Life with The Leivas: A Friendly note to Soldiers returning from Afghanistan

Saturday, December 19, 2009

A Friendly note to Soldiers returning from Afghanistan

Welcome home dear soldiers but please try and control yourselves. Please try and refrain from "over celebrating" and consuming too much alcohol. Even though you have just returned from Afghanistan you still have to pay your cab fare. Remember it is not appropriate to refuse to pay your $14 cab fare and strip down to your birthday suit and run around in the middle of the street in front of said cab and the military police who are trying to encourage you to pay the cab fare and go home. How could you know that your overzealous celebration disturbed my family's first Friday night at home in over 6 months? How could you know that your night time shenanigans would require my husband to get out of bed at 3am to drive into work to see why 3 upstanding young soldiers recently returned from Afghanistan were arrested due to failure to pay a $14 cab fare and public intoxication, thus missing the first morning both of our children have ever slept past 8:30am.

I would have gladly given each of you $14 if only you had just paid the cab fare! Welcome Home, but please lets try and control ourselves!

1 comment:

Ashley said...: oh my!; Saturday, December 19, 2009 11:07:00 PM

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MPS/Sanfilippo Syndrome

In October, 2008 Olivia was disgnosed with MPS III or Sanfilippo Syndrome, type B. MPS stands for: Mucopolysaccharidoses. It is a genetic lysosomal storage disease (LSD) caused by the body's inability to produce specific enzymes. Normally, the body uses enzymes to break down and recycle materials in cells. In individuals with MPS and related diseases, the missing or insufficient enzyme prevents the proper recycling process, resulting in the storage of materials in virtually every cell of the body. As a result, cells do not perform properly and may cause progressive damage throughout the body, including the heart, bones, joints, respiratory system and central nervous system. While the disease may not be apparent at birth, signs and symptoms develop with age as more cells become damaged by the accumulation of cell materials.

Babies and young children with Sanfilippo Syndrome appear normal, but symptoms begin to appear with age as more and GAGs build up in the cells of the body. There are 3 stages to the disease. Stage 1 the child begins to lag behind peers and begins to display difficult behaviors. Stage 2 the child losing his/her language, becomes hyperactive, chews on everything, and has sleeping difficulties. Stage 3 the child slows down, becomes dependant for all mobility and loses the ability to chew/swallow. There is no treatment or cure for Sanfilippo. Life expectancy varies.