Never a Dull Moment

Life around the Ogden household is a lot of things, but boring is not one of those things.

It seems like things happen on a regular basis to keep us all on our toes.  

Fun Fact #1

As part of what I am calling my "cancer hangover", (thanks to my friend, Cyndi, for that term) my body continues to surprise me with fun things.

Remember my scare a few weeks ago?  Well, I originally went to see my doc because of some pain I have been experiencing in my wrists.  I was afraid it was carpal tunnel.  It was not, but instead I have.... (drum roll please)

De Quervain's Tendinitis

Good news is- no surgery.

Bad news is- lots of physical therapy and a long road to having it heal and not bother me anymore.  I get to wear fun braces on both wrists whenever I am not actively using them.  Which pretty much means I only wear them to sleep.

Well hey- the bright side is- I did not have a physical therapist.  Now I do.  Sure, why not?

 Here are my beautiful braces.  So comfy. :/

Here is what my wrists look like after a visit to the physical therapist.  She puts on this Kinesio tape which I love.  It really helps during the day when I cannot wear the braces and it stays on for 2-3 days.

While at the physical therapist, she also uses an electrode thing to send some inflammatory medicine directly to the tendon.  It's pretty crazy.  I have been going to her for about 2 weeks now and I am finally starting to notice a little bit of a difference.  It is going to take some time for sure.  We are also not sure of the exact cause.  I am sure it is a combination of lifting kids, playing the piano, typing, chemo, radiation...the list goes on and on.

Fun Fact #2

Last weekend we had Emma's Halloween Ice Show.  It was Friday and Saturday night.  Friday night I was volunteering at the Ice Club's Bake Sale and my plan was to spend Saturday finishing up some organization projects I have going on around my house.

Well, the best laid plans....

As I am walking in to the rink on Friday night, my phone rings.  I fumble with all of the bake sale items in my hands and see that it is Josh's cello teacher, Nicole, calling.

"Guess what I just found out?, she says.  "Josh is a finalist for this cello competition that is happening in Park City tomorrow. Yay...or not so yay.

A.)  Josh had to record a CD for this competition over a month ago.  He really practiced the songs before recording the CD, but has not practiced them much since because we were just entering this competition for the experience.  We really did not expect him to get past the first round.

B.)  Apparently only Josh and a few other finalists had not been notified that they are finalists.  So the other finalists that were notified have now had 2 weeks to practice their pieces.  Josh gets less than 24 hours.

C.)  One of the songs that Josh needs to play has a piano accompaniment part.  Guess who gets to accompany him.  Me..the one with the gimpy wrists.  Me..the one who has not played that song since we recorded it over a month ago.  Me.. who will be helping at the bake sale all night only have a few hours to practice this song.  Awesome.

So, once again, my plans are changed.

Instead of working on my house (which is in desperate need of some TLC after over 2 years of no deep cleaning), I am spending the day in Park City with Josh at a cello workshop and competition.

Not a bad change of plans.  Have I mentioned that this kid is completely amazing?

 If he was nervous at all, he didn't really show it.  He just went to work.  His mother was freaking out, but he was as cool as a cucumber the whole day.

(These pics are of him warming up in a random classroom at the middle school we were at.)

Josh did amazingly well all things considered.  We left that competition with no prizes or honors, but with pride and a sense of accomplishment which are even better than awards.  We could have backed out.  We could have said, "Nope.  Not gonna do it."

But that's not how we roll.  We finish the task, no matter how hard it may be.

Great job, Josh.  You make this mommy very proud.

Fun Fact #3

When we got back from our fall break trip, Abbie was suffering from a bit of a cold and earache.  It was bad for a few days, but she seemed to be doing better.

Then we noticed that her ear started looking like this.

Ya, not a normal ear.

And it's very painful for the poor girl.  

So we were off to the Instacare yesterday morning where they told us that she has either a staph or strep infection on her ear.  How she ended up with that, I have no idea.  Like I said, we like to keep things interesting around here.

Took her to the pediatrician today for a follow up and yes, it is definitely a staph infection so we are continuing with her oral and topical antibiotics for the moment and watching it like a hawk.  If it has not changed or gets worse by Wednesday, it's back to the doctor we go for something stronger.  Which probably means IV drugs or a shot at the very least.  

Fingers crossed that this Augmentin does the trick.  Being in the children's hospital with IV antibiotics does not sound like a very fun way to spend Halloween.

We are the Ogden's.  Never a dull moment.  Always on our toes. :)