We had our follow up appointment with the pediatrician today. His ears are not infected, but they do still have clear fluid behind them. The ENT referral for Children's Mercy never contacted us, only to find out that the doctor's office never faxed the form over. Fantastic. So they were supposed to fax it today, and I should hear from them in the next 7-10 days. The pediatrician believes that getting tubes put in may be the best route for him, since he has had recurring infections, and the cold/flu season is typically over. Also, the fluid hasn't drained in the last 6 weeks since his last appointment. She also noted that his ear drum doesn't move/vibrate well with the fluid behind it, causing some hearing loss/difficulty. Basically, noise sounds like he is hearing everything underwater and is muffled. Tubes are believed to be the best thing for him long-term.
Other things that she checked was his throat, which turned out to be red. His lymph nodes on his neck were also slightly swollen too. We did a strep test, and it came back negative. No fevers either. She wants to send the throat sample out for a culture just to be sure.
His lungs sound much better than the previous appointment as well. So overall, he seems to be doing alright. Once we hear from the ENT doctors, we will see what happens next. I also received another referral for a different doctor just in case CM takes too long.
Thursday, June 30, 2011
Wednesday, June 29, 2011
New Beginnings...
I am so excited to announce that I have accepted a new position at NKCH as a Registered Nurse. I currently work as a nurse in a medical/surgical/oncology unit, and I will be transitioning to a strictly oncology floor. I am really excited to move, as the new job will be a day shift position (currently, I work night shift), and I truely believe that it will be better on my family and personal life.
The hospital also offers daycare, so Aidan will be able to come to work with me. They offer all 3 meals and 2 snacks, provide all diapers and wipes, and help them potty train when they turn 2. And we only have to pay for daycare on the days we use it. Which is awesome. That means I won't feel guilty when I keep Aidan home on my off days. And I will get to see him before he goes to bed every night. Oh, I look forward to that.
The best thing about this job is that it is literally 10 minutes from where I live. My other job is about 45 minutes, so I will be saving money on gas, as well as daycare. I can't wait to start on July 25th. It will truely be a change for the better.
The hospital also offers daycare, so Aidan will be able to come to work with me. They offer all 3 meals and 2 snacks, provide all diapers and wipes, and help them potty train when they turn 2. And we only have to pay for daycare on the days we use it. Which is awesome. That means I won't feel guilty when I keep Aidan home on my off days. And I will get to see him before he goes to bed every night. Oh, I look forward to that.
The best thing about this job is that it is literally 10 minutes from where I live. My other job is about 45 minutes, so I will be saving money on gas, as well as daycare. I can't wait to start on July 25th. It will truely be a change for the better.
Tuesday, June 28, 2011
Colorado Vacation....Part I: Denver
Here is a somewhat detailed day by day of our vacation.
Day 1
We left KC around 6:15am to head to Topeka to pick up Aidan. He was staying at my mom’s house for a couple days so we wouldn’t have to pay for a full week of daycare, and I had to work only one night shift this week. We ate breakfast at my mom’s (cinnamon rolls…yum), and started to head back on the road.
Unfortunately, we were running late, but what else is new when you have a toddler with you. We left Topeka about 8:20am (we were hoping to leave by 8), and headed off towards Colorado.
Aidan did well in the beginning. Although he didn’t eat hardly any breakfast, we was in a pretty good mood. We put on Sesame Street for a couple hours, then watched Cars. He seemed to enjoy that, all while playing on his magnet doodle.
We didn’t want him to sleep before lunch, or he would be up all night. Well, I guess you can say we almost got our wish.
Aidan started getting pretty cranky about 20-30 minutes from Hays, where the plan was to stop for lunch. So, he did end up falling asleep for about 20 minutes, only to wake up (well, I forced him to wake up) so he could eat. Yeah right. He barely touched his lunch too. I figured he would be super hungry, since he has barely eaten all morning. Boy was I wrong. He ate some French fries, that’s it. I guess he will eat when he is hungry.
I was really hoping that after lunch he would take a nap (like usual). Nope. He sat in his car seat, playing and fussing off and on. We put in Wall-E, in hopes that that would help him fall asleep. Nope. It was pointless. He was so tired. Our next stop was around the Colorado/Kansas border. After 2 ½ hours of fussiness, I decided to switch driving with Derek, so I can try to soothe him. Well, I did, and he finally fell asleep about 3:30pm, and slept until we arrived to the hotel in Denver. With the time change, we arrived about 4:40pm. The only thing I have to say about Denver, was OMG the traffic is HORRIBLE! Of course, we had to arrive around rush hour, go figure.
We went to dinner at Famous Daves, which was conveniently located across the street from where we were staying. Aidan enjoyed some ribs and fries, oh, and my corn on the cob.
He ate about half of a rib, once he didn’t know what to do with it after making his fingers and hands really messy. He would only eat it if we held it for him. Then he enjoyed some Oreo Cookies, however, he only ate the center cream filling.
After dinner, we pretty much went to bed. With the time change and driving all day, we were exhausted. Sadly, we went to bed around 8pm here (9pm central time).
Day 2
We woke up around 6am, Aidan woke up about 6:30am. We ate breakfast at the ‘free hot breakfast buffet’ provided by our hotel. Well, Aidan ate some luke warm eggs, yogurt, and 3 sausage links. I am just glad he is eating better now that we are off the road. Our plans today were to go to the Denver Zoo.
.
We left for the zoo just a little after 9am, in hopes of avoiding the morning traffic. We arrived at the zoo around 9:30am. There was supposed to be a Sea Lion show at 10:30, but it was cancelled. So we walked around letting Aidan run up to the exhibits to look at the animals. He had a blast. He really enjoyed looking at the fish, sea lions, birds, lions, and monkeys. When he first saw the monkeys, he called them ‘nanas’. He has a stuffed monkey he received for Valentine’s Day that we named Bananas, and so he calls him ‘nanas’. It was so cute. He made the sounds of the animals, as best he could. Later we ate lunch and went to watch the Wildlife Show. They had several free-flying birds and a couple of exotic animals. Aidan really seemed to enjoy it, although he was getting very sleepy. It was about 2pm, and he was surely ready for a nap. We decided to go ahead and leave the zoo so he can get some zzz’s, and sure enough, before even walking out to the parking lot, he was snoozing. He slept through being transferred out of the stroller, into the car seat, out of the car seat, and back to the hotel room. And he slept for 2 hours! Woo-hoo!
When Aidan finally woke up around 4pm, we lounged around for a little bit before heading to dinner. We went to a restaurant called Casa Bonita. This restaurant has cliff divers that dive from a 30 foot waterfall into a 14 foot deep pool down below. It was pretty entertaining and Aidan really seemed to like it.
Derek went out with his friends after dinner, and Aidan and I hung out in the hotel room for the night. Aidan finally passed out about 9:30pm (10:30pm central time), which is really past his bedtime.
Day 3
Our morning started around 7am. Aidan woke up all by himself, and we went to eat breakfast. Aidan really enjoys his yogurt and sausage for breakfast.
We are due to check out of the hotel today, and head down to Colorado Springs later. We hung out at the hotel until about 10:30am, so that we can plan our day around lil man’s naptime. While Derek and I packed up, Aidan hung out watching movies.
Once we left the hotel, we headed to the Downtown Aquarium in downtown Denver.
Aidan loves looking at the fish. As in, he runs up to the window, puts his little face up against it, and ooh’s and awes over all the little swimmers. He also enjoyed the shark tank as well. They had small (well, maybe not so small) windows under our feet so that the sharks can swim under us. Aidan really enjoyed that, although it took him a little bit to be able to stand over it.
At the end of the aquarium, they had a stingray pool. We were able to touch and/or feed the stingrays there. Well, Aidan wanted to touch them, but he couldn’t find the courage to do it. He freaked when they got close, which is what I had expected. I did touch one, and it was pretty awesome. We didn’t feed them though, but I don’t think I missed out on much.
We left the aquarium and went to lunch before the long drive down to Colorado Springs (it’s really only about an hour and a half). We got to Colorado Springs around 4pm, so we went to the Garden of the Gods to kill some time. Now that was a beautiful site. Aidan sure did enjoy it…well enjoyed running the entire path around the park. He fell down so many times, but kept getting right back up and took off running again. Poor baby has so many cuts/scrapes/bruises on his arms and legs. But, he sure is one tough kid!
We met up with our hosts, Matt & Kacie, about 6pm, and went to dinner at a local brewery. Of course, Aidan ate like a bird. Are French fries in one of the food groups?! Oy, he just doesn’t get the kind of nutrition I would like for him to have. Oh well, I try.
Aidan enjoyed playing with Matt & Kacie’s 2 dogs all night. He didn’t even go to bed until almost 10pm (which is 11pm central time). Considering his normal bedtime is around 8:30pm, he sure is turning into an night owl.
Day 1
We left KC around 6:15am to head to Topeka to pick up Aidan. He was staying at my mom’s house for a couple days so we wouldn’t have to pay for a full week of daycare, and I had to work only one night shift this week. We ate breakfast at my mom’s (cinnamon rolls…yum), and started to head back on the road.
Unfortunately, we were running late, but what else is new when you have a toddler with you. We left Topeka about 8:20am (we were hoping to leave by 8), and headed off towards Colorado.
Aidan did well in the beginning. Although he didn’t eat hardly any breakfast, we was in a pretty good mood. We put on Sesame Street for a couple hours, then watched Cars. He seemed to enjoy that, all while playing on his magnet doodle.
Aidan started getting pretty cranky about 20-30 minutes from Hays, where the plan was to stop for lunch. So, he did end up falling asleep for about 20 minutes, only to wake up (well, I forced him to wake up) so he could eat. Yeah right. He barely touched his lunch too. I figured he would be super hungry, since he has barely eaten all morning. Boy was I wrong. He ate some French fries, that’s it. I guess he will eat when he is hungry.
I was really hoping that after lunch he would take a nap (like usual). Nope. He sat in his car seat, playing and fussing off and on. We put in Wall-E, in hopes that that would help him fall asleep. Nope. It was pointless. He was so tired. Our next stop was around the Colorado/Kansas border. After 2 ½ hours of fussiness, I decided to switch driving with Derek, so I can try to soothe him. Well, I did, and he finally fell asleep about 3:30pm, and slept until we arrived to the hotel in Denver. With the time change, we arrived about 4:40pm. The only thing I have to say about Denver, was OMG the traffic is HORRIBLE! Of course, we had to arrive around rush hour, go figure.
We went to dinner at Famous Daves, which was conveniently located across the street from where we were staying. Aidan enjoyed some ribs and fries, oh, and my corn on the cob.
After dinner, we pretty much went to bed. With the time change and driving all day, we were exhausted. Sadly, we went to bed around 8pm here (9pm central time).
Day 2
We woke up around 6am, Aidan woke up about 6:30am. We ate breakfast at the ‘free hot breakfast buffet’ provided by our hotel. Well, Aidan ate some luke warm eggs, yogurt, and 3 sausage links. I am just glad he is eating better now that we are off the road. Our plans today were to go to the Denver Zoo.
.
We left for the zoo just a little after 9am, in hopes of avoiding the morning traffic. We arrived at the zoo around 9:30am. There was supposed to be a Sea Lion show at 10:30, but it was cancelled. So we walked around letting Aidan run up to the exhibits to look at the animals. He had a blast. He really enjoyed looking at the fish, sea lions, birds, lions, and monkeys. When he first saw the monkeys, he called them ‘nanas’. He has a stuffed monkey he received for Valentine’s Day that we named Bananas, and so he calls him ‘nanas’. It was so cute. He made the sounds of the animals, as best he could. Later we ate lunch and went to watch the Wildlife Show. They had several free-flying birds and a couple of exotic animals. Aidan really seemed to enjoy it, although he was getting very sleepy. It was about 2pm, and he was surely ready for a nap. We decided to go ahead and leave the zoo so he can get some zzz’s, and sure enough, before even walking out to the parking lot, he was snoozing. He slept through being transferred out of the stroller, into the car seat, out of the car seat, and back to the hotel room. And he slept for 2 hours! Woo-hoo!
When Aidan finally woke up around 4pm, we lounged around for a little bit before heading to dinner. We went to a restaurant called Casa Bonita. This restaurant has cliff divers that dive from a 30 foot waterfall into a 14 foot deep pool down below. It was pretty entertaining and Aidan really seemed to like it.
Derek went out with his friends after dinner, and Aidan and I hung out in the hotel room for the night. Aidan finally passed out about 9:30pm (10:30pm central time), which is really past his bedtime.
Day 3
Our morning started around 7am. Aidan woke up all by himself, and we went to eat breakfast. Aidan really enjoys his yogurt and sausage for breakfast.
We are due to check out of the hotel today, and head down to Colorado Springs later. We hung out at the hotel until about 10:30am, so that we can plan our day around lil man’s naptime. While Derek and I packed up, Aidan hung out watching movies.
Once we left the hotel, we headed to the Downtown Aquarium in downtown Denver.
Aidan loves looking at the fish. As in, he runs up to the window, puts his little face up against it, and ooh’s and awes over all the little swimmers. He also enjoyed the shark tank as well. They had small (well, maybe not so small) windows under our feet so that the sharks can swim under us. Aidan really enjoyed that, although it took him a little bit to be able to stand over it.
At the end of the aquarium, they had a stingray pool. We were able to touch and/or feed the stingrays there. Well, Aidan wanted to touch them, but he couldn’t find the courage to do it. He freaked when they got close, which is what I had expected. I did touch one, and it was pretty awesome. We didn’t feed them though, but I don’t think I missed out on much.
We left the aquarium and went to lunch before the long drive down to Colorado Springs (it’s really only about an hour and a half). We got to Colorado Springs around 4pm, so we went to the Garden of the Gods to kill some time. Now that was a beautiful site. Aidan sure did enjoy it…well enjoyed running the entire path around the park. He fell down so many times, but kept getting right back up and took off running again. Poor baby has so many cuts/scrapes/bruises on his arms and legs. But, he sure is one tough kid!
We met up with our hosts, Matt & Kacie, about 6pm, and went to dinner at a local brewery. Of course, Aidan ate like a bird. Are French fries in one of the food groups?! Oy, he just doesn’t get the kind of nutrition I would like for him to have. Oh well, I try.
Aidan enjoyed playing with Matt & Kacie’s 2 dogs all night. He didn’t even go to bed until almost 10pm (which is 11pm central time). Considering his normal bedtime is around 8:30pm, he sure is turning into an night owl.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)