enjoy some sun.  They planned to be here from Wednesday evening to Monday morning.  Saturday was a rainy morning but typical Mom she wanted to run.  She got up early and slipped out the front door.  We live in a safe neighborhood that is ideal for walking and running.  We are a gated community which I always feel keeps the road traffic down and is nice for all the children who ride bikes and play in the cul de sacs.  Our community also has rules regarding leashing pets.

Mom was almost to our home at about 6:30 Saturday morning when a neighbor raised their garage door and allowed their two large dogs to run outside without leashes.  Mom told me that one of the dogs, a Pitbull, ran across the street straight toward her.  Mom slowed to a walk and the dog attacked her.  She must have put her right arm up in a defensive position because that is where she sustained the worst of her injuries.  Mom was screaming but we didn’t hear her.  The dog pulled her to the ground and bit her face catching her lower lip.  At some point Mom remember the neighbor lady who let the dogs out throwing her bathrobe over the dog trying to wrestle the dog off of Mom.  Mom says the dog’s jaws were so strong she was unable to break free. Finally the neighbor lady gained some control of the dog and told mom to run.  Somehow my mom rain to our home and into our front door.  She was screaming and covered in blood.  She was shaking and going into shock.  I feel nauseous remembering this moment because I grabbed her trying to figure out what happened.  She just kept sobbing, “Vicki a dog attacked me, I thought I was going to die”.  She was in horrible pain.  Those of you who know my know she is a tough cookie and doesn’t cry much or show pain.  I knew right away she was in trouble.

Mike called 911.  I tried to put some pressure on her arm but she was in too much pain for me to do that.  Her mouth was bleeding everywhere.  I couldn’t put too much pressure on that because it looked so ground up.  I just tried to hold her and calm her while we waited for the paramedics.  At some point I ran to a neighbor to ask if there was a doctor on the street who might help.  I also didn’t know if the dog was still out.  Tom, bless him, was so kind to me as I stood shaking at his door step in just my night shirt.  Mike stood up the street waiting for the paramedics as the 911 operator said it would be easier for them to find our house if he was there to flag them in.  I have to say the Valley Center Paramedics were wonderful.  Amazingly, they all looked like children.  When did I get old?  They did a very quick professional and kind job with Mom and with me.  I ran to get some clothes and went into the ambulance with Mom.  Eli rushed over to take care of Nana and the kids.  Mike followed in our car.

While were were going to the hospital mom was getting an IV and some morphine and (I think) oxygen.  She was so pale and crying out from the pain.  They had to cut her running top off her arm in order to better work on her wounds.  We went to Palomar Hospital.  Not the fanciest hospital on the planet but they got the job done.  The worst part was watching mom be in such pain and be so confused.  She kept saying “Vicki I can’t believe it.  I just keep seeing that dog coming at me.”  She also said several times, “What if it had been one of the boys?  It would have killed a child.”

After they determined that her arm was not broken, the on call hand specialist/plastic surgeon was called.  Over the phone from his car he gave instructions for the ER staff to prep Mom’s arm.  Not a fun experience as they had to wash out her wounds.  I won’t go into too much detail but I was in with her the whole time and her arm looked like meat that had been torn apart.  The surgeon came in and gave her more then 20 shots of a numbing medicine.  That was tough because those shots went directly into the torn areas and inside and outside of her mouth.  Then the surgeon (who the nurses described as an “artist”) went to work.  He made the whole area in the ER treatment room a mini surgical room.  He said to me, “you can stay if you won’t faint.” and I said “I won’t faint”. I was able to sit in a chair at the enge of the treatment room. He took his time and was kind enough to answer my questions.  He wore a special pair of glasses with long magnifying lenses on them.  I asked how he could get the tissue together and he said it was like a jig saw puzzle he finds the ragged pieces and puts them back together.  It was impressive.  He was able to give mom her lip back and pull the wound into a fairly straight line.  Her are was stitched all over from the elbow to the writ in the front and back.  Several hours later, when it was done we were all exhausted except for the surgeon who looked pleased with himself.

The rest of the story involves lots of pain, a trip back to the hospital in the evening for more IV fluids and more pain meds.  The surgeon says this will be a slow healing process for mom and it will be painful.  She is here with us for awhile more.  We will be reworking flights ect. today.  The doctors tell us the biggest worry is infection.  She has been pumped full of very stone antibiotics but they say we can only wait and see.  The surgeon will see her on Tuesday.  If she has an infection he says it’s “a whole other ball game”.  The nurse told me Mom’s body is “fighting” all the bacteria right now.  She is not able to use her right arm much but she can wiggle her fingers which is excellent.  She will not be able to care for Nana for some time.  This will be difficult as she does all of Nana’s care including showering and dressing her and taking her too all her appointments.  Jeff and I are working on a plan for that now.  Mom is home now with us.  She looks better today.  She has more color in her face and is sipping Ginger Ale. I’ll update on Facebook after the surgeon visit on Tuesday.  She is having some problems with flashbacks from the attack.  I figure this will all take some time to recover from.

Thank you all so very much for your support.  Mom thanked me for staying with her at the hospital and I reminded her that this is what families do.  We care for each other.

If you have questions feel free to email or text me.  I banned Mom from her phone but she may get back to it today 🙂

Much love,

Vicki

Diaveetes, It’s Just Mediuumm

My son Benjamin was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes last Valentine’s Day.  He was five years old.  That first night in the hospital I knew with absolute certainty that I would stop working.   I wanted Benjamin to have his best life.  I knew that I would be the best person to closely monitor his medication and the progression of the disease.  I also knew that the next school year would be a challenge as it would be his first year to be at school all day.  The following is an email I sent to the many friends and family who supported us during the rough first month when we were learning how to best care for Benjamin.

So many people have asked me how we knew Benjamin was sick on Valentine’s Day. We’ve also had a lot of people express their support and ask how our little B is doing. This seemed like a good way to get the information out to a large group of you at one time.

During the month of January Mike and I were noticing Benjamin’s increasingly erratic behavior. B’s a quirky guy so at first we thought he was reacting to some disruptions in his normal schedule. The last week before Valentine’s Day I was not sure what to do with Benjamin. He wasn’t eating anything for breakfast. He was sleeping late. He was screaming in frustration trying to put his socks on. Mike and I were at our wits end trying to figure out what was going on. As the week wore on we noticed Benjamin was getting up a lot to go to the bathroom in the night something that was very unusual for him. He also wet the bed several nights in a row something he’d never done before. We cut off his evening juice and water to try to solve the problem. He was so thirsty. In the evening he’d get into the Dixie Cups and drink water over and over. Benjamin was also feeling “yucky” in his stomach. I figured he was fighting a virus.

On Sunday Mike and I were trying to do our taxes. We’d been working on it all morning. Benjamin was driving me crazy asking for juice. Normally I water down juice a lot when I give it to the boys. B started asking for it straight. Then he begged for berry-flavored juice rather then apple. I was trying to figure out taxes and he wouldn’t let me work. He just kept asking for more juice. At about 4:15 Mike called me into the kitchen and said, “Maybe we should check B’s blood sugar”. As soon as he said it everything clicked for me and I knew he was right. Mike is a Type 1 diabetic. He was diagnosed when he was 12. Because of this we know a little more then most people about the signs of diabetes. It is extremely rare for a father and son to be diagnosed with Type 1. Regardless we’ve always had it in the back of our minds to watch the boys.

I had to hold Benjamin down while Mike pricked his finger and let the blood wick into his glucometer. As soon as the reading 557 popped up I felt as though I’d been punched in the stomach. Mike and I looked at each other. We knew what it meant. We knew we needed to get B to the ER quickly. A normal body processes sugar in the body using insulin and keeps blood sugar levels averaging about 100-125.

We took Benjamin to Legacy Salmon Creek hospital. It’s close to our house and has a pediatric ER with physicians trained in pediatric emergency medicine. We knew B would need specialized care. Of course in the back of my mind I was still hoping that for some reason this wouldn’t mean what we thought it meant. At Salmon Creek we were seen immediately. The risk for Benjamin was coma and then death. He was ketoacidic. His body was not producing insulin to break down sugar. The sugar was building up but his body couldn’t use it. His liver was trying to break down fat for energy. When this happened he was building up keto acids as a by-product. Benjamin was also dehydrating. His body temperature was high. It was miserable for him.

Benjamin was immediately put on an IV. Wire leads were placed at five points on his body measuring his heart and lung function. One of the dangers was his blood gas level. The wrong treatment for ketoacidosis can create bubbles in his blood stream. The doctor, in consult with the pediatric endocrinologist at Legacy Emanuel Children’s Hospital checked his labs and tried to decide if B would be place in the ICU for further treatment. Finally they decided we’d caught his high blood sugar in time and that they would transport him to the Children’s Hospital. He went straight to Emanuel. I remember as we were preparing him to be moved the nurse looked at me and said, “This is a Valentine’s Day you will never forget”.

At Emanuel we had a nightmarish night. B was exhausted. We were exhausted. I sent Mike home for a little sleep. Benjamin was poked almost every hour. Five vials of blood were drawn. He had two IV ports. He sobbed most of the night until I thought it wouldn’t end. He threw up. At one point he looked up at me and said, “I’m in a world of pokes”. It became so bad that he would scream when the nurse came through the door. I hate to remember that first night. All I could do was crawl into bed with him and hold him. He begged me to take him home. He begged me to make it all stop. It was horrible.

The next day I went home for a short break and Mike stayed with B. I took the opportunity to fall apart completely. Thank heavens for my wonderful friend Tracy. I called her after a few hours at home. I couldn’t sleep. I couldn’t stop throwing up. I couldn’t stop crying. She came right over. She sat me up in a comfy chair and covered me with a blanket. She talked to me. She cried with me. I’m not sure what I would have done without her.

I was able to go back after about four hours at home. Mike and I met with the team of specialists. Benjamin indeed has Type 1 diabetes. They told us it’s very rare for a father and son to both have the disease. Type 1 Diabetes is an autoimmune disease. The cause of the disease is not known. They do believe that B’s body was predisposed to be triggered into this disease. The trigger is not known but some studies point to a virus other to toxins. We just don’t know. His body is targeting and destroying the insulin producing cells in his pancreas. The doctor estimates that because he is so young Benjamin’s disease is fairly aggressive. He estimates all of his insulin producing cells will be destroyed within the next six to nine months. B is now insulin dependent.

If you ask Benjamin he will tell you he has “Diavetes” with a long veee sound in the middle. 🙂 He’ll also tell you what we tell him, that he is not sick. His body is special and needs insulin. If he doesn’t get insulin then he will be sick.

We are home now. We record Benjamin’s blood sugar using a lancet to draw blood at least five times a day including 2:00 am. Currently Benjamin receives four injections per day of insulin. The amount varies based in the amount of carbs he eats at each meal and his blood sugar level. After each meal he gets a short acting insulin called Humalog. At night before bed he gets long acting insulin called Lantus. Every day I call the Children’s Diabetes Center and give them 24 hours of blood sugars, carbs eaten and insulin given. It’s a lot of pokes for a little guy and he handles it better then I think I would. He’s got bruises on his fingers and on his arms. He’s afraid to try alternate sites like his leg or arm for injections and blood sugar testing. We are trying to let him choose his sites to give him some sense of control. We are also teaching him to read labels and count carbs.

We are all grieving right now in our own way. I find myself in tears at unexpected moments. When I first went to our pharmacy to pick up B’s insulin and syringes I was surprised to find myself in tears. Mike and I try to talk to each other and help each other through the sad moments. We are also working very hard to move forward. Mike knows what it’s like to live with Type 1 diabetes. We know the toll it takes on a body and how it can become limiting. We are determined to help make B’s life as wonderful as we can and give him the sense he can do anything he wants to.

Thank you all for your wonderful support. As we received kind well wishes from family and friends. I was able to see email and FB comments on my phone and tell B another person was sending him love. It really meant a lot to all of us. Thanks to my parents for driving home to watch Jakey. A special thanks to my siblings in the area who drove their families in to see Benjamin. We really feel that Benjamin made a lot of improvement when he saw Payton and Paige, Preston and Dylan.

Benjamin made up a “song” yesterday. It went something like this: “Diaveetes isn’t so baaaaaad. Diaveetes isn’t so baaaad. Diveetes isn’t sooooo good. I guess it’s just mediummmmm.”