Are you ready to rumble!!!! (in my loudest echo voice ever)

Yes, it's dex week.....again!! So far we have had some pretty impressive fits, but more than anything we have had pain. And while Lucy is going through the physical pain, dad and I go though the emotional pain of watching her like this. I hope as they improve upon the protocol, they figure out a way to use less steroids. We always thought the pain she had during dex was associated with the chemo vincristine because it is known to cause neuropathy. And it sure has messed up her legs. But with Zach on steroids as well, he keeps saying how much his body hurts. So we decided on day 3 of steroids to start giving codeine every 6 hrs. It has really seemed to make a difference so far and we see a lot more of Mary! Ha!
So I have some fantastic news: I called Memphis to see how Lucy's spinal was since the last few have been shit. And it's clear!!! For the first time in a long time!! Woo hoo. Usually she has something suspicious that they have to test and while it's never been cancerous, it's still a long 3 days waiting to see if it is! And this time it's all clear from the beginning! What a huge sigh of relief. More exciting news: we got our next to last roadmap for treatment!! Basically the roadmap lays out our treatment week by week. Her next dose of dex at the end of July IRS to 4mg per day instead of 6, small step, but we will take it. We don't go back to Memphis until October! And then her very last spinal is in march as is her last dose of dex and vincristine!! Woo hoo!! Then we ride out the last 20 weeks of treatment with IV methotrexate weekly and 6MP every night. I cannot believe how far we have come. And you can never plan with cancer, with the exception of road maps!! That's why I love when we get new ones.
So this week has been a good week. And I'll take it. We need them every now and again to remind us how lucky we are. Lucy may have cancer, daddy may be on steroids, Taco may be on steroids and sick, but they are all here to hug and love an rumble with if need be. And for that, I'm thankful.

Pre-children...oh the memories

I am writing this mobile as my husband and I go out on a date. Yes, good conversation going on. After 8.5 years, I can do this and it not be considered rude. And I'm a good multitasker. So I can blog and carry on a convo at the same time. Plus my husband's idea of a conversation right now (and i am not making This up) "how long do you think a fart will last in a ziplock bag. Nice. But the reason I felt compelled was the fact we are going on a date and it's bringing back memories of our dates pre-kids. Very different.
Vehicle: not a minivan!! Ha! Zach picked me up in a rusted out Toyota with the floor missing and it was filled with fast food bags. He insisted it wasn't his car and that his was in the shop.
Destinations: not grocery shopping, SAMs club or other various venues that is difficult to take children. Actually we would often stay home and make a pitcher of bloody Mary's. And it was awesome.
Money: pretty much the same. We had none! As we do now. But it's different. We have money, but it goes to house, car, retirement, insurance, and food. Adult stuff. Yawn yawn. Prior to
Kids we were very content making little money, but when we did have money, it went to us....all us!!
Time factor: before kids we had all
The time in the world. We would even go out at 11pm to steak n shake. It was awesome. Now we have to
Coordinate a sitter, pay the sitter, and if it's an overnight bribe them to
Keep the kids til noon so we can sleep off our hangover!
Destination #2: pre-kids it was always outback and drinks. And then maybe a comedy club or bar. Now..bingo. Ha! Or the grocery store. And we never eat out with out a coupon. There are occasional get out and dance on the table moments since cancer, but not near as many as before.
But while many many things are different since kids and cancer, some
Things always stay the same. For example, Zach telling me "your mom goes to college" and me laughing hysterically. (have to see Napoleon dynamite to get it). Or talking trash to
Each other in front of other people. Lol. We like the reactions. And leaning in to give my husband a kiss while he's driving. That's still the same.
The thing I love the most about our date nights now no kids screaming or fighting regardless of our destination or activities. Sometimes silence is golden. Speaking of, Zach turned down the radio...I think he may have something to say and I'm betting it's along the lines of "give me some tots"

Missfits Roller Derby to benefit Team Lucy

Come one, come all...June 30th (next saturday) at the interstate center.  Doors open at 5 PM, Bouts at 6pm and 8 pm.  Tickets are $10 pre-sale.  You can get them at mcelancountymissfits.org or at Meltdown Graphix and Monster Pawn in Normal.  $15 at the door.  Kids 8 and under are Free.  Come see the girls rock!  And come see Lucy as well.  I also hear they have the Glitter Fairy doing Tattoos ;)

2 Kids a FAT Taco and screw Cancer

So what do you think?? Like the new name? Ha! Just kidding, I would NEVER change my name. Obviously this post is in regards to Taco and his cancer or NOT cancer.  Took him to the doctor for a CBC today.  Expecting low numbers and having to make a decision on the bone marrow aspiration, and that is NOT what happened.  He had totally normal numbers and is not dehydrated. I was like "Wha..What.."  The doctors are baffled like we are.  They were for sure it was a bone marrow disease,  and now they aren't sure.  They say it still CAN be cancer, or it could be a platelet disorder or an immune system disorder OR they said he could have had a terrible reaction to the bee sting and it threw his immune system out of whack.  They aren't sure, but we are rolling with it.  He still has to take his steroid for a month, and we go back in a month to check counts.  So let me tell you a few things about our "new" situation with the whole "Taco incident" as it will be referred to in future events.  

1.  Steroids. They cause the dog to eat so much that he gained 2 lbs in a week.  AND he has turned into a mini-cujo when we don't feed him fast enough or all the time.  LOL  He actually will scratch at us, bark, cry, push his bowl across the floor.  And he will go outside to go "potty"  and then come in for a treat, only he doesn't go potty.  Smart little shit.  Ok, and I have to admit, I thought the dog was dying!! I bought him baby food and was spoiling with food.  Now he has to go on a diet and limit the treats or give him carrot sticks.  BWAHAHAHAHA  Fatty is NOT going to eat carrot sticks.  

2.  We told the kids their dog was going to die.  Ok so in order to address this properly, I need to give you an analogy.  Before Lucy got sick, we took the kids to six flags one Sunday on a whim.  We were being spontaneous.  We bought our tickets online and set on the road early to Chicago (2.5 hrs away).  Well we get about a few miles from Six Flags, and the kids are SO excited, and we encounter an accident on the highway. So, we are stuck in traffic now.  Mind you, the kids can see Six Flags and the rides.  We sit there for an HOUR! no kidding.  So then we FINALLY get into the park, and go up to get in line to get in, and we tried to find the fast pass because we already bought tickets online.  We even bought "special" tickets that came with a hotdog lunch.  So we get up to the fast pass line, and its a LONG line.  And mind you the kids are now waiting in a line where you can HEAR the people in the park.  It was a nightmare.  Apparently, they didn't monitor their online sales and there were a ton of people who bought ahead, but they let people in who just showed up too, so they were overcapacity. So we would have to wait for people to leave before we could enter.  We waited in that line for 45 minutes before giving up.  In that 45 minutes, Lucy covered herself in sunscreen from head to toe and Jack threw many fits about wanting to get in.  So we had to turn around and tell the kids (after we hyped it up and stared at the place for hours) that we could not go in the Park.  They bawled all the way to the van.  We felt horrible.  So instead we took them to the Rainforest Cafe at the mall and dropped at least $100.  They were content, and Lucy even drank her slushy so fast, she puked.  So why do I tell you this story?  Because we are in the same boat.  We had to tell them "no" on the Six Flags deal after them seeing it and tasting it for hours.  So now we get to tell them their dog may not die after all, after them waking up each day asking if Taco was still alive.  We aren't going to go there yet until the month is over and Taco is off steroids, but you see our dilemma right?  Those kids are never going to trust us.  We will definitely owe them some therapy as adults. 

So today was a good day.  Lucy had clinic and numbers were good, Taco's numbers were good, Zach didn't get a cluster headache or have a seizure from taking my medicine.  I would say today was a success as I finish it off with a Gluten Free Beer.  Maybe every day can't be like today, but I'm happy for the Today's that are just like this one.  

Steroids and ER visits

I started this on Wednesday, so Today refers to Wednesday :)  yes, you read that right.  This blog is entirely devoted to steroids and our most recent ER visit (today).  I can't even make this shit up.  Life seems to happen to us a little bit more than it does other people, and I PROMISE I am sending out good karma!!  I am being all nice and shit and volunteering my time and giving to causes, now I want that boomerang to come back and give us some quietness.  Even just for a week. I would say day, but after what we went through today, we will be needing a week.  Ok..so I'll start with the steroids, which is how it all began.
Zach gets cluster migraines.  Pretty nasty stuff and very painful.  He goes through "periods" of having them.  No real idea what triggers them, and sometimes they stay for a while and other times they go as quickly as they come.  Well, we had a babysitter Monday night so we thought we would get all wild and get our Bingo on.  We get there and Zach says "I can't see out of one eye, and the other one I can only see straight ahead".  Well, that is usually the first sign of a cluster period starting.  So he took some ibuprofen and anti-anxiety medicine and made it through the night. The next day he went to see his neurologist.  She put him on steroids to try to abort the cluster period all together.  So we got a good chuckle that he will be on steroids, Taco is on steroids, and Lucy starts her dex next week.  Taco is definitely showing signs of "Cujo" and barking at us for food every 30 minutes.  So now Zach gets to go through this too.  Zach was suppose to start the prednisone this morning, so I picked it up last night at the pharmacy along with my meds after taking Jack to baseball practice.
So now we get to today.  Lucy was suppose to have clinic this morning, and Jack had day camp.  So Zach got up early because it was his turn to take Lucy to clinic.  I stayed up late last night and was so excited about having the house to myself. All to myself!  No kids which meant I could clean, and it would stay that way at least for a couple of hours.  No kids which meant I could get some work done on my laptop uninterrupted.  No kids which meant I could drink a half a pot of coffee which NO Interruption!  woo hoo!!!  Well...that dream was crushed at exactly 6:15 this morning.
Zach comes in and wakes me up and says "so, honey, what if somebody took 3 of your buproprions, what do you think would happen?"  I jumped out of bed and said "oh my god which kid, the dog?".  He said "no, it was me?"  I said "That is my wellbutrin, you better call the pharmacy and see since it was 900 mg".  How does that happen you ask?  How does a grown man take somebody else's medication?  Well, it was 6 am.  He hadn't had his coffee yet.  We had both gotten our prescriptions filled the night before so they were still in the bag, and quite frankly, he was exhausted and his head hurt.
Zach called the pharmacy.  They advised him to call poison control.  So he did.  Well Poison control immediately called the hospital and told them he was on his way, so he had to go to the ER.  Well, I still have to get the kids up and dropped somewhere so we all didn't have to load up and go to the ER.  And obviously Zach can't drive, so he called a cab.  Yes, he had to take a cab to the ER.  Lovely.
So I reschedule clinic, drop Jack at day camp and Lucy at my moms and head to the ER.  I walk in and everybody knows us on a first name basis.  LOL  I don't know if that is a good thing or not.  We seem to always have the same doctor and nurse.  Plus others there know Lucy so they always ask how she is doing.  I get hugs when I walk in and ask how Zach is.  They tell me he is in room 13.  I said "no, you didn't.  Obviously our luck has been crap lately and you put him in room 13??".  hahaha
I walk in and Zach is laying in bed with pads all over the bed and a dark substance on his lips.  I said "so what's going on?"  They had him padded because apparently the meds he took at that high of a dose causes seizures.  Not fatal.  And they had him drink charcoal.  Zach being the smart ass that he is chugs the charcoal.  The nurse took it away from him at one point because he was drinking it too fast.  He said "but it was a 78, which is a good year for charcoal, and the cherry flavoring they put in it tasted like ass".  Only Zach.  So basically, since he had taken a kolonopin (anti-seizure medication) and since he got charcoal in him so early, he was going to be fine, but had to be admitted because he called poison control.  Poison control has guidelines and the hospital has to follow their recommendations.  Zach was mad.  So, yes, we got another fine date in the ER and later up on the floor.  His room was 333, which again we joked was only half as bad as 666, ha!!  I'm sure the nurses on the floor thought we were insane when we come in laughing about the incident.  And they ask the usual questions "Are you feeling safe in your home?" Zach says "no, I"m afraid of my 4 year old daughter when she is on steroids".  We burst out into laughter, the nurse kinda looked at us like we were on the wrong floor and needed to be in the pscyh ward.  Then they also asked if he was having suicidal thoughts.  Zach said "I SWEAR this was purely an accident".  Again, we laughed, her.not so much.
Ahhh....so what a way to start weeks of steroids in this house.  Zach is on edge, Taco is growling like Cujo and eating so much he looks like a pot belly big, and Lucy starts Dex next week, so her personalities will shine soon as well.  At least we got an hour alone in the hospital and even shared a meal, that can be classified as a date.

Taco continued....and update on Lucy's numbers

Lucy had clinic on Wednesday and her counts dropped....a lot.  Her ANC is below 500 which deems her neutropenic, just like Taco. They both have the same WBC and close to the same ANC.  This is just ridiculous.  So we are home bound until next Wednesday (Lucy is) to see if her number rise.  They have reduced her chemo to 1/2 this week hoping that helps her bone marrow recover.  Its crazy because we were JUST mentioning that her numbers have seemed to finally stabilize, and we have found our "sweet" number....WRONG.  And I am pretty pissed about it.  I don't know why.  I mean, we deal with her counts going all over the place all the time. I don't know why I'm so upset over it this week.  It could be that this means she misses her cousins birthday party...AGAIN, and that we are limited on what we can prepare for her to eat..AGAIN, and that we can't make any plans with our without her...AGAIN.  I feel a little trapped today.  Its beautiful out, and I'm moping.  I'm having a little bit of "poor poor me party".  And I intend to do so as long as I want!  It doesn't help that Taco is still in limbo as well.
So here is the update on that little fellow.  We took him to U of I Animal hospital on Sunday to get a second opinion.  The doctor there had his numbers before he got there, so when he walked in the door all majestic and happy, she was confused.  She said based on his counts, he should NOT be up and looking so good.  They ran a panel of tests on him and came to the same conclusion as our vet--we have no clue what is going on.  So they decided to confer with internal medicine to see if anybody there had any clues.  They did come up with the diagnosis that Taco has a bone marrow disorder. What disorder, we will not know unless we do a bone marrow biopsy, which is very painful.  Zach and I discussed this option, and looked at the different types of disorders he may have.  Basically all of them are cancer.  And the prognosis is not good in any of them, and the treatment is chemo..horrible chemo.  We decided not to do the bone aspiration.  It would only tell us the name of his cancer, and that would really do nothing for us except make us even more sad.  So we sat down with the kids and explained what was going on.  We told them Taco was very sick with a doggy disease (no we did not say cancer or leukemia and we don't plan to).  We told them that we weren't sure how long he had left to live, and that we were going to make his life as comfortable as possible for as long as we could.  We told them he could die tomorrow, or next week, and that we didn't know. Poor poor Lucy.  Her lip was quivering the entire time, and then she burst into tears.  Jack, on the other hand, had his defenses up high.  He didn't say anything, or even show an ounce of emotion.  We asked if they had any questions, and we did our best to answer them.  Since we are agnostic, we explain death differently to our children.  Jack had already had the concept down.  He said "When Taco dies, we won't know where he goes, because only people and dogs that die know that, and they can't come back and tell us".  I'm so proud of his logic.  So we talked about the different options of where we thought Taco may go and what he may do.  It got us giggling as we were talking about his habits and personality.  We decided he would have all the treats he wanted and sleep on the most luxurious sheets.  We also said he would chase and catch all the squirrels he could handle.
We then took Taco to our vet the next day to talk about comfort options.  We explained and brought in the results from the blood work from U of I.  We talked about how long he may have, and decided to go ahead and run another blood test to see where he was at.  When the doctor came back in, she was in as much shock as we were.  His numbers were getting better.  Not a lot better, but better.  They should be getting worse.  So we were once again baffled.  We decided to go ahead and give him fluids, and baby food with his real food to entice him to eat, and go back on Friday for a recheck of counts.  Yesterday he was his old self.  Running, barking, playing, sleeping in, all the normal stuff.  Everyday the kids wake up and ask if he is still alive.  Jack especially.  He was quiet, but has been asking more questions as the days go on.  So basically my update on Taco....we have no update.  We have no clue what is going on.  We decided if his numbers are good tomorrow and rising, we will go forward with the bone marrow biopsy.  At least that can rule out the cancer or confirm it.  As it is, we are just really enjoying the last few days of spoiling him.
So I think that is also why I am a bit bitter.  I can handle a CBC and interpret it for Lucy, but I never thought we would be doing it for two members of our family, one being Taco. This is just insane.  We are going to schedule a radon test, although that causes lung cancer, not leukemia's.  We are going to do a soil test, and we have already had the water tested.  And none of our neighbors are sick, and they have lived here a lot longer than us.  And all the people that lived here prior to us are also fine.  So we really are doing this for more of a piece of mind.  It makes me on edge....and a little cranky, and THAT is why I feel like having a pity party today.

2 kids, a Taco, and Cancer...not 2 kids and a Taco WITH cancer

Today has been shit.  There is no way other way to explain it.  Taco got stung by a bee last week and we had to take him to the ER vet since his nose swelled up.  Well, he seemed to heal just fine from that. Then yesterday, I noticed something was "off" with him.  He wouldn't cuddle, wasn't interested in sleeping on the luxury sheets in our bed, wouldn't eat and was very lethargic. So we decided to take him to the vet this morning.  When we got there, they took his temp at it was 104.1, so he def had something going on.  They ran blood work and said they would do a whole body xray to see if they can find anything suspicious.  About an hour later, the doc comes in the room and sits down next to me with the lab results in her hands.  Well, its a CBC with a differential.  I know what those are, we see those every week with Lucy, I also know how to read one.  I was anxiously glancing over her shoulder and the first thing I saw was low platelets and low ANC.  Before she could even say a word, I say "oh my god!  you are thinking cancer?"  She said "well...that is a possibility, that is one of two explanations"  She asked how I knew, and I told her Lucy had leukemia and that those numbers looked like hers did when she was diagnosed except the WBC and RBC was different. She said that was what was throwing them off.  They couldn't say for sure if it was an autoimmune disease or leukemia...yep..heard that right leukemia.  Basically the bee sting started an allergic reaction and that started his body to go into frenzy mode in regards to his immune system (this is often how children are diagnosed as well, they get an illness they can't seem to shake).  Well that is a sign of either an autoimmune disease or leukemia.  And his counts weren't telling them the full story because he had  mix of the two clinical presentations.  I sat there in shock.  I kept saying "you have to be kidding me?"  over and over and over.  So, here is the plan.  They gave him a shot of dex (yep, same steroid Lucy takes) and we have to give him prednisone every day along with an antibiotic  The steroid is given in hopes of "jump starting the immune system" to help get over whatever attack is going on. Steroids are weird because while they vamp up your counts, its a false count, they are pushing everything out of his bone marrow basically.  The end result will be 1 of 3 things.  1.  He starts getting better and showing improvement with the meds and we recheck counts on Thursday. If they are better, we wait and watch.  It will tell us it an autoimmune disease more than likely.  2.  He doesn't improve at all the blood count comes back with a more definite picture.  If he is in the beginning stages of leukemia, that is why his counts are the way they are.  3.  He doesn't have any  improvement, matter of fact starts to get worse.  In this case, we would probably put him down.  Actually, if this happens and/or he has cancer, we are putting him down anyhow.  We researched.  There is only a 30% chance of putting him in remission and only increases life by 90 days - 2 years.  And I wouldn't want him to have to go through painful chemo with those results.  Oh, and his treatment, almost same as Lucy.  Has same chemo and everything.  So by next Thursday, we will have an answer if not sooner.  

I sent Zach a text while there saying "You are not going to believe this".  He knew.  He said "leukemia".  I know dogs get cancer, matter of fact, we had Taco neutered so that would reduce his chance of getting cancer.  But I honestly never knew dogs got leukemia. I knew of feline leukemia, but that is  different bird all together.  I mean really???? Leukemia?? 1 in every 3 dogs will get cancer in their lifetime, less than 1 of those get leukemia.  What are the odds???? Well odds mean nothing in this house.  As I was leaving and paying, the lady asked me if I needed anything else. And I lost it.  I told her I would pick up my dead dog another day.  She just sort of looked at me in shock.  We had our last dog Scrappy die before Lucy got sick, and they held him after he died (had him for 11 years), anyhow with Lucy getting cancer and then winter, we needed to wait until the ground thawed a bit.  I told her I was sorry. 

So I get to the van and call Zach to go over the details then I bawled all the way home.  I get home and the kids can see I was crying, so I had to explain that Taco was sick.  We did not tell them anything further.  

Zach then said, we had a deer in our yard.  I was like "WHAT??" HOW??  Apparently a deer had jumped our neighbors fence, and their dog pinned him down (they have a golden retriever).  Well the deer got loose and jumped our neighbors fence into our fenced in yard.  How often do you see something like this? And how often do you hear any dog may have leukemia?  This journey is about my family, and how we all cope with Lucy's illness, and Taco is a big part of our lives.  BIG part.  The blog is 2 kids a Taco and Cancer, and I refuse to change it to 2 kids a Taco with cancer :(

Rush week...again!

I had full intended on sitting down and writing all about our lovely vacation, and then....well, then Dex week happened.  We were once again initiated by Lucy.  You know you would think after a year and a half, we wouldn't be so unprepared for dex weeks or forget about them.  Then again sometimes I wonder if we are "forgetting" or just "blocking it out".  One being intentional and the other not.  And I also think last dex period, we were a bit spoiled by "Mary", so we were foolishly thinking Mary would be around most of this week....that would be a negative.
Definitely had a mix of dexter, Lucifer, and Nellie Olson that past period.  Mary was few and far between.  And when she did appear it was only to certain people, and never to her mother!  Nellie was waking up DEMANDING her sausage patties.  She wanted to know why they weren't already cooked and waiting for her.  Dexter screamed and screamed and threw fits, and threw things against the wall.  She ate and ate and ate until her stomach had a true budda and she was in so much pain from it.  Then Lucifer, she appeared many times, mostly to poor Jack.  Lucifer is downright hateful, mean, disrespectful, and doesn't care what punishment you give her.  And none of them slept very well. I hear other parents tell stories about their child sleeping well during dex, not mine!  You can walk past her room with the door shut after she's been asleep for a few hours, and she will sit straight up and say "mommy?"  FREAKY.  It's like when the boy will sleep with his eyes open....shiver.....he's done that since he was a baby and always freaked us out.  Sometimes he'll start talking to us, his dad does the same thing.  Anyhow, off subject, again.  lol  Since nobody slept, mommy didn't either.  Lucy would crawl in bed with me.  And of course she would have baby White, baby Blue, and Ronald.  So if you can get a mental image:
[edge of bed] baby blue, ronald, Baby White, Lucy, me, Taco, daddy[edge of bed].  Stuck smack in the middle of a bunch of crazies.  HAHA  Seriously, Zach talks in his sleep and is a cover stealer, Lucy is yelling at him for it and talking in her sleep too (when she falls asleep), Taco insists on sleeping on the pillow and he snores, and this week has has HORRIBLE gas!  One night he even yacked all over my feet and the bottom of our bed. That was lovely.  Point of the graphic:  I'm TIRED and grumpy.
This vincristine also seemed to hit Lucy pretty hard with pain.  And that sucks. I feel horrible for her, and its virtually impossible to get anything done because she really just wants held and rocked.  Which is ok by me, just wish it was under different circumstances.  She also seems to have tourettes during dex.  Her choice words this time were damn, shit, and shut up.  Lovely.
Lucy took her first dose of dex at 9 am on last Wednesday, and she took her last dose on Sunday at 8 pm.  By Friday, Zach was in a catatonic state and staring into space (I think I saw him drooling too).  I was beat down, and felt like crying.  I was searching and searching for my happy pills and was so frustrated I couldn't find them.  My mom came to the rescue and took the kids Friday night so we could go to a retirement party for a co worker of Zach, and we NEEDED that.  And when I say need, I cannot stress the importance of that time.  We drank a little much and needed a cab home, and I think I was dancing on the table or chair or something to that effect, and I have absolutely NO shame.  It was a huge release.
I think it would have carried us over to the rest of the week, but we had another medical crisis in the family.  We were sitting there over the weekend (of course always happens over weekend) after Taco had barfed on me several hours earlier, and Lucy said "wow, look how big Taco's nose is".  Zach and I looked and said "hmm...that's interesting"  Then we looked at each other and burst out laughing.  Taco's nose was HUGE.  So $150 later, Taco was on the mend with some good meds to help the bee sting he had gotten.  Yep!  leave it to us to have a dog who's face swells up due to bees on a weekend when there is  premium you have to pay at the vet.
And mind you, we also have both kids home with us right now because school is out.  So while dodging Lucy's bullets, we are trying to give Jack equal attention.  It was interesting.  I took him out with me a few times.  Once to the store and another time to get him some new shoes.  He helped me cut coupons (he and Lucy's favorite new thing to do), then he helped me shop, loaded all the groceries in bags, and then helped me carry them all in the house.  I was quite impressed, all while he pretended he was laying bombs through out the store at Meijer and kept telling me to hurry before the aisle blew up.  We were also trying to teach Jack the rules of dex week.  I just have one thing to say -  he made eye contact WAY too many times!!
Whew....I am exhausted. I promise to get details about the vacation out plus I have a lot of other news and things going on, but for now, I am happy dex is over..again.  Tomorrow will be a much better day.  Tomorrow is also clinic.  Hopefully she has good numbers, and we can keep her occupied outside (yea the rain was a lovely touch during dex too).
Hopefully next time we will be better prepared for rush week. If only for one day.