Kendall's Post Op Appointment and More

Kendall had his post op appointment yesterday and everything looks WONDERFUL! His ears are clear and working just the way they should be now. This is such great news. It has been a little over two weeks and (knock on wood) Kendall has not had a cold or anything.

On another note, I have been having some ear pain since early January-about a month now. It is causing pretty bad headaches too and sometimes a little dizziness, so while I was at the ENT since I was already a patient, I had them take a look at me. My ears were clear. They did pressure tests, hearing tests, all sorts of things to rule out it being a problem with my ears. Well they came to the conclusion that it is like TMJ but with my muscle. It is myositis. It is more common in women and is usually caused by hormones(of course!)It seems like everything is caused by hormones. It is treatable and I got a nice regimen to start. It includes the following:
Modifying my diet to eat healthy but avoiding hard, crunch, tough and chewy foods.
Inhaling warm, moist heat
No gum chewing
No nail biting(a big habit of mine)
Take 3 advil 3 times a day for 3 weeks(should do my ulcer wonders)
Warm compress to jaw
Splint on my teeth that I wear at night to avoid clenching
Prescription(I think it is a muscle relaxer/pain pill in one)

Hopefully this will cure itself in a couple of weeks and I'll be trucking right along again. I'm having some bad luck this year and it is only February. I'm ready for a new start to this new year for sure.

Kasey is traveling this week. He got the joy of going to Fargo, ND and didn't bring his hat or gloves(big moron) I think the high is -7 today. Next week I think he is headed to NC and FL. I'm not sure yet.

Kendall is doing wonderful. He is learning all about climbing and will take his toys to the edge of the couch, so he can climb up on it. He then proceeds to roll off the couch and laugh about it. He is a tough kid. He has no pain at all.

Happy Mardi Gras!(Fat Tuesday) and Happy Super Tuesday!

I've done it again....

Meaning being a slacker on my blogging. So much has happened since my last post. Kendall has done wonderful with his new tubes. In fact we think he is talking more now and much LOUDER!

Sunday January 20, we spent the day in Nashville. We got up that morning and drove up getting there just in time for lunch. We had gotten a gift card for Christmas that was good for Rainforest Cafe too, so we used it there and had a great and fun time. We sat next to the monkeys and now every time you ask Kendall what a monkey says, he says ooo ah ooo ah. So cute! Next we made our way over to the Opryland hotel. We had a fun time walking around there and taking some pictures of Kendall. We enjoyed some Italian Gelato as well and it was super yummy! Kendall loved it way to much too. Here are a couple of pictures from our day.







Kasey traveled to New Orleans and Mobile last week, so it was just Kendall and I again. On Friday January 25 I finally had my appt. with my GI dr. that I had been waiting on since December. I have thought I had an ulcer since mid December but could not get into see him. Well they set me up for and Endoscopy that I had on Monday. I do have and ULCER and now get to drink some wonderful medicine 4 times a day, but hey if it helps and keeps me from getting another, I will deal with it.

Friday also brought us to some more bad news. Joe(who we call Kasey's stepfather) had a heart attack. He is ok now though. We went to see him on Saturday in Chattanooga and he said he was feeling better than he had in awhile, so hopefully the cath will do him some good. I believe he has gone home now. Our prayers continue to go out to him and Judy.

So that is about it for what is going on with us. I'm just treating my ulcer and we are having a good time. Kasey is here this week. I believe he has to go to Fargo, ND next week. He is really looking forward to that. Not!

Oh and I almost forgot! My hair is short again! Kind of an inverted Bob cut. I'm Loving it!

Tubes are in successfully

Kendall had his tubes put in this morning. He did such a good job. When it was time to go back, the nurse just came and took him away quick, not giving anyone a big chance for crying. It took about 20 minutes and the dr. came to talk to us. Everything went very smooth. They had to use a titanium tube on him because his ears are so small and a little bit curved, so the regular ones were a little hard to get in. We have to put drops in them twice a day for about a week, and then he goes back to the dr. on Feb. 4 for a check up. As soon as he woke up, they brought him to me. He was in and out of sleep, mostly sleeping. He finally started to drink his milk while he was sleeping. He had a pretty rough day. Once the tylenol wares off, he gets pretty fussy and antsy. He just doesn't feel real hot this evening. He went to bed at 6:00. He seems to be getting a cold. He has had a runny nose all day and been coughing and sneezing somewhat. I guess this will be the true test of the tubes. Let's hope they do their job and drain that nasty congestion. He just feels ROTTEN!

A great visit to Richmond

We had a great visit to Richmond last week for my niece's 3rd birthday. We traveled up on Tuesday and back on Sunday. Kasey worked in DC and Maryland while I was in Richmond and then he was able to come down for Eliza's party on Saturday. Kendall and Eliza played great together and had a great time. We can't wait to see them in March. It was so good to finally meet Paul too. Kendall liked him too. Here are a few pictures.

Guess who is getting Tubes?

Kendall is getting tubes put in his ears on Friday at 8:30. We went to the ENT today and he has a heavy buildup of fluid in both ears which is causing the breeding ground for his reoccuring infections. We decided to go ahead with tubes and he will get them in on Friday.

It is an outpatient procedure at the surgery center. He will get general anasthesia with a mask and the procedure will take about 10-15 minutes. He will be able to go home within about an hour.

The dr. said that this is a critical point in his life with speech development, and with the fluid on his ears, he is not able to hear us properly which in return is causing him to say some things funny. He said we should notice pretty immediate change with speech after the tubes are put in.

Kasey is traveling this week, so it will just be me going with Kendall. I believe my mom is going to come along with me too.

Please keep Kendall in your prayers on Friday.

Happy New Year and an update on why no posts lately

Happy New Year to all! We had a wonderful Christmas, but have all been sick since Christmas Eve.

We all came down with terrible colds on Christmas Eve. Kasey's has gotten better. The day after Christmas Kendall started running a fever. He ran a 102-104 fever for 5 days. The fever broke and then he got a rash all over him. That went away and his nose continued to run. He has gotten fussier and fussier.

Well I took him back in to the pediatrician today and guess what now-a double ear infection. Both ears. Of course Kendall and antibiotics don't mix well at all. They cause him terrible diarreah, so I asked if he could get a shot. They gave him an antibiotic shot and he has to do 5 days of oral antibiotics.

I was most concerned about the effect of the antibiotics because on Tuesday we are leaving for Richmond to see my brother and his family. It is my niece's birthday and we are going to meet my nephew for the first time. Well 10 hrs in the car and diarreah aren't going to be real fun, but we will survive this.

I promise to post some pictures from Christmas soon. For now, please just keep us in your prayers for good health.

Kendall was also referred to an ENT for possible tubes. He is going there on January 14.

18 Months Old! Pictures to share......

Yesterday Kendall turned 18 months old. How can it be?! Seems like he just was born yesterday and in 6 months, he will be TWO! Time flies way to fast.
He had his well baby appointment today and everything checked out great. The dr. said he is really interactive for his age, and is saying some advanced words for his age also.

Stats include:
22. 7 1/2 lbs-moving closer to 25% but still in the 10-15% range (up from 21.11 lbs at 15mths)
32 inches-50% (up from 31 inches at 15mths)
48cm(head circumfrance) 65%

So basically he is a little body with a big head! Ha ha!This morning I took him to get his 18mth photos, the first ones since he was one except the school pictures. Here are some of the shots(Judy-don't print, I'm bringing them to you at Christmas.)