Cutest Patient EVER!!

Don't make the mistake of calling Will's Tuesday adventure a 'procedure' or a 'surgery'. He'll be the first to correct you and tell you that he had a biopsy. It always reminds me of this scene from My Big Fat Greek Wedding and sometimes he even starts pronouncing like she does.

Will's endoscopy/biopsy went really well yesterday. We got to the hospital at 6:10am with both boys. We were a little bit nervous because Will had woken up in the middle of the night with a bad cough. Dr. Berry had warned us that the anesthesiologist might not allow the procedure (oh, excuse me), BIOPSY, to happen if Will was sick. It was pretty obvious that Will did not feel good but we figured we'd head to the hospital rather than cancel. Still we were hoping not to get sent home!!

After getting checked in Eric and Will went into the back to get changed and check-in. The nurse, Nina, was incredibly nice and helpful. Will looked dang cute in his little hospital get-up, except for the pale face and red eyes from his cold.



The nurse checked his temperature, and there wasn't one, so the anesthesiologist, Dr. Nargaphan came out to talk with Eric and I. She said that she was worried about doing it but that she'd take him back. If he continued to cough in the surgery room they'd suspend the procedure and do it another day. She explained the risks and we agreed to continue.

I went back to sit with Will until they took him back. He wasn't nervous at all, and quite enjoyed banging on his little crib bed. Nurse Nina let him pick out a flavor for them to put in his mask. This would help him keep it on and let the anesthetic in. He chose chocolate - go figure!



I'll admit to being a little nervous as they pulled Will away. Especially with him having a cold I did not want anything to go wrong. Dr. Berry came out to say hi before they went into the room.



Will was out within a half of an hour. Dr. Berry came out first to tell us about the visual results. He said that Will's esophagus, stomach, and intestine look consistan with any three year old. This was what Dr. Berry had expected since damage to the intestine at this age is no visual.

Dr. Nargaphan came out next to tell us about his progress. Will did not cough once they go into the room so she felt comfy to do the procedure. We were just instructed to watch his breathing for the rest of the day. He did not have too bad of a time coming out of the anesthetic, which they had warned us about. He did ask for Eric a few times - which was funny because Eric thought Will would want me to be back there. After about ten minutes he had calmed down - this was helped after they took out his IV which he had been trying to pull out.

He spent most of the day lounging around. This was no doubt caused by his cold and not the biopsy but either way he was happy just to rest.

We will find out the results from the biopsy, as well as some other tests that we've done, on October 8th! We'll keep you all posted for that.

Thanks for all the love and concern!

Tomorrow...

Tomorrow we will hopefully get some answers.

Tomorrow is Will's endoscopy. Hard to believe that it has taken so long and also that it is finally here.

I'm not sure what to hope for. As his Mom I'd much rather him not have Celiac Disease. However, after doing all the research I feel comfy with him having Celiac Disease. It's manageable, it's doable, it's livable.

If it's not Celiac, or even if it is but the test still doesn't show it, then I'm not sure what that means. And I'm not one that settles easy with the 'unknown'.

More to come...

tomorrow...

What kind of Berry are you?

One of the hardest parts of a move is leaving behind everyone you love. That includes medical professionals. In our former home state was leaving behind the therapists, pediatrician, Ob/Gyn, and Internal Med doctors that we had grown to trust and admire. Really - if you ask me what one of the most nerve-wracking parts of moving was I would honestly say leaving the Doctors.

Especially once Will was diagnosed with Celiac disease. So after a summer of research we found a doctor that we love.

Dr. Berry.

We went for our first appointment with Will today. Will and Walker had a great time trying to guess what kind of berry Dr. Berry is. They agreed on strawberry before he walked in.


The great news is that we already have a biopsy date scheduled! I love efficiency.

Speaking of efficiency - something happened at the Dr's office that reminds me of the flexibility and effectiveness we learn as parents.

After having been at the Doctor for a much longer time that anticipated we were informed that we needed to wait 45-60 minutes to get into the lab. All we needed from the lab was lovely stool sample kits. Still, it was a 45-60 minute wait. I was pretty bummed, both because of the wait, but also because it meant I'd have to collect stool (#1) and then drive back the hour back to the hospital (#2) within three hours of collecting the 'sample' (#3).

So I took the boys down to the cafe to get some food (if that is what you call it) and get their energy out. The lab said they'd page me if our turn rolled around. Well, our turn came, they didn't page me, then they put our records back since we didn't 'respond', and Will tells me he needs to go poo. After telling the lab front desk that we were in fact there I rushed to the bathroom to help Will. Turns out he didn't quite make it to the potty.

As I pull off the offensive underwear and move to through them into the potty, I realize 'This IS a stool sample!' I stare at the mess and wonder if my plan will really work. Soon enough I'm walking through the hall with the underwear wrapped in a paper towel. The nurse gives me the ok (I was worried about contamination) and I head to the lab. Never have I felt the seas part the way I did today. People just moved right out of my way (wonder why?) and I marched my way up to the lab.

Needless to say I smiled the entire time I was putting the 'sample' from the undies to the collection cups. Efficiency. Gets me smiling every time.

Conversations at Home: #1

A sprinkling of conversations had at our house today:

Will: "Mom I need to go poop!"
Me: "Ok Will, you can go all by yourself."
Will: "No, I need your help."
Me: "Ok, I'm coming."
(the event occurs...I don't like to talk about it)
Will: "Mom, I told you the poop was coming. I squeezed my bum cheeks to hold it in, and then I did a poop. And it's a daddy-size poop."
Me: no words...just smiling and trying not to laugh.
Will: "See Mom, no accidents!" ~ smiling with absolute pride

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Walker: "Fix this Momma" (as he comes up to me with Mr. Potato Head)
Me: "What happened to him?" (holding the body, in tact, of Mr. Potato Head)
Walker: "His bum fell off" (referring to the back slat of Mr. Potato Head which is in his hands)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

(in his room playing with a truck)
Will: " Now make sure you wipe your penis."
Will (as the truck): "I don't have a penis."
Will: "Yes you do."
Will (as the truck): "No I don't. I have a foob." (not quite sure what that is exactly)
Will: "Oh yeah. Well make sure to wipe your foob."

WIKT #2,476

Wish I'd Known That #2,476: Home Depot sells toilet augers for less than $20.

Yesterday I called my Aunt Patti, who was with my Grandma at the hospital waiting to talk to my Grandpa's doctor. I figured they would need a laugh - so I told them the story I am about to tell you. But first let me back up in time...

On August 18th, 2007 Eric and I paid $190 for a pair of underwear. I know, you are all thinking we were trying something new in our 'Special Mommy & Daddy time'. Nope. The underwear looked like this:



Yep. Potty pants. My friend and former co-worker Kim had given us some wonderful cotton potty training pants. And they've been great. So on August 18th we were right in the midst of potty training - you might remember this entry. Well on that fateful day we ended up having to call the plumber at Rescue Rooter to fish those unders out after Will had flushed them down.



Lesson learned right?

Nope. Not quite.

Now let's move back in time again...

Yesterday was one of those days as a parent that makes me start searching both Craigslist for anyone interested in buying two kids and Monster for a new job.

The climax of the events was running, in what felt like slow motion, down the hall as I heard the start of the toilet flushing. Walker had an accident so I was hurrying to clean up his room (it was nap time) of the mess - having put him in the bath to rinse off some of the mess (see you are getting the scope of what my day was like aren't you!!). Well I made the mistake of thinking that with Walker in the tub and Will by my side that the unders would be safe in the toilet until I could rinse them.

Boy was I wrong.

So last night, at 10pm, the friendly plumber arrived again and we purchased our second pair of $190 underwear. By this time I've just decided on community college for the kids since I'm slowly emptying their college savings to pay the plumber.

What I wish I would have known was provided by my Grandma, who sweetly mentioned via email that she loved my story, it made her laugh, and (in her words):

I think you should invest in a $14.95 snake at Home Depot to fish those pants out of the toilet. I had one that used to work in most cases. Only a few required major help.

Wish I'd Known That

Pssst - No one dare mention that throwing the underwear out would have been a cheaper option too. I, unfortunately, became aware of that as I was typing this post. I am now going to go drown my sorrow in a bowl of sugar free, Weight Watcher approved, ice cream.

Firsts and Seconds

You think that just because your child has started rolling, then eating big boy food, then crawling, and then walking, and then talking that you have hit all the firsts. In fact the first year, or two, are so filled with big events that you forget how precious other firsts are. I've failed to blog about a lot of firsts...but today we experienced a big one.

Will started preschool. He has been excited for preschool all summer as we've been working on potty training so that he could go. Last week we had the meet & greet and he was thrilled to meet the other kids and play with the toys. Today he was more apprehensive about going, which had more to do with having to leave his toys behind.

Today was a short day so that the kids could get used to their teachers and the room. Some kids needed to get used to now having mom and dad around, but for Will that wasn't an issue. He was more than happy to kiss me goodbye and walk in.

This moment is special for me not just because of the experience that Will is about to embark on, but also for the time that Walker and I will now get to have. Being second child isn't any easy role. Since I am the oldest (as is Eric) we of course think that first children get the raw deal...but the reality is that each kid is subjected to the good and bad of parenting.

Having Will at preschool twice at week for a couple of hours will give Walker and I time we haven't ever had before. He thrives when he gets to play on his own or when just he and I read stories. I cannot wait to experience this first with him - and see what other first emerge from it. I'll keep you all updated as I can.

For now, here are some pictures from Will's first day:

I wanna be like Papa!

Hi Family,

On our way to Utah to visit Grandpa Walker, Mom let me play with her camera. I love watching Papa Paul take pictures so it was fun to take some pictures myself. I still don't know how to use the camera all the way, but I had such a good time. I took 47 pictures total.

Here are a few of mine.

Love,
Will

Trying my hand at Papa's Camera:


Grandma and Papa:


About 1/2 of my pictures were of this shot:


Or of this shot:


Self-Portrait: