"put the lime in the coconut, drink it all up"

What a couple of weeks!

Three weeks ago, I took Braden for his blood work, and his medicine level was non-therapuetic, so the doctor upped it one level...still a very low dose for this particular medicine and Braden's symptoms. After a few days, I noticed Braden talking a little strangely. Not exactly slurring, but speaking slowly and repeating himself. Braden's always been a bit strange, and as sad as it sounds, I just chalked it up to "braden-ness". The next day one of his teachers called me, and said that she noticed that for a few days he seems to be really out of it. Just sitting at his desk, not doing any work. Kind of staring into space. She talked to his other teachers, and they confirmed it. He flunked a social studies test by only getting 10 out of 50 correct...and it was all multiple choice!
He seemed a little slurry after school, so I called his doctor who said to not give him his meds that night, or the next morning and then call his office. The next morning I got him up for school and didn't notice anything out of the ordinary...he's always miserable in the morning, and hardly says a word other than to bitch about having to go to stupid gay school. I got a call at work at lunchtime..it seems that Braden was wandering around the cafeteria with his tray and didn't have any idea where his seat was. They called the nurse, who called me. I went to pick him up. He was really out of it, and very embarrassed.
I called the doctor again who wanted him to go without any meds for the rest of the day, and the next day and to bring him in.
I took Friday off, because no one wants to be around an unmedicated Braden, so I couldn't send him to school. We took him to the doctor in the afternoon. He switched his meds again. Of course it would be days before we know if it's working. He had to go have an EKG for this new medicine, which Braden thought was pretty cool. The doctor also wants him to go for an EEG. He said that lithium sensitivity to the extreme that Braden had it, is not very common, except in seizure patients. He said that there's a slight chance that while Braden doesn't seizure, something in his brain could be just on the edge of seizure, causing his brain to be "on edge" all the time. Then when something a little frustrating happens, he competely over-reacts because his brain was half-way there to begin with. We'll see if that's the case.
Since Sunday, he hasn't been too bad. He's exploded a couple of times, but the result has been a little swearing, maybe a throwing of a shirt or something like that, but within five minutes he's back to himself...for what that's worth. If it keeps going like this, I'm going to start working on some of the things that we've let slip lately (to keep a little bit of peace in the house). He's a little upset, because kids keep asking him if he's on drugs now, because that's the rumor going around school.

Last night, he came in my bedroom at 10:30 to tell me that he picked out his clothes for school, and loaded his bookbag and had his ipod sitting with his hoodie so his morning would go easier. Then he actually kissed me (on the cheek) goodnight.

We had so much running around this weekend....birthday parties, basketball games, a basketball banquet...that I didn't get anything done. My house is a mess. There's a pile of mail/papers stacked on the island that's a foot tall. The floors need to be vacuumed, laundry is half-done...and there's more piling up upstairs. I hate it like this, but I just haven't had time.

On other fronts, as silly as this sounds compared to all this drama, the basement remodel has begun. It's studded out, and the plumbing/heating/electrical is done. As soon as it's wired for surround sound, the insulation will go up, then it will be dry walled. I can't believe how expensive flooring is. We've been pricing carpet for down there, and tile/laminate/who-the-hell-knows for the kitchen, and I'm aghast at the prices.

Also, the people we were going to go on vacation with to Virginia with this summer had to cancel because their son is going to football camp, so we're looking into doing something else. So far our options are: going to the Jersey Shore with other friends, going to Florida to go to Universal Studios, and going to an all-inclusive resort in Jamaica. The shore would be fun, but after paying for a yucky room for a week, then all the spending money to eat all week, do the boardwalk, etc, it would wind up costing about $3000 to be two hours away from home. And the Jersey shore isn't even that nice of a beach...I hate the ocean there. We could do a week in Florida, hit the parks and stay at a decent hotel for $4000 (including food and spending money). The resort in Jamaica is all-inclusive and loaded with teen activities...snorkeling, jet skiing, arcade, teen disco, pool tables in the pool, etc and would cost a total of $5000. It would be tight to do that trip, but the upside is, it would cost virtually nothing once we got there, and the kids would have a blast. Not that I'd mind sitting on the white sand beaches with my feet dangling in the clear water, reading a book and sipping cocktails!

Oh, and I had an eye doctor appointment yesterday and got to pick out new glasses. I love getting new glasses.