Sick Day for my #1

When Zane was little (started around 6 mos old), he'd get really bad wheezing when he developed a cold.  We spent many days/nights in urgent care and at the doctor trying to get it under control.  He was on multiple inhalers and finally we got our own nebulizer for home - which helped greatly in cutting down our visits to urgent care.  He ended up being diagnosed with "cold-induced" asthma. He would be fine all year until he developed a cold and then it was game on for the asthma.  It sucked.  I was told by his pediatrician that he'd outgrow it by the time he was probably 5.  And I'm happy to say that for the most part he has!  It is VERY rare that he needs his inhalers or nebulizer now and that's great...but because of that...I am not good at keeping up on the rx's for them - oops!

He spent yesterday and today home sick with a pretty bad cold.  This morning he woke up crying and saying he couldn't breathe while he was coughing his brains out.  I knew he could breathe since he was talking, but the doctor described it to me one time as it feels like an elephant is sitting on his chest when that sort of attack happens.  Yuck.  Zane also has a tendency to develop pneumonia very quickly - so once I realized all of his inhalers and the albeuterol for the nebulizer were way past-due, I decided to take him in to get checked out - mainly to make sure there was no pneumonia starting.

Thankfully no pneumonia - but the doctor did say he was very impressed with his wheezing, ha.  He added another medication to the albeuterol in the nebulizer and Zane was not a fan - apparently it tasted horrible.  But he soldiered through.

O2 was down to 90 - that is technically hospital bound numbers...but thankfully
the nebulizer was able to bring it up enough, but not too 100.

LOVE that I get to work from home now when I need to if the kids are sick or whatever!

Gotta get this kid well for his birthday!!

The After {parade} Party

***Warning - graphic photos in this post ***

After the cutest parade in town was over - we were headed back to the car to head home because we had other things to do that day.  Apparently the other things we had to do that day were not so important - not as important as spending some quality time at the hospital and oral surgeon's office.

At the jamboree there was a vendor booth set up where kids could "pitch" into a pitching net (which is maybe a foot wider than me and maybe 6 inches taller than me) - there was someone behind the net with a radar app on his phone telling the kids how fast they were pitching.  Before the parade Zane even through the ball a couple times - granted, he doesn't throw hard yet, but he even over threw the net a couple times. As the three of us were walking away from it, I said to him "that isn't very safe" - because right behind the net was a concrete pathway to the bathrooms and to the parking log - you know, where many people would be walking all day??  Ugh.

After the parade, we were headed to the car on the dreaded pathway.  Out of nowhere a baseball comes flying towards my head.  I never saw it coming, but I do remember it hitting me (I don't remember, but am told that I was then thrown into the brick wall that was next to me and face planted it) - the next thing I remember is I had my hand over my mouth and could taste blood.  I pulled my hand away and there was a ton of blood.  I started yelling that I was hurt.  I yelled at Zane to call daddy, he instantly started to cry (I am sure I looked like I had just been murdered with how much blood there was). One of the dad's on Landon's team came running over - he saw the whole thing.  He grabbed my phone and called Josh (who was working in Seattle).  Another guy grabbed a medic kit while another one called 911.  It was insane.  Two mom's grabbed the boys and started walking them around calming Zane down - Landon thought it was pretty cool; little punk!  We are in a "small" town now and there was a big fire somewhere and all of the fire department were out on that call, so the ambulance was taking a long time and so was Josh since he was coming from Seattle.  My injuries were not 911 worthy, but I couldn't drive myself either.  One of the guys who came to my rescue asked if he could drive my to the hospital and I said it was fine.  He then called Josh to let him know and Josh met us there.

The only nice thing about a head injury is that you get some pretty quick service at the ER!  I was instantly taken into a room and had a CT scan within 10 minutes.  My hands were covered in blood, my face was covered, my hair was matted with it - I really think I probably looked like a zombie from a horror film.  After a short-while the doctor came in and said the good news was that my head was fine...but the bad news was that I fractured my upper jaw and knocked two teeth back (not out completely thankfully).  He consulted with an oral surgeon who said I needed to head to her office immediately.

The boys had been so good at the hospital, but they hadn't eaten lunch and we had no idea what all would be done at the oral surgeon's office or how long we'd be.  I called a coworker who has watched the kids before and thankfully she had no problem coming over to watch them.  She grabbed McDonald's for them on her way - God-sent!

Off to the oral surgeon's office we went...all the way down in the U-District!  She had already reviewed my CT scan and already had a plan of attack and all of the instruments set up before we got there - pretty great service.  And she was AWESOME!  She took a couple more X-rays, then numbed me up and popped my two teeth back into place.  Yes, it is as gross as it sounds like - it was not fun. The worst part was the numbing of the roof of my mouth; my pallet.  AHHHHHH.  I about jumped out of the chair.  She then put on a sweet set of braces (5 or 6 of them) to act as a splint for my teeth and then she stitched up the gnarly hole in my lip (my lip is what hurt the worst out of everything if you can believe it).

The first couple days the swelling was horrific - I could hardly move my mouth to talk, eat or drink...three of my favorite past times!  The pain was never really unbearable, but I think I have a really high pain tolerance...so who knows, maybe I'm just a tough chick.

This past Friday I headed back to the oral surgeon's office for a follow-up and learned that I will need 2 root canals on the two teeth that were knocked out and the braces will stay on for 4-6 weeks.  My teeth are hurting me a lot more now than before...I cannot bite anything while chewing or accidentally touch my top teeth to my lower when talking or it really hurts.  They are still not 100% secure, still lose and that trips me out.  The surgeon said that is normal and will take 4-6 weeks to fully heal and get more secure.

The swelling is almost gone, but the numbing in my lip is still there and may be forever - they don't know.  We won't know for awhile as it can take a year for the feeling to come back.  I will be glad when the root canals are over and I can just start to heal.

You may be wondering who's going to pay for all of this??  I know that was one of the first thoughts on my mind because I know how crappy dental insurance is and I knew this was going to probably cost a small fortune when all said and done.  The league has taken full responsibility for it so far - they have opened a claim with their insurance and now we are waiting on their approval which of course they are taking forever on.  They are getting statements from witnesses (which thankfully there were plenty of people who were willing to give their accounts) and going through the motions with the insurance company.  If by some odd chance they deny the claim, we will be seeking an attorney to help us through the process, but I'm hoping we don't need to go that route. Had I been sitting at a baseball game behind the fence and a pop fly ball came over and hit me then I'd have to chalk that up to bad timing and shit happens - but this was 100% preventable and they are damn lucky it was me and not one of my kids (or any kid for that matter).  I think that it'll all work out in the end, but I'm a little on edge until I know for sure!

To be continued I'm sure...

Four-Year Well-Child

Landon had his 4-year well-child visit on Friday and guess what...he's well :)  Actually, he had a pretty nasty cold going on - but far as where he should be for his age, he's right on track!  Because of his cold, I chose to only do 2 of the 3 shots...saving the "live vaccine" for when he's completely well. He tends to get fevers and feel crappy after his immunizations, so really didn't want to add insult to injury anymore than I needed too.  Thankfully our doctor was in agreement and so we'll go back in a couple weeks for he last one...then do I dare say it...he'll be all caught up for Kindergarten....ahhhhhh!

Love the undies sticking out of the gown - so stinkin' cute!

Snuggles after his shots.

Landon's 4 Year Stats:
3'4" tall - 64% percentile
37.6lbs - 43% percentile

His doctor put his stats and Josh and I's height into some formula and determined that Landon will be around 6'1-6'2 as an adult.  I wonder what the heck Zane will be then, because he's always been in a higher percentile for height.  I'll have to have him figure it out next time.  Yes, I know this isn't a guarantee, but fun to have an idea!   Sure glad I married tall - my boys wouldn't have a prayer if it were based off my height alone!

For funsy's...here were Zane's stats at 4 in comparison:
40 lbs (81% percentile) and 3'5 tall (79% percentile)

X-Ray

The day we were driving back from Great Wolf Lodge we decided to make a pit stop and check out the new Bass Pro Shop in Tacoma.  It's all fun and games until someone gets hurt!  We were back looking at the big ol' fishing boats when Landon climbed up on one.  We knew he was on the boat and we were fine with it because we were checking out the boat ourselves (for fun, not for real)! What we didn't know (because we are such attentive parents!) is that Landon was climbing up onto one of the fishing seats on the bow of the boat - these seats are up probably 2 feet off the boat bow and at least 6 feet off the ground.  He fell off.  Splat.  It is a sound I will never forget - body meets concrete.  It was terrible.  He obviously started screaming (which was actually a good sign to me) - I raced over and scooped him up.  Employees from around the store came running over because it was heard all over the store.  They were wanting to call 911 - we said no.  Once it was determined that he hadn't hit his head, we did not feel 911 needed to be called.  I was able to calm him down and then we were on a mission to figure out where he was hurt.  I set him down to walk to me and his right leg just buckled, so I picked him back up.  When we asked him where it hurt, he would either point to his bottom, hip or leg depending on the time you asked him.  I carried him throughout the store and periodically tried to get him to walk to me, but the same thing would happen.  We decided to go home and wait it out a little bit before determining our next steps.  He was given some Tylenol and rested - he was then able to walk on his leg with a little bit of a limp - good, we knew it wasn't broken now!  The next morning he was walking almost completely normal - phew!  School let us know that he never mentioned his leg hurting, seemed fine aside from a little decrease of energy/activity.  This was how he stayed for the next couple weeks.  He rarely complained of it hurting anymore, was running and walking on it.  Then last Wednesday we were out for a walk (all 4 of us) when Josh and I were behind Landon running and realized he wasn't running right - he had a little gallop to his run and you could see he was favoring the left leg.  When he walked up stairs, he was now leading with his left leg instead of his right (he's right footed).  We decided it was time to see the doctor now.

Thursday afternoon, we took him to the doctor.  The doctor did all sorts of mobility tests on him and although Landon still never complained of anything hurting (this kid has an INSANE high pain tolerance) the doctor did determine his range of motion with his right hip was significantly less than his left hip.  Up for X-rays we went...

X-rays came back clear of any fracture - phew!  We (including the doctor) weren't too concerned of a fracture because of how much weight he was able to put on his leg and because of how active he's been - but better safe than sorry.  It is most likely a sprain or a strain, but the decrease in range of motion is still concerning.  We are supposed to watch it for another 1-2 weeks and he's still having the same issues, he'll be referred out to Ortho for them to check him out further and determine if he needs any physical therapy.  So now we wait...but in the mean time, he's happy, active and not letting it stop him from anything.  Tough guy!

Children's 3 Mos Follow Up

Zane had his regular 3 mos follow up at Children's a few weeks ago - I have a love hate relationship with these appointments.  As much as I know I'm not supposed too...I consider these appointments my quarterly report card on how I/we are doing in taking care of Zane and this silly disease.  I absolutely love his doctor and Zane doesn't mind going to the appointments at all - so really it's a positive experience.

Every appointment we are given what his latest a1c is and this is what I dread most about the appointment.  This last one was 8.0% - I can't remember the one before, but it was somewhere in the 7%'s.  The goal is 7.5% or below - we fluctuate on and/or around that number all the time.  We aren't doing bad, but there is room for improvement.  Zane is healthy, he feels good and he is growing like crazy and really in the end, that is all that matters.

I have a hard time believing that we've been at this for almost 4 years now - wow!  This disease really is 24/7 - it never stops.  Thank God I have an awesome mother-in-law who is very well equipped to handle Zane's D care when I/we need a break or just when they want the boys for a weekend!  We are so lucky.  We have also met some amazing people because of his diagnosis, so I'm a firm believer that everything happens for a reason and that there are silver linings to most dark clouds!

Sure is hard work waiting around for your name to be called to go back and see the doctor!  I love Children's!

Bye Patch {for now}

Zane had his 3 mos follow up appointment with the optometrist this morning.  All good news!  He was told he was done with patch therapy...for now anyway!  She wants to see him again in August before school starts up again to make sure his left eye didn't decide to go all lazy on us him again (which can happen sometimes).  We are very happy to be done with the patch!  Zane does know there is a chance he'll have to wear it again for awhile, but for now we are doing a happy dance!!

Pretty happy about it!

20/20

You may remember that last June Zane was told he had to wear an eye patch 2 hours a day for probably the next 2-3 years to correct his vision in his left eye.  His left eye was becoming "lazy" - thankfully it had not "drooped" yet, but it would've had we not caught it.  We are having to re-train his brain how to use that eye.

Yesterday, Zane had his first 6 month follow-up on his left eye - after only 6 months on the patch, the boy can now see 20/20 out of his left eye (with his glasses on of course)!!!  This is amazing!  He is now down to just 1 hour a day on the patch for the next 3 mos.  We go back in April and if things are still looking as good as they are now - he should be done completely with the patch!!  The doctor commented on this being amazing!  I told her that we are sort of "tiger-parent" about it and she said "that's exactly what we need in parents" - haha!

3 Years Well

Landon had his 3 year well child visit yesterday and I'm happy to report he's well!  I totally forgot there are no shots at the 3 year visit - so it made it a very happy day for both of us!  Landon is such a character - such a happy boy.  This kid makes me laugh a minimum of 30 times a day and mind you I am not with him most of the day - so that's a lot!

He's a happy, healthy, growing toddler - can't wait to see what this year holds for him.

Three year stats:

3 ft .75 inches - 64%

33 lbs - 31%

Rash Craziness

Zane had two bumps on one of his legs that kind of looked like bug bites. These bumps started to really bother him and started to get really gross...so I took him to the dr. 

They had no clue, but cultured them (negative) but did say they looked infected so prescribed an antibiotic. Since he's allergic to penicillin, he had to be given a different one he'd never had before. We started the antibiotic that night. About 3 or so days later he had developed a very itchy rash all over his body (literally neck to feet) and was miserable. 

Back to the doctor (not our regular dr or the dr who saw him for other bumps) we went last Thurs. 

 

This doctor was perplexed as well, but thought it might be scabies, ugh. So we have to cover Zane in a special cream that night from head to toe and it was so painful for him, he just cried in pain :(. Next morning he wakes up with rash now spread to his face. It's very uncommon for scabies to spread to face. I talked to the dr on Friday and explain spreading and he agrees, probably not scabies. I suggest maybe it's the antibiotic, he agrees and has us stop. The rash is getting better slooooowly, but less itchy by far, so other than being covered in dots, he is a lot less miserable. 

Another antibiotic added to the list of allergies, ugh. Hoping this all disappears soon, poor kid needs a break!