Thursday managed to fail to go as planned...but that is a rather typical thing in our household, so we were not surprised...
April went to work for a while on Thursday morning which gave me the morning to spend with the boys. Owen was well behaved. He ate and relaxed on the floor. I would lie down next with him and talk to him and then proceed to do something else. Brendan, on the other hand, was a force to be reckoned with and terrorized the house and was all in all a beast. He would leap off of the toilet onto the floor. He tried to push the laptop on the floor because I would not read to him in that instant. He needed attention and was not afraid to make it clear there would be hell to pay if I failed to notice. By the time I needed to get the boys ready to leave for Madison, I was fit to be tied and had no patience left whatsoever. I began to wonder whether bringing Brendan along to Owen's appointment with Dr. Elmo would be a good idea or not. Unfortunately, it was late enough that doing anything other than taking him along would be an impossibility.
Once we loaded up in the car and started driving to Madison...Brendan did a complete turnaround and became a perfect angel. As we drove to Madison, he happily ate some chicken nuggets April had picked up for him and watched his DVD. Everyone once in a while he would tune into what was playing on the radio and would dance a little. It was a nice surprise.
We were running a bit behind but managed to make up for lost time in transit and made it to Madison just in time for Owen's 1:45 appointment. We rushed to the elevator and up to the 2nd floor. As April checked in with the receptionist, I set Owen down on a seat in the lobby and unbuckled Brendan from his stroller. As I looked up at April I could see her face was looking flushed which meant something was not right. I eavesdropped in on the conversation and heard the snippy receptionist tell her that Owen's appointment had been scheduled for this past Tuesday an 9:30 in the morning. She said Elmo was over at the children's hospital and would not be back today. When April asked if there was any chance of seeing him today the receptionist did not feel we could. I was so pissed! I had switched my day off to attend the appointment. I was very anxious to hear what Dr. Elmo had to say...and I did NOT want to drive all the way back down to Madison again for an appointment I was already there for. The snippy receptionist finally agreed (begrudgingly) to call Dr. Elmo's nurse to see if we would be able to see him or not. A few minutes later...we were thrilled to find out that we would be able to see him at 4:15. Of course it was over 2 hours away...but at least we would be able to see him. We buckled Brendan back into his seat and left the office.
In order to kill some time...we headed over to Noodles and Company for lunch. I was irritated...but I thought we would find something to do while we waited. Brendan chose to run around and play in the restaurant (which was no big deal since there was no one there) in lieu of eating. I decided to give my sister a call and see if maybe she wanted to come over to the childrens hospital to play with Brendan while we were waiting since he would need some entertainment to not get bored. She agreed so we decided to head over to the hospital and wait.
We made a stop at the bookstore next to the Noodles and Company and we received a call from Elmo's nurse letting us know we could get in right away if we would come right now. April told her we were just moments away and we were on the way. As luck (almost) would have had it...Sammi was already at the hospital with her friend Nicola so she would still be able to entertain Brendan. We scurried into the waiting room and checked in. Brendan immediately discovered the large fish tank and was enamored instantly. "See Em!" he would tell Sammi and kiss the side of the tank. He realized there were all sorts of cool things to do in the lobby and would rush from one thing to another as content as can be. The lobby was teaming with people...so Brendan enjoyed all the activity. It was not too long and we were being called back to the doctor's office.
A cute little Chinese lady took us back and weighed Owen. She was very spunky but I could not understand a thing she said. Owen had actually gained more weight...9 lbs. 4 oz. I was impressed! Chineka moved us from one room to another and asked us a series of questions that I am sure we answered incorrectly because we could not quite understand what she was saying. I know I answered a few accurately because I was watching her type the information...but other answers...well, we winged it. This was about 3:30 p.m. Shortly thereafter, Dr. Elmo's nurse came in and spoke with us. She apologized that we had to wait in the lobby for a bit and explained that she thought Elmo's 3:00 appt. was a no show, so she called us in...and then they showed up late. But she said she did not feel it would take long and the doctor would be in shortly. This was at 3:38 p.m.
Owen had just finished a bottle and was very active and content. I was happy he was so lively because I really wanted Dr. Elmo to see his great behavior. As the next 30 minutes came and went...Owen calmed down a little bit and we sat and waited. People walked down the hallway and stared in at us. Gramps Creeper walked by a couple of times and glanced in at us. 4:30 came and went and I could hear someone mooing down the hallway. I don't know that they were actually mooing...but that was sure what it sounded like. In my extremely bored and restless state, I started to think...AHA! Those pictures of animals and such with arrows next to them did make sense! The hallway marked cow DID indeed have cows in it! Yes, I was that bored. A couple of minutes later I had switched gears from being ridiculously delirious to absolutely annoyed. I was panicked that Brendan was coming unglued in the lobby and my sister had not responded to the text messages I had sent checking in. I had to pee like a Russian racehorse. I did not want to leave the office for fear he would show up as soon as I walked out...so I just sat there and stewed knowing I would soon pee myself and probably have an aneurysm from getting so bent out of shape. My butt was going numb from the uncomfortable bench and Owen was getting drowsy.
When 4:45 rolled around...April finally started hanging around the office door hoping someone would notice. That halls had gotten increasingly quiet and fewer people were walking about. We waited so long the cows went home. Once she sat back down, we could hear Elmo talking to someone and knew it could not be long now...he only had to walk a few feet....but soon...the voices were gone and there we sat. Another period of time passed and Chineka peeked in on us and seemed shocked that we were still waited. I was not shocked...just homicidal. She said she would go see where Elmo was. A few moments later...she popped back in and said he would be here in just a couple of seconds. I did not believe a word of it. We were supposed to have gone to the UW for an ultrasound for Owen at 5 but because he had the MRI a couple of weeks ago they had decided to hold off. It was a good thing because we would not have ever made it on time.
At almost 5 o'clock...Elmo finally graced us with his presence. He apologized for the delay and we both smiled and nodded..."it's no problem." Why do we say that? Why, when you get stuck waiting an infinite amount of time to get into a medical appointment do you say "No Problem." when the doctor apologized for being late. Who knows? Maybe it is just me. Anyway...he came in and talked to us about Owen's MRI scan from last week. He brought it up on the computer and showed us the picture. He explained that the ventricles should be thin and slit like and that Owen's were more sausage like towards the back of his brain. He said that while it was still cause for concern...the fact that his head had not swelled up more and the ventricles had decreased in size, that surgery was not needed yet. Dr. Elmo said all of the blood was indeed gone and the concern now was the fluid left in the aftermath. He showed us the portion of the brain (on the rear right side) that had sustained permanent damage as a result of the bleed. He said the damaged part was a relatively quiet area in the brain (meaning it does not serve any distinct or major purpose). Right behind the damaged area is a portion of the brain that affects sight. He did not feel this part was damaged but said that if it was...Owen may have issues seeing to the left in both eyes. Right from day one he has said that if there were motor issues or other issues, it would probably be on the left or pertaining to the left side of the body. He pointed out again that his recovery and progress was nothing short of amazing and that if he had been adult he would not have survived. He said the the difference in the healing mechanisms in children as opposed to adults is incredible. He stated that he was pleased with his progress and if things continued this way, there was a chance he may not require a stint. Also, he felt that there was a fair chance that permanent side affects of the bleed could be minimal. Now that is what I wanted to hear!
After he finished looking at the scan he did a physical exam of Owen. I do not feel it was completely accurate because Owen had been awake for a while and was half asleep by the time Elmo arrived. His assessment was that his upper body strength (arms and neck) was still a bit on the low side. He was not concerned, nor did he think it was substantial...but it was something we should work with him on. When he examined his eyes, he was pleased that he was tracking and that he was responsive to the various tests he did. His reflexes were good and both sides of his body were active and responsive. We asked what he would like to see Owen doing in the future and he replied he would like him to have a consistent social smile in the next month. We are also supposed to watch and note if we see one side of the body as being more active than the other or if we felt we saw any problems with movement.
Dr. Elmo was content with Owens progress and did not think he would need to see him again for 6 months unless something changed drastically. He knew we would be meeting with the other doctors regularly and if we were alerted to an area of concern, we could contact him at that time. So overall, it was a good appointment.
By the time we walked back out in the lobby EVERYONE was gone with an exception of Brendan, my sister Sammi and her friend Nicola. Nobody else was around...even the receptionists went home. I point this out only because we waited for EVER. Sammi told me Brendan was well behaved the entire time we were in there (6 years) and was just getting antsy when we came out. I was so impressed!
After leaving the hospital we made a trip to the mall and Target. While at Target...we wandered through the toy aisle and I decided to torture Brendan with a couple of the toys. There were a couple of puppets that I put on and talked to him with. He looked petrified and said ALL DONE! There were a couple more toys that made noise and when I pushed the switches..he was annoyed and pushed me away. I found a Yo Gabba Gabba boombox and played that for him and he signaled me to hand it over. I was horrified. I was supposed to be picking on him....he was not supposed to want the toy. For the remainder of the trip through the store...we heard YO GABBA GABBA YO GABBA GABBA over and over and over and over again. It was a $25 toy and we were NOT wasting our money on something that irritating. Brendan never wants to sit in the cart...he likes to get down and walk. Sometimes he walks everywhere but where you need him to go...but today he was staying put and playing with his toy. There are the red balls in front of the Target building that Brendan loves to play around. Every time we go there he asks to walk around them and play. As we approached the check outs I needed to distract him from the annoying Yo Gabba Gabba toy so we could put it back. I offered to let him get down and walk. "NOPE." he said and played with his toy. I asked if he wanted to go outside and play by the ball. "NO" he said and concentrated on the toy. Feverishly I looked around the store trying to think of something he would be interested in...nothing. When I got to the checkout...I tried to get the toy out of his hand and he gripped it for dear life. I realized that this damn toy was coming with us and it was all my fault! The moral of the story....don't tease your child.
So that's my story for today....until next time....
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