Beautiful Fall Day!

We spent the morning out at the pumpkin patch and picking apples. It was such a glorious day- the weather couldn't have been more perfect. Pop-pop, Mom-mom and Andrew joined us as we all traveled to and from in what Andrew calls the "bus". Pop-pop treated us to lunch afterwards which was a wonderful treat! Now we are headed down to a carnival and concert at our church. Jeremy, Amanda, Tyler and Jordan have already headed out as they are making balloon animals at the carnival. So much to be thankful for today!

Never got the memo

I don't think God received the memo where I decided at a young age that I had no desire whatsoever to go into the medical field. My strengths are NOT science and math. I am in awe of medical technology, but really have no desire to completely understand how the heart works or how to place an NG tube.

So, I just found myself laughing in the cardiologists office today as he was telling me they were going to teach me how to take and keep track of Leo's pulse. Fortunately (for me), Leo is too chubby and the doctor had difficulty finding his pulse on his little chubby wrist and declared if he had trouble then I would not be able to do it accurately. I readily agreed thinking I was off the hook. No, instead of learning how to accurately take a pules, I learned how to work a heart monitor! Leo will be attached to the monitor for 24 hours. I just have to write down every time he changes activities in a log and when it shuts itself off in 24 hours I have to remember to fed ex it back to the doctor.

Why a heart monitor?- Leo has a high heart rate. We are trying to figure out if it is high all the time or just in the presence of doctors. I also learned that he has a slight hole in his heart that should have closed by now but hasn't. We will go back in a year to revisit the hole and if it has not closed we will talk surgery at that time. I now understand how the heart should work and how Leo's is working as I received a mini science lesson during our appointment. I almost asked if I could bring in a group of home school kids for this lesson but decided against it.

I have decided that by the time Leo is twenty I will have an honorary medical degree or at the very least enough knowledge to pass the test to get into medical school.

God is in Control

It is days like today that overwhelm me. I was at CHOP for Leo's eye appointment and a follow up with ENT. Both appointments have resulted in scheduled surgeries. As soon as I can get it scheduled, Leo will be having surgery to have his eye muscles tightened and while he is still anesthetized the ENT doc will perform a bronchoscopy. The bronchoscopy is to see what is going on with his airway and why he had trouble breathing after his last surgery. The irony here is that in order to do the bronchoscopy and eye surgery he will have to be put under. The upside is that if he does have any breathing difficulties after surgery, ENT will already be on the case. Both procedures are considered same day surgery, but it was suggested to me to pack an overnight bag “just in case”. We also have to monitor, Leo for sleep apnea as he has been snoring at night since his palate was repaired and according to the in-office exam done today he has really big tonsils and adenoids (of course he does) Maybe a sleep study in our future? I was hoping to come to some sort of conclusion about Leo's hearing today (one of the goals of this appointment), but he had fluid in his right ear (of course he did) and besides he can't sit and do the regular hearing test with beeps. So we willalso be scheduling him for an ABR (The auditory brainstem response). He will have to be sedated for this test.

Before I end my Leo update, I will backtrack to Monday, when we were also at CHOP. Leo had an upper GI, which showed everything was normal. YEAH! We also met with the general surgeon about g-tube surgery. He recommended that, since Leo has reflux, we see his partner in the GERD (Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease ) clinic before scheduling that surgery. So that deal is “on hold” at least till after the middle of October.

After our doctor's visits today, Leo and I went food shopping. We then hurried home for our 2 month post placement visit with our social worker. One of the questions she asked was “how are you doing?” That was a loaded question as today I was feeling overwhelmed. Who wouldn't after being to 2 doctor's appointments with both ending in needing surgery. We told her we have good days and bad days. Days when I just want to run away and hide. But there are other days when life is good. Fortunately the good days do out number the bad days.

As the month of October begins, please pray for our family. Please pray for Jeremy and myself. Please pray for our marriage and children. As of right now in October, Jonathan will be beginning casting for a new prosthetic leg waist (this will be at least 2-4 trips to Shriner's Hospital) and he also has a follow-up to a surgery he had a few months ago. Leo will be seeing a cardiologist, a GERD doctor and possibly having ear and exploratory surgery. Amanda, Tyler, and Jordan have a routine eye doctor appointment and I have an annual medical appointment scheduled. We also have just regular life of homeschooling, orchestra, soccer games, music lessons, and play dates … You get the picture. Life is full.

Thankfully God is in control.