Homeschooling Math When You Have A Major Illness

I had written this post way back in March and never posted it. So here goes, I hope that it encourages another homeschooling mom that is struggling.

Now lets do some homeschool math here peeps.
Illness + surgery + anastomotic leak + infection [people asking if the child is behind in school to the 10th power] I can't figure out how to do Exponents on my keyboard. = X

 Here is how you solve for X.

Illness = preparing our child/children ahead of time by teaching them to work on their own.
Surgery = having GREAT doctors like my wonderful GI doc that saw me in the hospital in 2011 and my WONDERFUL and AWESOME Colorectal Surgeon that knew just the right time to get that bad boy out of me. I had time plan school around the surgery, we skipped Christmas break so that school did not have to be done during my surgery and hospital stay.
Anastomotic leak = fever, chills, pain & a visit to the ER & then my surgeon calling us at 6:55am to say that I needed to pack a bag and get to the hospital by 4pm that day. to start IV antibotics.
Infection = always a possible complication, but I figured it would never happen HAHAHA!!!
School = people asking if we are behind in school (to the 10th power.)
X = Philippians 4:13 "I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me."

 

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http://adoptivemomhomeschoolinganonlychild.blogspot.com/

Mayo Clinic Day 4

We finally felt settled in and had a routine going. I can find my way in the Subway alone (without my child as my guide!) and not get lost, know which set of elevators goes to the 18th floor and such.

Today was a pretty slow day, just had to get a blood test at 8am and 4pm, then collect urine in a jug for 24 hours. The child went on some nice tours of Mayo and a few other local buildings. He had a wonderful time and met a number of people from around the country and other parts of the world. You know how those unsocialized homeschoolers are! lol.

Enjoyed the pool and loved the skylights, relaxed and chatted on the phone with my best girl friends (Brenda, Lee, Sue & Val) under the stars.

Had a bit of a worry when it started sleeting and then snowing, but we lucked out and did not get all the snow that they got up North.

Steroids are finally kicking in and I'm feeling mighty fine!  We actually went jogging in the Subway around 10pm. We spent part of the evening at the library and walking through the mall. This place is like a self contained city.

Below is a picture of the Mayo Brothers that started Mayo Clinic, if you have a chance to read their story (we got it free from the library) it's really interesting. They also were the first to research Cortisol and that is what I am here for. YIPPE!!!  I am so thankful for the 2 doctors that told me to come here, if nothing else we have had a good time and met some very nice folks along the way. And I am blessed with doctors that took the time to get to know me and feel comfortable in telling me that they I needed to look else where for answers to my health issues.
Moe


This picture was on a post card. I could not find this statue or I would have had the child sit on their lap for photo op!

Happy Celiac Awareness Month!!

Happy Celiac Awareness Month!! Not really happy about it. lol. But that is ok, cause I feel so much better off gluten!  What are you doing to Celebrate? I'm teaching a gluten free cooking class called Bread & Sweets. Can't wait!! Lots of goodies cooking in the oven as I type.

Hugs,

 

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http://adoptivemomhomeschoolinganonlychild.blogspot.com/

Mayo Clinic Day 3 & A Lesson Learned

By now it has really sunk in, we are at Mayo Clinic! The child kept saying this over and over "I can't believe we are here! At Mayo Clinic."  I think I was still numb from it all and still wondering if I should really be here or not. Since I don't have cancer and I'm not 'dying of anything.' It has just been such a whirlwind of testing, meetings with the doctor etc. Today was the physical exam and let me tell you I've never been examined like that in my life before. I think that the doctor went over ever INCH of me! lol. He had me bending, stretching, moving and all sorts of stuff in addition to the exam.

Now for the fun stuff hahaha. I was suppose to get undressed for this exam and put a gown on. lol. Well the day before when I had the Holter Monitor put on me, I had a sports bra on (I know TMI for you guys! lol) so there was no way I could get my bra off, it was just hanging off my EKG leads...lol during the exam, which was very entertaining to see it flying all over the place when the doctor had me jumping around, bending and stretching all over the exam.

Then the doctor is still in the room typing away at the computer and he tells me to get dressed...lol. So I getting dressed with the doctor still in the room...weird! I could not for the life of me get my bra untangled from the leads...lol. Finally just had to unhook them, get dressed and rehook them up. Thinking back, I hope that the machine turned back on after we rehooked it up  :O(

The unsocialized homeschooler had fun playing piano several times while we were at Mayo Clinc, here he is playing at the Siebens Building, he also played in the Gonda Building. He drew a pretty good crowd. There were some really good piano players that we got to listen to over the week we were at Mayo.

I had more blood work and the most exciting part (NOT!) was I got a bottle of steroid pills to take, had to take 1 every 6 hours for 3 days. By the time I took the evening dose I was feeling pretty well, muscles no longer aching and we were up goofing around. We spent the evening at the library, which is connected by the Subway to our hotel and Mayo Clinic. I worked on a homeschool review for The Old Schoolhouse Magazines Review Crew and the child looked at the Star Wars book section. The library is GREAT! If we have to go back we plan to spend some more time there. We could have gotten a $10 library card while we were there since I was a patient at Mayo, but I was too cheap, we just stayed and looked at book for free  :O)  Spent more time swimming and relaxing. Sleep was not on the agenda due to the steroids. But WOW was I sure feeling good. Wish I could live on steroids, nothing feels so good.

One lesson learned. NEVER text people at 2 AM, just because you can't sleep does not mean that others are in the same boat! lol.  I sent a funny text to some friends and my sister-in-law at 2am. I said "If I was there I would drag you out to Bill's. I'm flying high on steroids...lol." Guess what? there are a lot of people that leave their cell phones on 24/7 and they got that message at 2 AM! But thankfully it got a laugh out of them all. My sister-in-law just grinned and rolled over and went back to sleep. Bill's is a restaurant that is a little 24 hour hole in the wall, with GREAT food (best fried cheddar cheese curds and grilled cheese sandwiches in the WORLD!) and lots of fond memories for my friends and I. Right Valerie, Lane, JT & David? Yes you can laugh now.

So we are half way through the week, still no answers, but we are making some wonderful memories. I am truly blessed to have an awesome almost teenage son to travel with, a wonderful husband who I can call at anytime when the steroids were making me crazy and  I was living on an hour or two of sleep and the world was crashing in on me. As well as my friends & church family that were up holding me in prayer. AMEN! God is good even in our sufferings.
2 Corinthians 12:10 “Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ's sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong.” What does not kill us makes us stronger.
Moe