To the Beach

Our condo was right on the beach, but up on the third floor. So every trip to the beach begun with counting the stairs down and then the trek across the sand. Alex had a great time!

SPI

We had a great few days down in South Padre Island. Alex had no seizures, the sun was out, the crowds were sparse and the fishes were everywhere. Maybe only for Alex he would have liked bigger waves. But for Marycke and I the extremely clean water and gentle waves made it much easier to watch him.

SPI Day 1

Wonderful weather here in South Padre. Fivehours in the car and Alex was reqady to hit the beach - first thing.

Training on a Sunday Afternoon

Most Sundays, after church, Alex and I go over by the Whetmore train tracks and watch for the afternoon trains. He seems to enjoy it, even more so, with his BIG coke from Mac Donalds.

Lately he has been pushing down on the soles of his feet when trains come by. Not sure what that is all about. He even does it when we are just driving down the highway. Marycke is going to take him to a new foot doctor. The corrective shoes he wears now do not seem to be making things better.

Smelly Dog

Last night as Alex was brushing his teeth, his dog Sophie though it would be fun to chase a cat in the backyard. Unfortunately that cat was a SKUNK!


We had to wash down Sophie using this. You will want to use this formula for removing the skunk smell from your dog:This formula gets rid of the odor (it doesn't just mask it) and it changes the chemical properties of the skunk spray to break it down.

You will need the following from any local grocery or drug store:

* 1 QT. OF 3% HYDROGEN PEROXIDE

* 1/4 CUP OF BAKING SODA

* 1 TEASPOON OF A LIQUID SOAP ( I recommend DAWN, it breaks down oil and grease well)

MIX AND IMMEDIATELY APPLY TO YOUR DOG. BE VERY CAREFUL NOT TO GET THE MIXTURE IN YOUR DOGS NOSE, EYES ,EARS OR MOUTH.

LATHER UP REALLY GOOD (my husband used a cheap shampoo first just to get the suds going)

RINSE AND DRY OFF YOUR DOG.

* You must mix this is an open container and when you are done with the formula get rid of the remaining formula (if there is any left) DO NOT STORE what's left in a container, the chemical reaction from being closed up can cause an explosion! (interesting side note here: this is probably why this formula has never been patented- if you can't bottle it you certainly can't sell it!

Just hanging out

After horseback therpay we went along FM78 to watch the trains. Sometimes we will stay out to 10PM.

Saturday Fun

Good time watching trains and planes this Saturday. Still real hot and dry but we have gone 6 days without a seizure. So no problems here.

Training

We actually had to go almost to Sequin to find a train. But we found one. Of course we did see a cow or two along the way.

Training

We actually had to go almost to Sequin to find a train. But we found one. Of course we did see a cow or two along the way.

But we finally did get to chase a train and Alex seemed to have a great time.

Road Block

Home on VIA Trans by 4:30 and we are off to Bill Miller. Going to get a little BBQ and watch the trains pass by. Oh well the food was good but no train. We are on our way along FM78 towards Marion. We are stopped by flashing lights and a couple of big propellers for the Wind Turbines.

Morning

Well day two without Mon and our second morning with seizures. If I were peranoid I would let it bother me. But alex did get up okay with time enough for a shower and then a stop at Mac Donalds.

Pancakes and susage, a little juice on the side. But of curse he still likes paying for his meal, getting the chage and then getting a drink from the fountain.

Below you see Alex in action!

Port A

Alex and Sophie had a good time at the beach. Yeah Mom and I liked it as well.

Bedtime

Well it is nearing 7 PM and lately Alex has been having seizures close to 8 PM (like yesterday). So we leave the beach with a promise to return tomorrow. Up at the house, Alex once again wants to lead Sophie around on her leash. He enjoys that while we unpack the car and try and get all the sand off us.

After showers Mom fixes Alex sausages, Mac & Cheese and crackers for dinner. He eats it all without us having to force him. I took off and got BBQ for Mom and I. Then we spent the rest of the evening watching Hotel for Dogs. It was fun to see Alex actually watching a video. And even Sophie seemed to enjoy the movie. But about 20 minute into the show Sophie fell asleep.

Hopefully Alex has a good night. This time we switched beds and Alex slept with Mom. The night before I was too hot and Alex would not let me turn on the over head fan. If I turn down the air, Marycke says she hears the fan running and can not sleep. So this time Alex and Mom are together and Neal gets a bed and a fan to himself.

Sunshine

Ah Saturday morning, up at 5 AM and have the house to my self. Make some coffee and fore up the laptop. Still have lots of work to catch up on for PSU. Alex seemed to have a good night after he finally went to bed. 10 PM and the lights were out but come11:24 I find him on the floor talking to me. I ask if he needs to go potty and I get an affirmative nod of the head. First we had to find it as Mom had closed the door to her room (locking Sophie inside) but once found he sat down. But failed to go. So back into bed and somewhere around 1:00 AM I believe he drifted off to sleep.

Around 7:30 Alex is up and saying beach. First we tell him comes breakfast, then medicine and then we go to the beach. He sat out on the deck listening to the ocean while Mom and I made breakfast. He ate well, eggs, bacon, raisin toast and some OJ. As usually Mom or I had to hand him each piece or forkful before he would eat. But he did finish.

Everyone got greased up. Sophie finally went pee so we were good to go. Pull the car up on the beach, Alex has the door open, across the sand into the water he goods. Quickly he and I are at the third sand bar laughing at how the waves are knocking us over. Usually we can last 15 to 20 minutes then it is break time back onshore. He digs a little, filling up the green bucket a time or two, and then he is ready for more waves. By half past noon he nods yes when I ask about going back to the house for lunch.

Back from the beach on a Saturday afternoon. Alex had great fun in the waves and took great interest in leading Sophie around on her lease. Mom and I have had lunch, Sophie too, but Alex look wiped out. I asked if he would like to nap and I got a faint nod of the head for yes. So he has been asleep now for about an hour and a half. We planned on a return to the beach around four but will wait on Alex.

Yeah for Alex, a solid two hours of sleep and no seizures. He stumbles from the bedroom to the front porch and points towards the beach. Guess we are going to get all greased up again and head back to the beach. This time Sophie is much more attuned to going in the water. She is leaping of the waves and wanting to play with all the children. Alex and I spend lots of time at the third breaker getting pounded by the waves. We count them off as then come it. Twice it was wave number nine that is so strong it knocks Alex off his feet. Hey here comes Mom and Sophie. Sophie is actually swimming in the ocean.

Beach

Friday and it is time to leave for the beach. Mom has everything packed. Alex is back from Hill Country Center and is ready for the drive to the beach. As is usual he rides shotgun and Mom and I take turns with the driving. Sophie is not real sure what to do. This is her first road trip and takes nearly two hours to settle down.

The three hour ride went well. We even came across a train for Alex to chase just as we entered Corpus Christi. We venture off the highway and find a Mac Donald’s. Alex eats all his fries, six nuggets and quickly sucks down a 32 ounce Diet Coke. Hmmm… live is good. Mom and I pick up subway and we continue to our friend’s house. As we cross the Padre Island causeway Alex becomes very excited and continues to repeat, ‘beach, beach, beach’. We let him know it will take another 30 minutes.

The house we are in is about 3 blocks from the beach. So even though it is after 7 PM we quickly unpack and get Alex and Dad (Mom can wait till tomorrow) ready for the beach. 8 PM and time for meds but then we are off. Alex is all jazzed up and ready to hit the waves. So we pull up on the sand, pop open the door and out we go. The waves were great. The water is warm about 87 degrees and seaweed clear. We had great fun for about an hour. Then I encouraged Alex to return to the shore for the sun was down the moon was out and we need to get some sleep. After some protesting we headed back to the shore (we were about 80 yards out).

Just 10-12 feet from the shore Alex became unresponsive and had a grand mal seizure, right there in about 2 ½ feet of water. I was able to hold his head above the waves but not able to lift him out. Marycke was down the beach with Sophie but saw what was happening. As she past by a family of four, she remarked Alex was having a seizure but it was not anything we had not dealt with before. But now with Sophie on the leash and pulling at Marycke she could not really help me get him out. So the Dad from the nearby family took off his shoes and came in to help me lift him out to shore. As we lay he down he was on his back and nice Hispanic woman came over and told us to turn his on his side. I told her I knew that as Alex had been having seizures his whole life and it was the new thin I was going to do. Well she offered to call 911 and told us she was a nurse.

Wow, once again we are blessed by the proximity and kindness of told strangers. Two hundred miles from home, late on a Friday night, and nurse and strong arm gentlemen are ready to help. This is too serendipities not to have Providence play a hand in our good fortune. Anyway, we got back to the house safely, Alex is fully recovered and we spend an hour or so of quiet time f=before calling it a night.

Saturday Fun

Alex is back into trains. No more planes. But then when he sees the planes he is excited and wants more. My Saturday tech job got canceled so we had the afternoon to travel all over SA looking and chasing trains.

Hail

Wow, sever weather just popped up. Alex liked all the 'booms'. Then he was off to the closet to get 4-5 umbrellas. He had fun watching the hail.

Planes and Trains

One seizure last night, about 1:30 AM. Marycke gave him Diastat. He slept till noon and then we went to look for plans and trains. While there, Megan saw us and stopped to say hello.

Looking back

While cleaning up some old hard drives I came across this video of Alex at the beach. It is nice to see him with a 'little weight' on. We would spend hours together in the waves.

And now, it is 39 degrees and windy! But still better than the -30 degrees our in laws are reporting from Ann Arbor, MI

Sophie gets a treat

Alex had a very good day. No seizure during the night. He woke up with a great smile on his face all day. Then at dinner time he agreed to give Sophie some treats. Here is the video.

Kisses

Surprise, surprise, Alex enjoys chocolate kisses. He has never eaten them before. Something new again for Christmas.

Black Friday

Black Friday, I am off for some great deals. Alex had seizures again, but he got up by 8 AM. We watched videos while Mom got to go out. Now it is time for lunch and we ae at the airport waiting on planes. None so far.

Alex seems grumpy again. All night and again this AM he is squawking at Sophie. We think it may be the medication, but who knows. He has no appetite, loud noises are bothering him again. Loud, to the extent if you carrying on a conversation while he is sleeping or in bed, he will squawk ‘non!’.

Thanksgiving

What a great Thanksgiving we had. Alex did start off the day with 2 early morning seizures but was up, showered and dressed by noon. He watched airplane and train video for an hour or so and then his sisters arrived.

We were joined by both Megan and Malinda along with their significant others, Efrin and Chris. Malinda and Chris had actually come down Tuesday evening. Wednesday they took Alex to ride the Zoo train and then went to Sonic near Walker Ranch. After lunch they strolled through the park as it is in the airport flight path. It affords a great viewing point for airplanes landing. And being the day before Thanksgiving Day, the number of planes was very high.

We had our meal about 2 PM as Malinda and Chris were going to the Texas vs Texas A&M game, in Austin, 7 PM. Marycke, as usual, made a fantastic meal. Our blessings were so bountiful we totally forgot the Tomato and Feta salad. But we had more then enough with the green beans, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, rolls, stuffing, turkey and gravy.

After dinner we retired to the living room and got to watch Dallas beat Seattle. Some fine apple pie with ice cream, or perhaps a slice of pecan pie with whipped cream, and we got to watch Texas beat A&M. No need for dinner but Alex and I did get to go look for trains. And we found one. Woo woo!

Seizures & Trains

Couple seizures last night. Marycke was sleeping with him as when it was time for bed he just did nt seem right. So 12:10 and again 12:19 AM and Marycke gave him Diastat. When I got back from church Alex was still in bed, snoring heavily and did not respond to me asking him if he wanted to see trains or planes.

An hour or so later Marycke got him up, fed him a waffle and then showered him off. I loaded up the car, got his meds together and we are over by the airport waiting for a train. So far several planes, one malfunction of the train crossing guard and no trains yet.

Trains & Football

What a great South Texas clear blue sky of a morning. Alex is up early and we are off to the SA Zoo to ride the train. Alex had a grand time and asked to go again We did and then left to go see the BIG trains.

Over near the East yard we picked up several trains and followed them all around the city. Of course we needed to make another stop at Mac Donald’s but he is looking well and may come with me on a service call.

But Mom’s calls in and agrees to pick Alex up while I install a wireless network. The install went better then expected and with 4 hours left in the day we agree to go try and see the Blue Angels. Alex and I travel to the Southside of SA and enjoyed a wonderful air show.

Time for Texas vs Texas Tech football. Alex piles in next to me on the lounger and smiled every time he heard a whistle blow. It took a couple weeks but he finally did decide he want to wear his whistles again. He did not want to eat Pizza but did eat a BIG plate of Cheddar Chez Its, Mixed Nuts and cubes of chunk cheese.

Near 10 PM now and Alex seems a little woozy. So he will spend the night with Marycke just in case he has seizures. I stayed up late and watched a great game, won by Tech with 1 second in the game!