Thursday, August 11, 2011
No News=Good News?
Yesterday Matthew had his echo cardiogram, but we still haven't heard from the cardiologist. Though we haven't heard the official results, the tech did say that if there was something of concern, she wouldn't have let us leave. And since we left, I guess no news is good news right now. As well, yesterday was a pretty good day for Matthew, only sleeping 16 hours instead of the 18 he has been sleeping lately. And he took twice as much liquid as he has been. We know one day doesn't mean all is well, but hopeful it is the beginning of a good stretch.
Tuesday, August 9, 2011
No Big News Today
We were hoping to either put our minds at ease today or have some answers about what is going on with Matthew. Unfortunately, our cardiology appointment didn't really do either. The echo cardiogram technician was out, so we didn't get the echo that I'm hopeful will put our minds at ease. We did meet with the cardiologist and though he doesn't believe that Matthew's symptoms are heart related (though Matthew has fooled people in the past---remember the cardiologist trying to say that his very large, very dangerous PDA was just allergies or asthma?), the cardiologist does believe that there is something going on with Matthew that needs further investigation.
The echo is the key to determine if it is cardiac related. Thankfully we were pushed into the schedule and it is tomorrow morning first thing. If the echo shows all is well, the cardiologist has referred us to a neurologist. (A specialist we haven't seen yet!) There is a 4 month wait at TCH for neurology, so we received a recommendation for a private neurologist from our pediatrician. Matthew has an appointment there in a month. I'm hopeful that these symptoms will subside in that time, but as our pediatrician mentioned today, it might not be such a bad idea to have a neurological evaluation of Matthew anyway.
Also today Matthew had an appointment with an allergist. Matthew has had bumps on his legs and sometimes arms for months and we thought we'd at least get it checked. Matthew was tested for a host of things, and he wasn't allergic to any of them. That was a relief! He just has a common skin condition that should be treated with a lotion. Although these bumps don't seem to bother him, we do hope they will clear up so his skin will feel like baby skin instead of sandpaper.
Hopefully tomorrow we'll confirm that Matthew's heart is healthy and we'll start down the list of other things it could be. And we'll continue to pray that it is really nothing but a random group of events and they all resolve on their own. We hope and pray.
The echo is the key to determine if it is cardiac related. Thankfully we were pushed into the schedule and it is tomorrow morning first thing. If the echo shows all is well, the cardiologist has referred us to a neurologist. (A specialist we haven't seen yet!) There is a 4 month wait at TCH for neurology, so we received a recommendation for a private neurologist from our pediatrician. Matthew has an appointment there in a month. I'm hopeful that these symptoms will subside in that time, but as our pediatrician mentioned today, it might not be such a bad idea to have a neurological evaluation of Matthew anyway.
Also today Matthew had an appointment with an allergist. Matthew has had bumps on his legs and sometimes arms for months and we thought we'd at least get it checked. Matthew was tested for a host of things, and he wasn't allergic to any of them. That was a relief! He just has a common skin condition that should be treated with a lotion. Although these bumps don't seem to bother him, we do hope they will clear up so his skin will feel like baby skin instead of sandpaper.
Hopefully tomorrow we'll confirm that Matthew's heart is healthy and we'll start down the list of other things it could be. And we'll continue to pray that it is really nothing but a random group of events and they all resolve on their own. We hope and pray.
Sunday, August 7, 2011
Happy Friendship Day
Happy Friendship Day!
I can't imagine how much more difficult life would be without our friends. They have shown us tremendous amounts of love, compassion, support, and wisdom during our most trying times and have celebrated, smiled, and been joyous with us during our best times. Yet again, mere words cannot convey the amount of thanks we owe to our friends...but thank you!
I can't imagine how much more difficult life would be without our friends. They have shown us tremendous amounts of love, compassion, support, and wisdom during our most trying times and have celebrated, smiled, and been joyous with us during our best times. Yet again, mere words cannot convey the amount of thanks we owe to our friends...but thank you!
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| "Walking with a friend in the dark is better than walking alone in the light." - Helen Keller |
Saturday, August 6, 2011
Days Are Long
Yesterday was the kind of day that reminded me that with kids the days are long but the years are short.
We made our first dry run bicycle ride up to the elementary school. We made it up there and back in respectable time. While I watched Alyssa and Jackson swing on the swings and tell jokes to each other, I was amazed that my little babies had turned into these big kids. The years are short!
Then to make sure I didn't get too nostalgic, both Alyssa and Jackson had complete meltdowns right after lunch. The crying, wailing, 'mommy is mean' kind of meltdown...both of them at the same time. The days are long!
To finish off our day, we went over to a street festival in a neighboring town. It was a grand time. Matthew was distracted enough to take some milk (yipee!). Alyssa had a ball sliding on the big bouncy slides. Jackson got his face painted like Spiderman (though at the end of the evening he was saying it was Darth Maul). Lots of small town fun! And a very nice end to the day!
We made our first dry run bicycle ride up to the elementary school. We made it up there and back in respectable time. While I watched Alyssa and Jackson swing on the swings and tell jokes to each other, I was amazed that my little babies had turned into these big kids. The years are short!
Then to make sure I didn't get too nostalgic, both Alyssa and Jackson had complete meltdowns right after lunch. The crying, wailing, 'mommy is mean' kind of meltdown...both of them at the same time. The days are long!
To finish off our day, we went over to a street festival in a neighboring town. It was a grand time. Matthew was distracted enough to take some milk (yipee!). Alyssa had a ball sliding on the big bouncy slides. Jackson got his face painted like Spiderman (though at the end of the evening he was saying it was Darth Maul). Lots of small town fun! And a very nice end to the day!
Friday, August 5, 2011
Lovin' the Outfit
This is what happens when I let Alyssa pick out her socks and shoes. Yes, the socks do match and the church shoes bring a touch of class to the outfit. I love this girl (and the boy too)!
Thursday, August 4, 2011
Vacillating
I vacillate between worrying about Matthew and thinking that it is all in my head.
Making me think that something is amiss with Matthew-- The excessive sleeping, increased hemoglobin, decreased oxygen saturation rates, the sweating when no one else is, and now Matthew has decided he won't take liquids. A few weeks ago, he was taking 16-20 oz of milk/formula (in addition to baby food). Now we are lucky to get 3-6 oz of liquid in him a day. We've tried various methods (bottle, sippy cup, cup), various liquids (milk, formula, water, sports drink), and various locales (while he's in his chair, in the car, on his changing pad, in our arms, etc). Nothing seems to help and we cannot get him to take anymore, no matter what. Again, Matthew is making sure we know that you can lead a baby to the liquid, but you can't make him drink. We learned this lesson the hard way a year ago, I'd prefer not to be reminded.
All of these things...are they symptoms of 1 issue, or a symptom of several issues, or is it nothing?
Making me think that these are all random events and Matthew is just fine--
Making me think that something is amiss with Matthew-- The excessive sleeping, increased hemoglobin, decreased oxygen saturation rates, the sweating when no one else is, and now Matthew has decided he won't take liquids. A few weeks ago, he was taking 16-20 oz of milk/formula (in addition to baby food). Now we are lucky to get 3-6 oz of liquid in him a day. We've tried various methods (bottle, sippy cup, cup), various liquids (milk, formula, water, sports drink), and various locales (while he's in his chair, in the car, on his changing pad, in our arms, etc). Nothing seems to help and we cannot get him to take anymore, no matter what. Again, Matthew is making sure we know that you can lead a baby to the liquid, but you can't make him drink. We learned this lesson the hard way a year ago, I'd prefer not to be reminded.
All of these things...are they symptoms of 1 issue, or a symptom of several issues, or is it nothing?
Making me think that these are all random events and Matthew is just fine--
Tuesday, August 2, 2011
Happy August
Not much new news from the Hoy House.
We haven't heard back from the cardiology assistant in regards to moving up Matthew's cardiology appointment. I haven't been pressing because with his good heart xray, I just don't feel like he is in danger. I do feel like we need to be prudent and get his heart checked because something is going on (with the sleeping, the increased hemoglobin, the sweating, etc) but a week from today seems reasonable. Of course, that may change in a moment and we'll do whatever we need to do.
Besides 2 therapy appointments for Matthew this week, Jackson has an ENT appointment to talk about removing his tonsils. I'm hopeful we can get that procedure scheduled before school starts. I know the ENT has OR time on Fridays, maybe it will even be this Friday.
We took the older kids out of preschool for the month of August. So, all 3 are home for the next 3 weeks. At first, I was hoping to take them on a road adventure to visit our friends up north, but with Matthew's upcoming appointments and current issues, we are just hanging around the homestead. And with Matthew's increased need for sleep and the very warm weather, we are having to hang out in the house more than I would like. Hopefully we can carve out some time at the pool, the library, and have a few other adventures in our time together before school starts!
We haven't heard back from the cardiology assistant in regards to moving up Matthew's cardiology appointment. I haven't been pressing because with his good heart xray, I just don't feel like he is in danger. I do feel like we need to be prudent and get his heart checked because something is going on (with the sleeping, the increased hemoglobin, the sweating, etc) but a week from today seems reasonable. Of course, that may change in a moment and we'll do whatever we need to do.
Besides 2 therapy appointments for Matthew this week, Jackson has an ENT appointment to talk about removing his tonsils. I'm hopeful we can get that procedure scheduled before school starts. I know the ENT has OR time on Fridays, maybe it will even be this Friday.
We took the older kids out of preschool for the month of August. So, all 3 are home for the next 3 weeks. At first, I was hoping to take them on a road adventure to visit our friends up north, but with Matthew's upcoming appointments and current issues, we are just hanging around the homestead. And with Matthew's increased need for sleep and the very warm weather, we are having to hang out in the house more than I would like. Hopefully we can carve out some time at the pool, the library, and have a few other adventures in our time together before school starts!
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