I found out today I had a "follower" on my blog... a cousin of Dirk's who recently moved to Quebec (Hi Brian!)... I realized I have about 10 blogs on my "favorites list"... so I went to my "Dashboard" to see if I could figure out how to add them, so I would be notified automatically when they update thier blog... It works!! How cool is that!
Just thought I'd pass the information along in case any of you want to do the same... maybe everyone knows this but me?!
Have a great SuperBowl weekend everyone!
smiles
Saturday, January 31, 2009
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
thor's eye surgery... all is well...
Seems like there has been one too many medical entries on our blog lately?! Well, anyway... we just praise the Lord that HE is our healer!
They surgery was schedule for Tuesday (Jan 27th) at 8:30 a.m., by Dr. Nixon, the Pediatric Specialist at the Regional Eye Institute in RC. I should have brought my camera to record the day, but Thor said "NO... this is private stuff, mom..." I guess telling you all about our day is as good as it will get!
We checked in at 7:30 a.m. Thor was very relaxed... definitely God's peace at work in him! He is often quite nervous about anything new or different. All the pre-op stuff went smoothly, getting changed into the hospital gown, going over his medical history, picking out the flavor for his giggle gas mask, etc. This time the nurses and staff addressed questions directly to Thor, not to ME!? Just another sign of how much he is growing up!
Dirk had wanted to stay until Thor was taken into the OR, but he had a safety training meeting at Butler that was required ... if I had known it was the same day I wouldn't have scheduled surgery that day... but in the end, it was OK that he wasn't there the whole time. He was with us through almost all of the pre-op stuff, and got to his class just in the nick of time. There was a lot of sitting and waiting time for us... Then Dirk was able to be home much earlier in the evening since he had been in RC all day!
Thor and I chatted while he waited for his 'relaxation' medication to take full effect. He thought the medicine would make him fall asleep instantly... so he kept joking with me, and acting like he has "passed out"... complete with sticking his tongue out and flopping his head over. I asked him what he was doing... and he just giggled. First sign the medication was working! He never did get really loopy... but just as they were wheeling him into the OR, I did notice he wasn't able to complete he own sentence... so he was obviously ready.
Dr. Nixon came out after the surgery was complete and said both eyes were done, and he was very pleased with the outcome. No challenges, even though he had some scar tissue from the previous procedure. He only made one incision in each eye, to tighten the muscles on the outside corner of each eye. We are very thankful for Dr. Nixon.. he is a very quiet, kind man. We have found out recently (not from him of course) that he is one of the most highly trained doctors in this area in the USA... one of only 5 that work at this level. Certainly such a blessing to have this all in our own town... the other 3 families waiting for surgery that morning had travelled from many hours away... as the staff said is very common.
Thor started to wake up about 20 minutes later, so I was able to join him in the recovery room. He looked very good, was very drowsy still, but not complaining at all. I chatted with him, and helped him get sips of his Sprite while he continued to wake up. Everyone commented that he did great... his vital signs were "rock solid" according to the Anesthesiologist.
They brought Thor out to the car in a wheel chair, and helped me "load" him up to go home about 12:00 noon. We went to the pharmacy to get his prescription drops (antibiotic and pain reliever for his eyes)... and were home by 1:00 p.m.
Thor had really wanted to go to hockey practice that evening (before surgery)... but realized the staff was right... he wasn't going to feel like doing much for the rest of the day (at least!). He did get hungry finally, around 4p.m. and got his favorite PB & honey toast with a banana. The rest of the evening he really started to "perk up"... and even got his homework assignments done before he went to bed. No signs of any side effects... they warned us about him seeing double for a few hours... and having an upset stomach. No trouble with either.
I wasn't going to send him to school until noon today, I thought I'd let him sleep in and enjoy a quiet morning at home... but he woke up naturally at 6:45 a.m. and got himself ready for school. So he's back into the regular routine already! He still has quite a bit of redness in the outside corner of his eyes... that will take a bit more time to heal.
Thanks for all of your kind thoughts and prayers... God is GOOD... ALL the time!
They surgery was schedule for Tuesday (Jan 27th) at 8:30 a.m., by Dr. Nixon, the Pediatric Specialist at the Regional Eye Institute in RC. I should have brought my camera to record the day, but Thor said "NO... this is private stuff, mom..." I guess telling you all about our day is as good as it will get!
We checked in at 7:30 a.m. Thor was very relaxed... definitely God's peace at work in him! He is often quite nervous about anything new or different. All the pre-op stuff went smoothly, getting changed into the hospital gown, going over his medical history, picking out the flavor for his giggle gas mask, etc. This time the nurses and staff addressed questions directly to Thor, not to ME!? Just another sign of how much he is growing up!
Dirk had wanted to stay until Thor was taken into the OR, but he had a safety training meeting at Butler that was required ... if I had known it was the same day I wouldn't have scheduled surgery that day... but in the end, it was OK that he wasn't there the whole time. He was with us through almost all of the pre-op stuff, and got to his class just in the nick of time. There was a lot of sitting and waiting time for us... Then Dirk was able to be home much earlier in the evening since he had been in RC all day!
Thor and I chatted while he waited for his 'relaxation' medication to take full effect. He thought the medicine would make him fall asleep instantly... so he kept joking with me, and acting like he has "passed out"... complete with sticking his tongue out and flopping his head over. I asked him what he was doing... and he just giggled. First sign the medication was working! He never did get really loopy... but just as they were wheeling him into the OR, I did notice he wasn't able to complete he own sentence... so he was obviously ready.
Dr. Nixon came out after the surgery was complete and said both eyes were done, and he was very pleased with the outcome. No challenges, even though he had some scar tissue from the previous procedure. He only made one incision in each eye, to tighten the muscles on the outside corner of each eye. We are very thankful for Dr. Nixon.. he is a very quiet, kind man. We have found out recently (not from him of course) that he is one of the most highly trained doctors in this area in the USA... one of only 5 that work at this level. Certainly such a blessing to have this all in our own town... the other 3 families waiting for surgery that morning had travelled from many hours away... as the staff said is very common.
Thor started to wake up about 20 minutes later, so I was able to join him in the recovery room. He looked very good, was very drowsy still, but not complaining at all. I chatted with him, and helped him get sips of his Sprite while he continued to wake up. Everyone commented that he did great... his vital signs were "rock solid" according to the Anesthesiologist.
They brought Thor out to the car in a wheel chair, and helped me "load" him up to go home about 12:00 noon. We went to the pharmacy to get his prescription drops (antibiotic and pain reliever for his eyes)... and were home by 1:00 p.m.
Thor had really wanted to go to hockey practice that evening (before surgery)... but realized the staff was right... he wasn't going to feel like doing much for the rest of the day (at least!). He did get hungry finally, around 4p.m. and got his favorite PB & honey toast with a banana. The rest of the evening he really started to "perk up"... and even got his homework assignments done before he went to bed. No signs of any side effects... they warned us about him seeing double for a few hours... and having an upset stomach. No trouble with either.
I wasn't going to send him to school until noon today, I thought I'd let him sleep in and enjoy a quiet morning at home... but he woke up naturally at 6:45 a.m. and got himself ready for school. So he's back into the regular routine already! He still has quite a bit of redness in the outside corner of his eyes... that will take a bit more time to heal.
Thanks for all of your kind thoughts and prayers... God is GOOD... ALL the time!
Saturday, January 24, 2009
Atadmore
Anika: Mom... What is "atadmore."
Me: MMMmmm...? I don't know... can you show me one?
Anika: Kailey said it was "atadmore"... that it had "atadmore" frosting than the other sweet roll...
Me: (smiling...) OH... A "tad" more?!! Yep, I know what that means!!
Now Anika knows a new word...
Tad: tad /tæd/ [tad]
–noun Informal.
1. a small child, esp. a boy.
2. a very small amount or degree; bit:
Please shift your chair a tad to the right. The frosting could use a tad more vanilla.
Me: MMMmmm...? I don't know... can you show me one?
Anika: Kailey said it was "atadmore"... that it had "atadmore" frosting than the other sweet roll...
Me: (smiling...) OH... A "tad" more?!! Yep, I know what that means!!
Now Anika knows a new word...
Tad: tad /tæd/ [tad]
–noun Informal.
1. a small child, esp. a boy.
2. a very small amount or degree; bit:
Please shift your chair a tad to the right. The frosting could use a tad more vanilla.
Monday, January 12, 2009
Thor... and his eyes!
January is our semi-annual check up with Dr. Nixon, Thor's opthamologist. When Thor was 3 he had surgery to correct both eyes from crossing (strabismus). He actually wore glasses for about 2 months... but the glasses did not help to correct the issue, so surgery was scheduled for late May 2004. He was 3 1/2 then, and the recovery was very quick.
Thor has had annual visits with Dr. Nixon to 'watch' his eyes, to be sure his eyesight is staying on track in three different areas: his vision (20/20 nearly... so that is GREAT!!); his depth perception (not so great right now); and the crossing. I don't know what unit of measurement they use to describe the "crossing" but Thor is current at "25." Normal range is from 0-8.
January 27th he will go back for a 2nd strabismus procedure, Dr. Nixon will tighten a few of the outside muscles, to help pull his eyes out; as well as weaken a few of the inside muscles ... so they can't pull his eyes in quite as much.
As we scheduled the surgery date, Thor was not a very happy camper. He gets pretty nervous about any medical procedure, even getting his teeth cleaned the first time was a major ordeal! I think it's really the "unknown"... the more we talk about what he can expect, the usual procedure for things, what it will feel like (for example... it WON'T hurt ... not much at least)... he starts to relax and does much better.
One recent visit at the Dr.'s office to check out a large wart on his finger ended up in him throwing up all over the clinic floor... he was so nervous the Dr. was going to use a "LASER" to "kill" his wart, he just couldn't contain himself (literally!). Then she told him he never uses a laser on kids under 12... he was much better for the rest of the appointment!
Anyway -- we've been talking about what will happen the day of his surgery... He won't be able to eat or drink when he gets up in the morning... We'll be with him in the pre-op room... he gets some medicine called the "I don't care" cocktail.... he goes to sleep... 1/2 hour later it's all done... they bring dad and I into the "wake up room" and then he gets to pick out whatever kind of pop he wants to drink... and in about an hour we can take him home again.
BTW: recovery time is 24 hours!! Pretty cool, huh?!! Except he can't swim for 7 days... so he will miss one of his swim lesson classes (with Zion classmates), but he'll be able to get back to school by noon on Wednesday, or for sure first thing Thursday!
Now Thor says the surgery sounds like "fun..." He can't wait to pick out his soda pop! (he hasn't been allowed to drink pop while he's had his braces on... so this will be an exception)....
Thor has had annual visits with Dr. Nixon to 'watch' his eyes, to be sure his eyesight is staying on track in three different areas: his vision (20/20 nearly... so that is GREAT!!); his depth perception (not so great right now); and the crossing. I don't know what unit of measurement they use to describe the "crossing" but Thor is current at "25." Normal range is from 0-8.
January 27th he will go back for a 2nd strabismus procedure, Dr. Nixon will tighten a few of the outside muscles, to help pull his eyes out; as well as weaken a few of the inside muscles ... so they can't pull his eyes in quite as much.
As we scheduled the surgery date, Thor was not a very happy camper. He gets pretty nervous about any medical procedure, even getting his teeth cleaned the first time was a major ordeal! I think it's really the "unknown"... the more we talk about what he can expect, the usual procedure for things, what it will feel like (for example... it WON'T hurt ... not much at least)... he starts to relax and does much better.
One recent visit at the Dr.'s office to check out a large wart on his finger ended up in him throwing up all over the clinic floor... he was so nervous the Dr. was going to use a "LASER" to "kill" his wart, he just couldn't contain himself (literally!). Then she told him he never uses a laser on kids under 12... he was much better for the rest of the appointment!
Anyway -- we've been talking about what will happen the day of his surgery... He won't be able to eat or drink when he gets up in the morning... We'll be with him in the pre-op room... he gets some medicine called the "I don't care" cocktail.... he goes to sleep... 1/2 hour later it's all done... they bring dad and I into the "wake up room" and then he gets to pick out whatever kind of pop he wants to drink... and in about an hour we can take him home again.
BTW: recovery time is 24 hours!! Pretty cool, huh?!! Except he can't swim for 7 days... so he will miss one of his swim lesson classes (with Zion classmates), but he'll be able to get back to school by noon on Wednesday, or for sure first thing Thursday!
Now Thor says the surgery sounds like "fun..." He can't wait to pick out his soda pop! (he hasn't been allowed to drink pop while he's had his braces on... so this will be an exception)....
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