This summer has officially kicked my butt and it’s still a month until school starts.  I knew I wouldn’t have much time to myself this summer since I haven’t replaced any of Gage’s ABA therapists. They came to our house for 2 hour sessions so I would have  time to do a load or two of laundry, read, write a blog post or visit your blogs 4 times a week. No more of that.  The summer has been full of medical mysteries and mishaps so I’ve spent lots of time researching and in doctors offices or hospitals.  I don’t usually share these things but I do share things about Gage and this is how life goes with a 4-year-old.

First, let’s start with when I first noticed this in June…

Do you see the bump behind his right knee?  After an x-ray and ultrasound he was diagnosed with a Bakers Cyst.  Might get bigger and might not go away until his late teens.  It was a long 4 days from first seeing it to a benign diagnosis.

Then almost 3 weeks ago Gage started having acid reflux/hiccups all.day.long.  Seriously, from when he wakes up until he falls asleep.  He says they don’t hurt but they are taking a toll on his mood.  Doctor said to put him back on Zantac and after an ER trip last night because the reflux/hiccups were so bad when he went to bed that he threw up, another doctor said to try Prilosec.  Oh, and he took x-rays too.  The medical protocol is always pharmaceutical to mask when the problem might be.  Both of these doctors literally shrugged when trying to explain what might be going on.  Gage has a complicated and mysterious gut that I have spent hundreds (thousands?) of hours trying to puzzle out and I hope I can find an answer soon because it is frustrating not be able to help. (We did try the Zantac for 3 days but it was no help)

And if we’re friends on Facebook you might have seen that Gage was at nature camp this week when one of three boys going through the woods together stepped on a hive in the ground and Gage got stung 5 or 6 times by yellow jackets or hornets.  I am lucky that I did not get pulled over or cause an accident the 15 minutes it took me to get to camp!  He was fine, eventually, but the trauma of it caused lots of crying every time he talked about it.  The kid has guts though and looked at me like I was crazy when I asked if he wanted to go back the next morning.  No fear in my guy and he was back the next day walking through the woods.

I don’t know if I’ve properly expressed how much stress I’ve been under this summer (Gage actually seems to be handling it all fairly easily by comparison!).  I have visited a few blogs and will keep visiting as time allows, but just wanted to let you all know what’s going on here in Cleveland.  Jason did take me to a nice dinner and comedy club on Friday night so there are always bright spots 🙂