Thursday was a long day

Well, it has definately been a long week. Last Friday we saw Christian's primary dr who went over everything that is Christian. He okayed Christian's surgery for Friday the 26th. Now come to Wednesday night. Christian is running a slight fever. Nothing that I am too concerned with but I kept him home from church with Daddy to be safe. Thursday morning, the fever is still there. Never over 100.1 but nevertheless still there. I was contemplating calling the dr but put it off hoping his fever would break. We, being the kids and I, went to the science center so the kids could have something to do. Christian stayed in his stroller and was a gem. He didn't complain at all. At 2:00 I checked his temp and it was still there so I began the calls to the dr.
The surgeon said that as long as his temp doesn't go above 100.5 then he could still do surgery. "Okay" I thought "It will be alright, no worries." But, he wanted us to go see our pediatrician to have him checked out. So I get an appointment at 3:15. We were just 5 mins away since we were already downtown so that was nice.
Once we got into the doctor we began a 2 1/2 appointment seeing a doctor that has NEVER seen Christian before because the doctor and NP we normally see were not there. Having four children in a little exam room was really trying on my patience. We did thumb wars, reading time, rock paper scissors, and they were still bored. Good thing I had 3 cookies in the diaper bag for the older kids and fishies for Christian to bribe them with.
Christian's ears were both bulging and red and the doctor was concerned with his breathing. We did an RSV test. Negative. "Thank God" Then the doctor wants to do a breathing treatment to see if it will help. They test his pulse ox, 94 is the result. Optimal is 100. This is his oxygen level. Another breathing treatment with another drug. Same result for the pulse ox test after both breathing treatments. I kept trying to tell the doctor that Christian always sounds "weezy" and his is a "noisy breather" but he didn't seem to care. He wanted to fix his breathing. Granted Christian was weezing a little more than normal, but his "normal" is different. On a good day people think he has a cold.
For the ear infections, the dr wants to do shots of rocefin. This is because they are so red and bulgy and the antibiotic would work quicker. With these shots you have to come back 3 days in a row to get the full dose. I reluctantly agree. In my head I was thinking that I remembered Tamara, the NP who is one of my favs, suggest this last time but we were trying to be optomistic. So we did the shot. This is a shot in both legs for three days. Painful for Christian but supposed to help. The surgery is cancelled! The doctor (pediatrician) said Christian isn't well enough.
So, no change in the breathing, the doctor thinks I will do nebulizer treatments at home, which why the heck would I? They don't do any good! And they haven't ever done any good for Christian. It seems to be something the dr's want to do to make themselves feel better. I really feel that his noisy breathing is part of his spina bifida; Arnold Chiari. But, could I get any of the dr's to tell me that. If anyone has any suggestions on this please let me know.
We left the doctor's office at 5:40pm. This is the time that I was supposed to be at school for Caleb's conferences. Then another at 6 and the last at 6:30. It didn't turn out the way we wanted but we got it done. We got to the school at 6:00. Colton ran in to meet Daddy for his conference while I stayed in the car with Caleb and Christian. Then at 6:30 Colton and Daddy came out and Maria and I went in for her conference.
It all worked out in the end. We got the kids conferences done, Christian got medicine to help him feel better and we had dinner at 8:00 pm. 30 mins after bed time. Now for the anticipation of when the surgery will be rescheduled for.

that's all for now.....

Christian's ENT appointment

Christian, Caleb and I all went to the ENT this morning for Christian's follow up for his ears and noisy breathing. Christian has had a constant runny nose and cough. The right ear looks great and passed all of the tests. The left ear is a little unsure. The doctor did the pressure test, a hearing test and one other. Again, the right ear passed all and looks great. Christian's left ear is just iffy. The doctor said that we have two options. We can put tubes in and see if that will take away the fluid and build up or we can wait it out and see if it may get better on it's own. I asked what the risks are and if Christian could lose hearing in his left ear from waiting. The doctor said that while it may be hard for Christian to hear right now because of the fluid, that when the fluid goes down then he should be able to hear better.
I told the dr that Christian is already having surgery next week and he said that we should wait then and not put him through another surgery so soon. He did give me some information to tell the anesthesiologist on the granulation that was on his vocal cords a few months back so that the anesthesiologist can check that when he is intubating him. He even drew a picture!
So....we are still playing the wait and see game. Our next appointment is in April - hopefully it will be warmer out!

that's all for now....

hmm...

Christian's surgery is next Friday. I know exactly what the dr is doing, but I am nervous. We have lived with the hernia's for a year now and I know we need to get rid of them. I will keep praying that the surgery goes well.

Christian has been a little off lately so I don't know. Last night he just started screaming and wouldn't stop. Finally I said "If you are going to scream at me, you can go in your bed" Well that must have been what he wanted because he fell right asleep. It was as if he was trying to tell me he was tired but I was too busy making dinner to listen. And, oh my! This kid has horrible stinkies! He is worse than his dad. So if you are around him, beware that you might need some air freshener! :)

It seems like one week we have nothing going on and the next we have appointments every day. Everything and everyone blow up all at once! It is crazy!
Colton was officially suspended from school for 1/2 day, Caleb was kicked out of AWANA for a week, and ....... It's NUTS, it's their behavior! Maria has started hiding food and candy under her bed. I almost wonder if she has been doing it for awhile and I never noticed since we weren't cleaning under the beds. I really hope I can stay sane and continue to try to do the chart for responsibilities and stay consistent. I know that if I stay consistent then the boys won't (hopefully) continue with their disrespect and misbehavior.
What I don't understand though, is WHY they think it is okay now? I don't have outbursts all the time, or do I? Well, this is what we are working on. The kids have to earn everything.; play time, computer time, late bedtime, movie time, etc. We are in WEEK TWO of this and I really think it will work.

I want to get new bedding for my bed. I also would like to get curtains for the kids room. I asked the kids yesterday if they think they could handle it and they said yes. Now, I just have to figure out what kind of fabric would look good in their rooms. For the boys I can do all boy and for Maria and Christian's room I am going to need something gender nuteral. I am hoping that maybe we can make curtains for the kids room. I am not sure if I can make them, since my machine has been in the closet for almost five years, so hopefully my step mommy will help me. I guess I need to ask! Hoping that would cut the cost down. I have been looking on EBay for bedding for us, but cannot decide on any one. First I have to get Charlie to help paint my now purple room to a more....hmm.....beige color.....

that's all for now.....

Christian's surgery is scheduled

Christian is scheduled to have a bilateral inuinal and umbilical hernia repair surgery on February 26th. His surgery is scheduled for 7:30 am and we have to be at the hospital by 6:00. Luckily we are having the surgery at Mercy so we are not driving all of the way to Iowa City.
The surgery is supposed to be a same day surgery barring any complications.
The kids do not have school this day so they will be home with someone.

Please pray for no complications and fast recovery. Thanks!