Where Are We?

Whew! It's the end of 2018 already. WOW.

Gooseberry and I moved in with my mom back in April, so we're in California now. Pretty much as soon as we got here, I started getting sick. By mid-July, I was wheezing constantly, without respite. My doctor tried all kinds of asthma meds, even though I didn't think that was it. I first saw a pulmonologist in August, and he's trying to help me figure out what's wrong. Current running diagnosis: Massive laryngopharyngeal reflux (basically, reflux that affects the whole throat) that gave me paroxysmal vocal cord dysfunction (my vocal folds frequently seize up). I've been on massive doses of stomach meds for almost five months now, and I STILL have stomach problems. I have to find a GI doctor for the next step, but I'm having horrible flashbacks to 2017's awful GI doc, and...bleh.

I got a job at the local library. It was basically a perfect job. And after three days of standing in one place, my pelvis basically came apart. (Chronic issue that I thought was fixed, but the wheezing - which made it painful and difficult to breathe - kept me from exercising for several months so it came back.) Could barely walk for a week. Had to quit, which sucked. Still hurts. I'm hoping to go to a pelvic specialist PT soon, and then maybe I can get back on track.

Because this is not how I anticipated this going. I was going to move in, get a job, make money, save money, buy a car, save more money, get a job farther away or in another state, and move out. By, you know, NOW. Instead, no job, no car, still trying to figure out what's going and manage it. It is, at least, getting better! Very, very slowly, but better. :)

Gooseberry's new school has been good in some ways, and really hard in others. His last school was wonderful, and knew exactly how to handle his needs without asking. This school doesn't have the same level of experience with autism, so I feel like I have to fight to be understood. But, it's also MUCH better funded. Like, SERIOUSLY funded. And that is really nice (harder for me, since all the fundraisers involve $75 dinners and things I can't afford, but still). He's pinpointing more of his letter sounds, and he has conversations that blow me away. He is well and truly 8 now, even if he has a few deficits in language and processing compared to his peers. (He also reads very well - though for some reason he now hates it D: - and super-excels at math. And he loves logic puzzles and problem-solving. Woohoo!) He misses his dad like crazy, but he gets to play a lot of video games because I'm working on so much all the time that I fail to make him do anything else. :/

I've been writing like a mad thing since I got sick. I finished the book that's taken me two years to write, and I'm finishing up the line edit for it now so that it gets a January release (YAAAAAY!). I wrote a whole book in six weeks, and am looking forward to repeating that once school is back in. I'm going to be self-employed shortly, too, which is both terrifying and exciting, and will hopefully pay for things like physical therapy and a car, if nothing else. (The town we live in is very small. It's 10 minutes to the grocery store and 40-60 minutes to pretty much anything specialized.)

There's more to talk about, but I'll be posting it on Facebook where I can control my audience. I think. Maybe. If I can summon the courage...

Anyway, I see that I still have folks popping every week or two! Let me know who you are and what you're wondering about, and I'll share. :D