#1 This is the last weekend I have to spend washing school uniforms... for 11 weeks!
#2 Tomorrow Baby heads to the hospital . I haven't mentioned it, although FB friends will maybe have noticed, but Baby's health has been strangely declining over the past year. It's been stressful and weird... the kind of thing you can't quite figure out and makes you hopeful it will just go away... but it hasn't. Something is not right. But you know that weird guilty feeling (is it just me?) where you worry people will think you are overreacting... so.... you don't want to say... "I don't have anything very concrete but I know something is very wrong here"? Well, finally I did and the doctor said... "something is wrong here". And then they did a full blood panel... and we all hoped for anemia and not leukemia (and I wish that wasn't what they thought)... but it all came back clear. Which was a short lived relief when they rushed our referral to cardiology (which has been my suspicion all along). So, tomorrow morning we should hopefully (hopefully) be able to rule out a congenital heart problem. Then I don't know what will be next. She's exhausted all the time (and this is Baby we are talking about), she falls asleep nearly everyday (she stopped napping at 11 mo and only goes to 1/2day K), can't run without taking a break... doesn't even like to be active anymore, her heart races with exertion, and complains of headaches, stomach aches, and chest pain. She's been to the ER or doctor 7 times in the last couple of months. We had met our high insurance deductible (we're talking THOUSANDS of dollars) by February. A kid who never went to the doctor (except when she bit through her lip!) for anything but well visits the first 4 years of her life. She was even lying down during her gymnastics class last week between her turns. She had to stop playing hide and seek after 5 minutes the other night. I find her lying in her bed all the time. It has been alarming. Anyway, so that's been going on. It's been a scary few months and I can't sleep very well. Hopefully we're on the way to an answer that is less scary that what haunts me on a regular basis. (She's also had a full allergy work up... nothing)
#3 So... that's fun... right? No end to the strange stressors that befall us.
#4 The other day, Kid got into the car and announced "Breaking News! Noah S. has a crush on me!" And, so, it begins. We all know that Kid came out of the womb boy crazy... so this is just about the best thing that has ever happened. He lives in our little town and I was able to rig up, courtesy of our early morning cardiology appt tomorrow, a ride to school with him. His mother laughed and said Noah would be waiting by the door! So, at least there will be one bright spot tomorrow. You should have seen this boy's face when he found out she'd be going to school with him... he was beaming. He is so cute... it is hard not to want to encourage it. (He wasn't her front runner, but I told her... "You know what is really attractive? Someone who recognizes how great you are." I'm hoping she can learn that early and save herself a lot of future heartache.) Plus he's one of the shortest boys in class and she's one of the tallest girls... so... its the Wonder Years all over again.
#5 We had our first real Tornado of the year. (hopefully last) It ended up tracking north of us, but we still got to enjoy the panic of the sirens and all. The girls went into full hysteria mode. I got a bit anxious but I said to Mr F "I'm handling this surprisingly well" and he agreed. We even got in the car and went to our concert as soon as we knew it was clear. So that is saying something! Go get yourself the Tornado app from the Red Cross. This is the first time the app's siren has come on my phone and it worked and it blared each time the weather service reissued the warning (unlike the outdoor sirens which just sounded once). I highly recommend it, especially if you can't reliably hear your area's sirens or worry you might sleep through it. You will not sleep through this app!
I'll be back for a quick cardiology update tomorrow. I don't know what we hope for anymore... something minor and easily resolved.
9 comments:
I'll be thinking about you guys tomorrow. I've not had as many serious problems with my kids as you, but I've had plenty of small problems that could have been terrifying. Definitely had the "let's just run some blood tests, just to be safe" with Eli a couple of years ago. And a visit to a cardiologist with him when he was 18 months and still randomly turning blue for no reason.
I also know that finding out that it ISN'T something serious is nice, because you rule out something terrible.. but not knowing is it's own hell.
Hugs to you all.
Oh yeah, the not knowing is a special kind of hell. At least tomorrow I'll be able to rule it in or out and move on. Thinking she is going to drop dead of cardiac arrest all the time is killing me.
#2! Uuuuugh. I am so sorry. I *so* hope it's the most benign, easily treatable thing. Oh the stress. I will be thinking about you all day tomorrow. (And maybe spontaneously crying?) We will say prayers for Baby and you. And the doctors. Stuff like this is so nerve-wracking. (When Seth was in the first hospital they did a full work up on him and right as they sent the blood work away, the doctor turned to me and said, "This just seems more indicative of a much more serious metabolic disorder, you know like diabetes, or something more serious....so you know, we'll figure it out."
WUT. I bawled my eyes out. And then the tests all came back negative. I could've done without the fatal foreshadowing tone there, Doc.)
#4 That is so fun and sweet. I loved that it was breaking news. hilar.
#5, #1. yay for you!!
Good Luck!!
They approved the echo, which is what we've been hoping for. Now we'll know definitively if there is or is not a heart issue.
Thinking of you all and hoping they find something definitive and easily treatable. Big hugs to you and Baby.
Echo is clear. It isn't a heart issue, they don't know what it is... But I don't have to worry about her dropping dead ... And that is always a good thing!
Still on table: mono, asthma without obvious wheezing... Not sure what else. Honestly ruling out cancer & her heart were the obvious & serious things and I'm so thankful we can take those off the list.
"You know what is really attractive? Someone who recognizes how great you are."
That is certainly advice I wish I had gotten when I was young.
What about narcolepsy? I had the same symptoms - but I was falling asleep within 40 minutes of getting to work AND while driving (obviously Baby doesn't have the latter). Glad the blood work and Cardiology came back clear.
And way to go Kid!!! It's a shame that how we are treated at her tender age will impact how she feels about herself the rest of her life. I wish we all learned the "nerds are cool" life lesson early (I'm an engineer and was terribly bullied growing up...). Its so awesome to see such a strong sense of self in someone her age!
Lennie,
is narcolepsy a neurological issue? If there isn't something that comes back from extra blood tests re:autoimmune related or mono or whatever I definitely want to get her to a neurologist since we have a strong family history of those issues.
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