Cougar strikes

Yesterday was very busy for a Sunday, and Michael and I fell into bed exhausted about 11pm, and I knew I needed to fall asleep fast as I was getting up at 4:15 to get the boys and I over the mountain for Jackson's BAER test. At 11:15 Carter started crying, real crying, so Michael went into him and spent an hour trying to get him to sleep and I tried to ignore the little sad boy across the hall from me and fall asleep so I wouldn't kill him on the road in the morning. Michael crawled into bed a little after midnight and he and I went to sleep for "realsies". At 1:30 Carter woke up crying again and this time I got up and through my amazing Mommy senses discovered Carter had an earache (or maybe I knew because he was screaming "my ear hurts" over and over). So I got him some medicine and a drink and put him in bed between Michael and I. Then I proceeded to listen to him moan and groan and whimper until 4:15 am. I know I dozed off at times because I remember being annoyed and a tiny bit sympathetic when his moans woke me. That was Cougar strike number 1. The boys and I were on the road by 5 am and the first 20 minutes Carter amused me with every thought that was crossing his mind but after that he and Jackson participated in synchronized snoring--they are scary good. By Ellensburg I was feeling bad for Michael because I was so sure I was going to fall asleep at the wheel and leave him a widow. So I pulled over in Ellensburg and did something I have never done, bought a 5 hour energy drink. I got back in the car wondering if I should really take it---I glanced in the rear view mirror at those cute boys and decided I had to try. It tasted like the time when I was a kid and took a huge swallow of sour milk. It took me five force feedings to get it all down, and it's not a big bottle, about the size of sample shampoo (which I'm pretty sure would taste better). I blame having to drink that swill on Carter too--so Cougar strike number 2. I don't want to advertise these drinks because I'm pretty sure they are not health elixirs but it worked, and I got us to Children's Hospital in Seattle awake and alive! By this time Carter remembered his ear hurt and conveniently we were scheduled in audiology for Jackson's BAER (Brainstem Auditory Evoked Response) test. The audiologist looked in Cougar Man's ears and hooked him up to her timp machine and declared him to have double ear infections. I am starting to look forward to his surgery on Feb. 26th. Poor kiddo I'm sure they hurt.
Jax had to repeat the hearing test to confirm the conductive loss was the same--it was---and it still is not significant so on to the BAER. Because I had Carter this time I wasn't in the room for this BAER test since Jax has to sleep through it. I was afraid the Cougar would strike again and wake him at a critical part of the testing. Before we left Jax we got a photo of him with his four little electrodes on his head---here it is---I think he makes a darling Frankenstein.

Carter and I went to the cafeteria to get breakfast. Carter love the huge fish tank in the dining room so I took a picture of him by it.

Then I saw a family trying to maneuver a wheelchair through the maze of chairs and tables so I ran to help move chairs, and that brings us to Cougar strike number 3. In those couple of minutes he took 17 pictures of the fish in the tank! Gotta love digital cameras, otherwise I would have been out a roll of film. I will post his better pictures...just in case he becomes a famous dive photographer someday.





When Jackson's three hour test was done the audiologist told us that in the first BAER back in September there were significant delays in his auditory pathways. This time the delays are still there, but they are less!! No delays would be normal---so we are moving in the right direction, I think. I couldn't get her to commit to anything because normally a BAER is used to determine serious hearing loss in infants who can't communicate, and NOT for neurological reasons--but the delays are less which to me is a great sign that we are moving in the right direction with the right therapies. We left the hospital and went to pick up lunch and Carter's Rx. We had to kill some time waiting to get into our hotel room and by the time we were able to get in our room I was dead on my feet. Jackson, as mentioned more than once by audiologists, is always able to sleep at will (wish my sister Holly and I had that skill) so we got in the room and he fell asleep pronto. I turned on cartoons for Cougar and laid next to him in the other bed and he was looking very drowsy---and thats the last thing I remember. When I woke up I discovered Cougar strike number 4, he managed to order a pay for view movie. I've never in my life ordered one---yet good ole' Cougar, money is no object for him. Luckily he ordered "New Moon" because there was much worse he could of ordered that would have sent me straight to the Bishop's office! So I watched New Moon while Carter jumped from bed to bed about 4 zillion times. During all this my phone rang and I was sharing Jackson's good test results when I noticed the pay per view screen up and Carter just about to order another movie! I grabbed the remote and gave him a talking to that brought the pouty lip out in him. Phew, Cougar strike number 5 was averted. But then it took me 10 good minutes to get out of the pay per view "area" and back to the movie I was already paying for ---how is he doing this?? Then tonight while I was writing this blog Jax stopped Cougar strike number 6 this time Pay per view adult channels! But we figured out how he was getting there (I thought I wizened up after #5 and I had the remote up on the TV armoire) there is a Nintendo controller in one of the armoire drawers and you can control the t.v. with it---who knew. Well, I guess Carter knew! I wholeheartedly second Jackson's opinion that Cougar man is in danger of never being invited on another Chemo trip again!