We decided to take an easy day on Thursday as Connor still complained of his headache and it seemed a bit more frequent again.  This was the last day of the 10 day course of Augmentin.  Connor had become very good in taking his medications.  With pain still present and not improved, sinus infection is probably not the cause.  We might be looking at some chronic daily headache unfortunately. 

     The boys and I spent part of the day playing their new favorite board game, Tickets to Ride.  We were playing slightly modified rules for their liking.  Connor followed the rules well and Logan was like a wild card, and they both were content enjoying the game.  In the afternoon, I also had Logan work on his school project.  Logan had “interviewed” Grandpa last week to find out what Grandpa did when he was 7 and other things in the past.  Logan wrote up a summary already, but on this day, I asked him to write a topic sentence for it.  It was like pulling teeth and took so much more time writing this one sentence compared to when he wrote the summary, but ultimately he finished.  We hung out on our own until Stuart could join us at the end of his work day.

    We had decided to take Connor in for an eye exam just to make sure vision was not the issue for his headache.  So I took the boys to Kaiser on Tuesday morning.  We waited quite a long time but finally we were called.  Connor was excited to sit in the special chair.  The eye doctor had him look at some diaphragms of objects on the visual board, and I could tell that Connor had a little hard time distinguishing what the objects were.  I suggested changing them to alphabets, then Connor was able to read through the letters like a breeze.  After some more testing, the doctor confirmed that Connor can see well, therefore vision is not a reason for his headache and he does not need eyeglasses.

    After we left the medical offices, I took them to have breakfast.  They wanted to share some waffles and pancakes; Logan ended up liking only the waffles and Connor liked the pancakes.  During the entire time we were at the restaurant, the boys were devoted to work on the activity sheet.  They colored the whole jungle scene, did the puzzles and the wordfind on the back page. They did not want to go until it was completed.  Next our plan was to go play miniature golf.  It was a good day to go as it was a bit cloudy and not many people were there.  The boys were thrilled to start and they did well after I gave them some reminders, like setting up and not overly swing the club.  They played quite seriously and we were keeping scores too.  They had decided that the winner would choose the dinner.  I was impressed how Logan would hold his pose after he hit to see where his ball went and how Connor gently hit the ball as he was told.  I had to say the number of hits they had was not carefully counted and at the end Logan was the winner.  I then let them play some games inside the arcade for some time before we went home.   We rested for awhile at home, then Stuart finished work and took Connor to his soccer practice, so Logan and I could go grocery shopping to make Tacos for dinner as he had requested.

   On Wednesday, the plan was to go to Half Moon Bay with Michelle, Mckayla and Marcus while the daddies had to work.  The boys and I left the house a bit behind the schedule in the morning and I missed a change in the freeways.  While the traffic was slow, I saw the car behind me bumping into ours.  Both boys felt the slight bump and asked about what happened.  Since we were still in the freeway and I did not feel safe to stop, I put on the emergency lights and proceed to exit at the next available one in 3.5 miles.  Fortunately the car followed my lead.  Once I found a safe spot to stop, I told the boys to wait while I stepped out to talk with the driver.  I knew the impact was small but I figured I should get his information just in case.  The driver and I were both polite, we examined the cars and exchanged information.  Then we were on our way to the Kaos.  The boys had suggested that we would play a little at their house before we left, so they got their wish before Michelle and I caravanned to Half Moon Bay.  We planned to arrive at the low tide at the Fitzgerald Marine Reserve (approx. 10:45am) to see the creatures in the tide pools.  After we parked, we changed into rainboots and walked down to the shore.  It was interesting walking through the rocks and streams of water.  At one point, Logan stepped into some very soft sand and part of his boot got sunk in. Connor tried to rescue him, and had his leg in the sand too.  I stepped in to help and realized that it almost felt like quick sand where my foot fell in as well.  We quickly got ourselves out and moved on.  Logan felt more comfortable and walked around the shore following Michelle, Mckayla and Marcus while Connor and I walked together slowly.  Because there were some harbor seals, we were restricted from going too far out and we ended up seeing only one little crab that the guide showed us.   After a little more exploring and a potty break for Connor, we headed back up for a snack.  We intended to hike to the other side where we were told would have tide pools with more sea creatures, but the kids had so much fun playing by the trails that we just let them play there instead.  Then we went for lunch afterward and all four kids wanted fish and chips.  They played with the activity sheets and chatted with each other while they enjoyed their meals. 

     Next Michelle led us to the nearby Venice Beach to play.  It was a very nice beach and it was not crowded at all.  The kids all ran out to the water to play as soon we arrived.  They played with sand and ran away from the waves, and had a blast.  Logan eventually got completely soaked, and sometime he just gave in and sat on the sand letting the water came up to him.  I had no idea how long they played; finally Logan felt too cold and wanted to change out his wet clothes.  It took Michelle and I quite awhile to get the sand off the kids and change their clothes by the cars.  Both Logan and Connor wanted to resume playing at the Kaos’ house, so I tried to rush them into the car.  Since I only had a change of pants and socks for the boys, Connor was topless.  Mckayla and Marcus spotted him and laughed a little; Connor became sensitive, hid under a towel and started crying.  He did stop eventually when I said we could not go to their house if he still cried, then Connor said “Fine, I will forgive them.”.  Halfway through our route to Michelle’s, the boys fell asleep, so I made a decision to drive home instead to let them sleep some more.  I ended up avoiding the commuter’s traffic and made it home in good time.  Logan woke up just before arriving and Connor slept a bit longer in the garage.   When Connor woke up, he was very sad and whiny since we were not at the Kaos.   He calmed down later when I said we could arrange for another visit to the Mckayla and Marcus’s house one day.

    Since Logan was rested from the nap and we made it home in good time, Stuart then took Logan off to his basketball practice.  We had a full day.

    I decided to make a quick trip to New Mexico on Sunday to attend my step uncle’s funeral.  When I returned on Monday, I managed to make it home by 2:30pm and took over the duty of the boys.  I led them out of the house for a quick bike ride.  They both are doing better with the bikes nowadays and learning the rules of riding on the streets.  We then played some boardgames before dinner.  During dinner, I asked the boys to share what they had done on Sunday with daddy.  They had a movie night watching “Up”.  Connor went on to tell me about the movie, and he was non-stop for like 10 minutes sharing steps by step how the movie went.  Stuart was surprised and impressed of what he understood and how well he remembered the details.  We had to stop him at some point so he could eat his dinner, otherwise we know he could go on talking for a long time.  He is a chatterbox.  After dinner, Stuart and the boys were out in the backyard playing basketball.  Connor was very aggressive doing great defense and trying to make baskets.  It is hard to believe that this boy is still having a headache as he will periodically come to tell us that “my head hurts” throughout the day.

    Connor’s headache has been consuming all of our time and energy the past two weeks.  We really feel that it has something to do with the strep throat he had a month ago, therefore we have been keeping a timeline for reference.

3/6 – sore throat started

3/9 – did a throat swab

3/10 – positive strep test result, and given amoxicillin once daily for 10 days

3/14 – saw a doctor as sore throat continued with no improvement – we were told that everything checked out fine and to finish up the course of antibiotics

3/15 – Ear hurt, just for one day.  Connor attributed it due to the exam.

3/18 – Day 9 of antibiotics – last dose since supply went out but throat still hurt

3/20 Sun – Throat finally stopped hurting.  But same day he cut his upper palate with a tortilla chip at a party and complained of pain for two days

3/27 Sun – Connor complained that his head hurt after waking up in the morning

3/28 Mon – Saw his doctor and the physical neurologic exam checked out fine

3/31 and 4/1 – Tried Claritin daily – no improvement

4/2 – Tried decongestant phenylephrine 3 times in a day – no improvement

Had been giving ibuprofen, Tylenol, ice or warm compresses the past days with no improvement

4/3 Sunday – Called for a telephone appointment in the morning.  Doctor suggested going to emergency room to be evaluated for a CT scan.  So we went all together after the musical.  The NP at ED felt that Connor had a sinus infection, therefore prescribed Zithromax for five days and did not feel the need for CT.  We were there at the hospital close to 2 hours in all. 

4/4 Monday – Updated primary care doctor who also consulted with a neurologist. They agreed to treat for a sinus infection but suggested changing to Augmentin for 10 days. Neurologist also recommended starting a headache preventive medicine Periactin nightly.  Bedtime the past couple of days had been very difficult; it took close to 2 hours and Connor finally fell asleep in our bed.

4/5 – On top of other meds, also gave Benadryl and Connor fell asleep a bit easier (1 hr instead of 2)

4/6 – Head still hurt – Connor reported hurting more at computer lab

4/7 – head still hurt. Connor reported "little throw up in his mouth ". He fell asleep in his own bed. Yay!

4/8 – For the first time in days, Connor reported in the morning that his head hurt slightly less, at a 1-2 out of 5. But after school he said it had become 3 out of 5 again. He was complaining more in the evening, but the good news was that he was able to fall asleep quickly in his own room.

4/9 – Connor confirmed that his head still hurt the same, at 3 out of 5.  He said being in bright light might make it 3-4 out of 5. We thought he seemed to complain less throughout the day but the complaints were frequent again at bedtime.  Fortunately he was still able to fall asleep not long later.

    We all are frustrated that his headache still has not shown a big improvement.  But at least Connor could fall asleep a bit easier the past few nights.  Prior to that was very hard to watch Connor being irritated and in pain.  He would not lay down or close his eyes as it would hurt more, and he was so frustrated sometimes that he would hit his head with a pillow.

    Last Sunday was the musical Beauty and The Beast.  I brought tickets with Robyn and Michelle awhile back, and the boys and I had been looking forward to it.  In the morning before the show, we managed to make it to Connor’s soccer team picture.  Then after a quick lunch, Stuart offered to give us a ride to downtown San Jose which made it very convenient for us.  We arrived with plenty of time before the start, and we met up with Robyn and Peyton outside the theater.  We took a few photos before we headed inside.  We found booster seats, but only Logan wanted to use it and Connor preferred without.  We all settled in our seats, then Michelle and Mckayla arrived to join us.  The boys kept asking when the show started and it finally did.  The music was great, and since the boys are familiar with the story, they were attentive the whole time.  Connor did turn to me to tell me his head hurt periodically.  At intermission, both boys told me they enjoyed the show, but they asked if it was time to go home.  During the break, we got some fresh air in the courtyard and all four kids enjoyed the chocolate Mckayla shared with them.  The second half was shorter and still full of good acting and music.  We all really enjoyed this great musical.  I texted Stuart as soon as the show was over, then Robyn and Michelle stayed around to hang out with us while we waited for Stuart.  The kids had fun looking at the coins in the fountain; we had to make sure we did not have any accidental fall into the water.  Stuart arrived and we quickly said goodbye to our friends to hop into the car.  Then we were on our way to the Emergency Room for Connor’s head evaluation.  More on that in later post.