November

The past almost 3 months have been a bit of a blur. Lots of changes and adjustments have happened. Right before Halloween Ellis had her first “mini” panic attack at bedtime, and we couldn’t figure out what brought it on. She did have a few incidences/fights with friends where she was being more impulsive than normal and not so kind, and I’m not sure if that had anything to do with it. The day after Halloween we had her appointment with the rheumatologist, Dr. Carrasco, in Austin, to see if he could get insurance to cover IVIG infusion treatments for her. At the appointment she had another panic attack where she almost threw up. I think being in a big medical facility with a new doctor gave her a lot of anxiety, and she got scared and freaked out. I was so focused on Ellis that I didn’t ask a lot of questions and left the appointment way more confused than when I started. He checked her wrists and thought they looked inflamed and wanted her to get checked for possible rheumatoid arthritis. Those big words are what I think I scared Ellis. I was so confused, because I thought the purpose of the appointment was to talk about her PANS and brain inflammation, but then I assumed maybe the arthritis was the angle the Dr. was going to try and get insurance to cover the infusions treatments? He ordered blood work, an MRI, and also wanted us to see an ophthalmologist. Again, I was confused, but trusted the process. The only good thing about that appointment was getting to spend the night and hang with Jodie for a bit!

Girls somehow talked me into taking them to Walgreens, lol

The following Friday, a week after Ellis’ appointment in Austin, I had my elective partial hysterectomy scheduled. We met our deductible, so I wanted to get an ablation done. Due to a few factors, a partial hysterectomy made more sense than an ablation, so that’s what I opted for.

Other than my blood pressure being low and feeling a little nauseous, my surgery was a success!

Adam had to drop me off and then go back home to get the kids ready for school. Ellis also had her big 5th grade field trip to a fun camp on the border of Texas and Oklahoma that day. I had NO idea my surgery would have the effect that it did on Ellis, but apparently she had another very big panic attack while on her field trip, and Adam had to drive all the way out there to pick her up. He had to hold her hand in the car the whole way home. Once he got her home she would not leave his side and was shaking uncontrollably. She even refused to let him pick me up front the hospital. Thankfully, Anne Marie was available to come pick me up and bring me home. Unfortunately, the pain meds and anesthesia had me knocked out for two days, which didn’t help Ellis’ anxiety.

My friends were so sweet and helped Adam out by getting my meds for me and bringing me care packages. At one point Ellis’ anxiety was so bad I had to call her Dr. directly and get CBD drops and a high dose of “Benadryl” to help her calm down.

To add to our craziness, Brooks also had his big Middle School Match Up Tournament that weekend, where his middle school forms a team and plays against a bunch of other middle schools in the area. Adam had to take care of Ellis, who still wouldn’t let him leave her side, and I was passed out in bed, so our amazing friends had to step up once again.

Middle school buddies!

His team made it all the way to the championship game late Sunday night, AND… they won!!!!

Ellis calmed down enough to let Adam go to the last two games! I’m SOOOO glad he was able to be there for Brooks!

How cool is this championship ring!

Sweet girl refused to go back to school after the weekend. I figured spending the day with me and seeing that I was fine and healing from my surgery would help calm her anxiety. If she was staying home though, she was going to help me with chores, lol.

Tuesday, she was still not quite ready to go back to school. I was ordered to start walking to help me heal faster, so on I walk I went with my little sidekick! Ellis somehow spotted this leaf bug! Oh to have young eyes again…

Seriously, how did she spot that bug all the way from the sidewalk??

So cool!

Wednesday, Ellis was still not ready to go back to school, but we talked her into just driving up there. Once we got to the parking lot, she felt comfortable enough to go inside. Once inside, we were able to get her into the library. I think the book fair going on helped with that! Her teachers and the counselor were absolutely amazing and so supportive. They met us in the library and were able to get her to go to class. She lasted half a day, which is way more than we were expecting, so we were thrilled! Unfortunately, Thursday and Friday were a no go for her. She just kept saying, “not today, I just can’t go to school today”.

Over the weekend Shep had his end of season baseball party for his rec team. That is literally the only bite Shep took of this massive slice of pizza, lol

Coach Joe is the best!

All week long Ellis kept saying she was going to go to school, and every morning she’d get herself all worked up and then decide she couldn’t do it. I’m not going to lie, it was very frustrating, but we tried to be as patient, encouraging and supportive as we could. She kept saying she was afraid of being trapped at school, even though everyone assured her she’d be safe, and could go to the counselors office at any point during the day if she got anxious or scared. After missing the whole week, we finally got her to enter the school on Friday. Adam was waiting in the car while I talked to the teachers in the front office, and she started to panic. The more we tried to calm her the more upset she became, until she finally just ran out of the school and tried to hide in the back of the car with Adam. After that we knew we were going to have to look into some other options after the Thanksgiving break.

Adam was waiting in the car because we were heading to the middle school to watch Brooks get an award for Distinguished Honor Roll! Man what a roller coaster of emotions that morning was.

Our friends sitting next to us yelled “BROOOOOOKS” when they called his name, and after school Brooks asked me why they were boo’ing him, lol…

Smarty Pants friends!

That evening we went to dinner for our FRIENDSgiving dinner since none of us could get it together to host at our house. Nancy’s mom and Aunt got to join us this year!

Friendsgiving lunch with these beauties too!

Then it was off to the lake house for the first half of the Thanksgiving break!

Jodie and the kids joined us while Rickey was hunting!

Another one of God’s beautiful paintings!

Lazy lake house days are the best days!

Handsome boys!

Bowen and his faces, lol

Time to stop being lazy and go on a hike!

Rewarding ourselves with brownies after our hike!

And some relaxation!

Tik Tok queen showing Shep how it’s done…

They do love each other!

Went straight from the lake house to Houston for the second half of Thanksgiving break! We stayed with the Cisneros on Wednesday, because they watched Oreo for us. Ellis was in heaven getting to see her bestie, Maddie!