Hey hey, it's Friday! Here are 5 things on my mind today!
1. From the windows to the Walz. I, of course, have to acknowledge that Harris has selected our Minnesota governor, Tim Walz, as her running mate. I love this guy! It's been interesting/fun to see him gain national notoriety. He has total Midwest dad vibes! The governor's mansion where he typically resides is on the Twin Cities marathon/10 mile/10k course. When I ran the 10k years ago, I'll never forget how he was out on his lawn, enthusiastically cheering on runners! [I usually do not like to discuss politics on my blog because I am incredibly conflict-avoidant, so if you don't like him, please keep those thoughts to yourself as I'm not looking to engage in political discussions.]
2. Joint update. No, not that kind of joint - I'm talking about my hand joint. The injection from last week seems to have done the trick, thank goodness. The swelling is way down and I can finally start to taper off prednisone. That said, the joint doesn't feel great so I talked to my SIL who is an OT that focuses on hands (did you know such an expertise exists?). She thinks I have what is known as "trigger" finger which is common for patients that have elevated levels of inflammation. She recommended a brace which I promptly ordered from Amazon. If that doesn't help, I will ask my rheumatologist for an OT referral but I hope it doesn't come to that because I can't bear to add more medical appointments to my calendar...
3. Summer fever. Taco came down with a fever on Tuesday when he got home from daycare. He started crying when he walked in the house, cuddled on my lap, and promptly fell asleep which is NOT typical for our energetic little guy. I know some parents take a "wait and see" approach but I nearly immediately booked an appointment at the CVS minute clinic to rule out strep throat (pro tip - CVS minute clinics are amazing - I would recommend going there v urgent care if you can snag an appointment online. They are staffed by a nurse practitioner. They can run strep and influenza tests and you get you results within 10 minutes.). We had our appointment on Wednesday morning and his strep test was negative but he has a double ear infection. Ugh. He got tubes around 11 months and they fell out about 6 months ago. I was hoping ear infections were behind us as Paul didn't get any ear infections after his tubes fell out. I messaged his doctor and she is hoping this is just a fluke and that he won't have recurrent ear infections. He's been ok during the day but has been spiking fevers during the night so we've had interrupted sleep in our household this week which I am so not accustomed to which means I feel extra tired.
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| My sad, sick baby. I did soak up his feverish cuddles, though. |
4. Olympic fever. We continue to be obsessed with the Olympics. I feel like we've watched more coverage than ever this year, but I have some recency bias. I had a 8 month old baby during the 2021 Olympics so life looked quite different back then. It's nice to have something to watch together every night rather than doing the whole "what do you want to watch" / "I don't care, you pick" / "no, you pick" type of exchange. Instead at 7pm we tune into the primetime Olympics coverage which we watch with Paul until he goes to bed.
5. Cool, cool summer. Well so much for the heat! It’s been downright fall-like this week. Today the high is 69. This is so bizarre. Apparently it’s related to the tropical storm on the east coast - I guess it’s keeping a cool front over us. It is great for running, though. Paul’s field trip is to a water park today but I am sure the cooler temps won’t hold him back from having a great time. It looks like warmer temps return next week so I will enjoy this cool spell while it lasts. It is nice to not run the a/c non-stop!
What is the weather like in your parts? Are you sad the Olympics are coming to an end?
16 comments:
Oh Lisa. Ear infections are the worst and so frustrating since he's had tubes. I hope things clear up quickly and they aren't recurrent.
I had no idea there was a hand-specialized OT but I've started to figure out there is a job for every single thing imaginable. I'm glad your flare is better and hope that you feel much better as you taper down on the steroid. And that the brace helps!
We have watched lots of Olympics. I agree that it's nice to have something to "fall back on" in terms of something to watch/do. It's also such a cultural moment since even people who have wildly divergent interests all seem to converge into being enthralled by the Olympics. The first thing I do each morning lately is check what's happened with Canadian athlete's at the Olympics.
My husband and I watched the two episodes of the Simone Biles docuseries on Netflix yesterday and we watched Sprint last week.
Hope you have a great weekend and Taco is back to feeling 100%.
LISA!!!! My husband has trigger finger!!! It came about years ago and we realized it when he was playing water guns with the boys and couldn't straighten his finger. He still has trouble with it sometimes BUT he always wears a brace on his finger to bed, and that has helped immensely. So definitely wear the brace!!! But thank goodness your flare is finally going down. IT IS ABOUT TIME!!! That is too much, honestly.
Poor Taco. It's really something when energetic kids become lethargic, it's so scary. I remember him getting tubes, and oh, how frustrating. I hope the doctor is right and it's a fluke.
We had a couple of cooler, rainy days which is welcome, but then the heat kicked back in. I was at a family reunion in SK last weekend and the first day was 38C, the second day 29C and the third day 21C with high winds. Nothing like a little prairie volatility!
My husband and older son are out of town for most of August and they are the Olympic watchers, so I haven't seen ANYTHING since they left.
I am so glad to hear your inflammation is on the way down! Such a sweet fever pic, and I am just like you— doctor right away because WHAT IF. I hope the ear infection is a one-off! It’s cool here, too. I am sure as soon as the pool closes, we’ll be back up in the 90s **eye roll**
LOL LOL LOL at the water gun discovery— very dad of small boys.
First things first- SO glad the flare is subsiding, but now trigger finger is also super annoying. I've actually had it in both thumbs (not at the same time.) I know sometimes people have surgery to correct it, but I just waited it out and it eventually went away. It took a long time though, and I'm not sure if that would be realistic with your finger. One thing that seemed to help me- I'm assuming you can only bend your finger so far and then it gets kind of stuck? I would bend my thumb as far as I could, then gently assist it with my other hand- so in that way, take it through its full range of motion. Keep doing that over and over again whenever you get the chance. Hopefully this can subside on its own.
How could you not like Tim Walz??? He's awesome.
Yes, I'm so sad the Olympics is ending! I've been loving it. I'm trying to concole myself with the thought that football starts soon.
Poor Taco- I hope he feels better soon, and I hope you can get some sleep this weekend!
I am so glad that your injection is helping and hope that OT or the brace will help the finger. But it's a step in the right direction. Our weather is similar to yours -- I've only been swimming once (though a few weeks ago when it was hot, I had to stay out of the water because of the infections). I haven't had a good swim, though -- yesterday it was playing with the kids, so not exactly a workout! Bummer on the ear infection. And three cheers for Tim Walz! I think he was a good choice!
I had never heard of Tim Walz before this week but I really, really, really like everything that I have heard so far! Also he's from a state that I have fond memories of from vacation and I got to tour his workplace (MN state capitol).
I'm channeling all my energy into making Nicole's comment come true - let the brace be the magic cure for the "trigger finger".
So glad to hear that the infusion is working FINALLY! hope the braces work too. sorry to hear about the summer fever, not fun at all to deal with a sick kid. YAY for cool temperature. You know I live in a tropical country so it's hot all year long, the mornings are okay to run, but when the sun comes out, it becomes super hot that I don't even want to walk.
Oh nooooo. Poor kiddo. Ear infections stink. So do summer colds! My daughter seems to have FINALLY gotten over her nasty cough from her own recent cold. Yuck.
I am delighted to hear that your latest injection has helped. I hope that the bulk of the pain is behind you. What an ordeal!
I'm just leaving a comment that I am SO GLAD your finger seems to be better - finally - and that you have that brace en route. Thank goodness for online shopping and fast shipping in these types of circumstances. My brother also has RA and also has a trigger finger, so I have heard of this before... and hope that the brace helps. I'll be back to read more carefully and comment on the rest of this. (I had to hop forward from your post from 7/29 to see if it had helped at all...)
SO GLAD that the injection is helping! What sweet relief! After my initial flare of arthritis I went into remission after about 9 or 11 months, but my ring finger took a couple of YEARS before I could tightly close it. Why??? I hope that the brace really helps you.
My daughter had ear infections as a baby, and eventually had to go on low dose antibiotics for a couple of months to completely clear it out. I know Taco has had tubes, so not the same issue. I hate how it's always so much worse at night.
I am so excited for Tim Walz! He seems like such an awesome person and I have LOVED the memes going around about him. It's a good thing that you're not on IG or I would be sending you meme after meme. ;)
I am relieved to hear that your finger is feeling better. You suffered for far too long!
TIL that tubes fall out. I had no idea!
You must have been in a good mood on Friday; from the windows to the Walz? And joints?? You were cracking all kinds of jokes. Haha. I am glad you are feeling better! I hope that Taco is also feeling better!
The weather was so much cooler last weekend! Even today I think it is supposed to be in the low 80s but that's not too bad! However, I think we are in for more rain this weekend. Fooey!
I DVRed the Olympics and am still catching up on some of the events. I finally watched the breakdancing yesterday and it was entertaining. I still haven't watched the women's soccer final, although I know the results.
I am so sad the Olympics are over. But it will be better for my productivity because I am behind in everything in my personal life from blogging to reading!
Poor little guy with his ear infections. Human bodies are just not designed for actually living, are they?
From the windows to the Walz, hahaha! Good one. And who wouldn't like Tim Walz! I cannot see how you could dislike this guy. He's so much enthusiasm... it's contagious!
I am glad to hear your joints are better but I did not know what a trigger finger is (and had to google it). I do hope the brace will help.
Poor Taco. Ear infections are awful (or so I heard) and really knock out kids. I hope he's much better by now.
Hopefully the ear infection was a one off and he's not got to get tubes again! I did not watch any of the olympics but I did watch the Simone Biles documentary and loved it!!!
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