I have to rattle my brain and try to remember everything going on this week. Brendan went to the dentist on Tuesday. I was really worried about his teeth because they are more yellow than Trevor’s. Because Brendan does not eat, plus his reflux issues, plus general trach issues, his teeth are high risk. We had to pick a special dentist that has privileges to work in the hospital with the cardiac anesthesiologists if Brendan needs any procedures.
I was pleasantly surprised when the dentist told me that Brendan’s teeth looked great. Far far better than what he would have expected, compared to other kids like him. Brendan was stressed and unhappy about the tooth exam and we had to hold him still, but it went well enough. He will go back in 6 months, but to my shock, he does not need anything else right now. Yay!

He went for an eye checkup on Thursday. It was mostly to see how he was doing with his new prescription. Brendan actually stayed calm and let the doctor check his eyes with no fuss. All is well so far, he just needs to keep wearing his glasses!

Today was a really special day for the boys. We have had this tree stump in the corner of our yard for years. Bill and the boys have casually worked at digging and excavating here and there and it was a deep dangerous hole. Trevor enjoyed playing there though.

We are ready for work!

Giant heavy stump/root ball. It is too much to lift. We just needed the right tools.

Brendan is getting buckled in.

Ready for work

It is kind of loud when it fires up

Ready – years of waiting….

Over in less than a minute! The best part of this video is the little foremen shouting commentary!

Then the boys got their turn to drive the bucket

When I lifted Brendan down, he kept kicking his feet and saying “I’m not done!!!!!”

They love dirt clods

Work’s all done, time for a cold one. 🙂 Pulling out a giant root calls for a root beer

Bill loaded it into his truck and took it to the dump

The whole afternoon in time lapse! 🙂

I am happy that we are all healthy again for now. Other than the truck suddenly needing some expensive transmission work, the week has been ok. Busy, but good.

We have the rental digger until Monday… what should we dig next?

Trying to figure out how to arrange a babysitter for our boys is a real challenge. We don’t have an answer. So Bill and I went to see the new Star Wars movie today and left the boys at home. It is good to not worry about avoiding spoilers so much now. We both enjoyed the film, even though it pushed a little too hard on the “nostalgia button”.

The boys are getting over the cold part II. It has been runny noses and extra suctions, but nothing too bad. They will hopefully be healthy soon. We did go to the aquarium to try to get them out of the house for a while.

This is a fish they call “Puffer Buddy”.

Trevor says they are making lobster soup. Some for me please!

Trevor in a bubble

What? Turtle butt

Shark!

They have a playground at the end. The boys played until Brendan needed oxygen and we went home.

You didn’t honestly believe that we left the boys home alone? We had to go see the movie in shifts. I went to a morning show while Bill stayed home with the boys and Bill went in the afternoon while we went to the aquarium. Such is the way of our life now.

And for a brief rant about babysitting: It is more complicated than most people assume. We do have respite care benefits provided by Brendan’s disability insurance and we could get a nurse. The nurse is not legally allowed to care for Trevor, so we would have to have a second person watching him.
If we called for a nurse, they would send us someone we have never met before. Or maybe we would interview them ahead of time and they would come by. They may have dealt with trachs before, but most of them have not ever seen a case like Brendan.

What happened today when Bill was home with them is that Brendan and Trevor had a fight about some Lego figure. Trevor got frustrated and took it out on Brendan by yanking his oxygen line. Brendan’s trach came out. Ever since the failed decannulations, trach removal is a big deal. Brendan shrieks and fights and panics about having it put back in. It takes a monumental effort and a practiced hand to get it put back. Brendan starts to turn blue from screaming.

If a brand new nurse was working (some of the ones that have been sent out have never done a trach change!), and she could not pin him down and get the trach in, she would call 911. It would just go downhill from there. Even the nurses and doctors in the emergency rooms have to ask us a million questions to understand Brendan. What if he went in without us?

It makes my head throb and my stomach turn. So we see movies in shifts.

I hate to even write this, but Brendan is sick again. Last night he just started with the super runny nose and dripping trach with lots of coughing. So far only a little oxygen is needed. I hope this is a different, milder virus that will be gone soon and not a relapse of the nasty one from December.

This week I have scheduled no less than 12 doctor and dentist appointments for me and the boys. It is going to be a busy time.

The first one off the list was Trevor at the dentist!

He got a full cleaning and exam and was such an awesome boy about it. He only got slightly upset at the taste of the gritty toothpaste, but that was over fast and he didn’t cry.

I was very proud of him for being so still, quiet, and cooperative, especially since I took Brendan along to watch the whole thing. Brendan’s appointment is next week and it is going to be the antithesis of this appointment.

But this dentist has a playground!

I took the boys to Toys’R’Us for a little reward afterwards. When I took the boys to the car, Brendan was reaching back in the shopping cart and trying to grab Trevor’s bag. A little pushing and noise followed until Trevor looks Brendan right in the eyes and says, “Brendan!! You are pushing my limits!!!”

I almost fell over. Never a dull moment. 🙂