Saturday, August 30, 2008

And the hits just keep on coming....

Good morning...
It's been a while so this is probably going to be a long one!!

We got back from Mike's MRI on Tuesday around 11:45. I think most of you know the reasoning behind having to do this... the speech delay/apraxia/neuro visit...if not, go through my older blogs and read the one entitled Mikey-Mike.
Anyway we had to be at the hospital at 8 so we dropped Katie off at the before care program at school at 7 and headed out. Around 8:45 they gave him the sedation meds and he took them pretty well. It took him about 20 minutes to fall asleep but when he was out he was out! We had to wait 15/20 minutes for the machine to become available and then they did the test that the ped. neuro ordered, the MRI without contrast, and it took about 15 minutes. Once the MRI was done the tech had the radiologist look at it and after 10 or 15 minutes the radiologist felt that he needed another look at things with the contrast liquid. Of course, that required a needle and I was not allowed to be in the room when they gave it to him. So, they gave him the needle in his foot and that woke him up. He was up crying for a few minutes but the nurse & tech were able to get him to go back to sleep. They did the 2nd MRI and then I was able to bring him into the other room and wake him up. He was really out of it and his body was like jell-o. When we got home I was (and still am) really hesitant to let him walk a lot on the cement tiles since he was walking like he was on a bad acid trip. By around 7:30 he was still walking like he had a beer buzz but he was much better than when we first got home!

So, on Thursday I realized that I hadn't ever gotten the results from that blood work that I had to bring him in for. You know, the one where they drew 7 (yes, SEVEN) vials of blood from Mike's arms. Around 4:30 or so the neurologist called and apparently the MRI came back abnormal. He couldn't really explain what it is since he was looking at the report and not the MRI itself. Apparently is a ventricular swelling/enlargement somewhere in the brain. He said it isn't a tumor or an infection or anything fatal but he couldn't really expand on it much more b/c he hadn't seen the actual MRI yet and he was just going by the radiologist's report.
He was going to make me wait until my appointment on October 30th to discuss the MRI results w/ me but thankfully my NY Mama Bear came out and demanded an earlier appt so I was able to get an appt in a couple of weeks. (September 18 to be exact) I think I persuaded him to make my appt earlier when I said, 'there is no way you can call me to tell me that my 2 year old's brain MRI came back abnormal and then make me wait 2 months to find out what is going on.'
So, that's it in a nutshell... I am going to be on pins & needles for 2 weeks but as long as it isn't a tumor or something horrible like that we can deal with it, right?
So, now we wait for results again on my little man...


And then this morning I got a message from my mom. Katie's nursery and pre-K teacher and my mom's friend, Mrs. R, passed away this morning. A year ago yesterday she was diagnosed with Stage 4 colon cancer that had already invaded her liver and lungs. It is so unfair that she was taken at such a young age. She was only in her 50's, she has 2 children and 2 grandchildren. Thankfully she was able to be at her daughter's side as she got married this past April. She was able to be here to see her first granddaughter and be here for a couple of short years of her life and she was able to see her second granddaughter who was born just 2 weeks ago. I truly believe she held on to see this new baby. I am so sorry though that she won't ever be able to see her any of her future grandchildren or be able to share in the joys of seeing her daughter pregnant for the first time. She was such an amazing woman, she was always so kind, she was a wonderful teacher and a fantastic woman. She will be greatly missed but never forgotten. Rest in Peace Mrs. R...

Friday, August 15, 2008

My new love in life...Target

I am in a Mom's group and the question was posed... What do you love about Target? Well, once I started writing I couldn't stop!! LOL I just wanted to share what is probably a sad love-story but here is what I wrote...

"I liked Target in NY but the closest one was about 1/2 hour away and not in the best of neighborhoods and I didn't get to the good ones too often. But, I have to tell you... when we moved down here I fell in LOVE!! :) I can't even tell you how long I can spend going through the Dollar section! I have gotten ice packs galore for lunchboxes & coolers, holiday kitchen tools for my decorating fetish (Yes, I decorate insanely for every holiday! LOL), about 4 or 5 Sesame Street board books, plastic toy animals for Mike, Disney Princess zip-top bags for Katie's lunchbox, great gift bags and blank cards, water and beach toys...yep, I could write about this for days!! LOL
My only problem with Target is the issue I have when I get in there. See, my best friend & I call Target the $100 store...more often than not, even if you go in for one thing, you find so much that you love you end up spending close to $100!! LOL
I have found some amazing deals at Target, I filled both kids' Easter baskets from there, I got the teacher's end of the year gifts from there for a great price, I got Katie's lunch supplies on sale a few months ago. But, my favorite reason that I absolutely love shopping is their kids clothes clearance sales! Kids grow out of clothes so fast that I hate spending a crazy amount of money on play clothes for them just to wear them for a little while, mess them up and grow out of them! The Target clothes are great, they wash really well and they aren't expensive!
Well, I could go on and on and on about my love for Target but I won't bore you any more!! LOL"

See, it is quite a strange love! I knew I liked Target but I didn't realize just how much I really LOVED Target until I started writing this!! LOL Well, looks like another $100 trip to Target is in my very near future... lol

Love, hugs & kisses,
~~Chrissie

Friday, August 1, 2008

Mikey-Mike's Neuro appt & blood work...

The eval yesterday was ok. The neuro really can't diagnose speech apraxia without ruling out medical issues first so he ordered blood work and we have to go for an MRI. I am not really thrilled about the MRI... it is scheduled for Aug. 26th and he has to be sedated for it. :( I really liked the Dr, he was very informative and really listened to what I told him about Mike. He asked all sorts of questions and really made Mike comfortable with him so that was a HUGE plus!! With Mike's 12 ear infections and 2 surgeries he REALLY hates doctors!! LOL We have to go back on October 30 to see how he is progressing and to re-eval him then. If anything shows up on the tests we will obviously have to go back before then though.

So, today's mess... We went to get the blood work done. It was a fasting blood work order so of course I wanted to go as early as I could. Both kids got up around 10 after 8. Katie put on new PJ's and underwear (it is pajama day at camp) and got Mike dressed. We all got ready and headed out. Of course I forgot the blood work orders so I had to turn around and get them. I finally dropped Katie off at camp and took Mike to the lab. We got there and he was yelling 'I eat! I eat' 'Sticks' 'O's'... the poor kid was so hungry!! I was able to get him water though so that was good. We had to wait about 15/20 minutes for them to get the paperwork and everything done and to look up the tests that the Dr was ordering. When they finally handed me the paperwork to give to the phlebotomist I almost fell on the floor!! SEVEN, yes 7, vials of blood needed to be drawn!! I asked her if I did the math right... 3 lavender tops,2 red tops,1 green, & 1 green frozen... and yep I did!! I said but he's only 2 and only 28 lbs!! That can't be right!! Well, it was! It was HORRIBLE!! :( He was hysterical, Mama No, All done, ByeBye car, No No No... and then in the middle of the 4th vial he got his arm moved just enough to knock the needle out of the vein and they had to stick him in the other arm. By the time we were done his head was soaked from sweat, he was bright red from crying and he was a mess. I came home and needed to change my shirt from his head being on me!!

Of course, he is fine now. I'm not but he is fine!! LOL I keep convincing myself that the argument, It's 12 o'clock somewhere isn't a good enough argument to allow me to pop open a bottle of wine right now!! LOL I am telling you, God knew what He/She was doing when I got healthy kids... I don't think I could do this on a regular basis!! I am off to play with my little guy now....

Love, hugs & kisses,
~~Chrissie