Not normal

Lauren's Cat Scan came back not normal. I new for quite a few hours that it was not normal until I got official confirmation that it was not normal. It started in the morning when I called for the results and the nurse called me back. She said she would have the doctor call back. Usually, when everything is AOK, the nurse just tells you that on the phone or sends you a lovely form letter. My radar had gone up.

Then, during the ten minutes that I was at lunch, the doctor calls (doctors never call to say "hey, how you doing") and leaves a message saying that he was going to call my husband to discuss the results with him. There is no more frightening term in the English language then that. Your mind suddenly goes places where you don't want it to go.

Bob calls and the doctor leaves clinic to tell him that he thinks that Lauren has a cholesteatoma. It is a cyst that is basically made up of cholesterol and it sitting and putting pressure on her ear drum. This really could account for her balance problems. Surprisingly or unsurprisingly, which ever way you want to look at it, this thing is not in the place where if she is going to have one, it should be. I guess they didn't know that Lauren has never read a medical textbook.

They are going to schedule her for a MRI sometime in February. They had an opeing on January 7th at 5:00pm but you have to fast for 8 hours prior to the study. Bob nixed that idea quickly. They need more detailed pictures to see what it really is and where exactly it is. I need to get her MRI from last year so they have a comparison point. She might have surgery, she might not. It just depends on if the proposed benefits outweight the risks. If it improves her balance, I'm all for it.

In other news, her doctor's appointment was uneventful. They could rule out a certain metabolic disorder simply by looking at her. She does not have the facial features that are very obvious in that type of disorder. That disorder causes extreme chewing on fingers were kids can actually gnaw off their fingers. She's not doing that.

We discussed things and basically there are no answers. He suggested taking her to a dentist as she does appear to have some cavities. However, I just don't have the money for that right now. Most dentists are unwillig to take payment plans and want the money up front. We have no dental insurance right now but in September my plan will cover 100%. It will just have to wait until then.

The doctor apologized to me and said that he wished he could give me a solution or an answer. He wished there was a fix for this or a pill he could give her to make it all better. Sometimes there just aren't any pills and there aren't any easy fixes. I've come to learn that that's OK. I'm no longer looking for an answer or an easy solution. I've come to accept Lauren for who she is and what she can do. I strive to teach her to do more. I'm also trying to get her to change certain behaviors without changing who she is because I am all to aware that the world is not going to be ask accepting as we are.

The world is not going to allow her to be hyperactive. The world is not going to listen to her ramble on and on with loose associatons that no one can follow. The world will look at her strangely when she busts out with her hip-hop dance in the middle of the restaraunt. The world backs away when she tries to talk to you nose to nose. The world looks at me as a bad parent because I am powerless to stop this and sometimes don't even try. It's a good thing that I don't care about what the world thinks anymore.

Off to look for Zebras

There is an old theory in medicine that when you hear hoof beats you look for horses not zebras. More likely then not the hoof beats are going to be caused by horses and rarely zebras. In medicine, they assume a cough is from a cold and not some rare disease becuase it probably is just a cold. They think spots are problably chicken pox and not some rare skin disease.

It works for typically developing kids. However, Lauren is not. She's already riding on a zebra, not on a horse. Since we are starting out with something abnormal, when I call the doctor to inquire about her obsessive chewing I don't get a statement of "just try to distract her". I get a "let's bring her in IMMEDIATELY. It could be a metabolic problem."

As soon as I heard the word metabolic, I jumped to blood test. As soon as I thought blood test, I jumped to Cat Scan. As soon as I thought Cat Scan, I jumped to blown veins. As soon as I thought of blown veins, I thought of last week. As soon as I remembered last week, I thought this is not going to be good.

I've called her neurologist. I remembered that they did a whole bizarre syndrome work up (obviously not the medical term for it but they looked for every bizarre syndrome under the sun and found nothing) over a year ago. I'm sure that must have included something metabolic. Hopefully, the nurse can fax something to put her family doctor's mind at ease.

Otherwise, after the appointment, we'll be headed to the lab at Children's. They are getting pretty fond of us. I've nixed the doctor drawing blood due to a recent bad results of gettting a vein. Lauren makes pretty strong assoications with events and I don't want her to make that type of assoication at her family doctor. I'd rather save that for the speicalist.

Stop the chewing!!

Lauren, I love you baby girl. But please, please, please stop chewing things. I would love to have things without teeth marks. I would love for the toys that I got you for Christmas to be sans teeth marks. I loved the computer Grandma and Grandpa got you. It doesn't work because of your obsessive chewing behavior.

Lauren, I love you but please stop chewing things!

Christmas fun

Ellie thought her best present was a hat, scarf, and glove set.


Shannon was not feeling good on Christmas but loved this hat.


A fancy Nancy game, Just what I always wanted!


Lauren opens presents.

A Cat Scan for Christmas

Lauren and I got to spend much of Christmas Eve Day at the hospital. She was scheduled for a sedated Cat Scan of her inner ears due to the balance problems she has. I will be shocked if they find anything wrong. When you are very impulsive and you don't think before you do anything, you fall alot.

The procedure was 5 minutes long. It was everything leading up to the Cat scan that was a big ordea. I knew there was no way in this univerese that she would be able to lay still in a big scary machine to get an accurate picture. I mean it's taking us two years for her to be able to get her blood pressure taken. She would have flipped out at the looks of the machine.

So, Lauren was the lucky winner of some sedation which has to be done through an IV. Did I mention Lauren hates needles? Did I mention she has had her blood drawn plenty? And had a lot of crazy procedures? Did I mention she is strong? Really, really strong?

Enter 4 nurses and mommy. It should have gone fine. I mean we have never had a problem with finding a vein. Why start now? Well, I guess Lauren figured that Christmas Eve day was as good as time of any. It took 4 sticks and an IV team to get an IV in. She has the bruises to prove it. I have the hearing loss to prove it as well.

After it was over and she was still out for the count, I had teh pleasure of rocking my 55 lb 5 year old. My big tough kidnergarten slept in my arms for over an hour as we rocked back and forth. I whispered to her how I much I love her and how she has changed my world. I whispered that while I didn't know what I was doing with her, God surely does. I told her that God has big plans for her life.

We just went on and on like that for a while. Then, some other kid got to come in for a sedated Cat scan and we got kicked out to MRI recovery. She eventually woke up after they washed her with cold water. I took her home and spent the next 4 hours curled up in a little ball.

I couldn't have asked for a better Christmas present.

Our year in Numbers

Miles moved-110
Boxes left to unpack- 7
New jobs started- 2
Kids in school- 2
Kids at home- 1
Months Shannon has been known as the baby- 18 and counting!
Trips to North Carolina- 1
Weddings attended- 1
New Family members we've acquired this year (by marriage) 1
New words learned by Shannon- 30
Letters Lauren can identify- 26 (15 upper case and 11 lower case)
Numbers of girl scouts in Lauren's Daisy troop- 7
Numbers of parties we 've gone to in our new neighborhood- 2
Times Lauren has said "Go Bucks"- 237
Times Ellie has worn her ballet skirt to bed- 329
Days Ellie has worn a dress this year- 342
Days we spent at the pool this summer- 52
Hours Bob and Kristin spent pushing kids in the swings- too numberous to count
Books we've read this year- 1052
Times we've seen a Barbie Princess movie- 239
Stitches received- 3 (by Shannon)
Urgent care trips- 4
Ambulance rides- 1
Broken bones- 1 (but in two places)
Number of football games watched according to Bob- not enough
Number of football games watched according to Kristin- way too many
Days we are thankful for what the Lord has given us- 365

It is finished

Christmas shopping that is. I strive every year to keep things simple and practical. We decided that we would get each kid three presents to represent the gifts that were given on that very first Christmas. One is always a book, one is usually an outfit and one is a toy.

This year Shannon is getting bristle blocks (yes, they still make them), Ellie is getting an Easel, and Lauren is getting a Tag reading system that we hope they like.

I finished with the stocking stuffers on Saturday. They get an ornament, a tooth brush, a hat and glove set, and a my little pony (from McDonald's that I had to eat three Happy Meals for).

We try to keep things simple so we can concentrate on why we celebrate Christmas: God became one of us.