Knock Knock--Hello???

The coyotes in my back yard didn't get me. I have just been so freaking busy.

So lets recap.

S1 and the whole drunken, obnoxious incident. Bizarrely the best thing that has happened in a long time. Like 18 years. The boy was able to purge many things and my worry about he and his dad never being close again??? They are closer than they have ever been. I could put a whole paragraph here about how guys are weird and handle problems SO differently than women, but suffice to say that I really don't care HOW they got to the point of closeness they have now.....I am just glad they are there.

Normally, with a month long break from school, he would have stuck around at his apartment and not spent much time at home. At this point, he has been here since the 'instant asshole, just add whiskey' night. He has been watching sports with BigD, doing the grocery shopping for me, helping S3 GUT, clean and rearrange his room and on and on.

I have wondered who this kid is that looks just like the independent, can handle anything on his own kid. He looks just like S1 but he has done a 180 as far as wanting to spend time with the family.

I won't lie. I am loving every minute of it.

So, now we just have to get through tomorrow. That's the day we spend at the Clevel@nd Clinic having all the testing for his possible connective tissue disease. I won't be breathing till we are done.

I had my cancer removed. Again. Waiting for the margins to be clear and then hopefully the heybaby area will never again be seen by anyone outside of my bedroom. Seriously.

THE ABOVE WAS WRITTEN A COUPLE OF DAYS AGO BUT S1 KEPT WALKING INTO MY OFFICE AND I DIDN'T WANT HIM TO SEE WHAT I WAS DOING SO I DECIDED TO JUST KEEP IT AND POST AFTER THE C. CLINIC DAY.

That was yesterday. It was a very very long and exhausting day. S1 didn't sleep well the night before and I didn't either. We both were quietly thinking about what news the days events would bring.

I can tell you here, what I didn't tell anyone in the family. I am always in charge of making any type of vacation plans. We are planning to go to South Carolina next summer, but I couldn't let myself make condo reservations because I know S1, and I know that if he had a big red scar running the length of his bony skinny chest, he would elect to stay home and not come with us. He doesn't even like to take off his shirt in the summer because of his extremely thin build (I have never had any idea what having a thin build is like, but a girl can imagine;) so I had been coming up with excuses about not liking each condo for some offbeat reason. I lied to my entire family.

We started with an MRI (I am still not sure if it was a full body or not...this is one of the things I still need to find out). After that he had to have an extensive echocardio.gram with emphasis on the aort.a and the root and all the valves (ok, basically that is what an echo does;). After that was the appointment with the geneticist who asked a multitude of questions and did an exam that included measurements. S1 did have multiple positives on the questioning but when it came to family history, that is when the knife in my chest was twisted once again. I hate the look in S1's eyes when he has to say the words "I'm adopted and I don't know any "family" history". As I have mentioned before..he HATES to be 'different' than the norm, or at least what he considers the norm. Anyway, the doctor (who was adorable and about 8 3/4 months pregnant) was sweet and didn't make a big deal about it. She handled what could have been an uncomfortable pause, or an "oh no" reaction, with ease and just tactfully moved on. I could have kissed her.

By the end of the exam, she stated that she was "certain" (which took me by surprise as rarely do doctors stated anything with certainty...at least none that I have known) that he did not have a connective tissu.e disorder, but quite possibly more of an arthritic condition. She suggested that he see an rheu.matologist when the pains in the joints and aching of the muscles began to effect his lifestyle in a negative manner. While her announcement of certainly was wonderful, I was still nervous about what the cardiovascular doc was going to say about the MRI and echo.

We got to his office and had to wait 2 hours. By this time S1 was climbing the walls and quite testy. He asked if we could just skip the visit and leave since the other doc said he was fine. As much as that appealed to me after sitting for 2 continuous hours watching H.aiti on CN.N, I told him we had to finish up the day. There was NO way I was going to get him back there again.

So, we met the uberspecialist in Mar.fan cardiac problems. He was a strange dude. No personality to speak of and he talked so quietly (and with an accent) that I kept leaning closer and closer to him just to hear what he was saying. I came damn near close to sitting on his lap.

So, his final word. S1 has a slightly enlarged aorti.c root but not to the point where there would be any surgical indication. Trust me, when a surgeon DOESN'T suggest surgery...it's a good day. He recommended that S1 just pop back in for another echo in about 5 years to make sure there was no change, but other than that....go have a good life. Hot damn.

BigD had driven separately because he had to stay in Clevel@nd town for a meeting that night, so as we parted ways. S1 and I got into the car, and his elation was palpable. I started to cry when he said "This....this was a good day". I knew he had been worried but didn't know the extent of his worry until I heard his relief. He was almost giddy. We drove to the nearest App.le store so he could get a new battery, and passed a Cheesec@ke Factory. He looked at me and said "you hungry?" with a big smile on his face. When we left there $42 later, he was full on top of happy.

He talked and talked and talked the whole way home. When we got home he was laughing and teasing with S2 (and with only 17 months difference in age, they have a hot and cold friendship....lately because they live together it has been more cold). This morning, S2 told me that it has been a looonnnnggg time since he had seen his brother this relaxed. My damn eyes leaked once again.

Now, the last medical stuff he has to endure is an upper endosc0py to make sure he doesn't have a malabsorption problem or celia.c disease. (6'2 140 lbs--try buying jeans for this kid). He is scheduled for that early Feb, but after yesterday, he ranks his worry about this at closer to 0 than 10.

We can handle a dietary issue a bit easier than a cardiac issue.

So. For today, all is good.

(that sound you hear is me collapsing on my desk from emotional exhaustion from the past two weeks...excuse me while I go find a miracle cream that can remove the extra wrinkles I earned in the process)