May is a busy month...

May has been a busy month so far. The picture is from our first visit to the zoo after the kids early out the first week in May.

Charlie spent a week in Michigan for work. At first he thought he picked a week that wasn't very busy, but it turned out to be VERY busy instead. My week of being a "single" parent was pretty good. The kids worked very hard and helped me when I asked. We had therapy and doctor's appointments during the day, soccer two nights, AWANA, baseball practice and a music concert for my daughter. There was something every night of the week. But we made it, and I would like to think I did it without getting too overwhelmed and upset.

On Wednesday of this week Christian, the 1 year old, had an ENT appointment. I was pretty much disappointed with this appointment. We originally started going to the ENT for his "noisy breathing" but the doctor has made it about his ears. For the first time, the doctor is happy with how his ears look and test. When I asked about the adnoids (from previous blog) I felt that I was basically ignored, almost as if it was too easy or something. Now we don't go back for 4 months for a check up. So still we are nowhere closer on the noisy breathing! Very frustrating.

On Friday of that same week Caleb, my 5 year old, had an ENT appointment too. That's right 2 ENT appointments (with 2 different drs) in the same week. He has had chronic ear infections since he was a baby. Since the tube in the left ear (the right fell out a long time ago) came out a few months ago, his ear has been one infection after another. So the steroids didn't work. He is going to have to have a tube put back in. Dr Brown says he rarely does it, but will just do the one ear since the right ear has been fine. When I ask about the adnoids too he takes a look. His response was "He sure has some big tonsils! They could be problematic in the future" So our overall decision is to get it all done with one shot of anesthesia. Caleb will be having a tube put in his left ear, adnoids removed (again) and his tonsils removed. We have scheduled this all for after school is out so that I don't have to push recovery. His scheduled surgery day is June 15th. Dr Brown said the surgery will take 15-20 mins and we will be on our way. He makes it sound so simple. BUT...I know that the tonsils are a big deal and will have to stock my fridge with pudding, ice cream, popcicles, etc. It might be nice for a day or so when Caleb cannot scream at us. hmmm....

The kids are counting down to the last day of school. Our last day for school is June 8th. Of course Caleb being in preschool, he gets out a few days earlier. Then let the summer begin. I am looking forward to being outside and enjoying the summer with the kids. Hopefully we can have a lot of fun around all of our appointments. I am also hoping to be able to join the play group that I am in a couple of times this summer. I joined last year but have always had appointments and other committments when the group meets. I hope this year is different.

Colton's birthday is next Friday, the 28th. He is going to be 8! I sent his picture in for Birthday's on the 8 for KCCI. He is excited to see his picture on the news in the morning. Colton chose to have a pool party this Saturday (since his birthday is Memorial Day weekend) with some of his friends. This is after he has a double header in the morning for baseball. I hope they show up and it turns out well.

that's all for now....

Christian's surgery

Christian had hernia repair surgery last Wednesday, April 21st. Everything went real well. The doctor said the hernia on the left was pretty big and there was a small one on the right side too. He didn't do anything with the umbilical though. He said that when he felt around it was even smaller than before and felt it wasn't necessary to do it right now. Worse case is he would have to have it done at 4 years if it starts getting big again.
Christian has healed up real well. He went to church with me Wednesday night and played with his friends. The hardest part for him was pulling himself up. He only required the tylenol with codeine 2 times. He is back at 100% now.

that's all for now....

Ears, Ears, and other things too

So today we shook things up a bit and Caleb actually had a doctor appointment. I know! Crazy, right? Caleb had an ear infection about a month ago but then a few days ago his symptoms reappeared. Wonderful! Caleb has already had two sets of tubes and his adnoids out when he was a baby. The doctor removed the last tube just a few months ago because it was not in place anymore. The right ear is doing great. It's that darn left ear that doesn't want to cooperate.

So off we go to see Dr Matt Brown. Not to my surprise, Caleb has fluid in his left ear. He prescribes him with 5 days of steriods to see if it will go down. We will recheck in three weeks. Dr asked about Caleb's sleeping, if he snores, etc. He said that kids should be nose breathers and not breathe through their mouths. Caleb sleeps on his back but his mouth is usually wide open while he is sleeping. Dr suggested that this could be his adnoids and that they have grown back. (Caleb had them removed when he was a baby but unlike tonsils they DO grow back) If the fluid is still there then he will want to do tubes and scrape out his adnoids again.

Then Dr looks at Christian in my lap and says "He sounds horrible" to which I reply that he always sounds like this. (we go to a different ENT for Christian) He asks me questions about Christian's breathing and if he always has his mouth open. To be honest, I replied that I haven't paid that much attention. (I didn't tell him anything about Christian's history or anything) He again said that this is a symptom, that kids should be nose breathers. He suggested that it is possible that Christian has enlarged adnoids. CRAZY HUH?! Maybe the breathing is something so very simple that we have been looking too deep. Is it possible?

So, next time we go to see Christian's ENT I am going to ask about this. We go back to the ENT in May. We were scheduled for this week, but since Christian still hasn't had his hernia surgery, I rescheduled his appointment to after the surgery. Since Caleb's appointment (an hour ago) I have been paying attention and the only time Christian closes his mouth is when he is sucking his thumb or eathing.

OH! Next week is going to be a busy week. Monday Christian has an orthopedic appointment in Iowa City. I am guessing that they will say everything is good. He is a little weaker on his right leg side but I am not sure if there is anything that can be done. Caleb will be traveling with us and miss school on Monday.
and then Christian's hernia repair surgery is NEXT WEDNESDAY the 21st at Mercy. Right now he is scheduled for outpatient at 9:00. We have to be there at 7:30am. We are praying that everything goes as planned with no complications. After anticipating this surgery for what seems like forever, it is almost here. Let's make it to the day this time. I am sure I will be a bundle of nerves on Wednesday.

that's all for now......

laundry, sick and appointments

This week has been a rather long week. Charlie has been very busy at work, working late hours and very stressed. Thus leaving me with the kids most nights which is normally fine and I am okay but this week I got sick. I got sick the day Charlie had to work late! What timing. Thankfully the kids behaved well we got through the day. I had the kids play downstairs after dinner so they wouldn't be contaminated by me and my stepmom brought them dinner because I couldn't have imagined trying to cook for them. I might have mustered up some PB&J but was afraid that I would vomit in the food.
Yesterday I was feeling a bit better and the house was an absolute disaster from the day before. Usually not doing laundry for a day is fine but when you don't do it for a couple days with 4 kids it gets a little out of control. My mom and aunt came over and did a load for me so at least Charlie has some clean clothes. I have to get on it today and get caught up or I will be forever behind.
So enough whining!!!! Yesterday I felt a little better but was still weak and not 100% but I did get the dr called to reschedule Christian's surgery. Finally! We connected instead of leaving messages. Christian's hernia repair surgery is scheduled for April 21st at Mercy. We see the pediatrician a week before for his 15 mo check up and do the history and physical the same day. We also have an ENT appointment and go to Iowa City for an ortho appointment all before the surgery. I pray that Christian will stay healthy so that the surgery can be a go this time.
The first few weeks of April will be busy. We have Easter, dr appointments for all of the kids at least once averaging 3 appointments per week for three weeks. Throw in going to St Paul for my cousin's baby shower (she's having twins and we are so excited for her) and we will be hoping! Oh, and my step sister is moving home from Aruba and she is 7 mo preggo too. That's a whole lot of babies that are going to be born this spring! very exciting!

that's all for now....

New Pictures

Maria reading a book to Christian.

The boys were playing with buckets before bedtime. It was very funny to watch them being silly.

Christian in his walker. He was trying to get through but I was standing in his way. :)

The older boys room. Caleb's bed on the left. Colton's on the right. We got new curtains and rearranged a bit. It was safe to take a picture.

Our new bed! We have been talking about getting a new bed for over five years. We finally did it! With the new bed, of course, I had to get new bedding and I got curtains too.

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....