Every once in awhile,  the Lost and Tired family faces a really difficult situation.  These situations go above and beyond the more typical special needs parenting situations we often find ourselves faced with. Lizze and I have been hit with a doozy this time.  We are faced with a situation that has no clear cut right or wrong answer. Emmett is dealing with pneumonia right now and is miserable. There's a good chance that reason he has it is because of the prednisone he's on because of his fever disorder. When Emmett hits a fever flare and his mouth breaks out in cold sores,  the only course of action aside from him suffering,  is a three days of prednisone. The problem is the prednisone doesn't play nice with the immune…

I'm working very hard to improve my health. I really enjoy walking/running. In fact, walking is the only thing that has ever relieved my chronic back pain. I need to lose weight and get my cholesterol back in check. Summer 2010, I was up to about 35 miles a week and I felt really good. I tried to keep up with it last year but things at home wouldn't allow for me to get away. I had planned on getting a treadmill with income tax,but since the van was stolen, I was unable to achieve that goal. However, that has not deterred me from losing weight. It will just be a bit more challenging to attain. I want to start off small, about 1.5 miles per day, at a decent pace.…

Lizze got back with Emmett from the pediatrician's office a little while ago. You're not going to believe what he has now. Go on, guess...... If you guessed pneumonia, you'd be right. Apparently, it's taken up residence in lower lobes of his lungs. The doctor says that we caught it early and that the antibiotics should take care of the problem and we will hopefully be able to avoid the hospital. He also said that what Emmett has is very contagious and that his brothers with likely be next, if they don't already have it. As you may recall, both Gavin and Elliott stayed home from school today because of fevers and a nasty cough. Elliott is getting worse and now has a fever of 103F. His cough is really bad and…

Along with all the heartache and struggle the Lost and Tired family faces on a daily basis, we also experience a much lighter side to #Autism as well. I want to share some of these moments with all of you. I think it's important to paint as accurate a picture of our lives as possible as a means of helping educate people and spread Autism Awareness. Sometimes the positive experiences I have are far outweighed by all the meltdowns, struggles, screaming and yelling. The positive things seem to drown in an ocean of chaos and struggle.  I have to really work hard to remind myself not to miss out on these moments. It's these moments that act like glue and help hold me together through the rest of the more…

One of the most difficult parts of raising a child with #Autism is the sensory issues. With three boys on the spectrum,  we have our share of challenges. One that's proves to be consistently challenging is Emmett's fear or dislike of getting dirt on his shoes? He's made some progress lately,  with the arrival of his puppy,  Bella.  However, he still struggles and will completely meltdown if he gets his shoes dirty. A few days ago,  I decided to try something.  It was really simple and I didn't hold out much hope for them working. Despite the odds,  I tried it anyway.  What I did was very simple and it seems to actually be helping. I explained to Emmett that the dirt on his shoes was called fun dirt.  I…

Lizze and Emmett are on their way to the pediatrician's office to get Emmett checked out. He isn't getting any better and we think he may have strep throat now as well. Whatever he has, has spread to the other boys and that makes three special needs kids, all sick at one time, under the same roof, with a father about to lose his marbles. Hopefully, he will be able to get some relief and antibiotics, if needed. Again, having multiple special needs kids, all sick at the same time, should break some kind of law. I'm not sure why it's allowed to happen but if I was in charge for just one day, I would make it a rule that special needs families should only ever have to deal…

Today's Victory is brought to you by amazing wife,  Lizze.  I meant to do this yesterday but for whatever reason it didn't happen. I want to share how proud of her I am and what better way to do that than with Today's Victory. As you all know,  Lizze has been struggling with health issues for many years,  including Fibromyalgia,  which is a chronic pain disorder. She is in constant pain,  all the time.  She has been wanting to do physical therapy for a long time but was just in to much to pain to take anything on. Well,  yesterday she finally went,  despite pain. She is really motivated to get as much relief as possible. They asked her what her go was and she said that she wants to…

I think most of us have heard the saying, they come in threes. I'm hear to say that there is definitely some truth behind those words,  at least as far as the Lost and Tired family is concerned. As you know,  Elliott and Emmett are both sick and running fevers.  However,  as we were getting Gavin ready for school,  we discovered that he is now running a fever as well. While it's not as high as Emmett and Elliott's,  it is of concern due to Gavin lacking an immune system of his own. We have to be careful with him because his body may not be able to fight anything off.  The antibody infusions help but when he gets sick,  it makes us really nervous.  I don't know how careful…