Another Trip To The ER

This past Saturday Sam and I took a trip to the Loma Linda ER. He had been complaining of pain in his right hip for a coulple of days and suddenly was unable to walk. So off we went. I thought on the way out there that it would be a faily easy semi-short trip. It was a Saturday late morning, the BEST time to go to the ER (if you HAVE to go). We arrived at 11am and were in the back with the doctor by 11:30..told you its the best time to go. The Dr decided that she would run some x-rays to see if they could find any signs of new fractures. The results came back and as far as she could tell there was nothing. But just to be sure she called the orthopedics team to see if she could be missing something. So Ortho came down to take a look. They messed with Sams legs and decided that they wanted to do a CT Scan and run some blood work. So that was all done. The CT showed nothing out of the ordinary, BUT his blood work showed signs of infection. Now mind you it doesn't tell you what kind of infection or where the infection might be.
So now this brought up a whole new worry. Now they were thinking he might have an infection in his hip joint. So he had to have an ultra-sound done on both hips to see if there was any sign of fluid that could indicate infection. Long story short, there was no fluid so they still dont know why he is having pain and unable to walk. Plus they have no idea why his blood work is showing signs of infection. Now we just have to get an appointment with the ortho DR, who I do not like, to see if he can find out what the problem is.
Hey I bet you I can tell you right now what he is going to say..... He will say that it is because Sam is over weight and that if he lost weight that he would no longer have these problems.....

STOLEN MOMMY!!!!!

HELP! My mommy has been STOLEN!!!

OK so maybe she hasn't actually been stolen, maybe just borrowed. Sunday my friend Karyn asked me to go to Riverside with her on Monday to see her grandmother. I really wanted to go but I have to go to the district office to get Sam all set up at his new school. I was so bummed that I could not go on this adventure with my buddy. We love going on adventures and lately it seems we have just not been able to coordinate or schedules. So then my "friend" decided to take my mommy.

Hello she is MY MOMMY!

Actually I am very glad that she took my mom. I know she has wanted to go out and visit Karyn's grandmother and get to know her better.

BUT, Karyn better watch out. Her mommy may move down here one day. Then I will just have to steal HER mommy!!!

HAHAHAHAHAHAHA! (suppose to be evil laughter)

It has been awhile but now I am back

I just realized that it has been over a month since I have posted anything on here. So i figured that its about time I did something about it. There really hasn't been anything exciting going on.

Thankfully Sam has been in relatively good health so there is nothing new to report there.

Gabi is running for President at her school. I am hopeing that she will become more involved this year. So far she seems to be. She has suddenly taken to getting up at 5:30 in the morning to go with my niece Amanda to workout. She has also decided that she wants to learn how to play soccer. I keep asking her what "his" name is. she has suddenly taken an interest in things at school and in fitness...there must be a boy behind it! She just laughs at me and says "mom there is no boy....at least not right now." Gabi and I are taking the marriage class at church. I hope that this will help show her what she needs to be looking for in a mate.

I am still watching the same little boy and waiting for the county to come inspect my home so that I can start advertising for more kids.

So there is my life right now in a nut shell. Hopefully I will be a little better about writing more often.......though I am making no promises.

Sams mini autobiography

Here is the autobiography that Sam wrote for the first day of school. I was really hoping that he would explain a little more about his condition or family, but this is what he came up with. We are now working on another one that goes a little deeper. Enjoy!

My name is Samuel Markus Bench. I was born on Thanksgiving Day, November 23, 1995. When I was just over one month old I was diagnosed with Osteogenesis Imperfecta. This means that my bones are fragile and tend to break fairly easy. This is why I use a wheelchair most of the time.
I have attended many schools. I went to pre-school at Wee-Care here in Hemet. I started kindergarten at Studebaker Elementary in Norwalk. Then we moved back to Hemet and I went to Whittier Elementary and then to San Jacinto Elementary. After kindergarten I went to Fruitvale Elementary for 1st and 2nd grade. We moved again and I went to Hemet Elementary for the first part of third grade. I changed schools during third grade because I was in a wheelchair Hemet Elementary was not set up for me to be able to get around easily. So I changed schools again and went to Bautista Creek. I stayed there through the 5th grade. For the 6th grade I went to Dartmouth Middle school. And finally last year I transferred to Riversprings, and am still here.
I enjoy playing video games. My favorite game right now is Battlefield II for the computer. I also have a Playstation 2, a GameBoy SP, and a Nintendo DS Lite. I really want an X-box 360 or a Wii. When I get older I would like to work on designing video games. I already have a few ideas in my head.

Update on Sam

WARNING SOME ITEMS IN THE BLOG MAY BECOME A LITTLE GRAPHIC. IF YOU HAVE A WEAK STOMACH YOU MAY NOT WISH TO CONTINUE READING.

As most of you already know Sam was in the hospital this past week.

It all started a few months ago. Sam woke up one morning and was unable to stand up let alone walk. He could barely crawl. I took him to the emergency room at Loma Linda thinking that he had a new broken bone in either his hips or his back. The doctor ordered X-Rays and also believed that he was suffering from a new fracture. When the X-rays were read they determined that he had no new fractures but that he was so badly constipated that it was pushing his spine out. The doctor prescribed MIRALAX powder and told us to follow up with his pediatrician in 3 weeks.

Fast forward 3 weeks.

We met with Dr Kieth Sam's pediatrician and she proceeded to push and poke around on his stomach. She determined that though Sam had some relief and was now able to walk again, he was still extremely backed up. So over the course of a weekend she prescribed 2 enemas plus 2 bottles of Magnesium Citrate, Miralax, Dulcalax, and Bena-Fiber. He was to follow this up with a new X-Ray 2 days later. So we followed the DR's orders...POOR SAM!!!! The day after the X-Ray the doctor called me and said "you were not suppose to do the X-Ray till after Sam took all the medications!" I told her we did wait until after all the meds were done to have the X-Ray done. She informed me that none of the meds had taken care of the problem so she was going to refer him to a GI doctor at Loma Linda. I HATE referrals...they take FOREVER to get from the insurance and then Loma Linda takes forever to input them into the computer!!!!! So it took us almost 2 months to even get an appointment and the appointment was a month out form then! In the mean time poor Sam is suffering yet again.

Fast forward three months.

So on July 29th we finally got to meet with Doctor Shah the GI specialist. I really like this doctor. He sat down with us and explained every thing that needed to be done. Starting with the fact that he felt Sam needed to be placed in the hospital as soon as possible to get him cleaned out. He told us to go on home and get things ready to return to the hospital as soon as they called with a bed available. Well we didn't get called back to the hospital till the next afternoon. (much drama ensued in trying to get to the hospital, but I will save that for another post).

On July 30th Sam was admitted to Loma Linda University Hospital also known as our second home. As soon as we arrived they informed us that until they got Sam cleaned out he would not be allowed anything by mouth until he was cleaned out completely. He could not even have water or ice chips. They hooked him up to an IV and then had to insert a tube in his nose that went into his stomach, this was not fun. The only thing they gave him to make it easier was Benadryl. (I so would have been knocked out for days). Then they hooked up what looks like an IV bag to the tube in his nose and began to administer a medicine called GoLytely which the doctor said was like an enema only given a little differently. When Sam and I went to bed that night they only had one bag hooked up to the tube, but when we woke in the morning the doctor said that it wasn't working fast enough so they ended up hooking two bags up to it. Finally after almost 12 hours the medication started to take effect. Poor Sam, Poor nurses! It was awful. Sam had a commode set right next to the bed and had a very hard time making it the one step it took him to get to it. And every time he went the nurses would have to weigh it and clean out the commode. It was not a pretty picture for anyone involved. Especially a 12 year old boy! It took almost 2 gallons and about 52 hours for Sam to get cleaned out. They did a new X-Ray and said that he was finally clear. They also did an MRI to see if they could find out if it was caused by anything that he might have going on in his spine. We wont get the results of the MRI for two weeks. He was released from the hospital on Saturday August 2nd. And will now have to take Miralax for the rest of his life and they also started him on Metformin a diabetic medication to help keep him from becoming diabetic and to help him with his weight. As soon as we have more information I will let you all know!

Thanks for your prayers!

More Reason to Trust in GOD

For those of you who don't yet know what has been happening at our house the last few days, well months actually, here is a little update.

Sam is heading to Loma Linda once again. But this time it is not for a broken bone. Although they may ultimately find out that it is caused by the spinal fractures that he has.

A few months ago Sam woke up and could not walk or even stand up. So I took him to the hospital thinking he had broke something. They did x-rays and said that he hadn't broke but the problem was he was so constipated that it was pushing his spine out. There is no way I would have thought that he was having this particular problem being that he uses the restroom 2 to 3 times a day. So they put him on medication for 3 weeks and then he had to follow up with his pediatrician. So we went to the DR after the 3 weeks and she said that he was still very backed up so she put him on all kinds of meds, he had to have 2 enemas and drink all this nasty stuff. Then he had to have MORE x-rays. The DR called me and said that none of the meds had helped him. The poor boy was living on the toilet at this point he was going so much. So she referred us to a specialist at Loma Linda. It took us almost 3 moths to finally get in to see the DR yesterday. So now he wants him admitted to the hospital and they are going to put a tube down his nose into his stomach and try to flush everything out it will probably take 2 to 3 days to get him completely cleaned out. Then they will do an MRI and numerous tests to try and find out why this happened and to see if this is going to continue. Can we say "FUN"

They were suppose to get him in last night but they didn't have any beds available so hopefully they can get him in today.

And if this were not enough reason to call on the Lord, My van is not working and I am not sure how I am going to afford to get it fixed. But I will not stress over it. The Lord ALWAYS provides even when I don't see a way HE make it happen!

Car Issues

The other day I took the car in for an oil change and found out that I have a leak in the Coolant Reservoir. It is just a tiny little whole. Now I have a feeling that this will need to be replaced a lot sooner than I originally thought. I was driving home from the Dowalters this evening and the van is wanting to over heat. I wish I had taken Auto Shop in High School. I looked on line and if that is what the problem is I can get the part for around $8 at Auto Zone. What I know is going to kill me is having it installed! I am praying that that is what the problem is and that I can find a decent HONEST mechanic who can help me out with out costing me an arm and a leg.
Any suggestions?

What a week

I had a pretty good week. I actually got a few things accomplished, had some fun with the kids, and a laugh or two thrown in.

My week started out as any normal week for me. My little munchkin Ayden came over plus I had the Anna 3. What I didnt know is that sadly my sweet Ayden was only going to be with me on Monday, he has not been back at all this week. I really missed him. So Monday was fairly uneventful.
On Tuesday I had the Anna brood again. i had to cancel my morning meeting..sad..(but reschedualed for next week) and in the afternoon attended my PTSO meeting at Sams school. For those of you who are wondering it is the Parent Teacher Student Organization. (kind of like PTA) We discussed fundraisers and events that will be coming in the next 2 months. In the evening I went to Womens Walk in Grace. I really need to finnish unpacking so I can find my book...I know it is around here somewhere!
Wednesday we went to the movies. The free movies that is this week was Jonah A VeggieTales Movie and The Last Mimzy. Mom took the older kids to see mimzy and I took the younger ones to see Jonah. In the evening we got ready for church and I decided that I would relax for just a minute, after all I still had an hour before church....BIG MISTAKE! At 7 Gabi came in my room and asked "arent we going to church tonight?" (church starts at 630) I really need to remember to take my Iron, if I dont all I do is sleep!
Thurday, well for some reason I cannot remember what the kids and I did at all! Oh yeah I had an extra little boy at my house on Thursday. He was too cute! I do know that in the evening Sam went and stayed at the Annas and Gabi had two of her teenage girls stay the night....they GIGGLED ALL NIGHT LONG!!!!
So far not nothing interesting has happened........Just wait Friday is next!
I woke up with a MAJOR allergy headache. So when the Anna crew arrived I put on a movie for the girls and Sawyer and I cuddled on the couch. He was asleep in an instant! Suddenly I heard my screen door open followed by the door slowly opening! There stood a dead teenage boy!!! Okay so he wasnt dead till after he opended the door. How dare this little punk just walk in to my house!!!! I was one of Gabis little friends boyfriend...boy did he get an earful for thinking he could just walk in to my house! A while later Shirley and I went to the DUM N VEE (DMV) and paid for the registration on the van and took it to get smogged ( Yay it passed). As I was comming home my darling daughter had one of her little friends call to tell me that the Reeds dog Missy got out of our yard (oh yeah I was doggy sitting as well). For those of you who know me you know that when it comes to dogs I do not have the greatest of luck with these creatures! SO the flock of teenagers was out in the neighborhood trying to catch poor scared Missy. This silly dog ran accross the street to my neighbors house and proceeded to jump up on the roof of one of there cars. Gabi tried to get her down but instead she jumped to the roof of another car and proceeded to pee on the windshield of said car! Have I mentioned that WE ARE OBVIOUSLY NOT DOG PEOPLE!!!!! But it all ended well. Missy came back to the house with out too much more drama for the rest of the day. I know she was very excited to be home when I took her home in the evening.
So all in all it was a pretty boring week!

Just a little post

I haven't blogged in a while and decided that maybe it was time I came in and said a few words.

This weekend the kids and I were treated to an awesome mini vacation. A dear family treated us to a weekend at Disneyland and California Adventure. We left on Saturday afternoon stopped in Yorba Linda and had lunch at Olive Garden. YUMMY. Gabi really enjoyed the drive thru Yorba Linda although she was disappointed that I wouldn't stop and let the shirtless boys wash the car. Then we headed out to Anaheim. We stayed at the Disney Grand Californian Hotel and Spa. It was a very nice hotel. They gave Sam 3 free trading pins so he was very happy. (for those of you who don't know, Disney has pin trading which the Reeds introduced Sam to) The kids and I went to California Adventure for awhile before dinner. We went on the Monsters Inc ride and watched the Drawing Disney show. It was really pretty cute. Then we went to Downtown Disney and met up with our friends for dinner at the Jazz Kitchen. After dinner we all went to Disneyland and went on a few rides. Then all the girls left and went back to the hotel. I let Gabi go and explore the lobby for awhile by herself. Sam stayed at Disneyland with the boys. Then we watched the fireworks from the hotel balcony. They were still to loud for me but I think that is mainly because I am having a little trouble with my hearing....getting old you know!
On Sunday morning we went to the Storybook Cafe and had breakfast with the Disney characters. That was really neat. I just wish I had a camera. After breakfast I thought we were going to meet up with our friends again at Disneyland, BUT NOOOO OUR FRIENDS DITCHED US!!! But the kids and I still had a good time. I went on Splash Mountain with Sam....Not cool! Sam wanted us to sit in the front. Fine except we get to the front and Sam cant sit there because he is not 5 feet all yet. So I have to sit in the front. Ummmm what I didn't know is that the bigger the person is that is in the front the wetter you get. Well you all know me...I am quite "fluffy" so I was SOAKED from the top of my head to my ankles. Some how my socks and shoes stayed dry. Sam got wet too but not like me.
Later in the day we went back over to California Adventure. Soaring Over California is probably one on my favorite rides now! We tried to go on the new Toy Story Ride. I say try because, well, we waited in line for an hour then finally got on the ride we were ready to play and then the ride broke down. :( We ended up stuck on the ride for about an hour. They had to bring Sam's wheelchair around to us which was very hilarious. The girl that they had drive it was terrified. I told her that she could add wheelchair driver to her resume now. We left the parks around 7pm and came home. It was a nice little vacation but it would have been better if our friends hadn't ditched us.

Just a leisurely Saturday

Today was just a nice a quiet day. Not a whole lot going on. I was suppose to baby sit for the Dowalters but they decided to stay home. Sam and I went over to their house around noon to go swimming...ok so Sam went swimming with Jeron and the boys while Val and the baby and I hung out in the house.
My bestest friend(yes it is a word), Karyn called and invited us all to go have lunch at this neat little pizza place in Riverside/Moreno Valley. We had lots of fun. It is called Johns something or other...cant remember the exact name. Any ways it is basically a Chuck E Cheese on steroids! You cant go in unless you get the buffet which was actually pretty good. Though they did have a hard time keeping up with the demand. They have all kinds of pizza (much better than CEC) pastas, baked potatoes, salad, bread sticks, and a dessert bar where they make little doughnuts that taste like funnel cakes.....yummm
Instead of tokens you put your "credits" on a little bar coded card. Any tickets you receive for playing games you take to this little machine and they are transfered to your card. Its great because you do not have to use your credits or tickets all on one trip. You can save them. Plus if you join their VIP you earn "pizza bucks" that you can use to purchase food, credits, or merchandise. You also get coupons and a free meal during your month of birthday...pretty cool huh!
After that we just took my mom home and came home to wait for Gabi to return from Matt's.
Now I am just getting ready to head for a little BIBLE reading and then to bed. Gotta be up early for church tomorrow!

Another Night of Insomnia

It is 12:30 in the morning. I should be sound asleep. I am tired but my mind is going 500 miles a minute! This is VERY annoying.

I guess I am just worrying. I know that there is no cause for it, and that GOD is in control.I am just terrified of failing. I am beginning to wonder if this move was the right thing to do. I just do not feel at home here. I know it is just my insecurities. And the fact that I have never really rented a house on my own before. From the time I was little it seemed we always lived in an apartment or a duplex. I think the reason I feel this way is the fact that I don't know anyone around here. In an apartment/duplex you seem to get to know your neighbors fairly quick. I haven't met anyone around here and that's not to say that they are unfriendly. The problem is me. I have found myself introverting more and more lately. I am much more scared and nervous around strangers. Even around my friends i have been finding myself closing up. Not wanting to be apart of anything.
Take this evening for example. My Sunday School class had a 4th of July picnic and bar-b-que. I had been looking forward to going, then at the last minute I just wanted to say forget it and stay home. I forced my self to go. I love these people who were going to be there. Yet suddenly I was a nervous wreck and terrified to be there with everyone. I stayed for only about an hour and a half. As soon as the meal was over I just had this feeling that I needed to get out of there. My best friend was asking me what was wrong and all I could say was that I was ready to go home. I had to get out of there quickly before the tears came. I find myself in tears just about everyday. Some times 8 or 9 times a day. I am beginning to think that I am going crazy and that I need help. I think I may need to go see one of the pastors or even worse a doctor. I just want these feelings to go away. I have been praying to this end but some days just feel so disconnected to God.

Out Numbered

Its not very often that this happens. But every now and the Gabi and I become the minority. I have a house full of little (and not so little) boys tonight. Nathanael and Matthew Reed have come to spend the night. Well once their little brother Jonathan found out that they were spending the night he just HAD to stay at Miss Terry's too! So the count is boys 4 girls 2......Boys win.

Today was my moms birthday. I still have no idea what to get her. Maybe while I run her around tomorrow I will be able to find something special. Jason, Karyn and the kids (I almost said the boys..sorry Grace I didnt mean to almost forget you) bought her a big bunch of balloons and a birthday hat. They gave them to her at our church wide Bar-B-Q that we had tonight. I wish I had felt better because I really wanted to be able to enjoy it. Hopefully on Friday when we have our Sunday School Bar-B-Q I will be feeling better.

Well I am obviously getting very tired. i can tell because I feel like I am rambling on and on with nothing important to say.

Good Night world. I will try to be better tomorrow!

An Evening with A Friend

I have this friend. She is just so amazing. She and her kids came over tonight to hang out. We didn't have anything planned really just another opportunity to enjoy one an others company. The kids were getting hungry so we decided we should try to "find" my dining room table. (its been buried in the dining room since we moved). Well we found it . YAY! So in to the oven our corn dogs went. Then we decided that since we did such a great job with the dining room, maybe we should try to find the kitchen counters. That took a little longer than the dining room. But we got all but one bin unloaded and put away! AMAZING! At this rate I might actually have the house ready for the party on the 12th.

Some times I really wonder why Karyn is my friend. God has truly blessed me by putting her in my life. She has done so much for me and my family. She and her husband took me and my kids in when we had nowhere else to go. She and her family have helped me move 4 times since we met. She puts up with my crazy mood swings and is just always there when I need anything.

I know that you are reading this Karyn and I just want you to know how much you and your family mean to me and my family.I truly do not know where I would be today without you. You are the most AMAZING friend I could have ever hoped or prayed for.

THANK YOU FOR EVERYTHING!!!!

FIrst Post EVER

I have finally got a blog. What can I say I gave in to the peer pressure placed on me by my "friends". Now I guess I will have to start thinking of interesting and witty things to post. Though I doubt that will happen. Most likely I will just be writing of the day to day activities of a single mom with 2 kids who is currently trying to start a family day care.

God Bless you all!