"I Don't Recall"

My mind has been all too foggy lately.  In fact, a friend posted "I have the attention span of a goldfish today" a few weeks ago and I've adopted that as my "I can't focus" creed.

Seriously.  Last week it was the attention span of a guppie.  On Monday, I slipped even further and said it was that of a sea cucumber.

So when a friend and I were chatting today and I couldn't answer the question of how many electrodes are firing on each of his cochlear implants...I hung up feeling moronic.  I know, I'm my own worst critic.  But seriously, this is stuff I know. This is something I KNOW. know I've asked his audiology team.  In fact, I've seen the electrodes in all their charty glory on the computer screen not once, but multiple times!

Why couldn't I remember?

Oh yeah.  I'm old.

In all seriousness, the sheer magnitude and variety of issues AJ has me juggling is making me increasingly perplexed.  I'm finding it extremely difficult to focus on just one thing.  Because when you focus on just one, the others fall to the wayside.  Believe me, I know. It's a balance, they say.   I'm still struggling with what to keep and what to toss in regards to this boy's massive paper trail.  Do I really need all of his ER discharge sheets?  Do I continue the mass medical binders with tabs for each specialty/area, or do I make smaller binders per specialty?  I'm back to writing my daily to-do's specifically for AJ in a specific notebook. Its been my saving grace.

Earlier this week, while discussing his new conjunction, junction, whats your function...scoliosis!  issue another friend asked, "I really don't know how you do it all. It seems like one thing after another."  For the first time EVER, I agreed with her and said, "You know I don't know either.  I do what I can."

And I drink wine.  Wine helps.

Binder Mayhem

The activity board was the first project for my "Keeping It All Straight" series.  Next?  Binders.

I pulled them all down and layed them out... 

Quickly realizing that this system

 is no longer working:

Currently, I have AJ's records sorted by Doctor/Clinic with divider tabs.  The binder above is Medical 2007-2009...and is overflowing. I need to come up with a better plan of action for his records. 

Clearly, one binder is not going to be sufficient.  I did start a 2010-____  binder, but I think I might split the specialists into two different binders, alphabetically. 

The other binders represent organizations we have/currently receive services from such as respite, Birth to 3, and United Cerebral Palsy, as well as his plethora of school information. 

I am a firm believer in keeping all of AJ's paperwork organized.  There are many times I've needed to reference something while on the phone with the insurance company, scheduling another appointment, or working with providing information on AJ where I've pulled a binder and flipped to the appropriate section.  They have really come in handy.  I also keep all of my previous calendars (since AJ arrived home) on the shelf in the office.  I've had to reference those quite a few times.

Stay tuned for Keeping It All Straight Part 2: Binders...

The Activity Board

Remember the activity board I made for AJ back in March? 

Well.... I finished it!

I couldn't resist teasing you!
Want to see MORE?!!

CLICK HERE.

Keeping It All Straight...Part 1

A lot of people ask me (us) how we keep track of everything AJ has going on.  I decided I'll do a "how we do it" post, in parts. 

Part 1:

The Activity Board

A while back I figured out I needed to write down everything that we were working on with AJ.  If it stays in my head, it gets jumbled and honestly, way overwhelming.  I started writing on a small white erase board.  I split up his goals under headers for each area.  It didn't take long for the white board to become crowded, so I've been brainstorming.  Let it be known the my first 3 attempts were fails! 

Here is my new activity board for AJ.

Another closer shot.

Cool, huh?

Here is the before:

I {literally} found this frame in the back of our office/guest room/junk room closet.  Pretty sad I had this and didn't even know it.  Anyhow it was perfect.  I took the glass and cardboard backer out and sprayer the frame black.  I had some awesome bubble pattern material so I used that where a picture would go, and reassembled.  I write on the glass with a dry-erase marker.  Works like a charm!  I think its prettier than a white board to, don't you? Now I just need to attach heavy duty ribbon loops to the top and get some decorative knobs to screw into the wall to mount in the hall.

Total Cost: FREE

Stay Tuned for Part 2: Binders