Wow. The last few weeks have absolutely flown by in a series of events that have taken our complete time and energy. Next week will be no different, so for this moment (today and tomorrow), I'm going to enjoy a bit with the kids and try to have some time to relax and let them rest a bit.
One of the reasons Ridhwi decided to go into hospital medicine (besides the fact that he loves it) instead of doing a fellowship/subspecialty is because he was tired of sacrificing family time. His schedule is now that he has one week "on" and one week off. That means from Tuesday to Tuesday he works from 7am-7pm (but usually 8-9) and then have one week completely off from work. We really like the schedule because of the amount of family time we now have. It also gives him a lot of flexibility in terms of extra activities and work - extra shifts on days of his choosing, locums at other hospitals, or working as a faculty teaching medical students. It also means that on his weeks off we are very busy trying to get everything we can fit into the week, like doctors appointments, errands for him, things that require him to be present (setting up bank stuff and house buying) etc. While it can be hard during the "on" week - it is certainly no harder than residency and the best part is that there is an end in sight.
So far we haven't had an "off" week that was normal or relaxing. The day after Ridhwi's first week of work, Ashima woke up in the morning with a swollen eye. It looked like either a bug had bitten her or maybe she had hit it on her crib. I woke Ridhwi up and we tried to decide what to do. We couldn't decide if it was something that needed to be looked at or something that would go away on its own. We also had another problem - we had enrolled with our insurance company but had not received cards and we were not even sure the paperwork had gone through so we had no idea what to submit if we were to go to the doctor. We waited an hour and saw that her eye was getting worse and decided to take her in. Ridhwi then spent the rest of morning and part of the afternoon on the phone with the hospital HR rep (a VERY nice man) who helped up figure out our insurance as best we could and Ridhwi spoke with an opthamologist who also recommended bringing her in. During this time I put the kids down for a nap. When Ashima woke up, we were shocked. Her eye was huge and swollen. She could not see out of it at all - it had completely closed. Alarmed, we called the doctor and changed her appointment time and got her in right away. After a very sad baby had to get her eye poked and dilated, it was decided that she had preseptal cellulitis - an infection in her eye that was in danger of becoming septic. Ridhwi had been exactly right in his diagnosis after she woke up and I am so thankful he pushed to go to the doctor as much as he did. It was explained that in adults, preseptal cellulitis follows a clear path of infection, first the eye lid, then the duct, then the eye, then the brain (or something like that, forgive me, I'm not the doctor). However, in children, it is much more dangerous because the infection can spread in an unpredictable pattern. In other words, the infection could go straight to her brain. The opthamologist said we had two options - we could hospitalize her to get her antibiotics through an IV or try taking her home and giving antibiotics at home and see if it helps and if it doesn't - straight to the hospital. After some discussion, we decided to take her home. We were worried about the trauma of getting an IV in her - she would most likely have to be sedated because she would never keep an IV in. That comes with it's own risks and besides - Ridhwi is a doctor and we live a block from the hospital. By the time we left the doctor's office we were getting worried and wondering if we made the right decision. Then began a huge fight with the pharmacy because of our insurance problems. Ultimately, after an hour of waiting and many tense words between Ridhwi and the pharmacist we paid $450.00 in cash for the medicine so we could give it immediately and would worry about the insurance reimbursement at a later point. We got Ashima home and (literally) shoved the medicine down her throat and put her to bed. We set our alarms for every hour throughout the night and checked on her. The next morning it was not better. We went to the doctor again and he said that since it had not been a full 24 hours yet we again faced the decision of whether to hospitalize her. She was not yet showing signs of the infection becoming septic so we decided to keep her until the afternoon and if by the evening her eye was not better - a full 24 hours after giving the medicine - we were going to the hospital. Fortunately, after Ashima woke up from her nap, we could see an improvement. We were SO relieved! The next couple of days were full of making sure she rested, ate, and dealing with the side effects from the medicine: lack of appetite, upset tummy, diarrhea, sun sensitivity, and a rash on her face, and trying to be reimbursed for her medicine (which, thanks to the horrible pharmacy, we still ended up having to pay quite a bit for out of pocket) that the days just flew by. We were relieved that her infection did not become more serious and happy and thankful to a healthy baby.
That Sunday, I got a text from my older brother asking if we wanted to have our 9 year-old niece, Elizabeth come and visit for a few days. I was super excited. When we lived in Kansas and Missiouri, we used to see my brother's kids once a week or so. We miss them terribly (and my other twin nephews that live in New York) and hate living so far away. I was very happy to spend some quality time with Elizabeth. We drove several hours to Sheboygan, WI to pick her up. Since moving to the state, I haven't had much of a chance to see it and let me tell you, I had no idea how beautiful Wisconsin is. Aside from one episode of vomiting from Ashima (who was still on antibiotics and feeling nauseous), it was a very enjoyable ride. Elizabeth spent the next few days with us and I intend to write a much more detailed blog post about the visit because I learned quite a bit in that time. I learned about my niece, who, I realized, I didn't really know anymore. I learned about Amita and how she acts with other people around, and I learned what it might be like when the kids are older. During that time we explored some parks, visited a cheese factory, talked a lot about Harry Potter, watched movies, painted some pottery, and had fun. At the end of the trip we drove to MN to meet my mom who was going to take Elizabeth home. We played in the pool, had some family time, and had a lot of fun. I was very lucky to have a beautiful ride home with some sleepy girls. It was enjoyable.
While Elizabeth was visiting, we heard word about a dog in Kentucky who was needing a good home through a rescue organization called Pawsibilities Unleashed. Alli was a rescue who had been trained as a service dog to help those with PTSD. However, she was nearing 1.5 and had not been adopted so they opened the adoption to any loving family who would have her. We lost our beloved Maxwell several months earlier at the age of 17 and were looking for that hole to be replaced. While we realize that another dog won't completely fill Maxwell's shoes (paws), we were looking to have a family friendly dog who we could love and give affection to and who would be good with the kids. We were confident that Alli fit the bill. We decided to pick her up the following week. So, last week, we packed up the kids and set off on a 9.5 hour drive to get our next baby - Alli. The second we met her we fell in love. She is so sweet and nice yet playful and energetic. She is still very "puppyish" but follows commands and is great with the kids. After a 14 hour drive back - thanks to an accident on the highway, we finally got her home. She has been a great dog and we are really enjoying the dynamic she brings to our family. We are very saddened by some obvious signs of abuse to her neck and belly and we are committed to giving her a cushy life and lots of treats - and she is committed to giving us lots of love and licks in return. It's a pretty good relationship.
That leads us to today. We start another "on" week. Next week on our "off" week we are going to Madison for three days for Ridhwi to complete some work so that week will be very busy as well.
The last several weeks have been crazy, to say the least. I am looking forward to things settling down in the near future (hopefully) and to get in some sort of schedule. We are trying to decide what to do with the kids - whether Amita is needing some sort of formal "schooling" at this point and what that would look like. She also also considering the fact that we are closing on our house in September and moving again in October. There are many changes for us as a family this year - and many of them have been a bit unexpected. While they are mostly good changes, they are also calling for us to change our ideas of what we want and need for our family. I plan to write a few more blog posts this week about some of the more detailed changes (specifically about Amita), and outline some of the educational choices we are making for her. However, each day I am thankful to have happy healthy kids and a new loyal dog by my side. We are excited about the future and trying to find our own slice of peace within this crazy world!
One of the reasons Ridhwi decided to go into hospital medicine (besides the fact that he loves it) instead of doing a fellowship/subspecialty is because he was tired of sacrificing family time. His schedule is now that he has one week "on" and one week off. That means from Tuesday to Tuesday he works from 7am-7pm (but usually 8-9) and then have one week completely off from work. We really like the schedule because of the amount of family time we now have. It also gives him a lot of flexibility in terms of extra activities and work - extra shifts on days of his choosing, locums at other hospitals, or working as a faculty teaching medical students. It also means that on his weeks off we are very busy trying to get everything we can fit into the week, like doctors appointments, errands for him, things that require him to be present (setting up bank stuff and house buying) etc. While it can be hard during the "on" week - it is certainly no harder than residency and the best part is that there is an end in sight.
So far we haven't had an "off" week that was normal or relaxing. The day after Ridhwi's first week of work, Ashima woke up in the morning with a swollen eye. It looked like either a bug had bitten her or maybe she had hit it on her crib. I woke Ridhwi up and we tried to decide what to do. We couldn't decide if it was something that needed to be looked at or something that would go away on its own. We also had another problem - we had enrolled with our insurance company but had not received cards and we were not even sure the paperwork had gone through so we had no idea what to submit if we were to go to the doctor. We waited an hour and saw that her eye was getting worse and decided to take her in. Ridhwi then spent the rest of morning and part of the afternoon on the phone with the hospital HR rep (a VERY nice man) who helped up figure out our insurance as best we could and Ridhwi spoke with an opthamologist who also recommended bringing her in. During this time I put the kids down for a nap. When Ashima woke up, we were shocked. Her eye was huge and swollen. She could not see out of it at all - it had completely closed. Alarmed, we called the doctor and changed her appointment time and got her in right away. After a very sad baby had to get her eye poked and dilated, it was decided that she had preseptal cellulitis - an infection in her eye that was in danger of becoming septic. Ridhwi had been exactly right in his diagnosis after she woke up and I am so thankful he pushed to go to the doctor as much as he did. It was explained that in adults, preseptal cellulitis follows a clear path of infection, first the eye lid, then the duct, then the eye, then the brain (or something like that, forgive me, I'm not the doctor). However, in children, it is much more dangerous because the infection can spread in an unpredictable pattern. In other words, the infection could go straight to her brain. The opthamologist said we had two options - we could hospitalize her to get her antibiotics through an IV or try taking her home and giving antibiotics at home and see if it helps and if it doesn't - straight to the hospital. After some discussion, we decided to take her home. We were worried about the trauma of getting an IV in her - she would most likely have to be sedated because she would never keep an IV in. That comes with it's own risks and besides - Ridhwi is a doctor and we live a block from the hospital. By the time we left the doctor's office we were getting worried and wondering if we made the right decision. Then began a huge fight with the pharmacy because of our insurance problems. Ultimately, after an hour of waiting and many tense words between Ridhwi and the pharmacist we paid $450.00 in cash for the medicine so we could give it immediately and would worry about the insurance reimbursement at a later point. We got Ashima home and (literally) shoved the medicine down her throat and put her to bed. We set our alarms for every hour throughout the night and checked on her. The next morning it was not better. We went to the doctor again and he said that since it had not been a full 24 hours yet we again faced the decision of whether to hospitalize her. She was not yet showing signs of the infection becoming septic so we decided to keep her until the afternoon and if by the evening her eye was not better - a full 24 hours after giving the medicine - we were going to the hospital. Fortunately, after Ashima woke up from her nap, we could see an improvement. We were SO relieved! The next couple of days were full of making sure she rested, ate, and dealing with the side effects from the medicine: lack of appetite, upset tummy, diarrhea, sun sensitivity, and a rash on her face, and trying to be reimbursed for her medicine (which, thanks to the horrible pharmacy, we still ended up having to pay quite a bit for out of pocket) that the days just flew by. We were relieved that her infection did not become more serious and happy and thankful to a healthy baby.
That Sunday, I got a text from my older brother asking if we wanted to have our 9 year-old niece, Elizabeth come and visit for a few days. I was super excited. When we lived in Kansas and Missiouri, we used to see my brother's kids once a week or so. We miss them terribly (and my other twin nephews that live in New York) and hate living so far away. I was very happy to spend some quality time with Elizabeth. We drove several hours to Sheboygan, WI to pick her up. Since moving to the state, I haven't had much of a chance to see it and let me tell you, I had no idea how beautiful Wisconsin is. Aside from one episode of vomiting from Ashima (who was still on antibiotics and feeling nauseous), it was a very enjoyable ride. Elizabeth spent the next few days with us and I intend to write a much more detailed blog post about the visit because I learned quite a bit in that time. I learned about my niece, who, I realized, I didn't really know anymore. I learned about Amita and how she acts with other people around, and I learned what it might be like when the kids are older. During that time we explored some parks, visited a cheese factory, talked a lot about Harry Potter, watched movies, painted some pottery, and had fun. At the end of the trip we drove to MN to meet my mom who was going to take Elizabeth home. We played in the pool, had some family time, and had a lot of fun. I was very lucky to have a beautiful ride home with some sleepy girls. It was enjoyable.
While Elizabeth was visiting, we heard word about a dog in Kentucky who was needing a good home through a rescue organization called Pawsibilities Unleashed. Alli was a rescue who had been trained as a service dog to help those with PTSD. However, she was nearing 1.5 and had not been adopted so they opened the adoption to any loving family who would have her. We lost our beloved Maxwell several months earlier at the age of 17 and were looking for that hole to be replaced. While we realize that another dog won't completely fill Maxwell's shoes (paws), we were looking to have a family friendly dog who we could love and give affection to and who would be good with the kids. We were confident that Alli fit the bill. We decided to pick her up the following week. So, last week, we packed up the kids and set off on a 9.5 hour drive to get our next baby - Alli. The second we met her we fell in love. She is so sweet and nice yet playful and energetic. She is still very "puppyish" but follows commands and is great with the kids. After a 14 hour drive back - thanks to an accident on the highway, we finally got her home. She has been a great dog and we are really enjoying the dynamic she brings to our family. We are very saddened by some obvious signs of abuse to her neck and belly and we are committed to giving her a cushy life and lots of treats - and she is committed to giving us lots of love and licks in return. It's a pretty good relationship.
That leads us to today. We start another "on" week. Next week on our "off" week we are going to Madison for three days for Ridhwi to complete some work so that week will be very busy as well.
The last several weeks have been crazy, to say the least. I am looking forward to things settling down in the near future (hopefully) and to get in some sort of schedule. We are trying to decide what to do with the kids - whether Amita is needing some sort of formal "schooling" at this point and what that would look like. She also also considering the fact that we are closing on our house in September and moving again in October. There are many changes for us as a family this year - and many of them have been a bit unexpected. While they are mostly good changes, they are also calling for us to change our ideas of what we want and need for our family. I plan to write a few more blog posts this week about some of the more detailed changes (specifically about Amita), and outline some of the educational choices we are making for her. However, each day I am thankful to have happy healthy kids and a new loyal dog by my side. We are excited about the future and trying to find our own slice of peace within this crazy world!
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| How I've felt the last couple of weeks |
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