A Pox on this House and All Who Inhabit It (Including Appliances)

I haven't written about it much on here because it scares the heck out of me, but Ryan is having some health problems. About three weeks ago he noticed that his fingers were tingling and numb and that he was having trouble grasping small objects, like a key, and turning it in a lock. Two weeks ago he started having tremendous cramp-like pain in his legs and one week ago the pain had gone, leaving his legs weak. He walks slowly and limps. He's been to his PCP twice and then was referred to a neurologist on Friday. The neurologist checked all of his reflexes, watched him walk, and asked a bunch of questions and scheduled him for more tests this Tuesday. He looked at me and said "Heh, it's not life-threatening, heh." He said they can give him some steroids after his test on Tuesday that will make him feel better for now and he'll have to get checked again a few months after we get settled in South.

I am right on the verge of freaking out. Crying in the produce section, gritting my teeth when people ask Ryan if everything is alright, and worrying constantly about what the problem could be and what it means for our future.

"Not life-threatening" is my mantra. I just want him to feel better.

He just wants to finish his dissertation.

Charlie was taking a nap early this afternoon and Ryan was replacing the toilet in our bathroom so I threw a load of towels in the washer and started gathering some clothes to wash (I let the laundry go for a really long time and the situation was getting dire). A few minutes later I noticed that I didn't hear the washer running. The washer had stopped after filling. I leaned on the corner of the lid to push the safety pin I taped onto it further into the little hole that tells the machine that the lid is closed. Nothing. It won't start. It won't drain. I opened the lid and shoved a car key into the little hole. Nothing happened. Until the entire switch fell right out of the side of the machine and dangled by a wire over the floating towels. Ryan wrung the towels out and I took them to a friend's to rinse and dry. Tomorrow I'll be buying us both some underpants and disposable diapers.

Not to be outdone, Charlie refused to take his afternoon nap today despite being obviously exhausted. He wouldn't sit and play he wouldn't lie down and rest. I put him in his crib and instead of falling asleep he screamed until he started choking. Finally I laid with him on the couch with a pacifier and Phent and we watched the race cars on TV while I sang "The cars drive around in circles. Round and round and round" over and over. He didn't fall asleep, but he was calm. A hit of Tylenol and a bottle and he went right to sleep thirty minutes early. I couldn't tell if he had a fever or if he was warm from all the crying. He's had a cold for a week so tomorrow it's off to the pediatrician.

I have not been very productive at school this week. Like I said, right on the verge of freaking out.

Here's a picture from our very successful garage sale this weekend: