The Puddles

“Dad, I’m going to go get my phone so Madie and I can go to her bedroom and text each other,” says Kamryn (age 8, Madie’s cousin).

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It started off with asking one of the grandmas what was that thing on the back of Madie’s ear. “Bug bite.” After a week of the “bug bite” getting bigger and not smaller. Mom suggested asking the school nurse.  Ok. That is one step up the chain of the medical world. The school nurse didn’t know but suggested hot compresses.  So we tried that.  It didn’t go away. We gave it a few more days. After a week of it not going away, I took her to her pediatrician office.  The nurse practitioner said she thought it would go away and not to worry.  She came home with pink eye that afternoon so Chris took her to the doctor the next day.  Our pediatrician wasn’t sure what it was. She brought in the other doctor in the office.  He didn’t know what it was. Chris begged for both or either of them to just cut it off or lance it.  Neither would do it. The doctor sent Chris and Madie to an ENT.  After looking at her ear, that doctor declared it a fast growing hemangioma and scheduled Madie for surgery. Surgery!!  Real-live, going under the knife, general anesthesia . . . surgery.  That was a shocker.

After Chris and I sat on that bit of news for 24 hours, we scheduled a second opinion with a dermatologist.  I figured if we were willing to drive 17 hours and cross four states to get a second opinion for Ben. We can drive 8 minutes to an office in the same city that I live and get another opinion.  We walked into the dermatologist and after examining it, smirking when we told him the other doctor wanted to schedule surgery, and gently talking to Madie about what he was going to do, he cut the thing off her ear.  Thank goodness. Chris was even willing to pin Madie to him so that the doctor could do the procedure.  We finally found a doctor who was willing to just cut it off.  Geez.

BTW, this doctor didn’t know what it was either, but he still was willing to just take care of it. So we finally got the lab results back and the final verdict . . . . a glorified pimple. Yep. That’s it. They gave it a big medical name.  It was probably caused by a hair follicle or a cyst, but the nurse said that the layman’s term was . . . a pimple.

So instead of a paying for a surgery and all that comes with it, we walked out of the dermatologist office paying around $30 dollars. Add the lab fee and we are still well under the cost that the surgery would have been.  So after five medical professionals looked at her ear we are finally finished.  We didn’t even see that many cardiologists when they were diagnosing Ben’s initial heart issue. I am griping now, but that is because I have spent WAY TOO MUCH TIME in doctors’ office lately for my children. We have spent WAY TOO MUCH MONEY trying to get answers for their many ailments.  I have seen the medical world work miracles. Look at Ben. I’ve seen medical professionals make good and quick decisions about Ben’s care that was not invasive but took care of the issue. I know they do good work.  I appreciate all that they do.  So in the end, I am grateful that it was just a pimple.  But I think that I will take a break from the medical world for a while. Or at least until Friday when I have to take Ben to his next doctor’s appointment.

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“Mom!  It’s still daylight outside!  Why do we have to go to bed?” states all three kids in one form or another.  True.  It’s still light outside but it is 7:30 and it is definitely time for the younger two to go to bed. The oldest is staying up a little later to read, but even she is going to bed ON TIME and not a moment later.

It has been a long day.  It started with taking Madie to the dermatologist this morning to get a second opinion on the growth on her ear.  The doctor came in and looked at it and said “Let’s take it off!” Music to our ears.  The last doctor wanted to put her under general anesthesia and do surgery.  Of course it took longer to calm Madie down.  We never did.  Dad just pinned her tight against him while she yelled.  It took 3 minutes. The doctor isn’t sure what it is, but he sent it off for labs.  But it is gone and no surgery!  Yeah!

Because Madie got cut on, she got a treat.  Instead of ice cream (which the tradition) we went to Starbucks.  They made her a special chocolate smoothie without the banana and put lots of chocolate chips in it. They made it special for her!  They even handed us a free 10 itunes download card.  Dad claimed it for himself.  But they were obviously trying to make Madie’s day better, not his!

We came home this morning and the drama had me exhausted.  But we still had to eat and then get Ainsley to Princess Camp.  Today was her last day.  We dropped her off. Visited the pharmacy for some medicine for Madie. Stopped by church to give Daddy something and to pick up Madie’s ipod.  We got to check out the VBS decorations while we were there.  Awesome.  Made us all excited about next week.  That crew has “skills”!

Then it was back to Princess Camp to see Ainsley’s final recital. She was adorable. Adorable!!

Back to church to pick something else up that we forgot and then home. Chores, Wii time, Dinner, and finally bed.  I’m tired.  So despite my children’s cries of “Unfair.” “It’s not right.” “This is silly.” I still sent them to bed.  And for good measure I reminded them of the Robert Lewis Stevenson Poem, “Bed in Summer”

In winter I get up at night
And dress by yellow candle-light.
In summer quite the other way,
I have to go to bed by day.

I have to go to bed and see
The birds still hopping on the tree,
Or hear the grown-up people's feet
Still going past me in the street.

And does it not seem hard to you,
When all the sky is clear and blue,
And I should like so much to play,
To have to go to bed by day?

Although written in 1885, it is still true today.  So good night!

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Dear Tooth Loser,

We are sorry to inform you that there was a transportation malfunction last night.  Our tooth fairy network was down.  Our backup system also failed. We apologize for this inconvenience.

Due to this emergency, we were unable to send our tooth fairy out last night for deliveries.  The problem has been solved and we will resume normal activities this evening.

We apologize for any problems this may have caused.  Thank you for understanding and please place your tooth under your pillow tonight for normal tooth fairy activities.

Sincerely,

The Tooth Fairy Network

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After church today, we went to this Farmer’s Market that I had heard about last Sunday from a friend.  Since it is right by the church it was really convenient to stop by today.  We picked up peaches, donut peaches, cantaloupe, potatoes, fresh eggs and other good stuff.  All of the food was grown local (we even got to see the chickens!) The prices were pretty decent for local food and most of it had been picked yesterday.  There was a sink there so I washed a few of the peaches for the kids to eat on while we ran errands.  I will say this . . . I don’t think I will ever buy peaches from the grocery store again!!!  These peaches were awesome.  Perfectly ripe. Perfectly sweet. The kids and I decided we will go back each Sunday and buy more.

Now we are home and the kids must clean their rooms and do the rest of their chores.  But they are working hard with the promise of another peach!  I love it when eating peaches is an incentive!

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So after a morning cleaning the church (Why is it that I can garner more excitement for cleaning the church than my own house?), I came to find Chris trying to kill himself with a heat stroke while cleaning the garage.  Seriously, I know that our garage needs to be cleaned out, but good gracious, it was like 120 degrees outside and worse in the garage without a breeze or a fan.   I asked him to pack it up and start again this evening after the sun goes down.  It will at least be below 95.

Until then . . . we decided to make a family day of it.  After much discussion about movies amongst the entire family, it was decided that in order to maintain family unity we would go to separate movies.  The girls went to Judy Moody and the boys went to Kung Fu Panda.  We met in the lobby afterwards.  Everyone enjoyed their movies.  It was already 7pm when we got out so we went to go eat at the new restaurant by the house.  It’s called Whistle Stop Cafe.  The owner came out and talked to us (well. . . to every customer).  Chris talked to him about coming in there to work.  The guy offered him a corner to set up in.  He brought out sample Tortillo Soups for us to try (really good!).  He’s changing the menu to tailor it to what his customers want.  Plus it has wi-fi!  So I think we’ll be back!

The dinner was good. The movie was great.  It was time for bed and time to get ready for the next day.  It was great spending time as a family.  Now back to work, chores, and the mundane life!

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“This Cars thing is going viral!  It is absolutely wild!  It is everywhere. Disney channel, juice boxes, diapers . . . I mean everywhere!  Totally viral!”  declares Ben.

I love the fact that he knows the word viral!

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That is the quote of the day.  And that quote came from me.

After a year and a half . . . we found out that Ainsley is not lactose intolerant.  That’s right. She has no problems digesting milk.  A year of lactaid milk, soy yogurt, vegan cheese, and lactaid pills all for nothing.  The pediatrician determined that long ago that Ainsley was lactose intolerant by doing the exclusion test.  She didn’t eat diary for two weeks and then she was given a glass of milk.  She had diarrhea within half an hour.   So why does she have tummy issues?  We go back in next week (or whenever I get to gumption to call in.  I’m still in a state of shock right now and debating whether or not Ainsley can just live with these issues).  We are suppose to go in and have more blood work to test for celiac and other issues.  Then we see the doctor for our next step.

It didn’t help that I had a blowout on my tire this morning on the way to the hospital.  Thank goodness for Uncle David.  He came and saved the day.  He met me where I had pulled off (scary part of town), traded me cars and then sent Ainsley and I on our way.  He then took my tire (of which the spare was flat too) to Tiremax to get it fixed or at least dealt with.  I have a loaner tire on the car now.  Chris says he will take care of the rest when he gets home from Angleton (where he is volunteering as an EMT).  We even made it to the hospital on time.  Thank you Uncle David!  Not to be outdone Aunt Debra took the other two kids and watched them today for me so that the healthy children didn’t have to go to the hospital. Thank you Aunt Debra.

I am tired. I think I’ll go lay down for a 20 minute power nap.  I’m sure I’ll feel more refreshed and ready to face the day after that.  I just need to find the puddles and let them watch a quick video while I rest on the couch for a bit.  Thank goodness they still like TV for the time being!

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Hopefully it will be just that easy.  Tomorrow I’m taking Ainsley for her lactose breathe test at TCH. The GI doctor wants to try this first to make sure that she truly is lactose intolerant. Fortunately all she has to do is breathe into a tube and they will measure the level of hydrogen that she exhales.  This should tell us whether or not she is lactose intolerant and whether or not all of her tummy pains are due to this.  It is possible.  I am voting for this answer!  The other answers become more complicated.

So we all joined in with her special diet tonight: chicken breast seasoned with only salt and pepper and white rice seasoned with pepper.  And water.  After 10pm she can consume nothing not even water until the test at 10am tomorrow.  Poor dear is going to be so hungry.  I feel for her.

Fortunately, Aunt Deb has graciously agreed to take the other two kids so that they don’t have to go with us to the hospital.  The test will take 3 hours. It will be a long day of sitting around breathing into a tube.  But when it comes to tests . . . this is an easy one.

I promised that she could have anything that she wanted for lunch tomorrow.  She says that she just wants chocolate ice cream.  This should make for an interesting lunch!

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Better late then never.  I’m finally putting pictures up of our troop overnight.  I and another couple of moms took 18 girls to spend the night at the Omni Hotel.  The girls had a ton of fun.  They swam, ate pizza, had an awards ceremony, movie night, game room, and then we went to the Girl Scout museum the next day.  The entire event went rather smoothly.  Thank goodness.  I don’t think I could have handled too many glitches.

Some of the moms said that they can’t wait for us to do this again. Of course, none of those moms came and spent the night or spent hours getting the trip ready.  Hunting for last minute volunteers, buying the supplies, hiring the lifeguard, getting the paperwork together (oh, the paperwork!).

In the end, I’m glad I did it. Madie and the rest of the girls had a blast (that’s why I did it).  And a lot of them got to stay at a five star hotel for the first (and perhaps only) time.  Now I’ll take a month off and jump into it again!  Next one . . . a get back together party!

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