Medical Update

Yesterday we had some follow ups for Daniel's ongoing medical condition. The news is pretty much status quo. Perfect right kidney, swollen left kidney, and over-sized bladder. I'm coming to the realization that that is what they expect to see and that is about as good as it will get. Since his left kidney can never actually take a few days, weeks or months off to heal, like a sick person could, it won't actually have the chance to heal completely.

Personally I thought it looked a tad better than before and the doctor agreed that it might be a smidge better. As for Daniel's bladder, basically we're in the "he just needs to grow" stage. Daniel needs to grow bigger and older and have an understanding of a bladder and the fact that he just can't speed pee to get back to his toys.

I can hear the choruses of "Good luck with that one" now!! Believe me, I know!!

They have one more large sedated test to do, which they have mentioned several times. The doctor finally agreed that we should schedule it in the New Year or early spring "for completeness" in his words. If they don't find anything unusual, which they don't expect to, then we might actually be DONE, as in released from the urologist!!

Are we done with the issue entirely? No way.

We will have to be diligent in continuing to potty train and getting Daniel to understand his issues. He still leaks in between potty breaks (unless highly motivated) and we are trying to curtail that without so much bribery now. We will have to watch him for urinary tract infections and teach him to recognize the signs as he begins to want privacy from us (which we see starting already). Daniel will have to have regular blood pressure check ups and we'll have to monitor his kidney on some level, maybe once a year.

Thanks for all the prayers and support!! I'll update about the next test when we get dates.

Busy Two Weeks

I would like to ask for prayers for our family as we embark on a very, very busy two weeks. First of all, next week is Daniel's medical appointment. While it is just a follow up and what I call an "easy appointment" being an ultrasound and visit with the doctor, it is still stressful as it changes my work schedule, Daniel's school schedule and I still worry every time we go.

This weekend is very busy because my best friend and her husband are coming for the weekend for her high school reunion and at the same time I have a thousand things to do Friday for my little sister's wedding next week. Saturday she'll be with me most of the day as we do a mini bachelorette party at my house (just hanging out).

Then the following weekend is the BIG DAY! On the 16th, my little sister will marry the man of her dreams and Brett will become part of our family. We're ALL in the wedding. I'm a bridesmaid, Daniel the ring bearer, and Troy gets to give her away! My dad will be sorely missed on this occasion. This has been a tough month for all of us as we just passed his birthday about a week ago, and this month he will have been gone 3 years.

However, Troy is prepared to give Brett the same speech my father gave him. It goes something like this:

"All sales are final. No returns or exchanges allowed."

That was so my dad!!

That weekend proves to be crazy busy. I have several out of town guests at the house. Friday is rehearsal, decorating the church, etc. and Saturday the big day. I'm leaving Daniel entrusted to the care of my best friend and his grandparents to get him ready and to the church on time so I can spend some time with my little and big sisters before the wedding.

Thank you for your prayers.

Road Trip!

This past weekend Daniel and I took a road trip to Pennsylvania and visited my college room mate from more years ago than I like to mention. You might remember her from one of our baby showers, but we had not had the opportunity to visit together since.

Since she lives so close to Herhsey Park and was able to score free tickets for everyone, including her 3 children and a free parking pass we made a day of it on Saturday!

Daniel had such a wonderful time. We had never taken him anywhere like this before so I wasn’t 100% sure how he would do on the rides.

The verdict: 50/50

He seemed to enjoy the rides that went in circles, but the up down rides he didn’t care for - in particular the pirate ship and the Frog Hopper – which he actually started crying on and they had to stop the ride. However in his defense, on the Frog Hopper, the kids were screaming and Daniel plays into that and he got very upset once the screaming began. I’ve noticed that behavior before with him. If there had been no screaming, I think he would have been fine!

He loved the Chocolate World ride and he must have told me a hundred times that he wanted to swim in the vats of chocolate! Can you blame him?!?!

Once the kids settled into bed, Sarah and I did what we used to do in college at night – we played cards!!! Rummy in particular! She beat me – but only by 5 points in the first game!!

We had a great visit and were sad to leave, but we’ll be heading back up there again soon we hope!

So without further ado…

New Fears

Daniel has been fearless as long as I can remember, but as of late he seems to be recognizing that he is not indestructible and some new fears have been coming to the surface.

First off, suddenly he is terrified of the bath tub filling up too high. It can be an inch deep now and he suddenly stands up and cries for me to turn the water off. This is the same boy who LOVES to be tossed into a pool at rates of speed and turning radiuses that make my head spin. I've explained that the water can only go so high (if we let it, which we don't) before it would spill out anyway and that he is bigger than the tub, but he's not having any of it. If I distract him enough, and sit right at the edge, he'll let me fill it so there is at least more than an inch of water. However, last night I gave up and re-introduced him to the fun of showering. He seemed much happier…this from a child who HATED a shower just a month ago.

Second, we went to the park this past Monday and I was pushing him on a swing. I gave him the usual treatment, meaning I pushed him higher and higher and all the sudden it was mayhem. "I did not ask you to push me that high." "Stop pushing me Momma." "Too high." Those were some of the high pitched sentences I could understand coming out of his mouth. He did want to stay on the swing, but only be pushed to a moderate-slow level.

Third, I took Daniel to a Karate lesson. It was a private lesson I won through a competition at our local mall. I thought it would be a neat thing to try and since it was a one-on-one lesson, I just knew we couldn't go wrong. We walked in and some black belts were practicing and making all the appropriate karate noises. Daniel was fascinated, but he clung to me like glue and hid behind me while I filled out the paperwork. This from the child who wrestles non-stop with his daddy. We went to a private room with a male instructor who was great. He was loud, authoritative, knew his stuff and he was fun. I liked him right away. Daniel, on the other hand, was shy, kept looking at me, couldn't focus on the instructor long enough because he had to check to make sure I hadn't disappeared on him (as in every 5-10 seconds) and just stood there like we were all crazy. Needless to say, we'll be foregoing karate this year and may try to reintroduce it next year, if he's interested.

It's an interesting mix of new fears and I'm guessing it's just a stage which will pass!

A Giveaway - But Hurry!

On My Other Blog I'm giving away a $5.00 CVS gift card to one lucky reader! Hop on over and leave me a comment and you just might win! But hurry - the Giveaway ends tomorrow night and I'll be announcing the winner on Friday on the blog! Good luck!

Vacation and Meet Up with Friends – 2010

Our much needed vacation came and went quickly and started off with a BANG – literally.

We drove 7 hours to Crossville, TN to stay at Mariner’s Pointe Resort on Lake Holiday.  Once we arrived, we launched our boat, took our belongings in to our condo and then headed straight to Wal-Mart to buy our out of state fishing licenses.  On the way back to the condo we were rear-ended by a young driver.  Fortunately, no damage was done to our truck, since he landed on our hitch and the fellow only scuffed his vehicle up a little, so Troy shook hands with him and we left.

The rest of the week went much better!  We spent it fishing and swimming, fishing and swimming!

Saturday several families were able to drive out and meet up including Carey and Norman and their 3 children (private blog), Jenny and Randy and their two boys (private blog), Becky and Andrew, and Karen and Ilya.  We hung out at the resort pool, had lunch in the condo together, played mini-golf and then went out for pizza afterwards.  Eight children, 6 of which were Russian born, and we had no major incidents.  In fact, all the children were fantastically well behaved!

The following Monday we were able to spend more time with Jenny’s family at the zoo in Nashville, followed by a visit to my grandmother.

At my grandmother’s place we were able to meet a lady who works there in the office named Asya (Ah-sha).  She was born and raised in Russia and then lived in the Ukraine before coming to America.  She wanted so badly to meet us and Daniel.  Unfortunately, Daniel was sound asleep after the zoo visit, but we got to enjoy talking with her for quite a while.  Daniel finally woke up but was not the least bit interested in talking to her.  She understood and she just hugged and hugged Troy and I and kissed me and kept saying “thank you” over and over again.  I tried arguing with her, telling her we were the ones who were lucky and we were the ones who were thankful, but she wouldn’t have any of it.  Finally Troy and I just said “your welcome”.  She was a really interesting lady and I appreciated her tact with Daniel and the fact that she never tried to speak Russian to him or force anything on him.  We did say “pa-ka” to her when she left, which she loved!  I hope we meet her again.

Wednesday evening we were also able to spend more time with Carey’s family at the resort eating pizza and swimming.  We had a great time! 

Daniel woke up every morning asking “Where are my friends?”

It really made our vacation to see so many of our friends!!

Other events we enjoyed were a tour around the lake on the “big boat” as Daniel called it (the resort’s pontoon boat), an ice cream social with other vacationers, a fishing competition (which Troy got 2nd place in and a $10.00 gift certificate to a local bait store – he had a nice large mouth bass, but got beat out by a catfish!), a visit to an 8,000 square foot tree house (which we climbed ten stories up to the bell tower), a few shopping trips, and some air hockey!

We really had a great time.  I can’t believe it’s over and we’ll be headed back to work this week.

Enjoy some photos from our week!  The first set of photos is what I like to call the call the “good, obligatory photos” – and the second set are what I call our “reality photos” – You’ll see why!   

           

And here is the reality!

Tongue Out!

Not one, not one is looking at the camera! 

Apparently Pumba was hungry 

The buoy was more fun than fishing. 

Anything was more fun than fishing. 

At least he caught a fish that time.  He reminded me when I told him both he and daddy caught fish, that “you (meaning me) only caught seaweed!”

No need to say anything!  

4 Year Old Well Check-Up Results

Friday we (finally) had Daniel’s 4 year old check up.  I called two months before his 4th birthday and they still couldn’t get us in until just this past Friday, nearly two months after he turned 4!

Anyway…

I was surprised and pleased by how in depth they were – to spare you the reading, I’ll just summarize.

Height & Weight:  41 inches and 38 1/4 pounds.  He fluctuates between 38 and 40 pounds.  Just can’t quite get him over the 40 pound mark, but that’s okay because…

On the Charts:  Daniel is in the 50th percentile for weight and in the doctors words “a smidge over 75th percentile for height”!  She was excited by his height growth!

Blood Pressure:  Normal

Hemoglobin and Lead Reading: (Didn’t know they planned to prick his finger.  Good thing Troy was able to go, because I hate that!  I digress…Normal

Urine Sample:  Normal (Yay – due to his ongoing medical condition)

Hearing Screening:  Perfect – We have now confirmed he truly does have selective hearing.

Eye Sight Screening:  The doctor suggested possibly having a true exam done sometime in the next six months as he was reading at 20/40.  HOWEVER, 2 of the shapes on the 40/40 level I don’t think he even knew, because I sure didn’t until I was 2 feet in front of the chart (Note to self: Maybe I need an eye exam?)  The doctor did assure us, it was a screening, and sometimes they don’t get a true reading until they are a bit older.

Questions we asked:

Daniel is still using both hands to write/eat/etc.:  Doctor said this was still okay even though by Daniel’s age most children have “declared” themselves as to which hand they want to use.  We believe almost 100% Daniel is truly a lefty, however the doctor mentioned the possibility of him being ambidextrous because he did use both hands to draw for her and did well with both hands.  My grandmother is am/…another sign God chose him for our family!

Daniel suffers from nosebleeds.  Sometimes rare, sometime 3 in a week.:  It’s okay, more common with little boys than girls and not unusual.  She checked his nose out and the right side does have close capillaries.  Saline spray was recommended when he has trouble.

He has a small mole on his arm.  Is it okay?:  Looks perfectly normal.  (I think she thought we were being a little picky at that point because, well, it’s tiny, but I’m a paranoid parent!)

The ending:  TWO updated vaccinations.  I didn’t realize it but anything after the age of 4 counts towards Kindergarten shots.  Since we plan to start Daniel next fall, the shots would count.  However (because once again I’m paranoid and picky), I only allow Daniel to be given two shots at a time in one visit.  I refuse to do all 4 or 5 in one sitting.  So after being questioned by the doctor why they can’t do all of them, we decided on a mix of two we had done together before.  DPT booster and Polio booster. 

This time they did them in Daniel’s arms and when the stuck him he said very loudly…

“Mommy, I did not ask them to do that”.

Everyone laughed.

Daniel ran a small fever last night, and his arm (tetanus side) swelled up and turned pretty red all over.  He woke me up 3 times during the night (even with Tylenol).  Poor thing.  The first time he woke me up he came in the room crying a bit and said “Mommy, someone broke my arm”.  Talk about a mild heart attack.  I had one!

We called the doctor and they assured us this was okay, but we may have them look at it tomorrow if it’s not better.  Apparently the 4th or 5th booster (this was his 5th) causes this type of reaction more often.  Since this was the first one in the arm, we had not seen this reaction before. 

So far tonight he is sleeping soundly. 

All in all, a good check up!