Wednesday, July 08, 2015

Update on Michael

While Arielle and I had our adventure at the oral surgeon - Michael was in another town seeing the neurologist.

You may remember two weeks ago he told us Michael does NOT have Parkinson's. He ran a bunch of labs for toxic metals, thyroid, vitamin deficiencies and ordered an MRI on  Michael's brain.  All came back normal. Praise God - and yet - Michael is still stumbling into things and off balance. He would never pass a test if stopped by the highway patrol.

Two weeks ago the neurologist was determined the shaking and loss of balance was "atypical essential tremors." This does not run in Michael's family. He started him on a med and told him, "If it is essential tremors this will alleviate the symptoms by the next time I see you."

It hasn't. He said, "We just need to up the dosage."

Meanwhile, we found out Michael's father was diagnosed with Parkinson's by one neurologist - they chose to ignore the diagnosis. Michael's dad struggled with loss of balance...but Parkinson's isn't thought to be genetic.

We're clueless. We see the base doctor again tomorrow and will discuss all this. We would like a second opinion to feel more settled. We'd like a neurologist to have ideas of what the problem could be rather than simply clinging to an "atypical" diagnosis - even while the drugs aren't working.  Our research seems to show  many docs would have started him on Levodopo (Parkinson's drug) to see if he responded to THAT drug - but this doc is 100% in favor of the DAT SCAN as the definitive tool for diagnosing.

To be clear - we are fine saying it's not Parkinson's. We'd just hope for a doctor who would have a clue as to what it may be.

Prayer Requests:
  • Michael has been unable to make contact with the VSO on base. This is the agent who walks a claim through the VA system. This should have begun months ago; was delayed due to outstanding referrals and now we simply can't reach this man and have tried for 3 weeks....in a variety of ways.
  • We've decided it will be a better bet to drive to Travis AFB; rather than  keep waiting on this office. 
  • MANY details need to be put in place for the retirement ceremony.
  • Arielle needs to be moved.
  • We still have quite a few decisions hanging in the balance right now - prayers for clear direction are always appreciated.
  • Yes - we crave answers as to why Michael walks like a drunk.

Arielle's Big Day

I have never had my wisdom teeth removed.
Everything is better with Winnie

I have taken 5 older Gherkins to have their wisdom teeth removed. They all were groggy and slept the rest of the day.  Silent. Arielle is ALWAYS silent- and her love language is "not touch."  Imagine my surprise at today's developments.

They called me back while she was in recovery because she was demanding they "Get my mommy!"  She was in tears...not a few....a lot.  She was clinging like she did as a preschooler, holding my hand and sobbing, "Mommy, mommy." She was SURE they had taken ALL her teeth. She was sure they had taken her tongue. I'm very impressed with this doctor. This is the first time I was sent home with LOTS of  "post op" stuff....gloves, gauze, ice packs and such. It is also the first time they demonstrated how to change the gauze.

In any event....Arielle was getting more and more agitated with THEM. She was talking NON-STOP - which is not Arielle. She let them all know she loves her Mommy and Daddy too and she did NOT want to move away from us. This was quite moving and assuring to hear as she's quite ready and confident that it's time to move out.

On the way home, amongst all the tears and talk about missing tongues, she decided we were in an airplane. ON A BRIDGE she said, "O.K. Daddy, let's jump!" I told her no. Calm down. She kept it up and kept trying to grab the steering wheel. "Be fun with us Mommy." Ye gads.

She was sure I was crashing when I went over the little lip into our driveway.

She's quite perturbed about them taking ALL her teeth. "It's gross," and that bothers her. She's upset  they gave her an UGLY band-aide on her "owie" and insists she needs pink. I found some Hello Kitty band-aide and we are fine.  She was quite worried the evil mafia who took all her teeth had taken Winnie the Pooh too - I eased that fear.

She keeps holding my hand and saying such sweet nothings - reminds me of her pre-school self. "I love you mommy. I love everyone, but you're the best," and "You're beautiful mommy."  It's making me cry as I know getting her teeth removed today means in a week she is "cleared" to leave home.

This is like a bad drug trip and caught me by surprise. She is quite funny.   I'm glad we insisted she do this before she moved to Eugene.

Stacia is full of quips  - "I'd say they took her WISDOM teeth." I reminded her she is scheduled to have a tooth pulled in a week and should be careful about what she says. I'm so glad they called Arielle in early and they aren't both in pain at the same time.

Prayers for an easy recovery appreciated.

Note  - Arielle is now about 90% back to normal. She approved this post.  She would appreciate prayers - it hurts.