Self Diagnosis

School was cancelled on Tuesday, January 7, not for the holiday of my friend Maleigha's birthday, but because the roads were still iced over from Monday mornings snow and freezing rain episode. Our road was a solid sheet of ice. One of the DJ's from a local radio station must have taken a short cut down our road on his way to work today because he broadcast "watch out for Short Street" on the radio.

Don't these dogs look cozy?
Wednesday, January 8, was yet another "Snow Day". The temperatures just won't rise enough to allow the roads to thaw. Other than work and church this evening, the Hayes' family stayed off the roads.

Besides, I have my odometer and a good round number. I hate to mess it up. 
Finally on Thursday, January 9 the rain came down and rinsed the leftover ice, salt and yuck off the roads (and vehicles). Not in time for schools to be open, but what is one more day off after three weeks of sitting home.

Friday, January 10, was the first day back to school since dismissal for Christmas break. I think the dread had an effect on Devin. He got me out of bed at 4:15 am with some type of anxiety attack. His heart was beating fast and he had spells of trembling. I stayed up with him until time for school.
He didn't really feel like going, but I just couldn't let him stay home since school had been out for so long. Before I dropped him and Brookelynn off, we went for breakfast at IHOP. I thought it might help Devin feel better and I thought it was a good way to begin the new semester. Devin was feeling some better after eating.
I received a text from him at 9am that another anxiety attack was happening. He told me he was having trouble breathing and his fingers were tingling. I checked him out of school and we went to Satellite Med for a check up. Other than a slightly elevated blood pressure and a slight decrease in white blood cells, he checked out fine. He even started to feel okay again after a while. We stopped for lunch and spent the rest of the evening at home as another attack hit around 5pm. I just sat with him and coached him on slow breathing techniques until it eased up. What else could I do?

Devin is convinced that he has diabetes. I spent the day trying (unsuccessfully) to reassure him that he is not diabetic. He is scared to death of the next attack, but we just don't know when to expect it. I spent several hours with Devin throughout Friday night as the episodes set in a couple more times.
Saturday, January 11 was a bit better. No panic attacks until the evening came. It's a good thing too. I was not worth a dime from being up and down all night. I had a tough headache that I just could not get a grasp on. As it eased up temporarily mid-day, the four of us went for lunch at O'Charley's. Devin was trying to make healthy choices due to his new "diabetic" (he's convinced) condition.
Sunday, January 12, consisted of church and a trip to Crossville. We went to the outlet mall, Ruby Tuesday's, Lowes and Wal-Mart. We wasted a bunch of money that we probably should have just held on to, but I think it was the cabin fever that just had us ready to get out today.

Here's a couple of pictures that I took of Stroker and Brookelynn acting goofy at the outlet mall today. He found a reflective shirt. 

She found some nerd glasses.