April Showers? They ain't kiddin'!

So April is turning out to be the crazies month this year so far. I have so much going on right now, (hence my lack of blogging) that my head is spinning. Let's see if I can explain all this with as little trouble as possible. First I'll start with Kevin. -Sigh- So Kevin has been having pain in his shoulder for over a year now. He kept going to the docs on base (who by the way are complete baboons when it comes to anything!) and they tell him that he has bicep tendonitis. They give him mild pain pills, and anti inflammatory meds. The pain comes and goes over the last year and he keeps going back to the doctor- over and over and over. Same shit, bicep tendonitis.
This last time Kevin was had a weekend off and he was in a lot of pain, more so than usual. I told him..PLEASE go to the Medicenter or the ER, DO NOT go to the base again! Those doctors are idiots and obviously don't give a rats ass about what is going on.
So off to the Medicenter he went. 4 hours later, he was home w/pain medication and a premature diagnosis of 'shoulder impingement syndrome'- (a bone spur of the shoulder).
AH HA! (I thought) now we can get this fixed and I can yell at some docs on base for being dipshits for over a year. Logically if someone has chronic pain for over a year you'd DO A DAMN XRAY! They failed to do so, and because of that Kevin suffered for so long w/this pain. I hate military docs. They can all go jump off a cliff for all I care for their "medical opinions".

Finally we have a diagnosis. He was scheduled to see an orthopedic specialist to confirm the bone spur, and sure enough it was then "official". He was scheduled for surgery after that and then he waited 2 long weeks. The week before surgery he was not allowed to take any pain meds that would thin his blood...so this last week has been hell for him. Today I dropped him off at the Outpatient Surgery Center at 6am. I wanted to stay, but it's just not practical to have 2 toddlers running around a hospital waiting room for hours on end. So 6 hours later I get a call from the doctor that did the surgery. As it turns out, due to the military docs utter LACK of concern, the damage to Kevin's shoulder is pretty extensive. He has muscle tears in his bicep and torn tendons in his shoulder as a result of the spur and their lack of treating it properly. A 2 hour operation lasted 5 hours. He will be in a sling for over a month, and probably have some muscle atrophy and stiffness. He will most likely have to see a physical therapist to help him regain movement in the arm once out of the sling since it will be immobile for so long.
I SO beyond pissed off. This all could have been avoided if those complete ASSHOLES up at the base actually cared for their troops. I have to say, if you or someone you love is thinking about joining the military....and you have issues w/pain or whatnot and the military clinic doesn't seem to be getting to the bottom of it, GO TO THE ER or a TriCare approved Medicenter after hours! Have a REAL doctor look at you.


The other thing we are dealing with is Kyle. He's had a stomach ache every time he eats for a while now. At first I thought maybe he was just eating too fast. Then I thought maybe it was just heartburn, but I realized that he was almost every time we ate dinner. I asked him if it did this at school (during lunch) and he said yes. He can eat a little, then his stomach hurts so bad he has to go lay down. We took him to the ER, they ran blood tests and all the rigmarole and turns out...my 15 year old CHILD probably has ulcers!! Ulcers!? Crazy.

So he has an appointment tomorrow with a jackass doc on base to get a referral for a gastrointestinal specialist. They do not have a specialist in town that will see anyone under the age of 18. The peds gastro doctor lives in Austin and he makes a trip here once a month.  We can't make an appointment with the specialist until the stupid base doctor signs off on a referral. So we see a doc tomorrow, then wait a week to get the damn referral in the mail, THEN we can make the appointment for the doc in Austin to come down and see Kyle. Thing is....his office said he doesn't have any openings till June or July. He will have an MRI done, and if it's ulcers...they more than likely will do surgery. -sigh- so much surgery! So as of right now they have him on some medications to help with the pain and inflammation. So far, so good, but he has his good days and his bad days.

Also, we are trying to get our house ready to be put on the market to sell. Nothing major needs to be done, just the normal tedious crap- painting, decluttering, depersonalizing, staging and decorating. And all this while I have a husband laid up with surgery and a son that has bad pain. This month is so daunting! I hate showing a house. Strange people walking in my home looking at my stuff..it's creepy. BUT we need a larger home, we are just packed in here like sardines! 

And then my dear BFF will be having her first IVF procedure on the 21st of April. I'm hoping that things go well and they work out for her. I know she'd make a great mom...and I wish her all the best!

And lastly, my grandmother hurt her leg the other day. She's been to the ER and she will have a CAT scan to make sure there are not blood clots or breaks. For the time being she is resting. Just so much going on. Too much. I cant take much more, I really can't. I can juggle lots of shit...but right now...I really need a vacation!

Jaesus

To move or not to move...and more importantly, where?

So Shaggy has a promotion test coming up. If he passes and promotes up to MSgt (which I'm very sure will happen, he's been studying like mad), he will be taken off flight and have to move into a back office job again. He doesn't want to do that so much...so he's thought about becoming a 1st Sgt. If he does this it means some good things, but also some things we have to really think about.

 For starters it means he will be 'on call' 24/7, 365.  For those who have no idea what a 1st Sgt does (from wikipedia- who explains it best): In the United States Air Force, First Sergeant is not a rank, but a special duty held by the senior enlisted advisor of a military unit who reports directly to the unit commander. This billet is held by individuals of pay grades E-7 through E-9 (Master Sergeant, Senior Master Sergeant and Chief Master Sergeant), and is denoted on the rank insignia by a lozenge (known colloquially as a "diamond"). Often referred to as the "first shirt", or "shirt", the first sergeant is responsible for the morale, welfare, and conduct of all the enlisted members in a squadron and is the chief adviser to the squadron commander concerning the enlisted force. Most units have a master sergeant in this position, while larger units use senior master sergeants and chief master sergeants as first sergeants.

It's a huge responsibility but I think Shags would make a fabulous 1st Sgt. It also means I'll have to be more involved too.  It's something he's worked very hard at so I will have to do my best: Showing up for events in support, lending a hand if need be, helping w/events and things. I actually like doing that stuff already.

The major thing we've been thinking about though is that we might have to move. I have no idea if I really want to just yet. Kyle will be starting high school next fall, and Laney will be starting kindergarten. Family is close, friends are here. I like this town we're in. I love my house....lots of reasons to stay really, but in the end we will do what we have to. It's a continuous adventure this life. :)

So where should we move then? Well South Dakota looks good, and Colorado looks good too. Which ever,I think we'll be happy. We've looked at so many houses in each state, and my goodness we'd get a huge house for the same cost here for one half as big. I think I might like moving. :D

Jaesus.