Another week in the big city.

I am - what some might call - procrastinating.

I've had sick kids and family visiting. I was away for almost a week for doctors appointments in the big city. And I've not been particularly emotionally strong enough to concentrate on anything important. So, my schooling has slid to the wayside. For almost a month. And now I have only a couple months left and I must get at it. But my brain is fuzzy and I am the exact opposite of motivated.

Sometimes I find it really hard to juggle life and school.

Now that crazy month is over and I must, I mean really MUST, get back into the swing of things. But today, with only an hour left before I must pick up my beautiful children, then spend 2 1/2 hours with Finleigh and her developmental aide, and then help my son register for Jr. High tonight, I will not be swinging in. I can tell my self that I will after Finn goes to bed, but if I'm honest with myself, I know that will not happen.

So, I will ease into things with a blog post (I am still writing after all). And I will tell you about our week in the big city.

We went to see three specialists for Finleigh. The paediatric ophthalmologist, the paediatric ENT and the paediatric sleep doc. All went well. Well, I say that as if it was an easy week. All went well in that we didn't find out any new catastrophic news, but things did not go all that smoothly.

We drove the four hours down in snow and rain. In mid-April. We are all getting a little cranky about the snow. And then it snowed most of the week we were there. Finleigh would not cooperate with the ophthalmologist. She completed only a couple tests with the resident (before she started throwing things around the room) and would barely even look at the doctor, who said we should get her on the surgery list, even though he's leery with her behaviour. You see, it seems that she is the perfect candidate for eye muscle correction - given her age and her vision issues. Perfect. Except for her behaviour. He's very worried she will hurt herself post surgery. But what can we do? It's not like her behaviour's going to change much. So November. We should have surgery to fix her lazy eyes in November.

She was a little more cooperative for the ENT. She actually opened her mouth. She was concerned that a scope would be put down her nose, which had happened last time. But the doc just wanted to look at her tonsils and adenoids, so she was safe. And she cooperated so that he could see if her tonsils and adenoids are interfering with her breathing at night. Which they likely are a bit. So, surgery to have them removed. And to look at everything structurally in that region again since her last scopes were when she was a baby. That surgery, also in November and hopefully coordinated with her eye surgery, unless there's a cancellation, then we'll take that earlier date instead.

The sleep doc. Well, she's pleased that the ENT is going to take her tonsils out. And was surprised that the antihistamines didn't help Finleigh sleep better, so she prescribed something stronger. I took the prescription and put it in my folder and forgot about it. Until yesterday, when I had it filled. I gave Finn a half dose last night, according to the doctor's orders, and low and behold, Finleigh slept all night. To bed at 7:45pm. Awake at 6am. We didn't hear a peep from her otherwise. Coincidence? I don't know. Only time will tell with that one. Certainly didn't make our morning today any easier.

We'd planned on going home on the Friday, but the weather was still kind of ugly and the highways weren't great, so we stayed an extra night in the big city... which turned out to be an extra night and 5 hours because - out of our normal routine - both Brian and I gave Finleigh her acebutolol without checking with the other one. Which meant my daughter had a double dose of heart medication running through her system. Since we didn't think that being in the middle of nowhere (on our way home) if our daughter's heart stopped was a good idea, we headed over to the hospital, where sweet Finleigh spent the next 5 hours having her vitals monitored. Aside from a pretty low blood pressure for a little while, she was fine and perfectly happy to get all the attention.

And that, is that. Our trip to the big city. In a less than inspired tone. Written more like a school paper than a blog post. Full of facts. Some told sarcastically, perhaps, but still just facts. Nearly devoid of feelings.

Perhaps another day, I will ponder my feelings about surgeries and being overwhelmed and wondering if I should be in school right now. Maybe one day I'll expand on my frustration with her behaviour that is so often out of control one minute and then incredibly loving and sweet the next (as if you haven't heard that before). Perhaps another day.