I have had two migraines this week. One on Sunday, all day, which totally sucked, of course. It hovered around, never really going away, until Thursday, when WHACK! WHAM! POW! I was flattened. Luke came home and I was a wreck. And worried, because I needed to hold up for Niko's SURGERY on Friday! We needed to go downtown to the hospital (not Childrens) so the doctor could pop open Niko's blocked tear ducts. Luke worked, so I took Niko by myself. Nothing to eat or drink before, so I was afraid Niko would be starving and emotional. So Marilyn and Jason came over and the men gave Niko a blessing, and me one, as well. It helped.
So anyway, we went, and Niko did amazingly. He played with the other kids in pre-op, and I put on a gown and a hairnet and went in with him while he was anesthetized. (He was in love with the anesthesiologist...he asked our general health questions with Niko sitting on his knee gazing with unabashed love into his eyes.) Niko screamed, which I told them to expect, so I sang to him and knew that every scream meant a big mouthful of gas. He was asleep pretty quickly. His tear ducts passageways were too small, so instead of using a blunt metal wire to pop open any membranes obstructing the passages, they ended up using little balloons to open the passageway. Pretty smooth...20 minutes in and out. The surgeon said to expect some bleeding from the eyes, nose, and mouth (because the tears run into the back of the nose and into the mouth), but it should be minor and pretty much one or two days only. So Niko woke up, was cranky, ate some, cuddled some, played some, and we were out of there. Five hours start to finish.
He did bleed out of his eyes, nose, and mouth, and even though I expected it, it was extremely disconcerting. But the bleeding has stopped and he's completely back to his old self again.
The surgeon himself called last night just to see how Niko was doing and to ask if I had any questions. I thought that was above and beyond the call of duty, and I'm sending him a thank you card for that!
Saturday, September 03, 2005
Calcium and Early Katrina
Journal Entry August 18, 2005
Niko's walking a little more day by day, which is great. His muscle tone is really improving. Everybody misjudges his age by a year, guessing that he's one year old. Time for another blood test, which we only have to get quarterly now. I thought his calcium level would be sky high, since he hasn't had his infusion in a year, and he's eating more foods with calcium. Still not dairy, of course, but the occasional pancake. But the labs came back completely normal, and I was shocked. And very, very happy. It seems like his hypercalcemia is slowly going away, that he truly is growing out of it like we had hoped. I still monitor calcium like crazy. Watching the solids he eats (more and more every week, but he definitely has his favorites and sticks to them religiously) and checking out his baby food jars with a vengeance. He snacks on cereal now (10% calcium a serving) when that never would have happened before. It's
wonderful.
Niko has also turned into a walking fool, staggering hither and yon. Last night Luke held Niko's hand and together they toddled down the hall to bed. (Well, maybe the little one did slightly more toddling.) I know that almost every parent is entranced by what their child can do. But I also feel that Luke and I seem to appreciate Niko's accomplishments more than usual, because we had to wait so very long for them. We're still waiting for Niko's first word. A "mama" would bowl me over.
Hurricane Katrina took out New Orleans. It's absolutely devastated. How many entries like this am I going to end up writing?
Niko's walking a little more day by day, which is great. His muscle tone is really improving. Everybody misjudges his age by a year, guessing that he's one year old. Time for another blood test, which we only have to get quarterly now. I thought his calcium level would be sky high, since he hasn't had his infusion in a year, and he's eating more foods with calcium. Still not dairy, of course, but the occasional pancake. But the labs came back completely normal, and I was shocked. And very, very happy. It seems like his hypercalcemia is slowly going away, that he truly is growing out of it like we had hoped. I still monitor calcium like crazy. Watching the solids he eats (more and more every week, but he definitely has his favorites and sticks to them religiously) and checking out his baby food jars with a vengeance. He snacks on cereal now (10% calcium a serving) when that never would have happened before. It's
wonderful.
Niko has also turned into a walking fool, staggering hither and yon. Last night Luke held Niko's hand and together they toddled down the hall to bed. (Well, maybe the little one did slightly more toddling.) I know that almost every parent is entranced by what their child can do. But I also feel that Luke and I seem to appreciate Niko's accomplishments more than usual, because we had to wait so very long for them. We're still waiting for Niko's first word. A "mama" would bowl me over.
Hurricane Katrina took out New Orleans. It's absolutely devastated. How many entries like this am I going to end up writing?
First Steps
Journal Entry, July 24, 2005
We're down in Luke's hometown for family reunions. While visiting everybody, Niko took his first steps! He kind of hunkered down and took three quick steps before falling. The cabin erupted into applause. We were so proud! Tonight Luke's cousins were over, and Niko was in fine form. He spun, did downward dog, laughed, bounced, crawled, chased, stood, flirted, rolled balls, balanced, crawled in laps, tried to bite, walked on his knees, waved, did "You're A Winner", clapped his hands, ate pillows...you name it. He was the life of the party, all eyes on him, and he totally worked the audience. It was one of the funniest things I had ever seen. He was so conscious of everybody paying attention to him. That night he collapsed in bed, weary from the show. What an entertainer.
We're down in Luke's hometown for family reunions. While visiting everybody, Niko took his first steps! He kind of hunkered down and took three quick steps before falling. The cabin erupted into applause. We were so proud! Tonight Luke's cousins were over, and Niko was in fine form. He spun, did downward dog, laughed, bounced, crawled, chased, stood, flirted, rolled balls, balanced, crawled in laps, tried to bite, walked on his knees, waved, did "You're A Winner", clapped his hands, ate pillows...you name it. He was the life of the party, all eyes on him, and he totally worked the audience. It was one of the funniest things I had ever seen. He was so conscious of everybody paying attention to him. That night he collapsed in bed, weary from the show. What an entertainer.
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