Blizzard 2011 Photos From My Apartment

This is the view out of the living room window at 2 p.m. yesterday afternoon.
This is the same view out of my living room window at 8 a.m. this morning after over 20 inches of snow.

Another view of the same spot.

The view out of both windows this morning. Notice the snow is up to nearly the mid-point of the window.
The view of the left window.
The view of the right window.

Looking out of the dining room this morning. Not sure why the vertical apartment blinds look purple in this photo (they are white).

Another view.

In my bedroom, my cat Wiggles tried to look out the window. He cried when he coudldn't look out, lol.

Photo of Dear Son's Dad's house.

Photo of Lake Shore Drive in Chicago. (Photo Credit~Chicago Tribune)

This is Paula Deen's Hurry Up Chicken Pot Pie recipe that I made last night. I downsized the recipe a bit and skipped a lot of the butter. I can't eat like this very often and make this recipe about once a year, but on days like today, it's perfect.Here's a photo of a piece; I am not a food stylist, obviously. It was good though.

In other news, my pc was out for most of the day. I called my ISP and they were only taking emergency calls. I am pretty sure if there is a blizzard out there and I am stuck indoors without internet, that it's an emergency. Don't you think? O.K. maybe I am just addicted.

Dear Son had some problems today. He has been having more seizures lately and had a rather long seizure this morning. In addition, he woke up with a lot of coughing today and was wheezing. I've done two nebulizer treatments today and will continue treatments tonight. I had to give him some extra seizure meds so I contacted the pediatric neurologist fellow on call to get some direction with regards to the additional seizure medication and any respiratory depression. Of course, he suggested that we come to the ER... I explained that we can't get out, lol. I told him that we'll come if the wheezing gets worse. Currently, he doesn't have a fever, his oxygen saturation is o.k. 92-94 earlier today and 95 at 4 p.m. I have the nebulizer and oxygen at home if needed for emergencies. I am fairly confident and know when I am in over my head but I did feel better getting some clarity with regards to the seizure medication and the respiratory depression. I figured it was better to call earlier in the day than to wait until we had more issues later tonight. I'll watch Dear Son closely and we'll see. Of course, I have increased the organic, virgin coconut oil to help with the cough.

Update 2/3/10: Dear Son seems better today. I gave him organic, virgin coconut oil yesterday as follows: 1 tablespoon with 6 a.m. meds, 2 tablespoons with noon meds, 1 generous tablespoon with dinner meds and 1 tablespoon at midnight, all via his gtube. (If you are using coconut oil for any type of healing, you do need to start slow. We started several months ago with only 1 tsp. per day. If you try to go to this much all at once, you will endure severe stomach upset/cramps and diarrhea. Once you are used to it, you can increase it when you start getting sick. We use 1 tsp./day when we are well.) I continued with the coconut oil today with all meds however I am only using 1 tablespoon at each meal. He slept well last night and was able to breathe fairly well through his nose all night. He did sound crackly around midnight and a few times during the night and did cough a few times this morning but overall was about 70% better than yesterday. While he was quite tired and lethargic yesterday, he also seemed like he didn't feel well and had a sad face as if he didn't feel well all day. This morning he smiled. After breakfast, I gave him another nebulizer treatment and he seemed better. He slept on and off but did wake up, spin the recliner around with his feet and seemed happy. By 1 p.m. today, he was about 85% of his total self. I can't begin to tell you how amazing it is that he could turn around from where he was at yesterday afternoon. He was wheezing very loud at that time and having a lot of seizures (sickness usually lowers his threshold). It was the same as he was any time he's had pneumonia. It's really amazing and quite powerful at the same time. Powerful in the sense that as a mother I have some options that I can do at home to help Dear Son to feel better and prevent a hospitalization. We aren't quite out of the woods yet, but I do believe that he is doing remarkably better than yesterday. This is quite an achievement for a chronically ill, severely disabled young man with a progressive neurological disease. I don't expect this organic, virgin coconut oil to be the end all for him or cure everything but rather, it's a tool that I can use to help prevent a pneumonia. I do suspect that there may and will be times when it may not work but for now, I am going to celebrate the fact that it's been six months without a hospitalization.