May 22, 2006

What a beautiful day here in central Indiana....high near 70 with low humidity and a gentle breeze. Just like California, without the "sunshine tax"! Still getting ready to move. Yesterday Amy and Christopher and I spent the day at the "new house". I spent much of my time trying to descale faucets, etc., since the previous residents must not have understood (or cared) that the water softener needed to be refilled with SALT! It had obviously been empty for a LLLLOOOOOOONGGGG time. Upstairs, in the master bath, I had taken the faucet aerators off and put them in the (stopped up) sink to soak in Lime-Away. I was cleaning the shower and Christopher walked in to the bathroom and before I could blink he had stuck his hand into the acid in the sink! I immediately grabbed his arm and started flushing it under the faucet in the tub. I called for Amy, since it was all I could do to keep his hand under the water (autistic kids and 'need to do something' don't mix). I realized that we were going to have to put him in the tub full of water and let him SOAK the chemical off, rather than continue to risk dislocating his shoulder by holding his arm under the running water. The problem was, we didn't have a towel in the house - anywhere. So I jumped in the car (leaving Amy with Christopher now soaking in the garden tub) and ran the 2 blocks to WalMart to buy a bath towel. He was still in the tub when I got back and it appears to have been an effective decontamination because he has no residual pain or other signs of chemical burns! NEVER A DULL MOMENT! More running around today....I had a doctor appointment to get my non-ALS meds (inhaler for my asthma, etc.) refilled. I hadn't seen my doctor since a year ago and it turns out that my neurologist hasn't sent him any reports, so my primary care physician (PMD) had no idea that I have been diagnosed with "probable" ALS. He kinda looked shocked, then just went on as if nothing had happened (or as if I had just told him I had been diagnosed with dermatitis). All he had to say was "Good Luck". Kinda sad to think that, even knowing that I'm a single mom with 2 disabled kids at home, the best he could offer was "good luck". Anyhow, I am SO grateful for our friend Sharyll, who has been down here visiting several times to help us get ready for the move. It is an hour drive from her home to ours and she comes down and sleeps on a mattress on the living room floor, and then has just been a BIG help with getting stuff ready around the house. Well, speaking of getting stuff ready, I need to go get back to packing up the kitchen! Three more days (and one of them I work a 24-hour shift on the helicopter).....