What have we been up to???

Well, after a busy 2 weeks with all sorts of appointments (not necessarily doctor's appointments, though they were a large portion of them), we have finally gotten back into our usual routine . . . mostly. =0)

Starting with Monday, 2 weeks ago, I had my appointment for my ear . . . it's healing well. Still can't hear very well, but it's getting better at least. =0)

On Tuesday, Isaiah had his appointment in St. Pete - the check-up at the Rothman Center. That went . . . as expected. =0) Basically, the doc wants Isaiah on the bigger dose of the med, but I said it's not gonna happen . . . he sleeps way to soundly (which is dangerous because Isaiah usually has his episodes of anaphylaxis in the middle of the night). S0, the doctor recommended giving half the dose in the morning and half at night . . . ummmmm, side effects do include an issue with overheating . . . dare I mention last summer? =0) So, I'm thinking that rispridol may be a thing of the past. Isaiah's ped didn't like the idea of rispridol anyway, so we are going to make an appointment with a doctor he recommended that is 20 minutes away (as opposed to 3 hours). =0)

Anyway, back to St. Pete . . . the doctor was still trying to get all of the labs back, so she had us wait in the waiting room while all the faxes were coming in. After about 30 minutes, we were handed a few papers and told to make an appointment to see the pediatrician as soon as possible. WHAT? I can't say that I didn't freak out a little . . . especially while I had time to think about that proposal . . . so, on Wednesday, I made an appointment for Thursday (we were travelling 3 hours home from the appt. on Wed.). =0)

On Thursday, we went to see the ped. He said that he saw Isaiah's file and was thinking, "Oh, no. What's going on now?!?" =0) Well, after reviewing the labs, the doctor looked at me and said, "I didn't see you." What? You see, everything is "fine". Basically, Isaiah's triglycerides are high and some of his other counts are off a bit. Considering it wasn't a fasting test, and Isaiah's extremely restricted diet, there's nothing to worry about. He said that we'll watch the counts, but there's nothing we can really do about it all . . . not now, anyway. If they get worse, we may have to look at new meds or something, but there's nothing that can be removed from Isaiah's diet. If we removed anything else, Isaiah would need a feeding tube, which is a HUGE issue by itself. So, we can't do anything, they weren't that high - don't worry about it. Ehem. =0) And, as far as the doc was concerned, he didn't see us and no bill would be sent to the insurance companies. =0)

The rest of Easter break had other appointments going on and all the preparations for Easter (including ripping and downloading songs from Isaiah's CDs to his mp3 player . . . his Easter-therapy present). =0) Can I say just how long that takes? Sheesh, I'll use a CD player any day!!! =0)

Oh, yeah . . . and an impromptu "photo-shoot"/play date with our neighbor's grandchildren (whom they hadn't seen in a little over a year . . . long, sad story, but I was honored that they shared a bit of their time with us).

Somewhere in this break, Isaiah won an outfit from Hartley's Life With 3 Boys (I will send and post pics soon, I promise!) =0) and also won the RDD (Rare Disease Day) contest through MastoKids (thanks everyone!!!). Isaiah was sooo excited - he had no idea what he had won, he was just excited that he won! =0)

That brings me to this week. More specifically, yesterday. We had our usual "meeting" with Isaiah's local allergist (she's really just there for whatever we may need in between our appointments with All Children's, so she needs to know what's going on). Everything was going smoothly - Isaiah was even calm, thanks to the mp3 tunes!! =0) As we were leaving, Isaiah had a spill in the parking lot . . . it was Isaiah vs. the corner of the sidewalk. The sidewalk won . . . sort of. =0)

As I was putting Isaiah's bag in the car, Isaiah decided to go toward the front of my car . . . back toward the office, where he fell, hitting his nose right on the corner of the sidewalk. When I turned around to see what happened, I saw Isaiah laying on the ground . . . face down, with part of his head on the sidewalk. When I picked him up and turned him around, he began crying (thankfully), and I noticed his nose was flat! It really didn't take very long for it to swell up, though. =0(

To make a long story short, Isaiah had trouble staying awake, so we headed for the ER. While we were there, Isaiah was having no part in trying to stay awake. The doctor thought his nose was broken and decided that he needed to have x-rays done, as well as a cat scan because he was so groggy. Turns out, the shock of it all made him sleepy and his nose . . . it's not broken! Thank you, God!!!! God protected Isaiah - it looks much worse than it is. We still may need to see an ENT, but at least we have x-rays out of the way. The doctor kept Isaiah at the hospital for a little bit (to watch him, as he tends to have swelling issues and she was worried he may have an anaphylaxis episode), but (again) God protected Isaiah and we left without further incident. =0)

For now, his nose is swollen and he has 2 black eyes to go with it. Still no major reaction (thank you, Jesus!!!).

Oh, yeah, Isaiah is on a regimen of antibiotics for an infection in his lungs . . . he hasn't seemed very sick, apart from a lingering cough (random, low fevers, but nothing completely unusual). It's not really serious, but the doctor just wanted to make sure we got it cleared up quickly before his body decides to overreact. It should also help with the rashes (eczema & other allergy rashes) that Isaiah has on his arms, legs, torso . . . tush . . . okay, so, everywhere - it's that time of year, again.

On a lighter note =0), Isaiah finished his Awana Cubbies book this past Wednesday! That means Isaiah knows (and still quotes) 28+ Bible verses (I think 34?)!!! I'm so proud of him!!! He's such a smart little guy, and has worked so hard (or shall I say effortlessly) on these verses. Even while he's playing, he quotes his verses. I love it! We have already started on the second book, so this Wednesday, he will share 4 new verses with his Cubbies leader (at his request). =0)

Did I mention the little stinker can read? He can. He can even read words like Easter and Christmas . . . all this found out yesterday after he decided to wake up in the hospital. =0) I thought he was reading . . . he was just hiding it! =0)

I'll post a video of Isaiah saying a few of the verses a tad later. =0)