Day 288, Friday, October 15th, 2021
Grandma and Anna
After 7 months of caring for her brother, Bill, my mother-in-law, Judy, got to go home to Ohio. Judy has been in Texas since February with just a couple of visits back home. She came down to visit us for a couple of days before her flight out of San Antonio and it was wonderful to see her. I realized late on Friday night that I hadn’t gotten any photos of her yet and as Anna was going to bed, I snapped a quick picture. Anna loves her Grandma.
Day 289, Saturday, October 16th, 2021
No photos today.
Day 290, Sunday, October 17th, 2021
No photos today.
Day 291, Monday, October 18th, 2021
Sweetest Neighbors
Dominic left for school a little early Monday morning and called to tell me that he saw 2 dogs running loose on Shady Hollow. He had cars behind him or he would’ve stopped. I told him no worries, that I would go look for them once Anna had gotten picked up. Curtis offered to come with me and I’m so glad he did. We stopped at the construction site around the corner when we spotted not 2, but 3 dogs running loose…and they were BIG dogs. They were all friendly, 2 of them were Australian Shepherds and 1 was a Great Pyrenees. The Aussies hopped right in the car but Curtis had to lift the Pyrenees in the back of my SUV. They had no identification on their collars so I searched our neighborhood Facebook page for Aussies and found a post 3 years prior about grooming where a neighbor shared some photos. Bingo! One of the dogs was a perfect match. So I sent her a PM and tagged her in a post. I had a call within 15 minutes. This sweet family was in San Antonio and didn’t even know their pack had gotten loose… Blaize, Cash, and Izzie. The husband and wife were at our house within an hour to pick them up and they were so grateful that they brought a bouquet of flowers that afternoon to say thank you. Awwww!
Day 292, Tuesday, October 19th, 2021
Muddy Before
Our good deed of picking up the three puppers the day before led to a bit of a muddy car. It was damp and dewy that morning and the Aussies and Pyrenees had a fun romp through the neighborhood, especially at the construction site, where they got a little muddy. I again took to our neighborhood Facebook page and searched for a mobile car detailer since the guy I had used in the past never responded to me. Lots of neighbors recommended Jesse Sambrano with Spankyz Mobile Detail. I messaged Jesse and he offered to come first thing Tuesday. Of course, I had to get some “before” pictures!
Day 292, Tuesday, October 19th, 2021
Jesse Hard at Work
I mentioned to my mom that I was going to get a mobile car detailer to come clean my car and she said she wanted her car cleaned as well. She was going to be accompanying a friend to MD Anderson in Houston Thursday through Monday and wanted her car to be clean for the drive. Curtis said he’d like his car cleaned too so Jesse had his work cut out for him. Poor guy woke up to a flat tire on his work van so he arrived a little late. We had him start on Curtis’s car since it was the easiest to access. Then he did my mom’s car which meant he had to come back on Wednesday to do mine.
Day 293, Wednesday, October 20th, 2021
Pristine After
Wow wow wow! My car has never looked so good! Curtis’s car (and mom’s too!) looks like it rolled off the showroom floor. My Enclave is 10 years old and some of the leather is worn, but Jesse made it look as good as possible. Every crack and crevice is pristine. Not a drop of dirt or mud to be found anywhere. I don’t want to let the kids have food in the car ever again!
Day 293, Wednesday, October 20th, 2021
Spankyz Mobile Detail
Jesse was kind enough to pose for me in front of my clean car, isn’t he great? If anyone in New Braunfels wants his contact info, here you go: Jesse Sambrano, Spankyz Mobile Detail, 210-287-3875. Small SUVs are $130, medium SUVs are $150. Worth every penny. He invested 4-5 hours per car.
Day 294, Thursday, October 21st, 2021
Follow Up with Gastro
Dominic’s CT results came in and showed mild sigmoid diverticulosis which is unusual in a 17-year old. I think it’s from his EDS. Diverticulosis just means there are areas in the intestinal wall that form pouches. If one of those pouches gets infected (like from eating corn or seeds that get stuck), then that’s called diverticulitis and can be more dangerous. We decided to go see Dr. Arnold in person to strategize and he worked us in at 7:30 am Thursday morning. Dominic is down 32 pounds since January, has very little appetite, and has intense stomach pain even if he doesn’t eat. Dr. Arnold is running a few more tests (a few more labs and some breath tests to check for porphyria), but doesn’t really expect to find anything. The amitriptyline has helped his chronic diarrhea but not the pain. As of right now, he’s still just diagnosed with IBS. We will keep you posted.
Day 294, Thursday, October 21st, 2021
New Orthopedic Doc
After I got Dominic dropped off at school after his early morning appointment, I went home to pick up Anna to meet a new orthopedic doctor for her knees and hips. She woke up with right knee pain a few weeks ago that lasted over a week, then her left hip started hurting last week… probably from compensating for the knee pain. Sure enough her IT band is inflamed and angry. She got a referral to get physical therapy to strengthen her lower body. I hope she can see Dr. Katie again at Texas Physical Therapy Specialists. Also Anna’s mood has gotten a little unstable, darn it. She’d been doing so well on the Paxil but had gotten super constipated again, so I think she got toxic. We are waiting to hear back from the psychiatrist. It’s always something!
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