Good News

When someone asks you, "I have good news and bad news, which do you want first?" How do you answer?
I am a big fan of doing/saying the bad first, and then follow it up with the good. If I have something fun to do in a day, I save it for after I have forced myself to something distasteful, (like housework!) as motivation to get it DONE, so I can enjoy something better.
So, in typical Jo fashion, I will give you the bad news, and then follow it up with the much better news.
First off though, let me whine, please! I am soooo, sooooo very tired. Exhausted both physically and emotionally from dragging my sweet boy to two days of dr. appointments at the Large City Near Me Children's Hospital. I got home last night at almost 6 and just dropped. I couldn't even eat dinner until after the boy went to sleep, I was that tired. And still am. On Tues he was really pretty decent, but the day is so long when you have to drive so far, wait, and wait, in waiting rooms, and in the drs office, wait and wait, interspersed with bits of excitement in the form of outbursts from the boy, or people trying to ask questions, or heaven forbid! touch the kid, which usually earned them a scratch and a growl, seriously! So, yes, I am tired. Haven't even eaten breakfast, I am that tired. I had to drink a Mt. Dew to even get up the energy to post. Then I am going back to bed.
So, Tues was the neurology appt. I am too tired to do links, peeps, sorry, but if you don't remember what I am talking about, you are going to have to go ask Dr. Google.
Little Man has a Vagal Nerve Stimulator for his seizure disorder. We really, really love the contraption, it has given him and us a quality of life we didn't have before. So the person we saw is the PA that oversees the VNS kids. (Part 1 of the story was us switching insurance and now having to switch to some new specialists for the boy, remember?) I really, really liked her. We also got to meet his new neurologist who is also a woman, and I really, really liked her too! Yay for all that. I liked them until they told me that because Little Man's VNS is set a bit higher than average, the battery in the thing is going to die sooner. They will need to contact the manufacturer to find out a better time frame, but it was probably about 3 years. OOOOPHHHFFF! It felt like someone socked me hard! in the midsection. Horror flooded me as I remembered how very awful the implantation had gone. Infections, bleeding, PICC lines, it was really, really awful. The dawning horror that this would probably take place in the next few months because the 3rd anniversary is coming up in Feb was the final cherry on my mountain of rising fear.
We will hear from them soon on a date. The small good news about this, we know WAY better than to let his VNS die on its' own and try to do the surgery as emergent. It will be scheduled ahead of time, Little Man will be on IV antibotics first so we should be able to avoid all the post surgical complications we had last time. (They have to replace the entire thing, the battery is sealed inside, surgery is unavoidable)
And that my friends, is the bad news. Not the worst news in the world, but you have to understand that my reaction was just so very visceral and deep. The thought, "I just can't do that again, I can't!" went through my mind more than once. Ha, ha, like anyone ever asked me!
And now, for the sweeter and less awful part of this post. Little Man does not have Von Willedbrands. His labs were all good, yay! Why he does this cyclical bruising and why his labs are sometimes off is beyond anyone's ken, but hey, we have no need to enter the doors of Hematology again, at least for now. She said if his labs got funky again, we should come back. But I am pretending his labs will never be weird again, so we are not going back.
(Shaking fist at universe, do you hear that? We are NOT going back again!)
Little Man was less than pleasant for yesterday's appt, which is a large part of why I am so very tired today. Wrassling with the uncooperative, sometimes violent and ugly is just very tiring. He SPIT all over the scale when they tried to weigh him. Large amount of spittle, running down the nice electronics. I was embarrassed and horrified. He hit, pulled the doctor's stethoscope off her neck and wouldn't give it back, scratched, growled, yelled and was generally not very nice. The doctor did tell me he is not the easiest patient she has tried to examine. I told her she was NOT the first doctor to tell me that. Sigh. Then awful, ugly rush hour traffic home, and I just collapsed. Still feeling the effects. But hey, I have the day off today, we have the psychologist tomorrow and the orthopedist on Monday. Can not wait. Will have to try to rein in my thrill.
Now, I am going to try to eat some breakfast and GO BACK TO BED. yes. bed...
****updated at 10:55am****
while lounging in my bed, I received a phone call from the neurologist's office. Little Man's VNS has less than 3 months left on it. Neurosurgery consult ASAP and surgery. Gut punch. I am sick with the memory and the worry. Crap. If I swore, I would be swearing right now. Dagnabbit all.