No surgery - yay!!

Enjoy this while you can - I make no guarantees as to how long I can continue updating the blog as frequently as I have been!

Last Friday was our followup appointment with the ENT. We had two primary goals - to discuss the results of the sleep study, and to schedule Caitlin's ear tube surgery, depending on whether or not she'd need to have her tonsils and adenoids removed as well.

We got to Kaiser early, thanks to the fact that we always put the appointment in our calendar about 30 minutes early, then forget what the real time was, so when we get there 15 minutes late we're actually 15 minutes early. We got checked in, they took us back to get Caitlin's vitals, then we sat in the waiting room for 45 minutes. They finally called us back to an exam room, and we sat there another 15 minutes. Finally, Dr. Gross came in and told us that the problem was that they couldn't find the results from the sleep study! Fortunately, Cherylle had the number to the clinic in her appointment book so they were able to call and get the results faxed over immediately.

Dr. Gross finally came in with the paperwork, but started by doing a quick look in Caitlin's ears again - and lo and behold, one of her ears actually appeared to be clearing up! The antibiotics she took before didn't appear to help, but the heavier ones from her pneumonia actually did. Then she pulled out the sleep study results, and let us know how they went. When she slept on her back or side, which was most of the time, she only had 3 episodes per hour, which is completely under the "normal" limit of 5 per hour. When she slept on the back, which was less often, it went up to 12 per hour, which classified it as "mild" sleep apnea, which was between 5-15 per hour. Her O2 sats did drop, but stayed above 80% and as seldom as it happened, she didn't feel that it was time to be aggressive with surgery. Then, she explained that since one ear looked like it was clearing up, and since Caitlin's hearing tests all showed that she was capable of hearing, and that she was obviously picking up words, it wasn't time to get agressive for that, either; so, no surgery!!

She felt that there was still the possibility for concern in the future, so we're scheduled for another audio test in three months, with a followup ENT appointment in four months. She also wants us to repeat the sleep study again in a year or so, since the tonsils and adenoids can grow faster than her breathing passages can, and there's a possibility that the "mild" problem this year can become worse by next year... So, this tells us again that we're finally working with the right doctor - not one who thinks that surgery is the right thing to do, but one who is willing to do all the testing necessary to know that we're doing everything she needs.

Thanks again to everybody who sent us well wishes while Caitlin had pneumonia - despite the FOUR molars she's cutting right now, she's still doing much better than before! We really feel blessed about that...

Here are some shots we just scanned from last year's national - if Detroit was that much fun, I can only imagine how exciting New York is gonna be! See you guys there!

Tag again? Why do I keep responding to these things? Positive feedback just means they'll continue!

Hehehehehe.... Yeah, after getting tagged 7 times for that freakin' survey on Facebook I just wonder what I'm doing here!

Here are the rules:

1. Choose the 4th folder where you store your pictures on your computer. No cheating {cropping, editing, etc.}!

2. Select the 4th picture in the folder.

3. Explain the picture.

4. Tag 4 people to do the same.

Well, I'm not sure how this worked out so perfectly, but this picture is from June 20, 2007, and as you may guess it's Evan holding his little sister Caitlin for the first time. I'm not sure which makes me melt faster - the look of pride and excitement on his face as he holds her, or the way she's staring back up at him while she's only a few hours old. Man, I think I'm gonna go sniffle now!

I'm not positive, but I think these four have not been tagged yet:

Kim, Alex, Sheri and Jane.

BTW - Caitlin's ENT appointment on Friday went EXTREMELY well - details will follow in a day or two...

Later, gators!

In Other News...

Two big things happened yesterday - Caitlin had her followup appointment with her pediatrician thanks to the bad case of pneumonia she had last week, and he gave her a clean bill of health! He told Cherylle that he hadn't gotten too dramatic about it when he'd first looked at her, but at the time the pneumonia was in both lungs and looked really bad - but she's a little fighter, and despite fighting the antibiotics too she's cleared up completely.

Second, Caitlin finally took her first steps! She timed it perfectly so that Cherylle and I were both there to see them, too. We'd just finished parent group, and I was standing near the door talking to another parent while Cherylle was on the floor with Caitlin getting her ready to go. Caitlin, who has been experimenting with standing on her own more and more lately, was standing mostly without Cherylle's help and trying to get my attention, and since that meant she wasn't paying attention to herself, Cherylle backed away and left her standing completely unsupported. I came over and crouched down in front of her and put my hands out just out of reach and called her to come over, and without thinking she took two tiny, shaky steps and grabbed my hands!! That was so exciting to see, although I'm terrified of what it means... She's gonna be getting into even more trouble at home! LOL

Also, now that she's gotten over her pneumonia, she's cutting two huge molars on her bottom jaw that are really bothering her. She was completely miserable last night and didn't sleep well at all, even after getting dosed with Motrin. Hopefully they'll break through quickly and it won't take too long...

Finally, Tuesday was an amazing day in our household. I have two bi-racial kids, and have always been aware that it means they will be treated differently in some settings. Cherylle and I have heard the snide comments (particularly when we still lived in Bakersfield, the dustbowl of California) as long as we've been dating, and we are realistic about what that means for our kids growing up. But when you see a person of mixed race, with an Islamic middle name, and a multinational upbringing, being sworn in as president of the greatest country on earth, it really means something special. I know I have friends, both offline and on, from all sides of the political spectrum, and for many of you the current president was certainly not your first choice. What I hope we all take away from this, no matter what you feel about the current political climate, is the need for all of us to become more involved in the community around us. This country cannot survive if we all sit back and assume that somebody else will take care of things. The idea of a national day of service is a great one, but it needs to go well beyond that. Please, find a way to contribute. If your church has a social outreach program beyond just preaching, please participate. If not, or if you are not a church-goer, please find a community center or program that needs help. Feed the homeless. Donate blood. Donate clothes. Volunteer with a non-profit service agency and help that way. Join the LPA and volunteer with them. There are many parents who don't know that their kids are okay just the way they are - find them and help. Our chapter is working on a food drive for the holidays, since we know several people within our chapter who really need the help. Take ownership of this country and we can really change things for the better!



PS - tomorrow is Caitlin's followup with the ENT so hopefully I'll have more to say then!