We had Brooklynn's follow up CT of the head to follow her mildly enlarged ventricles seen on her MRI back in October done on Monday. Today we had the follow up appointment with neurosurgery to find out the results. They first take you in to measure the head and weigh her. Her head was 54.5 cm based on the nurse's measurement but 53 cm based on Dr Hornigs head measurement. Her weight fully clothed is 23 pounds 8 ounces. Dr. Hornig said she is looking good and that her CT scan showed that her ventricles are still mildly enlarged but no more than from her MRI. He also said her brain looked "happy" meaning it looks like it is growing appropriately and not pushing against anything. He did say though with the size of her head he is putting in a referral to genetics since we have not yet been seen by them. He said even if they find something there might not be anything we will do and they might not even find anything. We are however cleared from neurosurgery for a year!! So no more CT or MRI for at least that time frame which I am happy about. Now we just have to keep Brooklynn healthy until Monday for her ear tube placement surgery!
Now
Wednesday, February 9, 2011
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
Such big girls!
This week has been a big week in our household!! Brooklynn has croup (again) which bought us a trip to the urgent care for steroids. She is doing much better now...still has a cough so we still have to put her ear tube surgery on hold. Izzy is starting to cough now so I am guessing she is on her way to croup (hopefully it stays just as a cold).
Izzy is finally (dare I say) POTTY TRAINED!!!! She has a few accidents here and there but she has been living in underwear except at night and during naps!! I never thought we would get here. Now I have to start looking into dance classes like I promised!
Brooklynn has finally started crawling yesterday! Not the army crawl (she had been doing that for about 2 weeks) but the all out on all fours crawl! She was so happy when she realized she could do it! Now we REALLY have to baby proof because she is going to constantly be on the move.
We are still waiting on the results of the urine test - I am really hoping to hear back today or tomorrow! This waiting game is insane!
A couple of cute things Izzy has said and/or done that I want to write down for my records...
We were in the car and she asked for chocolate milk. I said "How about water for dinner than after you eat you can have some chocolate milk." She sat and thought for a minute than said "That might be better." How cute.
After I pick her up, she always says "it's dark, it is time for a nap". I hope she doesn't think she has to wait until it is dark for her to go to bed or summer might be a big struggle!!
Izzy and Brooklynn are now SO interactive together. They blow raspberries at each other and make each other laugh. Izzy ALWAYS has to hold Brooklynn's hand any where they go (in the carseats, while they are laying down for night time, etc). She will even give Brooklynn her "Nugny" (snugglies) when she is in a sharing mood.
Izzy has started stuttering a little bit, but I think it is a good thing. She has started listening to what she is saying and thinking about it before she says it to make sure she is saying what she means and in the right way. It is crazy to see her little mind work in that way! Tomorrow we have Parents As Teachers come over to do her screening so I am excited for that.
Izzy is finally (dare I say) POTTY TRAINED!!!! She has a few accidents here and there but she has been living in underwear except at night and during naps!! I never thought we would get here. Now I have to start looking into dance classes like I promised!
Brooklynn has finally started crawling yesterday! Not the army crawl (she had been doing that for about 2 weeks) but the all out on all fours crawl! She was so happy when she realized she could do it! Now we REALLY have to baby proof because she is going to constantly be on the move.
We are still waiting on the results of the urine test - I am really hoping to hear back today or tomorrow! This waiting game is insane!
A couple of cute things Izzy has said and/or done that I want to write down for my records...
We were in the car and she asked for chocolate milk. I said "How about water for dinner than after you eat you can have some chocolate milk." She sat and thought for a minute than said "That might be better." How cute.
After I pick her up, she always says "it's dark, it is time for a nap". I hope she doesn't think she has to wait until it is dark for her to go to bed or summer might be a big struggle!!
Izzy and Brooklynn are now SO interactive together. They blow raspberries at each other and make each other laugh. Izzy ALWAYS has to hold Brooklynn's hand any where they go (in the carseats, while they are laying down for night time, etc). She will even give Brooklynn her "Nugny" (snugglies) when she is in a sharing mood.
Izzy has started stuttering a little bit, but I think it is a good thing. She has started listening to what she is saying and thinking about it before she says it to make sure she is saying what she means and in the right way. It is crazy to see her little mind work in that way! Tomorrow we have Parents As Teachers come over to do her screening so I am excited for that.
Monday, January 17, 2011
Frustrating Day
So no CT this week. They can't do it for 4-6 weeks after her RSV. Which means we won't have any answers to if her brain has changed at all or if it is fine. Neurosurgery will be a week later, which really stinks because we will have to wait a whole week to hear the interpretation of the results! ARGH!! That is if she doesn't develop another cold. Which guess what - she has another cough...again. Just started this weekend so hopefully it doesn't progress.
And still no news on her labs.
And her Ear Tube placement surgery might be put off too because of the development of this new cough! She has been digging at her ears so I know she is developing another ear infection and she really needs these tubes placed but I have a feeling it won't happen until after the cold and flu season is over.
Just having a frustrating day...sorry to be negative nancy. Just thought I would have all my answers by the end of January and now it doesn't look like we will have them until at least the middle of February.
And still no news on her labs.
And her Ear Tube placement surgery might be put off too because of the development of this new cough! She has been digging at her ears so I know she is developing another ear infection and she really needs these tubes placed but I have a feeling it won't happen until after the cold and flu season is over.
Just having a frustrating day...sorry to be negative nancy. Just thought I would have all my answers by the end of January and now it doesn't look like we will have them until at least the middle of February.
Friday, January 14, 2011
Patience is a Virtue...and I'm not So Virtuous!
So I am not sure if you remember a couple weeks back when we had our pediatrician appointment. We had to have labs drawn for Brooklynn because of the abnormal urine that was drawn back in October and had been lost in her chart! The new pediatrician DID call genetics and big surprise (or not so much), they wanted to redraw her urine oligosaccharides due to it being abnormal and something called transferrin to test for another disorder. And again...we are in the waiting game. It takes 7-10 days for the labs to come back and we are now on day 7 and no news! I know I need to be patient and accept that it probably won't be until next week that I hear anything...but as my title states I am not so virtuous and have NO PATIENCE!!
I look at my daughter and know that she is fine. She is happy, and loving, and doing the things she should (granted a little bit behind others her age but she still hits her milestones at SOME point!). I just want to get the "abnormal" lab out of my thought process and hear the words everything is normal. Or if it is not, than I can at least start the process of understanding what that means. There is a possibility that no matter what the results are we will have to meet with genetics. Why?? To make sure they aren't going to be missing anything with her head and blah blah blah!! Can we not be done with all of this??
Next week we go to her neurosurgery appointment and have another CT to check on her mild ventriculomegaly that they found in the last MRI. I PRAY that this comes back fine and her ventriculomegaly has not worsened and that we can stop seeing the neurosurgeon! There is a possibility that she might have to have sedation medications for the CT, which I hope not. But if she has to have it I hope that I will be prepared and have our video camera ready just in case she starts cracking up the way she did for the MRI.
Than Monday the 24th we will be having her ear tubes placed. We had to wait 10 days after her cough stopped from RSV to be able to schedule her appointment and that Monday is the soonest we could do it. So my poor girl will have to have anesthesia for this procedure. I just pray that she does not get sick from now until than, which might be difficult since this girl gets sick at the drop of a hat. And she has started digging at her ears...AGAIN so we might have another ear infection brewing. Rats.
On a positive note (because I always have to have one after my posts of complaints) is Brooklynn has started going from her belly to pushing up to sitting...and started pulling up to her knees in her crib...and eating more table food. She looks at me and says "mamamama" which I LOVE!
Izzy has been growing up before my eyes! She talks more and more like a big kid and less like a toddler, which makes me tear up about every night. We are starting to plan (gasp) her 3 year birthday and Brooklynn's 1 year birthday! It will be nice to have them together, but it makes me realize how fast BOTH girls are growing and realizing that together is a lot to handle!
I love my girls and every day I love them even more! I thank God every day I have healthy girls in my life!
I look at my daughter and know that she is fine. She is happy, and loving, and doing the things she should (granted a little bit behind others her age but she still hits her milestones at SOME point!). I just want to get the "abnormal" lab out of my thought process and hear the words everything is normal. Or if it is not, than I can at least start the process of understanding what that means. There is a possibility that no matter what the results are we will have to meet with genetics. Why?? To make sure they aren't going to be missing anything with her head and blah blah blah!! Can we not be done with all of this??
Next week we go to her neurosurgery appointment and have another CT to check on her mild ventriculomegaly that they found in the last MRI. I PRAY that this comes back fine and her ventriculomegaly has not worsened and that we can stop seeing the neurosurgeon! There is a possibility that she might have to have sedation medications for the CT, which I hope not. But if she has to have it I hope that I will be prepared and have our video camera ready just in case she starts cracking up the way she did for the MRI.
Than Monday the 24th we will be having her ear tubes placed. We had to wait 10 days after her cough stopped from RSV to be able to schedule her appointment and that Monday is the soonest we could do it. So my poor girl will have to have anesthesia for this procedure. I just pray that she does not get sick from now until than, which might be difficult since this girl gets sick at the drop of a hat. And she has started digging at her ears...AGAIN so we might have another ear infection brewing. Rats.
On a positive note (because I always have to have one after my posts of complaints) is Brooklynn has started going from her belly to pushing up to sitting...and started pulling up to her knees in her crib...and eating more table food. She looks at me and says "mamamama" which I LOVE!
Izzy has been growing up before my eyes! She talks more and more like a big kid and less like a toddler, which makes me tear up about every night. We are starting to plan (gasp) her 3 year birthday and Brooklynn's 1 year birthday! It will be nice to have them together, but it makes me realize how fast BOTH girls are growing and realizing that together is a lot to handle!
I love my girls and every day I love them even more! I thank God every day I have healthy girls in my life!
Sunday, January 2, 2011
RSV...again
The girls started developing pretty significant coughs right after Christmas. I took them into Northland urgent care Monday night and was told it was croup. They were both started on steroids and I feel like it helped Izzy. Brooklynn's cough got worse as the week went on and on Thursday at my mom's she started having some wheezing, so we decided to take her into the ER. They hooked her up to the monitor and her oxygen levels were lower 90s and she was wheezing pretty significantly. After two albuterol treatments, two deep suctioning sessions, one racemic epinephrine treatment and eight hours later with no change in her oxygen levels, they decided to admit her to the hospital for observation. Before admitting her they checked for RSV and guess what....she had it! Ya the thing I was told in urgent care not to worry about because she is older she ended up being admitted for. This child can't do anything by the books.
Thank goodness we were only in the hospital for the night and by the time we were discharged her wheezing was non existant,her oxygen levels were mid to upper 90s, and she required no treatment on the floor! I was very grateful it was only one night because Brooklynn did not want to stay in the crib at all and the monitors were driving me crazy! I feel bad for parents who have to deal with it all the time! Every time I got Brooklynn to sleep and tried to lay her down in the crib, her monitor would ring off because either the EKG patch came off or it was not picking up and it was wake her up! I am just grateful that i was able to stay the night with her, I don't know what I would have done if I had to leave her!!
Thank goodness we were only in the hospital for the night and by the time we were discharged her wheezing was non existant,her oxygen levels were mid to upper 90s, and she required no treatment on the floor! I was very grateful it was only one night because Brooklynn did not want to stay in the crib at all and the monitors were driving me crazy! I feel bad for parents who have to deal with it all the time! Every time I got Brooklynn to sleep and tried to lay her down in the crib, her monitor would ring off because either the EKG patch came off or it was not picking up and it was wake her up! I am just grateful that i was able to stay the night with her, I don't know what I would have done if I had to leave her!!
Monday, December 27, 2010
Brooklynn's 9 Month Appointment
Last week, we had a little trip to the Ears, Nose and Throat doctor for Brooklynn to assess the need for tubes in her ears. She has had 5 ear infections (all double) since birth. They checked her hearing, which seemed to be slightly affected (when they did the eardrum wave test, her eardrums did not react the way they should). The ENT doctor felt it was due to fluid in her ear. This along with the amount of ear infections buys her some tubes. We go in about a week to have them placed. The nice thing is we only have to protect her from water for 5 days. I remember when I was little I had to be protected from water the whole time!
We went in to our new pediatrician for Brooklynn's 9 month appointment. She is really nice, and I am really hoping we continue to like her. Brooklynn is getting so big. She weighed 21.10 pounds (placing her in the 87%), length was 29 and 3/4 inches (90th%ile), and her head was measuring 20 3/4 inch (well above 100%) - but that has only gone up 3/4 of an inch since two months ago.
Of course we had to run through all of Brooklynn's history again, which is a pain, but the doctor was very attentive. She is developmentally on point right now, doing the things she should be doing, even though she is not crawling. Brooklynn is army crawling and scooting, just not up on her hands and knees. Her urine that we had drawn a few months ago to test for mucopolysacchridosis (aka the very bad disease we did not want her to have) and for oligosaccharidosis had some abnormal to it that I discovered after I had her medical records sent to me. The Oligosaccharides had abnormal bands which could be indicative of lysosomal storage disease IF there are other concerns and I had some questions as to this. The lab said that a repeat urine might need to be done to confirm this abnormal bands. This might be a normal variant but it also might entail us to redraw her urine. The Doctor was going to call genetics to see what they think about this coming back that way. I am hoping genetics will say it is no big deal.
I also asked about Brookklynn's breathing at night. She is a very loud breather, at times having stridor and acts like she has trouble getting air in. The doctor said it might be that her adenoids or tonsils are enlarged and get in the way, and therefore we should ask the ENT doctor when she has her tubes placed in her ears to take a look. If we continue to have concerns and her adenoids are fine, we might end up doing a sleep study.
Brooklynn seemed to like the new doctor and was clapping and laughing. Izzy was cracking me up because she kept saying "I am sick" "I need a doctor" (a little bit of jealousy that her sister was getting all the attention). The doctor even took some time out to "assess" Izzy which was really nice.
So I am anxiously awaiting the new from the genetics office, as well as what the ENT doctor will say about her adenoids. I know I shouldn't worry but it just is always in the back of my mind until we get the OKAY that everything is fine!
On a positive note - Brooklynn is getting so big and waving "hi" and "bye", she is laughing at things, and is starting to follow directions (like when I say wave to daddy she looks at him and waves). She is eating more solids - she loves green beans, her mum-mums, and Cheerios. Any baby food she gulps down! She is such an eater.
Izzy is getting so big now too. She is really becoming a little girl. She loves playing pretend and making up stories and games. I will post about Christmas with pictures hopefully soon! We had a WONDERFUL holiday season.
We went in to our new pediatrician for Brooklynn's 9 month appointment. She is really nice, and I am really hoping we continue to like her. Brooklynn is getting so big. She weighed 21.10 pounds (placing her in the 87%), length was 29 and 3/4 inches (90th%ile), and her head was measuring 20 3/4 inch (well above 100%) - but that has only gone up 3/4 of an inch since two months ago.
Of course we had to run through all of Brooklynn's history again, which is a pain, but the doctor was very attentive. She is developmentally on point right now, doing the things she should be doing, even though she is not crawling. Brooklynn is army crawling and scooting, just not up on her hands and knees. Her urine that we had drawn a few months ago to test for mucopolysacchridosis (aka the very bad disease we did not want her to have) and for oligosaccharidosis had some abnormal to it that I discovered after I had her medical records sent to me. The Oligosaccharides had abnormal bands which could be indicative of lysosomal storage disease IF there are other concerns and I had some questions as to this. The lab said that a repeat urine might need to be done to confirm this abnormal bands. This might be a normal variant but it also might entail us to redraw her urine. The Doctor was going to call genetics to see what they think about this coming back that way. I am hoping genetics will say it is no big deal.
I also asked about Brookklynn's breathing at night. She is a very loud breather, at times having stridor and acts like she has trouble getting air in. The doctor said it might be that her adenoids or tonsils are enlarged and get in the way, and therefore we should ask the ENT doctor when she has her tubes placed in her ears to take a look. If we continue to have concerns and her adenoids are fine, we might end up doing a sleep study.
Brooklynn seemed to like the new doctor and was clapping and laughing. Izzy was cracking me up because she kept saying "I am sick" "I need a doctor" (a little bit of jealousy that her sister was getting all the attention). The doctor even took some time out to "assess" Izzy which was really nice.
So I am anxiously awaiting the new from the genetics office, as well as what the ENT doctor will say about her adenoids. I know I shouldn't worry but it just is always in the back of my mind until we get the OKAY that everything is fine!
On a positive note - Brooklynn is getting so big and waving "hi" and "bye", she is laughing at things, and is starting to follow directions (like when I say wave to daddy she looks at him and waves). She is eating more solids - she loves green beans, her mum-mums, and Cheerios. Any baby food she gulps down! She is such an eater.
Izzy is getting so big now too. She is really becoming a little girl. She loves playing pretend and making up stories and games. I will post about Christmas with pictures hopefully soon! We had a WONDERFUL holiday season.
Thursday, December 16, 2010
Tis the Season...
For doctor's appointments :). Last week I had to take both girls to the doctor due to having a cough, runny nose, and just being irritable. Izzy had "strep" (not sure I believe this one but okay), Brooklynn had another double ear infection, making it 5 since she was born (this I completely believed!). So that bought us an appointment with the ENT to talk about tubes in her ears. We go to this appointment tomorrow (Friday) so we will see what he says at this time.
Next week we go to a new pediatrician. I am a little anxious but curious as to see what she has to say about all of Brooklynn's past medical tests. It will be interesting to know if another doctor will be as worried about her head size as her previous pediatrician, or if someone will tell us it is just a variant that is nothing to worry about (I really hope this is what will happen!).
Izzy is gearing up for Christmas and is super excited for Santa to come bring her lots of presents! Every time she sees a gift she asks if it is for her! We talk about making Christmas cookies and setting them out for Santa and she can't wait! This weekend will be the start of our festivities with Sam's side of the family - his sister, brother-in-law, and nephew is coming into town. I can't wait! I think I am more excited than Izzy, which is really hard to believe.
Next week we go to a new pediatrician. I am a little anxious but curious as to see what she has to say about all of Brooklynn's past medical tests. It will be interesting to know if another doctor will be as worried about her head size as her previous pediatrician, or if someone will tell us it is just a variant that is nothing to worry about (I really hope this is what will happen!).
Izzy is gearing up for Christmas and is super excited for Santa to come bring her lots of presents! Every time she sees a gift she asks if it is for her! We talk about making Christmas cookies and setting them out for Santa and she can't wait! This weekend will be the start of our festivities with Sam's side of the family - his sister, brother-in-law, and nephew is coming into town. I can't wait! I think I am more excited than Izzy, which is really hard to believe.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)