Does Anyone Have A DeLorean I Can I Borrow?

Photo Credit: Forbes.com

I would image you would have to be at least 20 to even get that reference….lol. I would love to have a time machine so I could go back in time and re-do some of the things in my life. The most recent incident is allowing the DDD to come into my home. Here I was trying to get a some benefits for my children and instead I get CPS sent to my house instead. It is an awful feeling of dread every moment you know they are investigating you. I took a Benadryl last night because my eczema is starting to flare up…I imagine due to stress… and I overslept. When I work up it was still dark out and I had not heard any conscious noises but I did see out my window flashing lights. My first thought was to panic and that CPS was here to take away the children. As it turns out the flashing lights was the garbage truck but it gave me a momentary start. What a horrible way to wake up plus I was running behind in getting to work. Not a good way to start my Monday!

Since I last posted I spent Thursday night in such distress I was crying and up until 1am. I was worried the CPS worker was going to show up and take the children from me before their birthday. Though I am not worried about not getting the children back I was worried that I might miss their birthday because she can take them (potentially) for up to 72 hours (might be 48). It would be my luck she would take them and the time would extend over their birthday. James has been talking about his birthday for WEEKS and I do not want to disappoint! It looks like we are going to do a glow-in-the-dark themed party. I have to check out some party supplies but I think I can get everything done. Margaret has requested a Hello Kitty carrot cake. I will see what I can do…lol. James wants a chocolate cake with vanilla icing. That will be easy enough. Joseph hasn't made any requests so I am giving him the same thing. There are so many details to the party I have to take care of but I am hoping I can get it all done in time. I am going to try!

As a side bar…John complains I never say anything nice about him in the blog. Usually that is because I am complaining about him. I have to say though on Wednesday I had called and let him know what was going on and to be prepared for a potential phone call. When I said what was going on with CPS he was really annoyed. He could not believe that something so small had been blown so out of portion. On Thursday night, while I was stressing out and crying, I texted John. I woke him up but he texted me back. We texted back and forth for an hour. He did his best to try and reassure me that not only am I right about what I am going concerning the lock on the door at night but reminded me of a few other important things I needed to do. He was a champ and even made me laugh at the end. I needed that! So I wanted to more “formally” say, thank you!

I reached out to my network of Facebook friends. I know several of them have been investigated/harassed by CPS over the years. One friend I have has become, essentially, an advocate against CPS. We spoke at length and she told me that I had rights and where I could access the laws that govern what CPS can and cannot do in Arizona. Being a fellow state worker I understand the CPS work’s job is important but she is barking up the wrong tree in this case. Currently I work as an environmental planner. This means I am familiar with finding statues (state and federal), reading, interrupting and applying law. Now that I know I have rights and what they are it makes me a bit more at ease but at any moment the CPS worker can go and declare the children a dependent of the court and at least take the children from me for at least a few days. On the other hand this woman has already violated state law herself. Arizona Revised Statues state…

8-803. Limitation of authority; duty to inform

A. On initial contact with a parent, guardian or custodian under
investigation pursuant to this article, a child protective services
worker shall inform the family, both verbally and in writing, making
reasonable efforts to receive written acknowledgement from the parent,
guardian, or custodian, of receipt of all of the following
information:

1. That the family is under investigation by the department.
2. The specific complaint or allegation made against that person.
3. That the worker has no legal authority to compel the family to
cooperate with the investigation or to receive protective services
offered pursuant to the investigation.
4. The worker's authority to petition the juvenile court for a
determination that a child is dependent.
5. The person's right to participate in a mediation program in the
attorney general's office. The worker shall provide the telephone
number of the attorney general's office mediation program.
6. The person's right to file a complaint with the ombudsman-citizen
aide pursuant to section 41-1376. The worker shall provide the
telephone number of the ombudsman-citizen aide.
7. The person's right to appeal determinations made by child
protective services.
8. Information outlining parental rights under the laws of the state.

So far the CPS worker has said nothing besides that she wants to ask questions and see the children. I have yet to hear anything on WHO is being investigated, WHY we are being investigated or we have RIGHTS. I can guess at the information but I am not sure. When I called and spoke the CPS worker on Friday she said she would not be able to come to the house that day. She was working on-call and might be called away so she wanted to wait for another day. I said that was fine. She asked if I could meet early on another day next week and I said I could arrange it to be that way. Since I work we are expected to be in the office Tuesday to Thursday without fail. She asked if Friday would be better and I said yes. She moved the time to 4:30pm. I told her that worked even better for me. Now we have an appointment set for this Friday at 4:30pm. In that initial contact and first phone call the CPS worker started off the conversation in a hostile time with me saying, “I never got to see the children.” She said it in such a rush I did not even understand what she said. I said, “Excuse me?” The CPS worker than stated again, “I never got to see the children. There is only a 3 inch crack in the door and I could not see them.” I told her, “I never said you did. I said you were SCARING my children and I wanted to make sure it stopped.” The CPS worker said she did not do that either. I pushed it off as Bailey can be melodramatic so calm things down. I said I would meet with her on that Friday at the house. What I did not tell her is that I still have of intention of letting her inside. Now that I know I do not have to cooperate with the investigation I do not plan to except as it basically pleases me. The police came by the house and saw nothing was wrong. If so I know he would have stated as such and the children would have been removed. I am now working on getting a copy of the police report.

So this week I get to stress about the CPS visit, try and finish up things for my children’s birthday party, send out the invites today and tomorrow for the party, go to work and try to be present in my job, and I am sure do a load of other things I cannot even think about at the moment. Life is hectic!

Photo Credit: glowstickfactory.com

Over the weekend I did get something done. I needs to get more birthday supplies. James has a VERY certain scenario set up for his birthday in his head and I want to make as much of that happen as I can. Sunday we went out to the park for two hours. It was SUCH a nice day. I found the nicest little park called John Allen park near our home. It was just the right size for the children to play and it was not busy like Freestone Park. Plus there was easy access to the park for Joseph. While there though Joseph fell down some steps. He had been going up the steps several times but I had been there to make sure he made it up ok. There are a lot of stairs and they are rather steep. Each time he made it up with one problem. He would go to the other side of the playground equipment and slide down the spiral side. He was having a blast! James was running around and I saw Joseph playing in the sand. I left him and sat down with James to get his shoes on. As I was getting James’ shoes on I her Joseph crying (but not the “bad” crying when you know someone is SUPER hurt). He is sitting at the base of the stairs. The other little girls who were at the park go over to him. I finish tying James’ shoe so he would not lose it and go over. I pick Joseph up and I see a HUGE goose egg starting to rise right between his head. I could tell somehow he had started to go up the stair and then fell. As I looked at him later he had a couple of more places. My poor baby! All I can say is I am glad he avoided his mouth. With all the dental issues he has had because of falls like this I am glad he did not crack a tooth or bust his lip. I wish I knew why he has been SO delayed in walking and seems to have such major balance issues. I am hoping the developmental pediatrician will have some answers. He has an appointment to be seen in February. Can you believe I made the appointment in August BEFORE I had even left Vegas?

Today is Monday and I have to find a party supply place. I think I will be trying to get in early to work for the rest of the week so I can make up some time. I want to take half the day off on Friday so I can get the last things done for their party. I am REALLY looking forward to the celebration and surprising the children!

Causing a Ruckus on Facebook!

Well my weekend was interesting!  How was yours?

Photo Credit: faqsocial.org

I have been on Facebook since April 2009 and overall I have enjoyed it.  I HATE when FB changes things around but otherwise I am happy.  I have been able to meet LOTS of WONDERFUL women from across the country with problems similar to mine.  Problems like having multiples, having multiples with special needs, special needs children who are not multiples or are otherwise "normal" and MANY others!  The other day one of the MOMs (Mothers of Multiples) I know added me to a multiples group on FB.  OMG, that set off the biggest crazy thing I had EVER experienced!  I actually left the FB multiples group in tears.  I was attacked in the group and out right called a fake.  I was accused of NOT having my multiple kiddos!

I had NEVER had that happen before.  I was told my story was wrong, James could not have come home when I said he did and not at the weight he did.  Then I was told I was just trolling for money and to get attention.  This woman did not know me nor all that I had been through.  She had determined I was a faker  and attacked me verbally in the room.  After getting upset because I had given access to a photo album with pictures of my children from birth to age two, agreed to meet a local MOM in the group AND was willing to accept a friend request where one can videos and pictures of my children over the years I was STILL attacked anyways!

A couple of the MOMs I knew on FB before I was added to that group signed into the social group and saw what happened.  They came to my defense but I had all ready left.  Seriously, I was in tears!  My life has been SO stressful at this point that the verbal attack I had endured that night sent me over the edge.  James was even concerned asking me why I was sad!  He is SUCH a sweet boy!  I told him some ladies had been mean to mommy on the computer but I am much better now.  He gave me a kiss.  Made my heart melt!  About another ten minutes later I had a couple of the MOMs I know along with an administrator to the group say they were sorry for what happened and asked me to come back.  That the woman who attacked me had left the group.  So I agreed to come back.  What a CRAZY experience! So far the other women the group have been nice and supportive but I have to say it is a carzy group in there.  Maybe this is what having multiples does to a woman?  What does that say about ME?  LOL

Recent picture of the children

It did get me to thinking though.  Why did I not remember the details of the babies birth, when they got home or really any other information until they got to be about two.  Looking back now I realize that I was in shock after Martha had died, then there was the risk Joseph could die at any minute and I was not getting NEAR enough sleep!  I did keep some logs of the babies details.  John was in charge of that sort of stuff but I wanted a record for myself so I had a log.  It was on a computer my oldest son used.  He loved playing multi-player games online.  The game he was playing was riddled with viruses.  This was when the kids were about a year old.  So I started a new log and the kids were getting Early Intervention services.  We started to go and see more doctors.  I was telling everyone (husband, therapists and doctors) that something was wrong with the children but I was being dismissed.  They were all saying the kids would "catch up" by their third birthday.  I knew they were wrong but no one would really listen.  I spent LONG hours at my computer, when I should have been sleeping, trying to figure out what was wrong!   After the second computer crash and the loss of SO much data that I told my oldest he was banned from my computers and I started my blog online.  I did not want to lose any more information!  The first two years was so full of emotional pain, drama and lack of sleep that I don't try hard to remember what had happened.  Even now, each year, I start a new 3 inch three ring binder to hold Joseph's medical and school information.  So far we fill that EACH year.  I have a lot to worry about without worrying if I remember all the details from the first days of their birth!

Photo Credit: Reddoorrents.com

Over the long weekend I spent some time trying to look for a place to live.  I am afraid we will be stuck at the hotel for a bit.  I want to make sure I find the right thing AND I have not been without the children.  It is hard driving around with them in the back being impatient.  Then I do not want to scare people aware by seeing my cranky children with me...lol.  I am looking for something in the Gilbert, East Mesa, East Tempe and South Scottsdale areas.  So I have a corridor that I am looking at but I need to get out without the children.

My ad on Craigslist was rather successful.  The ad has been part of the reason I have held off on posting so the ad would not be "lost" on my board.  I had several people apply. A few I was able to dismiss right away.  Others I was interested in and scheduled for an interview.  I had people as young as 18 apply and I don't think anyone was over 24.  I had BIG doubts about the people being so young and handling three 4 year olds who are disabled but I was pleasantly surprised by some of the applicants!  So far I am highly encouraged!  I recently found out my mother is not coming out here.  I was thinking she was going to watch my children for me my first week at work.  So I thought I would have until October 22nd to make a decision on someone to watch the children.  With my mother not coming I should have started the interviewing process LAST week.  I am in a hurry and MUST hire someone RIGHT away so I can start work on Monday!

This is the last thing I have to say in this long post...lol.  Right before I was going to publish this I get a call from the front desk of my hotel.  I was told someone had dropped off a care package for me and I needed to come and get it since she did not have any way of storing it.  The front desk lady said a woman and her two children came in and dropped off a bag of groceries.  Tina, the front desk manager, said the woman was very nice and asked if she knew me.  The lady said she did not but she had heard things over the internet and she wanted to drop this off for me.  You have NO idea how many times in my life I have heard people say they would help me or do something for me and rarely does anyone follow through. I am sorry but that has been my experience.  :(  You have NO idea how nice it was for me to receive such a wonderful gift and a sweet card.  I have been feeling down and lonely.  It is tough moving to a new city by myself with the children in tow and I know NO one and have no family here.  So whoever you are...Thank You!

The card says...
We hope this finds you in a time of need and can help to lighten your burdens! Know that you are though of and loved!  Friendly Neighbors

News Bits

Courtesy of TimeAndDate.com

I love it when I have various news sources overflowing with information!  So on the autism front I have some interesting news.  The Autism Research Institute (ARI) is holding its Fall Conference in Garden Grove, CA in October 11 - 14.  The speaker line-up looks great with Dr. Emeran Mayer, Co-director of the CURE: Digestive Disease Research Center at UCLA, Dr. Robert Hendren of UC San Francisco, Drs. Nancy O'Hara, Elizabeth Mumper, Martha Herbert and others.

I know this is a MAJOR area of controversity but I wanted to post this here to let people hear all sides of the story.  Holly Riley discusses how her son with Autism was cured with biomedical intervention.

 
A Facebook friend, Jennifer Grayson, writes a wonderful blog about Autism, food allergies and other health related topics.  It is a great read.  She recently wrote and article about parasites.  We may live in the United State but if you think there is NO way you could have parasites you might be wrong and are suffering silently for it.  Conditions such as allergies (including food), eczema, asthma, migraine headache, nightmare, bedwetting, chronic fatigue, fibromyalgia, arthralgia, multiple sclerosis, irritable bowel syndrome, seizure, mental illness and even cancer could be caused by a parasite infestation.  The article is a great read so please stop by!

For those dealing with mitochondrial disease the options for treatments and therapies can be confusing.  United Mitochondrial Disease Foundation (UMDF) is an excellent website for many resources on mitochondrial disease.  They even have a page breaking down the various treatments and therapies to help point you in the right direction.  This is a wonderful site if you are trying to diagnose mito and need information on local doctors. They have been very helpful to me in finding Joseph a doctor.

Found a wonderful recipe of Zucchini Chips from the Naked Kitchen.  Yum!  They are both a green veggie and much better for you than potato chips.  What more can you ask for?  LOL   There were several FB friends that swore by this recipe and I am looking forward to trying it one day.

For those who cannot eat gluten and are looking for a easy add on to a meal that is flavorful and chalk full of fiber check out this recipe for Homemade Refried Beans.  I have made these at home and they are delicious!  I used it and mixed in some homemade salsa for some chip and dip action.  The children ate it up!

Medial Frustration and Life in Transition

For the past 6 months I have fought with my insurance company to get a medical authorization to get Joseph a fresh muscle biopsy done to test for mitochondrial disease.  Once I FINALLY got the medical insurance to approve the biopsy I have spent the last month trying to get the doctor's office to call me to set up an appointment.  In the last month I have called them AT LEAST 10 times and I have gotten only 3 calls back.  Today was the FIRST time someone called me AND I was able to get the phone.  Keep in mind I have left two messages a day for the last three days.  I even called the insurance case manager to complain that my calls were not being returned.

When I got to speak from someone in the neurology department at UCLA I was told they did not have my son's records.  YOU'VE GOT TO BE FREAKING KIDDING ME!!!  So the guys goes on the explain I need to talk to the registration department.  I said, "why was that not in the message so I could check up on things instead of losing time?"  His response, "I don't know but I could put in a request to get the message changed to add that information."  UGH!!!  SHOOT ME!!!

So if you do not have a patient ID with the UCLA then do yourself a favor and contact the registration department (phone - 800-825-2631, fax - 310-301-5391) since they are in charge of everything anyways.  So I had to called Joseph's referring doctor again, the geneticist, and asking her office to fax over the information again.  A week ago she had faxed it over while I was on the phone and now here I was asking her to fax over the information again.  I explained how I had been trying to make this appointment for the last month and I was getting frustrated over the bureaucracy of the UCLA system.  The nurse at the geneticist's office was kind and she said she would fax it over and then call to make sure UCLA registration had what they needed.  I told her that was VERY nice and THANK YOU!

I was able to make a few calls to Arizona today.  I was able to talk to an advocacy group for disabled children.  I was able to get some good information and I am sure I will get some more.  I found out about a great homeless shelter program called UMOM.  I may have to take advantage of one of their programs until I can get my first paycheck from my new job.  Otherwise I will only have $1700 to $2100 to support all of us for the month.  Plus, once I start my job I will not get any pay right away.  The first paycheck will be at least two weeks after I start and I have to find someone to watch the children for me and I will have to pay them in advance (at least partially).  Just need to determine how I am going to pay to for everything.  By taking advantage of one of UMOM's programs for a bit it will help me to get us on our feet.

On a possible positive note I remembered that Good Night Pediatrics is located out of Phoenix.  Yea!!!  I cannot recommend the office in Henderson, NV enough.  They are GREAT and MUCH faster than an emergency room.  With the office hours from 5pm to 5am I can take care of emergencies during the night with ease.  That is a HUGE relief to me since Joseph has a TERRIBLE tendency to have some sort of respiratory emergency on the weekend or during the night.

I have a lot of friends on Facebook and they are some super great people with super great information that I like to share on my blog.  One post was taking about Gluten Sensitivity and Magnesium Deficiency by Dr. Osborne.  It is a great article explaining how this can occur.   Someone also found an idea off of Pinterest that is a great idea to get yogurt into children.  You can make your own yogurt dots. 

And people wonder why I cannot get anything done...

I am not sure if any of you realize, in a moment of infinite wisdom, I decided to attend graduate school. This decision came out of the need for money along with the desire to complete the master's degree I started in 2003 but did not finish. So Monday I started by reading the class material. My new class started October 3rd, Landscape Ecology and Planning, sounds like fun huh?

On Monday I also made several phone calls trying to follow up with things. Heck, I just remembered I still need to work on getting Joseph a wheelchair and fight Medicaid trying to convince them I need help with the children since Margaret and Joseph seem to have NO safety awareness skills. I am also been pulling out clothes to try and consign them.

There is a major consignment sale in Las Vegas called As They Grow (http://astheygrowlv.com/) and for the last two sales I have spent a lot of money but was able to buy entire winter wardrobes of clothes for the three children and toys. For the past week my house has looked like a clothes bomb went off in my kitchen and living room. The only good news from all that is I have realized that Joseph has SOOOO many clothes he does not need a thing but shoes. James has a lot of clothes too. Just a few size 4T shirts and pants. He fits snug in 3T now and I would hate for him to grow on me over the winter and then I would not be able to find him warm clothes. Margaret is really the only one in DIRE need of clothes. When the weather turned cool here I had to dress her in boy's clothes because she did not have any warm clothes to wear.

Then I have been dealing with the school district. I COMPLETELY spaced out on the fact I would have to have the shot records for the children to enroll into school even though they are in a homebound education program.

I have been working SO hard on the consignment sale (did my volunteer shift today from 9am to 1pm) to tag clothes that my carpel tunnel is acting up and KILLING me. Got to get home and work on it more though. John was suppose to tag stuff for me today and I was suppose to get the day out but that is not how things are going to work out.

Oh, and my cool new phone died. My LG phone that was my birthday present died. The touch screen is acting up and of course it is 10 days after the warranty date so the $200 John was kind enough to spend getting me my cool birthday present is no good. :( I am SO sad because I LOVED the phone.

I also cannot get into my online school right now to do my forum posts. I had set the time aside but the school's computer system is acting up and I cannot get in. John, I just noticed messaged me on FB saying he has a massive headache and is throwing up. Now I get to go home, deal with John, take care of the children, finish getting my consignment stuff on hangers and input into the computer tonight before 10pm when the computer system closes and keep trying my school to see if I can get in and post my four forum post responses. Wait, I forgot about cleaning the house especially the kitchen! I doubt the cleaning fairy has come over since John is sick. What is worse is I know I am forgetting at least two other things. Sigh! I am just tired thinking about it.

One final thing while I am remembering...please click on the ad box to the left (AdSense) if you see anything of interest. This is how I am trying to raise more money for Joseph's Cause. If you can please donate to his cause and feel free to share his story. There is more to tell on that one but in another post. :)

To Facebook or not to Facebook....

With all the changes made to Facebook and the news that FB can track you now even when you are not signed on has caused me to sign up for Google Plus. I think I will use both for a bit and then decide which account I will keep.

https://plus.google.com/i/XRFH73B7u5w:OPJT0k5ihyA

Oh, and don't forget to click on the ad box to the left if you find something interesting. :)