Family Health Update : the good, the bad, and the ugly!

As usual, my family's health issues have kept me hopping over the past few weeks.  Here's the summary...

The good news is that Owen has been cleared by neurology.  This is great news for us.  For those who didn't know, Owen had a number of (what we thought) were seizures.  Trust me!  They looked like seizures.  I'm not altogether convinced that the first one he had in August while on vacation in Vancouver wasn't a seizure, but there were mitigating factors at the time.  The theory is that he's actually fainting, but that the lack of blood to the head makes him mimic seizure-like activity (ie-convulsing/stiffening).  This can be really scary to see, but it's better than the original diagnosis of epilepsy.   Owen is learning to recognize the signs when he's feeling faint and sit or lie down.  He comes by this honestly as both I, my mother, and sister are all fainters.  The bad news is that blood seems to be a big trigger for him, so unless something changes, we can rule out a medical profession for him :S

Felix's lip is healing beautifully (see previous post for info).  I'm actually amazed at how quickly it's healed.  He went to the dentist for an x-ray as they though he may have damaged the big front tooth coming in behind the baby tooth.  Everything looks good.  He chipped his upper, front, right tooth, and his bottom teeth are a little loose, but he, thankfully, didn't do any permanent damage.  At the end of the day we were pretty lucky.  Considering he landed smack on his face, it could have been much worse....

As for Mr. Emmett, he certainly gave us a scare this week.  He'd been running a temp for a number of days, so we went in to see our pediatrician.  She heard fluid in his lungs and sent us for an xray at CHEO as she suspected pneumonia.  The radiologist sent her a report the next day that said he had "pulmonary edema".  That means that they essentially though he was in a bit of congestive heart failure (not totally out of the realm of possibilities considering his cardiac history).  The office was, unfortunately very cryptic when talking to me, but I knew what they were thinking which led to some sleepless nights.  Our pediatrician followed up with Emmett's cardiologist who got another radiologist's opinion.  The second opinion was that "while his lungs are wetter than previous xrays, its more in line with a viral infection".   So essentially, they scared the sh¤} out of me, but it's likely just a cold!  We're keeping an eye on him, but he seems to be on the mend.

Both Dave and I have been battling something I can only describe as gastro-like.  I brought the new year in at home in bed.  Luckily Dave was able to get out to a friends house, so the evening wasn't a total bust.

So I guess that's the low-down on our health status.  Let's hope for a less eventful year!

Reprieve!

After months and months of anticipation, worry, anger, frustration, and general over-the-top freaking out...Emmett's surgery is done.  It took all of an hour.

I wonder if it hadn't come on the heals of his heart issues whether I'd have been such a basket case.  I really was a basket case.  We noticed the bump early, and doctors seemed to want to ignore it.  I really fought to get an actual diagnosis.  I'm glad I did, but I'm a little frustrated that I had to fight so hard for it.

While its certainly not on the same level as his heart stuff, and in the end it was an elective surgery...I think it was the right thing to do.  It could have seriously interfered with the development of the bones in his skull.

The surgeon said it went really well.  They got it all and sent it for pathology (standard for anything they remove during surgery).  She said it looked like it was a dermoid cyst (as expected).  "What else would it be?" were her exact words.  I certainly could have given her a list of thoughts that had gone through my head as to what it could be...but I didn't want to look like a crazy person.

I think the hardest part for Emmett was the fasting.  He woke up from the surgery howling like a wild animal and wouldn't stop until he'd had two bottles of water, a popsicle, a bottle of milk, some juice, and a granola bar.  The nurses were less than impressed that he skipped ahead a few steps in the eating process (he was supposed to stay on clear fluids until this evening).  He didn't throw up though, and there really was no other way of consoling him....so HA!

After that, he was happy as a clam.  We were home by lunchtime with a happy, though tired little man.  He has a dressing on his head which we can remove after a few days, and we return to see the surgeon at the end of October.

So that's it...I don't know what to do with myself...there are no surgeries on the horizon (knock on wood).  While parents of cardiac babies never really know what's coming next until it hits them, it's nice to have ticked off so many things on Emmetts health 'to do' list.

With any luck...that's the end of his time in the O.R. until he's a VERY old man!!!