Ethan’s Journey

Jiminy had his surgery today. He is now neutered. He can never pass his horrible genes on, which is good. His horrible genetics,  that make him such an angel. This little dude is so loving. Loving, that is, until he has to be injected with something. As soon as he gets the injection, his horns grow, his eyes glow a devilish, fiery red and his little fang teeth are out for the taste of blood. His high pitch scream bark could be heard echoing throughout our small community, as he was given his premeds. One poke. With the tiniest of needles. Very dramatic and theatrical. His vet missed her lunch to do his surgeries. It was her 12 hour day. Vets are extraordinary people. The best thing about being his nurse is making sure he is doped up and comfortable. He is sleeping away peacefully with the benefit of opioids.  Ethan had a half day of school today and was able to catch up on some school work. That is always beneficial. All in all, today was a good day. I am ready to have this week over.

 Ethan didn’t go to work today because Covid has it’s claws in some of Ethan’s coworkers. He is being safe by staying home.  Somehow we got into a conversation about money. He schooled me on “star notes”.  A replacement banknote, (star note) is a bill that has been printed to replace a busted up bill and used as a control mechanism for the government to know which bills have been reprinted. Since no two serial numbers can be the same, a star is placed at the end of the serial number to indicate it is a replacement.   We ended up finding a few star notes in some of the bills we have. We then looked up the value on eBay. Some of the bills we had were worth like $40 more than the face value of the bill. One of the bills similar to the one I had was being sold for $1900 more than the face value of the bill. Who is buying this??? It was all stupid fun. It was nice, just the two of us.  We also started watching a show called “Life after Death”. It is a docu-series about what happens to peopl

Last night I got some much needed rest. As fast as my cold came, it left. Yesterday I was hacking and blowing my nose. Today…..nothing. So weird. I am so glad. I had to call the social services office to verify what Ethan’s primary insurance is and also his secondary insurance. You would think this is a straightforward question. I got two different answers on two calls. Ethan is working with a provider that doesn’t accept his insurance. The provider is really good. I don’t want to waste time to switch providers and start all over again. I am at the point where I am going to pay out of pocket just to get the services Ethan needs. I really dislike our current healthcare system. However, I don’t have a solution for something better, so I am accepting what I can’t change. I got home from work and Ethan was napping. We go for bloodwork on Saturday to make sure there is nothing with the kidney that is causing Ethan’s tiredness. I do think it is mostly tied to mood.  Again, we will control wh

Last night I hardly slept at all. I was coughing and congested…my ears hurt and I had a constant tickle in my throat…….basically…super attractive. I am feel like an old, deflating tire that has tire rot. When I got home from work, Ethan was napping in the couch. Depression is exhausting for him. He has been pretty quiet these days. Withdrawn.  My heart was happy for him when he went with Avery and another close friend to go “shopping”. They did teen things all afternoon on Saturday. Potty training the baby in 18 degree weather isn’t the best. Poor little Jiminy. He gets so cold. But he has to learn to be a dog.  Dogs go potty outside. He will get there. I am going to bed super early with the hopes that I will sleep for a few solid hours. Fingers crossed. Happy Birthday Sarah!!!!!!! ❤️❤️❤️

 1 year ago, Ethan and I finally walked out the door of Columbia and made our way to the rehab facility. We were one step closer to home. We reflected today about how long we were gone. We have come such a long way, but there is so much farther to go.  Ethan got the call not to go into work tomorrow because one of his co-workers tested positive for covid. I am so thankful Ethan got the second infusion of  covid antibodies. As I prepared Ethan’s weekly medication tonight, I was looking at all the bottles of pills and vitamins. It has dwindled down and will continue to do so. We go back to NYC towards the end of April. We are getting closer to the 6 month mark where we can discontinue even more medications. Ethan just got the approval to go to every other week bloodwork. That is a win. The weekly, timed lab visits sucked. If we can get a week in between….we will take it. They usually take about 14 -16 vials of blood each time. Ethan keeps plugging along. While time seems slow for him, he

I am so thankful I didn’t have to work today. I was able to finally rest my achy sinus’s, my congested head and plugged ears. I still did a few things around the house.  Jiminy practiced going to the bathroom on the outside of the house. I actually have the time for him to do so. He had a lot of wins today.  Ethan, Avery and their mutual friend went and did some teenage things together. They ended up back at our house watching a movie. I know that Ethan REALLY needed that. Ethan was bummed because a guy at work tested positive for covid so they are going to have Ethan skip a few days of work next week. This little puppy has nothing but love to give. I am thankful he found us. He brings us all together.

I am still feeling like my ears are plugged but my throat doesn’t hurt as bad today. I am coughing my brains out.  It can be easy to get frustrated about being sick. However, the real bright spot is in the fact that I only got sick due to people not wearing their mask…..because Covid numbers are down. I didn’t see much of the kids today. Ethan worked until 6:00.  He likes the “work with your hands” jobs far better than the alternative.