The Office

I have never seen The Office, and it's supposed to be a great show. However, it made me nauseous watching it, and I couldn't get through more than the first couple of minutes. A number of shows have a camera style where the camera is zooming in and out and going in and out of focus and panning and shaking and moving all over the place and putting the picture off-center, and The Office uses this style. It makes me dizzy and sick, and I find it enormously distracting from the show. So, I guess I won't be watching that anymore. That's a shame.
Is there anyone else who feels this way? Am I the only one? If I ever went to the movies and they used that style, I would have to leave.

Frustrated!

Ohhhhh I am so frustrated. I have been trying to get back into the health groove, and it's so difficult. I was all gung ho, and then I got my son's diagnosis, and my mind could focus on nothing else, and I got upset, and I did what I always do...I ate too much. Grrrr. Then I started this great new exercise class, but Friday, I still couldn't move, so I was going to go today, but my car is still not working (it doesn't start unless it's jump-started, so my husband takes it to work where there's always someone around to help him because I've used up my AAA help calls), my son is off from school today, and the double stroller doesn't fit into the Corolla. So, I can not go to the stroller strides class because my son will not just hang out and follow along, he will run away. I will go walking today, at least, and we'll be out at the playground like always, but I'm not expecting any good news at Weight Watchers tomorrow. Well, there's always next week. It's hard not to give up, and when I go through periods like this I feel like I have given up, but I have to drag myself up and keep going...falling down a few stairs is not falling down the whole flight, and anyway, even if you do fall down the whole flight and even keep rolling and wind up down the basement, you've only failed if you've decided not to try again. So, here I go.

How About a Last-Minute Dinner Party for 300 People?

I couldn't imagine 300 people showing up at my doorstep for dinner, unannounced, nor do I believe that 300 people would fit into my little apartment. I do not have 900 eggs in my refrigerator. However, in the interest of blogging, let's suspend belief. Omelets for all! Bon Appetit!

I've been reading a lot about people being inspired by Julia Child after seeing the movie Julie and Julia. I haven't seen the movie yet, but I have loved Julia Child since...I was a child. I've been reading her autobiographical "My Life in France" and love it.

Some of the things I love most about Julia, besides her exuberance and lust for life, is the fact that she didn't find her true calling until she was in her late 30's (like me), and that she had a wonderful relationship with her husband (like my husband and me). Each one was the other's biggest fan, they worked hard together like a real team, and they were best friends who were deeply in love and had a lot of fun together. It's refreshing.

My own recent cooking inspiration has been omelets. I was watching an old episode of the French Chef where Julia makes an omelet. I found a video clip of it on You Tube. I have been making "silly" omelets for my daughter, which involve me jubilantly shaking the pan while she laughs hysterically. It's a great bonding experience to cook with your children, even if they're under 1 year old. Give it a try!

I Love Autumn!

I'm so excited about all the things there are to do in the autumn in New York State for children. We've participated in the events over the past two years, and are eager to do it again! Apple picking, pumpkin picking, Halloween Parades, Fall Festivals, and hiking. I can't wait!

We have our Halloween costumes all ready too. My daughter is going to be a pink unicorn, and my son is going to be James, one of Thomas' friends. His favorite color is red, and I figured that there wouldn't be too many other kids dressed up like James. It should be lots of fun!

Raspberry!

No, not the kind you eat.

Tonight my son came up to me and blew a raspberry on my leg. I laughed, and then it hit me...my son has NEVER been able to blow anything before in his entire life. My son can not blow a whistle, a harmonica, or bubbles. My son can not blow out his birthday candles. And tonight, he did something absolutely amazing. He blew a raspberry...and then he did it again. It is an incredible breakthrough, and something that his therapists and we have been working on for YEARS.

Well, he got a lot of kisses, hugs, and praise.

Go Boo!!!!!

Our Journey Finally Has a Name

As I wrote at the end of my last post, we went to the neurologist today, and my son has finally received a formal diagnosis of PDD-NOS, which stands for pervasive developmental disorder not otherwise specified. This condition is on the autism "spectrum". That means that it contains many of the features, but not all of the features of classic autism. Although I have suspected for a long time that my son had precisely this, I was surprised to find that I felt very upset when the doctor actually said it, and I felt like crying. It was a relief to hear someone in the medical profession finally confirm what I had suspected, and a formal diagnosis opens up more services to my son and our family. However, I still feel a little shell-shocked and upset. I was a little surprised at this.

However, as an audiologist, I counselled many parents, and always kept in mind that when a parent finds out for the first time that their child has a hearing problem, they go through the stages of mourning. In fact, we often set a separate appointment at a later date to allow the parent to process the information before going through all the information they are going to need to know. So, I assume that I am going through the same thing.

My son has never had a definite, specific diagnosis, although he has been diagnosed with many individual disorders and disabilities including global developmental delays, sensory integration disorder, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, dyspraxia, and hypotonia. He also has obsessive compulsive tendencies and unusual social behaviors.

All of these things are common findings in children with PDD-NOS. Here is a website that explains it well:

http://autism.about.com/od/whatisautism/f/whatispddnos.htm

PDD-NOS stands for pervasive developmental disorder not otherwise specified. In essence, it's a diagnosis that means "on the autism spectrum, but not falling within any of the existing specific categories of autism."
To explain more fully, there are five disorders that fall under the category of "pervasive developmental disorders" (PDDs). These include autism, Asperger syndrome, Rett syndrome, fragile X syndrome, and PDD-NOS. Autism, Asperger syndrome, Rett syndrome and fragile X are all specifically described in the DSM-IV -- the manual that practitioners use to diagnose neurological disorders.
Many children have some symptoms of one PDD and some symptoms of another, but not enough of any one of the four specific disorders to receive a diagnosis. Thus, they do have a PDD -- but they do not have Rett syndrome, fragile X, Asperger syndrome, or autism. As a result, they receive the catch-all diagnosis of PDD-NOS.
There is a common belief that the diagnosis PDD-NOS means that a child has, in essence, a touch of autism. In fact, this may be true or untrue. A child may, for example, have only a few mild symptoms of a PDD and still qualify for the PDD-NOS label. On the other hand, he may have very severe delays in language and communication skills, but still not qualify for a specific autism diagnosis.
At present, physicians are not in agreement as to exactly when a child should be diagnosed with PDD-NOS, autism, or Asperger syndrome. As a result, it is very possible for the same child to receive different diagnoses from different physicians while exhibiting exactly the same symptoms.

So, now we have to start visiting more specialists again to look again at genetics, psychiatric issues, gastrointestinal issues, behavioral issues, and metabolic issues. Thank God we have great medical insurance. It's expensive, but we have no copays for doctor visits and don't need any referrals. So, here we go on a new journey...well, the same journey, but now it has a name.

Drama!

Well, yesterday afternoon was an eventful one. After my son's nap, I took the kids to the playground with the cars (like I do just about every single day). We were there for less than a half hour when my daughter, who is usually all smiles, got very fussy. I tried to feed her, and she started to cry. I thought maybe she needed to teethe, but she didn't want anything in her mouth. She started crying harder, and I thought maybe she had a gas pain, so I walked her in the "colic position" with her tummy down on my arm and her chin cradled in my hand) and bounced her, and patted her. Soon she was screaming, and I couldn't figure out what was wrong. I couldn't find anything poking her, stinging her, any other boo boos, or figure out why she was crying. So, I decided to take her home to give her some Tylenol and maybe gas drops. After about five minutes in the car, she started screaming like she was in horrific pain like I've never heard her cry before, and still the crying escalated. I thought something must be seriously wrong. I've heard crying from gas, but I've never heard anything like this. It was horrifying. So, I took her to the pediatric emergency room instead, thinking maybe she ate something during a one second interval that I didn't have my eyes on her or she had some sort of something somewhere going on that was horrible. They took us in right away, and looked for all sorts of things like a hair tourniquet (kids get a hair wrapped around a finger or toe and it becomes very painful), stings, mulch splinters, something stuck in her mouth or throat, ear infection, corneal abrasion, fever, and found nothing. After awhile, she just stopped crying. We never did figure out what was wrong. Maybe it was just the mother of all gas pains. We'll probably never know. The doctor agreed that the crying was unusually intense. I'd rather be safe than sorry.

While we were there, my husband met us, and took my son outside to play. While walking down the steps, my son missed one and fell, twisting his foot. He started limping pretty badly. We all went home, and put ice on my son's foot, but he started to limp much worse, and just stand on one foot...so...

We went back to the pediatric emergency room. And guess what? Nothing was wrong. Just a twist and a bruise. Sheesh. A whole lotta drama over nothing.

I got out of cooking dinner anyway. LOL We picked up some excellent Chinese food on the way home.

Later this morning, I'm taking my son to the neurologist. I hope that he will be able to illuminate some way for me to help my son more than I am now.

I'll update my blog after we go to let you know what happened.