Latest News

It's been a while since my last post. Lots of things have happened. Jr. was finally discharged from the hospital on Mon., 4/7 after a 12 day stay. We had a little dinner party this past Sunday to celebrate his return. Everyone noticed that he'd lost a bit of weight. One of his school friends even said to him, "Tong! Taking out your appendix made you skinnier!" In other news, I have an appt with the school's language pathologist tomorrow as Aidan has been recommended for her program to correct his speech impediment. Brody's new favorite word is "uh-oh" and he insists on saying it with his lips all puckered up and the second syllable elongated, like "uh-oooooh." He learned it from a talking Teletubbie doll. I took him in for his 18th month well baby check up and he is currently measuring at 50th percentile for height and 60th percentile for weight, and as I was joking with Tong, 100% naughty. He kept wanting to go outside so as he was pushing on the door handle, which goes across like a bar, I had to hold the door closed. He then proceeded to hang from the bar like a monkey and started walking his feet up against the door like a baby spiderman....he has since been dubbed "100% boy."

Update on Jr.

Jr. is healing nicely, but is still very weak. He won't be able to drink anything until Sunday and eating solids will be permitted a couple days after that. He was so frustrated about his mouth and throat being dry that he was even resentful that the the kid next to us got to take tylenol. He kept asking me and the nurse if he can have some tylenol, but he couldn't. He was even irritated that this kid's parents were trying to get him to eat a banana and drink milk so he goes, "Aww, I wish I could have some milk and bananas..." and he doesn't even normally like milk or bananas. The saddest part was when I returned the morning after surgery and the first thing he said to me (with his eyes shut so tight and tears running down his cheeks) was that Daddy tortured him twice with soda by drinking in front of him knowing he couldn't have any and his throat was so dry. A couple days later, he had some phlem in his throat he couldn't cough up, and he said it was because that day Daddy was drinking the soda in front of him he felt a dry spot in his throat, but Daddy wouldn't even let him gargle water, so now that dry spot was hurting and that's why he couldn't cough up the phlem. He also said the days seem so long in the hospital and that time inside the hospital must be different from time on the outside. I think he's really starting to miss his brothers - yes, even Aidan - because earlier he asked me to bring the balloons that Annie brought him with me when I leave, so I asked him why, and he said he wanted Aidan and Brody to play with them so they'll remember him. He's such a dear boy. I just feel awful, but at least we've reached the midpoint of this journey. Oh, a funny thing...I told him he would get something special for all the needlework he's had to endure and at first he wanted a video game, but he's been so thirsty lately he told me he changed his mind and all he wants is some Mt. Dew and a bottle of orange juice.

Back in the ER

We were back in the ER today for Jr.'s stomach pains. Turns out he did have an appendicitis and had to have surgery. We were admitted around 9am, he had the surgery at 2pm, then I left at 8pm to come home for the night. Tong is spending the night at the hospital with him. I feel so bad because I'm sure he was in more pain than he was showing. They said most kids in his position would be in much worse condition but because he's a little "chubby" the fat lining in his stomach wrapped around the appendix and kept the inflamation from spreading to other organs. Apparently, this is a self preservation tactic programed into our bodies, but his extra fat came in especially handy. He's fine now, but because the appendix actually ruptured, he's going to be hospitalized for a week so they can continue administering antibiotics to prevent infection.

In My CD Player

I added a short list of songs I'm currently listening to. Some are new, some are old, but they're good, so just wanted to share. The list can be found below my profile. "Forever Young" has great lyrics - definitely one to check out. "Cancer" displays some really raw emotions, esp the accoustic version. "New Soul" was made popular by the Mac Air Notebook commercial and "The Way I Am" will sound familiar because it was used on an Old Navy commercial last winter. I included links so you can hear the songs if you're interested. The quality is not that great since I just pulled them off Youtube, but give them a listen.

Long Night

We had a loooong night last night. The older boys came down with the flu so we took them to the urgent care center and were given a prescription for some flu medicine. Later Jr. started complaining about really bad stomach aches. He couldn't even sit up or stand up straight, so we were concerned that it might be an appendicitis. We went to the ER where they hooked him up to an IV since he was quite dehydrated, then they ran some tests and concluded that it wasn't his appendix. This was the first time Jr. took the needle without crying or putting up a fight. We were proud, especially considering the last time he got shots, it took 3 people to hold him down and when they finished he told me that he got away twice and Daddy had to grab him and hold him down again. It got pretty scary because he had an extremely high temperature of 105 degrees so he started getting a little delirious. He kept looking at his hand with a confused expression and said that when he moves his fingers it was like slow motion and his thumb is usually small, but for some reason it looked so big. The nurse said it is common with high fevers for people to start acting "loopy." Anyway, we returned home at 3am and continued treating him for the flu. This morning he slept until noon and woke up feeling better, so we're all good.