The DDA Trouble Free Zone Part 7

[ellenbenny]

I think we can work it out!!! Yeah I get to meet a fellow DDA'er. If you could change the hotel it would be great because we are hitting the end of school, and there are 2 performances that week. Hard to get up and back that way on a weekday. Plus with that early flight time you can legitimately say "That is way too early to leave the hotel!!" The girls birthday is the 14th but I would love to meet you at least once that week!!



can you tell I'm happy?

I will definitely ask if I can change the last night's hotel stay. I'll probably be able to let you know tomorrow, but there should be no problem with it, especially with the early flight out on Sat. morning.

And by the way, the 14th is Mother's day this year, so I get to travel for work on Mother's day...

 

[babytrees]

I will definitely ask if I can change the last night's hotel stay. I'll probably be able to let you know tomorrow, but there should be no problem with it, especially with the early flight out on Sat. morning.

And by the way, the 14th is Mother's day this year, so I get to travel for work on Mother's day...

I hardly ever get a Mother's Day all to myself....often it's DH or the girls birthday...but travelling for work is definitely the pits on Mother's Day

 

[Blueeyes101817]

Well DDAs....my junior year of college is OVERRRRRRR
I am so excited!

Of course, this means i will havemoe free time, although i start summer classes may 22--i just keep telling myself that its all soi graduate on time..they announced our graduation date--may 11, 2007..

So now hopefully ill be back here alot more..i have missed coming here!

Our family friend is not doing very good at all. They just found that her liver is surrounded my tumor and have said that they are now just tryingto keep her comfortable...so its been rough lately...and doesnt look like its getting any better

 

[bengalbelle]

Hey

the doctor has no idea what is going on and decided to send Nick for a CT Scan - so we headed to Children's Hospital and he was uncooperative and freaked when they put him in the machine so he will have to be sedated - unfortunately he had eaten a few hours before and he has to go 8 hours without eating - so we could wait until tonight to see when they could fit us in or go back tomorrow at 12:30

we decided to wait - I think it is good the doctor doesn't feel the test is urgent - and she told me she really does not expect the test to find anything but she really wants to rule out all the "yucky stuff: (her words) first

I am doing my best to keep the negative thoughts out - but they of course creep in every once in a while

she told me obviously the first concern is a brain tumor with the symptoms - but he does not present as a child with a tumor - his motor skills and function is normal - but she would rather be safe than sorry

So I am in for a long 24 hours as I am sure I will not sleep well - please keep Nick in your prayers!!

Kate, he's definitely in my prayers. Try not to let the scary thoughts creep in (I know, easier said than done).

 

[babytrees]

Well DDAs....my junior year of college is OVERRRRRRR
I am so excited!

Of course, this means i will havemoe free time, although i start summer classes may 22--i just keep telling myself that its all soi graduate on time..they announced our graduation date--may 11, 2007..

So now hopefully ill be back here alot more..i have missed coming here!

Our family friend is not doing very good at all. They just found that her liver is surrounded my tumor and have said that they are now just tryingto keep her comfortable...so its been rough lately...and doesnt look like its getting any better

The highs and lows!!!

Congrats on finishing up the semester!!

I will keep your friend in my prayers, such sadness.

 

[my3princes]

The doctor just called with the results from all his tests. It is a mixed bag. Rees refluxed 22 times during the 48 hour period. He shouldn't reflux at all with the Fundo, so the reflux is breaking through. The doctor said he feels that it is borderline with what to do. He would prefer to hold off on surgery until Rees is older, so that the Fundo would hopefully last through adulthood. The Fundo tends to break down as kids grow, so the longer you can wait the better. So the good news is he will not have surgery immediately. But the bad news is that there is a problem again. We will try to manage it with diet and medicine until the point that doesn't work anymore. We are to watch Rees for failure to gain weight, asthma attacks, pneumonia, and episodes of vomiting/retching. I'm glad we know what is going on now, but I feel like we are caught in the middle at this point. So, I'm kind of happy, but not at the same time. It's hard to explain. I guess we're in limbo.

I appreciate so much everyone's prayers.

That is hard news to swallow, but I think you already predicted that the fundo wasn't functioning properly as you've seen him reflux a lot lately. So that was the worst news and you already knew it. So the new news is that they would like to hold off as long as possible and that is what you were hoping for. Hopefully he will continue growing and not have any of the other difficulties for a long time. Reflux meds work really well once they find the right one. Hopefully that and the diet that you have already mastered I'm sure will keep him in maintenance mode for a long time. I will continue praying for him and your family.

Deb

ETA: I've now read the rest of your posts and realize that you have more concerns. Get the second opinion if for nothing more that peace of mind. If he confirms what you suspect then it might be time to get a new doctor for Rees that is on the same wave length as you and John. If you are needing to second guess him over and over only to find out that your were right all along then there is certainly a better doctor out there for Rees. You are his mother and we all know that mother know's best.

 

[bengalbelle]

The doctor just called with the results from all his tests. It is a mixed bag. Rees refluxed 22 times during the 48 hour period. He shouldn't reflux at all with the Fundo, so the reflux is breaking through. The doctor said he feels that it is borderline with what to do. He would prefer to hold off on surgery until Rees is older, so that the Fundo would hopefully last through adulthood. The Fundo tends to break down as kids grow, so the longer you can wait the better. So the good news is he will not have surgery immediately. But the bad news is that there is a problem again. We will try to manage it with diet and medicine until the point that doesn't work anymore. We are to watch Rees for failure to gain weight, asthma attacks, pneumonia, and episodes of vomiting/retching. I'm glad we know what is going on now, but I feel like we are caught in the middle at this point. So, I'm kind of happy, but not at the same time. It's hard to explain. I guess we're in limbo.

I appreciate so much everyone's prayers.

Prayers for Rees that the meds will work for him. Hang in there.

 

[Steamboat Marti]

I found out late last week that I am changing jobs again, and with the new job I will be going to Colorado in a couple of weeks to train. Theresa, how far are you from Fort Collins?

I really hope that things work out for you - - as new transplants to Rochester, we are seeing the devastation left by what was once a huge corporation. I really hope things get better for you in the coming months. It is so hard to see your friends around you losing their jobs, on the other hand - I'm glad you still have yours!!

 

[UP Disney]

Becky says I have to ask my DDA friends who watch AI a question. She has heard rumors that Taylor has a 12 year old son. She wants to know if anyone knows if this is true.

 

[babytrees]

Becky says I have to ask my DDA friends who watch AI a question. She has heard rumors that Taylor has a 12 year old son. She wants to know if anyone knows if this is true.

The only one I have heard that has kids is Chris and they are 8 and 6, stepkids.

 

[my3princes]

I found out late last week that I am changing jobs again, and with the new job I will be going to Colorado in a couple of weeks to train. Theresa, how far are you from Fort Collins?

Anyway as background to all of this, I feel a need to spill my story, feel free to ignore if needed. My work life over the last several months has been extremely stressful. DH and I both work for Kodak in Rochester, NY. Rochester is Kodak's headquarters. At it's peak, Kodak employed over 60,000 people in Rochester in the early 1980s. This year Kodak employment in Rochester is less than 14,000 and falling.

Last August, 2005 they announced that they would be closing down the traditional photographic paper manufacturing operations in Rochester, where both my DH and I work. Everyone was being laid off, but they would be keeping 2 machines running and transferring them to a new division. Anyone that wanted to continue employment with the new division had to apply for any jobs they were interested in. Fortunately for both of us, the 2 machines they were keeping were the 2 machines we worked for, and both of our jobs would be continued, but we had to apply for them, and if selected, interview for them.

We were both very fortunate, and secured our own positions. Over 80% of the people in our division weren't so lucky, and about 400 people in paper manufacturing were laid off at the end of October, 2005, including most of our friends. We went for about 2 months not knowing for sure if we would be employed, but ended up relieved to both have jobs, though sad for what this means to Kodak, and to US manufacturing in general. We have been through anywhere from 1 - 3 layoffs/year for the last 15 years or so, so it has been stressful for years, but this was even worse, with closing down our whole manufacturing area.

So a week later, after everyone who was laid off left the company, they called us all together and told us that the machine I had been supporting would now be shutting down at the end of March, 2006. They told us that they would let us know at the end of January if they had positions for us. So I had a total of 1 week feeling good about having a job before they put me into limbo again for another 3 months.

Because of the uncertainty, I had my resume up to date and out on Monster.com. I would occasionally get calls from recruiters, but was not actively pursuing any new jobs. Then in January I got a call from a recruiter regarding a job that sounded really good to me, and I decided to go on an interview, since Kodak wouldn't tell me if I definitely would have a job or not. Well, 3 days before I had the interview, Kodak informed me that they were going to keep me and move me into a new posiition. At that point I decided to go on the interview anyway, since I had already made the arrangements, including flying out to Madison Wisconsin later that week.

Well the good news is that the interview went great, and I got offered a really good job, with a huge increase in pay. So DH and I spent many hours discussing the pros and cons of moving to Madison, WI and me taking this job. All of our families were very supportive of us going, since they have seen all the stress we have gone through with Kodak. In the end, for a number of reasons, we decided to stay at Kodak in Rochester. Not so much because of Kodak, but because of family. So of course we have been waiting to see if we made the right choice.

There are no guarantee's, but last week another girl announced that she would be leaving to take a job with another company. They decided to offer me her job. It is a much more interesting and exciting job, and there is more job security with it, as long as Kodak doesn't decide to shut down completely of course. So for the short term anyway it seems like my decision to stay isn't so bad, and I'm glad that I was patient. I will be working longer hours through some big challenges in the next few months as we start up a new manufacturing machine, but it will be much more interesting than the last several months of downsizing and shutting down and laying off.

I just wanted to share that little piece of my life. Maybe I can look forward to a year of no threat of losing my job. We'll see.

I'm so sorry that life has been so stressful. I hope this new positions turns out to be your happily ever after job.

Deb

 

[ReAnSt]

Hi, everyone,

I haven't been on since Thursday, but have been reading along as I can, and have been thinking of all of you! Here's some for those that have been feeling ill or down. You guys had me over some things, which I can use right now. for all those with trips planned. What I wouldn't give to escape to WDW right now!!!!

Just to let you know what's been going on with me - my summer intern program starts in less than 2 weeks, and my new assistant quit on me Saturday. In hindsight, it's somewhat of a blessing, since I don't think she was ultimately going to cut it. Her reason for quitting - she just didn't want to work that hard or have all of this responsibility. In a nutshell, she is someone with a masters degree that wants to sit and file her nails all day and get off at 5 p.m. Definitely not who we need for our department, and also definitely not the way we portrayed the job!!! How could someone hear over and over "the next few months are going to be utter chaos, we need everyone to give 150%, be as efficient as possible, etc.", and think, "oh, but I'll still get off work at 5 everyday, and I can take 3 days to complete a project that should have taken me 2 hours." I don't think I've ever met a more moronic 25 year old!!!

My favorite comment when she was giving me the news that she was quitting - she said, "remember when I told you that I had decided not to teach?" (She is teaching a college course at our local university this semester, and told us in the interview that after doing that, she discovered that her passion lay more in being in a business environment on a daily basis.) After I responded in the affirmative, she said, "well the real reason I didn't want to be a teacher is that I didn't want to have to do lesson plans at night."

But, I'm still holding on to the silver-lining in all of this - my former assistant who is now a schoolteacher has agreed to come work with me this summer once she's done with school. It's not a perfect solution, but she's a close friend, is incredibly smart and efficient, and will be of a great help. I think we're going to hold off in the interim on hiring someone else f/t, since I'm not trusting mine or my director's judgment right now!

Thanks for letting me get that off my chest! Hope everyone's day is going better!

Sorry, this happened to you Lindsay. At least she told you she was quitting, unlike my new employee that just stopped showing up and is uncontactable. What is it with people just up and quitting.

Sending lots of that you will find someone who works out well for you, so you can still go on your trip.

BTW: What do you do? I am sure I read it before but can't recall.

 

[ReAnSt]

How would you get to early character meals? Take a taxi? Would that be the quickest route? since we'd be saving so much money, maybe rent a van for the week? Or just pay for a taxi those few times? I don't want to have to go the MK and then get a bus to the resorts or go to DTD to catch them.

How long is the boat ride from POR to DTD? Does it run fairly often?

If you stay at POR, I would highly recommend renting a van. This way you wouldn't have to wait for transportation and play the bus transfer game.

Sending you for a good decision. In any case you will have a great time at Disney.

 

[ReAnSt]

So I am in for a long 24 hours as I am sure I will not sleep well - please keep Nick in your prayers!!

Sending you and that the tests have good results.

 

[ReAnSt]

I've actually contacted my good friend who has a personal friend that is a Peds GI doc and surgeon down at Emory University Med School. Last time, he suggested the Fundo a year before we got it. I'll be interested to hear his opinion. John and I both think there is more to this than the tests showed. I think my mom instinct has kicked in. I'm worried, and I don't know why. Thanks for listening to me ramble. I know I should think this is good news, but I just feel like something is amiss.

Sending and to the Figs. I know this isn't what you wanted to hear. Perhaps it is all part of a plan you don't know yet. I was going to suggest contacting someone else but I see you have already done that. Whatever happens come here to scream, vent, cry or whatever. We will always be here for you. Just remember to keep taking time for yourself as well.

Sending one for each of you.

 

[tink2020]

Good Evening DDA --​

This is my FFFFFAF (Fun Filled Facts For Friends and Family) for the night. Or maybe it's a PSA, except that it is REALLY not useful information at all. So maybe it's neither. Anyway....

Hugh Jackman (specifically as Curly in Oklahoma!, believe it or not) has just joined Colin Firth (specifically as Mark Darcy in the BBC mini-series of Pride and Prejudice) at the top of my list of "British Actors I On Whom I have a Completely Intractable Crush"




That's all, sorry for wasting your time. I'll go back and catch up now

ETA: I guess I should clarify that yes, I know Hugh Jackman was actually born in Australia. But his parents were British, I saw him in a London production, and I think he (maybe) lives there now? Either way, it was the shortest title I could come up with for my list No offense was intended to Clare, anyone who lived in the UK OR in Australia, etc. Please, just don't mind me

 

[tink2020]

thanks for the good wishes. I am totally depressed. Knowing he is refluxing again is horrible. He literally almost died from it the first time around, so for this to be starting again is making me sick. John is very upset with the results too. Having it be "medium" was our worst fear. Yes, it is bad, but we won't fix it with surgery. The first time, it took us almost 2 years of agony, hospitalizations, etc to convince the doc to do the Fundo surgery. He is one of those that surgery is absolutely the last resort and will try anything and everything else first. After the Fundo, Rees was a different child and it was a complete success! So now, I'm worried he's "playing" us again and will make us try everything else under the sun before redoing the surgery.

I've actually contacted my good friend who has a personal friend that is a Peds GI doc and surgeon down at Emory University Med School. Last time, he suggested the Fundo a year before we got it. I'll be interested to hear his opinion. John and I both think there is more to this than the tests showed. I think my mom instinct has kicked in. I'm worried, and I don't know why. Thanks for listening to me ramble. I know I should think this is good news, but I just feel like something is amiss.

I wish I had more to say, or a real hug to offer

Please do seek as many opinions as you can, as long as you don't feel comfortable. You know Rees best, and will ALWAYS want what is best for him.

 

[ReAnSt]

Well DDAs....my junior year of college is OVERRRRRRR
I am so excited!

Of course, this means i will havemoe free time, although i start summer classes may 22--i just keep telling myself that its all soi graduate on time..they announced our graduation date--may 11, 2007..

So now hopefully ill be back here alot more..i have missed coming here!

Our family friend is not doing very good at all. They just found that her liver is surrounded my tumor and have said that they are now just tryingto keep her comfortable...so its been rough lately...and doesnt look like its getting any better

Sending and to you and your friend. Congrats for finishing your junior year.

 

[tink2020]

I found out late last week that I am changing jobs again, and with the new job I will be going to Colorado in a couple of weeks to train.
...

I just wanted to share that little piece of my life. Maybe I can look forward to a year of no threat of losing my job. We'll see.

Thank you for sharing! I hope that the training goes well for you and this job brings security (and peace of mind!) for a long while!

 

[ReAnSt]

Becky says I have to ask my DDA friends who watch AI a question. She has heard rumors that Taylor has a 12 year old son. She wants to know if anyone knows if this is true.

Too funny, I thought I told you something I didn't remember doing. As I read Becky says...