Long Day!!!

Today was such a long day, Sweet Mess woke up at 4 and we have been on the move since.  Our appointment was at 8:30 this morning and believe it or not, we were back in the office before I finished completing the paperwork.  SHOCKER!!!  The doctor was also very prompt which is also highly unusual, haha!  The bad news is that we do not have any answers and we are still on the same medication.  The good news is that she has a plan of action.  First off, she has her nurse working on getting us an automatic blood pressure machine for the house.  This will allow us to monitor and track it from home.  (this is really great for me, since I have been messing up on the doses)  We will go back in a month for a test that will have a dye run through his kidneys and we will see if maybe he has some scarring.  From what I learned today, scarring on the kidneys can be a cause of hypertension.  If he turns out have some scars, we will probably never know what caused them.  When Steven was born the kidneys were the original reason for the earlier than normal follow up to the pediatrician.  He had a couple of ultrasounds and x-rays to evaluate the kidneys.  In August his kidneys appeared to be all good according to the urologist and all the visual imaging that had been done on him.  The doctor today mentioned that maybe his function has not been good all along, however it doesn't explain why it would only start to cause the hypertension post surgery.  But again she doesn't know because short of a VCUG done on him at 3 weeks old, nothing else shows the function.  All this to say that the first test run on him will be to try and determine the cause.  If the results are still not conclusive another type will be ordered.  We are also going to increase one of his medications but we will not start that until we receive a machine for the home and until the lab work results are back.  I think I have a plan to prevent me from screwing up his doses in the future, I would say fool proof but I do not trust myself.  ha!  Overall I was happy with the appointment.  We wanted answers or at least a plan of action and I feel that we have gotten that.  It breaks my heart to keep putting him through more labs and tests but I am so thankful for his sweet disposition.  So until our next appointment I will be a spread sheet fool with medication and bp results...umm, can anyone help me with that, I am not on the best of terms with EXCEL.  :-)

Well 4 am was a LONG time ago...so it is time for some sleep!!!  But of course I cannot go to bed without mentioning that on Friday while some of you are out shopping most of Louisiana will be holding their breath while watching the #1 Tigers take on #3 Razorbacks at Tiger Stadium!!!!  So...

GEAUX TIGERS!!!!!



 

Our Boys Are Getting Big!

You know we have had a busy week when I only blog once...I really like to blog but it requires time and that is not something that I have a lot of.  We are still working on a smooth routine around here and I think that we might have finally found it.  Of course, things start going smooth just in time for Miller's Thanksgiving break, I hope that we can pick it back up in a week.  Miller had his first field trip this week and he was one excited boy.  They went to a farm in Dry Creek that has animals to feed, a corn maze and a pyramid made of old tractor tires.  I am kind of jealous because I am pretty sure I would have enjoyed it, I know that he did!  But regardless of how much fun he had, he is even more excited to be out of school for the week, ha!  I wish I could take off this week and stay home with him but we are swamped at work and I feel pretty bad about being off on Tuesday.  I guess it just gives me one more thing to be thankful for!!!

 

Today marks two months since surgery.  David and I are wondering where the time has gone.  It seems like it was just yesterday but on the other hand it seems like a lifetime ago.  Sweet Mess is doing so great when it comes to eating and sleeping.  He has started to really pack on the pounds and is loving some baby food and sleeps most nights until 5 am.  The only sign of his surgery is the visible sign of his scar.  When we left TCH they told us that Steven might have to stay on medication for some time post surgery but I do not think that it was expected to be two months with no end in sight.  I know that as you read this, it sounds as though I am complaining but it is not a complaint as much of a concern.  If he has to be on bp medicine for the rest of his life that is fine by me, if it works!  However, I will say that I am complaining about it being two different medicines.  Can we please just give him one?  I messed it up again last night.  So through tears of frustration I told David that I am not responsible for his medicine any longer because I am doing a horrible job!  Yes, I am the one who gave him his medicine all day today, since David was working...but it felt nice to say it last night.  We will see who gives it to him tonight at 10 :-)

Well I hope that everyone has had a wonderful weekend.  I hope that if you are like Miller and have the week off that you enjoy every minute of it.  We will be going back to TCH on Tuesday and plan on coming home with answers or at least that is my prayer! 

Guess who still has high blood pressure?

I know, I sound like a broken record.  Same song, different verse but the exact same chorus.  Sweet Mess had a doctors appointment today and sure enough the bp was still high.  But it might be coming down a little bit, it was 105 today.  Dr. K decided not to adjust any medication since we will be going to TCH next week.  He did mention that one of the medications is really great for function post-op but not might be the best for the kidneys so I am praying that Steven will come off another medication soon.  That leaves only one for me to mess up!

I hope that everyone had a wonderful weekend.  We did!  David went hunting which is great for him but not so great for Miller.  Since Miller was out of school on Friday he spent the entire day with his dad until I got off work.  So he was not looking forward to coming home to just me.  Miller has always been about David or his dad...never been a big fan of mom.  I felt so bad, he cried for almost a full hour.  He never really cries but the tears just would not stop.  I was willing to do whatever, which means we went to Mimi and Pawpaw's for the night and stayed all day on Saturday.  It was a good call!  Wesley came over with the kids, my uncle and aunt also came by, it was their first time to see Sweet Mess.  That has been the bad part of being on lock down for so long but we are finally getting out and about.  It was a really good day, hamburgers, art projects, and a Texas A&M loss and a LSU win. FUN DAY!  Normally I do not pull against A&M but since they have lost their minds and decided to join the SEC, I can't help it.  Next year will be a blast...maybe Brian will start to pull for a team that will have a "horse in the race" or maybe not!  Sunday was a very lazy day.  David came home and I didn't move for the rest of the day. 

Well speaking of being lazy, I plan on getting a really good night sleep.  Steven must be going through a growth spurt and is wanting to eat all the time.  We are very happy about this but 2:30am is not the best time even if it was David's shift.  Of course Miller had to come join the party and cough and grind his teeth for awhile.  So we are praying for some uninterrupted sleep!  Well no time like the present to find out...hope everyone has a Terrific Tuesday!!!!

Long Overdue!

I cannot believe how long it has been since I last posted.  First off, Steven did not like getting his shots last week.  All I could think of, as he was holding his breath and turning blue, please don't hate me and hold this against me!  I am telling you, he can send me packing for a guilt trip with just his eyes.  Luckily he was fine that evening and the rest of the weekend was uneventful. 

Oh wait, did I say uneventful....ha!  I cannot wait for the end to mention the "game of the century" or should I say the "game of the kickers"  I am so glad our kicker is better than theirs!  haha  I am sure for most of you it was not a very exciting game and I might even agree with you but in the end it was yet another win for LSU and that is what matters.  Oh and the McNeese Cowboys got a win and so did the Saints...overall great weekend of sports for me! 

On Monday, we took Steven to Dr. K to have his bp checked.  Of course it was still high.  Not high, high just his high!  So we have increased the amount per dose of the newest medication.  Now again, I want to make sure that I am never nominated for the Mother of the Year award and as proof, I gave Sweet Mess his medication at the wrong time early Tuesday morning.  Only 4 hours early, oops...so I called the office and they told me to bring him by just to have him checked out.  He was just fine, in fact his bp was perfect!  First time since surgery that his bp was 90/60...however even though it was perfect it was too soon and I pray I do not screw it up again.  I know many of you are probably wondering how I could give him the medication at the wrong time.  All I have is that I am kinda running on fumes these days and it was early in the morning and I just messed up.  I felt horrible and cried because I was so mad at myself.  I am just thankful that he was fine and again I pray that it never happens again.  But one way for me not to mess up again is to get this resolved and maybe off some of the meds, so yesterday morning I was calling TCH regarding the appointment for the Renal Center.  I had submitted everything last week and I still had not heard from them. Well I finally spoke to a scheduler and she was very surprised to hear of a baby with hypertension so she put us in on the 22nd!!!  I will be honest, it is not exactly the most convenient of times but I am so happy that it is so soon and not in February, which was the next option.  In the meantime we will still go to Dr. K's office for his bp to be monitored.  I pray that this will all be over soon and that I can have alarms set on my phone for normal reasons like waking up instead of for medicine!

Well I hope that everyone has a wonderful Friday and a great weekend.  Happy Veteran's Day to all of the courageous men and women that have served and those that are currently serving in our military, thank you for your many sacrifices!  To the families of those said men and women, thank you for your sacrifices as well!!! 

Team Turkey!

So today I noticed a cartoon picture on several facebook pages that has a Santa and a Turkey.  Turkey is letting Santa have it for invading his month.  With all that my family has experienced this year, I am with Turkey!  I cannot remember any other year that Thanksgiving has meant so much.  I have said this in previous post but I am so extremely thankful.  I know that many of you are doing the status updates on FB with something that you are thankful for and I love reading them.  Some are sweet, sincere and some are silly that provide a laugh but I wonder how come we do not express how THANKFUL we are through out the year.  Why is it only in November and always stops on the 4th Thursday?  I have so much to be thankful for that November cannot hold it all so I might just have a pumpkin, a turkey or a cornucopia on display year round.  I have always been a Santa girl, just ask my parents, but I am officially a member of Team Turkey from this point forward.  I still love me some Santa but Turkey is my holiday of choice this year.  Please know that I am expressing my opinions of the commercial aspect of the holidays.  I am very aware that without the birth of Jesus none of us would have anything to be thankful for.  And in case any of you are wondering about things I am thankful for, well here are just a few:  for answered prayers, for the creator who answers them, for the husband that I have always said "if I have to go through tough times I want to go through them with him" and that opinion has not changed, for the two wonderful boys that I get to call my sons, for the family that I was born to and the family I married into, for the best friends that are ALWAYS there for me, day or night, rain or shine, for the employers that have been so kind to me during some difficult times, for the total strangers that have prayed for my son and family, for the doctors who chose a career in healing and for the fact that they paid attention in class :-)...oh how my list can just go on and on but my fingers would surely fall off.  I pray that your list is too long for November as well. 

Geaux Team Turkey!!!

Of course you know where this is going now...I will also be so thankful for a Tigers win on Saturday!  I cannot wait for kickoff, is it Saturday yet? 

Geaux Tigers!!!!!

11-1-11...Umm, Where Did The Year Go?

It is hard for me to wrap my brain around the fact that we are in November.  This has been such a crazy year and I am sorta thankful that it is coming to an end but also just freaked out that it has gone by so fast.  It seems like yesterday that we found out that we had a baby on the way.  But that baby is our Sweet Mess and he is 4 months old!  Ok so he is a little over 4 months, don't judge, I know how old he is.  Speaking of not judging, I am so ashamed to type this...but I did not take any pictures of Steven in his costume.  Good thing is that I can dress him back up.  Or I can beg a family member to send one of him to me.  We had our annual Halloween Party on Friday and it was such a great time.  Miller was Elvis, Steven a monkey, David a disturbing a scarecrow and I was "Wenda" the female version of "Waldo"   I will try and post some pics soon.  David is crazy about Halloween and we normally have all costumes decided upon pretty early but this year, not so much!  Even if we didn't decide on costumes until the night before, we still enjoyed dressing up and had a wonderful time.  We didn't do any trick or treating yesterday, Miller was with his Dad and Lala so he stocked up on candy there!  Thank goodness, I would hate to have to help him out with eating it.  And well, Steven is a little young to be collecting candy!

However, Steven did have an exciting day yesterday.  It included an ECHO, EKG and Lab work.  It is kinda like the movie Groundhog Day, same thing every week.  But we are glad that they are willing to follow his blood pressure.  Of course it is still a little high and so we are now increasing one of the dose of one of his meds.  Tomorrow I will attempt to contact the renal center at TCH again and get an appoitment scheduled.  Until then, we will continue to see his cardiologist here so that someone is keeping tabs on it.  On Friday, Sweet Mess will get his 2 month shots!  What a wonderful weekend we will have. 

Well I am going to wrap this up, the toothpicks holding my eyes open are starting to draw blood, ha!  But....let us not forget what we else we have in store for this weekend ~ LSU vs Alabama, No 1 vs No 2, the best game of the regular season and some might say of the entire season!

 

GEAUX TIGERS!!!!!