Another week down in Suffolk-town...
The children's dentist appointment on Tuesday was one of those "good news/bad news" situations--the good news being that we really liked the dentist and other staff there, the bad news is that we'll be getting to know them quite well over the next few months. Aidan did a great job getting his first set (ever) of dental x-rays. In fact, he is almost a little too at ease wearing a lead apron and having "pictures" taken. He strolled out of the x-ray room without his shoes on as he had apparently decided to make himself comfortable during the process. He also made it through his cleaning like a champ. Of course, there were toys, stickers and bribes included, but at least we got through it. Unfortunately, they discovered SIX cavities, so we'll be looking at either 2 or 3 sessions for his repairs. Aleksandra's exam pretty much confirmed what our original dentist had told us--she has 4 teeth that need fillings and they are going to put sealant on her molars. From what I understand, both children have what they call "hypoplastic enamel", which means that their teeth are pretty weak and will always be cavity prone and will require diligent dental hygiene to avoid problems in the future. Sigh.....At least this office uses nitrous! Hopefully, these early experiences will not be so unpleasant as to permanently scar (and scare) them. The office is pretty busy and with the holidays and such coming up, we aren't even scheduled to start the procedures until mid-January. Before the office will even do the work, they wanted to speak with Aleksandra's cardiologist and they want Aidan's most recent counts (which will be from his December hem/onc clinic visit) and they want him cleared for the procedures by his cardiologist. The experience was somewhat eye-opening for me as I have now become that person who has to spend 30 minutes filling out new-patient paperwork listing extensive medical condtions for each of my children. Honestly, I have never been a "poor, poor me" type of person whether it was enduring Aleksandra's heart issue and subsequent repair or Aidan's diagnosis and treatment. I think that things have just happened and been dealt with as they came up and people that have known us a long time have seen the pieces of our (unfortunate) history fall into place over time. For people just meeting us, and having to find out about all of these trials at once, I almost feel like I'm one of those crazy Munchausen's-by-proxy women. Both of the children's new dental charts were covered with day-glo "alert" stickers and the dentist even told me that although he didn't know me, he wanted to give me a hug for all that I've been through. Really, it never even occurs to me how my life must sound until I see an outsider react to it. But enough of that...
After our long vist at the dentist's, and a visit to Taco Bell, we were able to talk Tim into doing something fun as a family. Ice skating wasn't possible that day, but we still plan on giving it a shot in the near future. It was a beautiful, crisp fall day here, so we decided to enjoy the outdoors while we still had a chance. Aleksandra wanted to go to the zoo, so that is where we started. I hate to admit that growing up with and re-visiting the Oklahoma City zoo has pretty much made me a zoo snob. The Norfolk zoo pales in comparison, and from what I hear from locals, its 100 times better than it used to be! Anyway, we had a nice time and all of the animals that they do have there, were out and about and highly visible. We especially enjoyed the lions, giraffes and squirrel monkeys that kept sticking their tongues out at Aidan. Of course, all Aidan wanted to do once we got there was to ride the train, which we didn't do, so it provided a challenge keeping him distracted enough to forget that it was there. We did promise him that a train ride would be on the agenda for the next zoo visit. Aidan had wanted to go to the park instead of the zoo initially, so after about 2 hours at the zoo, we left and went to Lafayette Park which is right outside of the zoo gates. By this time, there was starting to be a chill in the air, but we let the Double A's run around and burn off even more energy. Aidan made a new friend as soon as we got there, so they had a ball sliding down the big slides and running up the smaller ones. All in all, we had a great day together. Yet another one of the million things to be thankful for this season.
My birthday came and went without too much hub-bub (thank heaven). Everyone says I don't look a day over 41 and 1/2, ha ha. I had some nice surprises at work from my co-workers who gave me some lovely gifts. Tim stuck to his word (per my request) and got me nothing, as the agreement was that our dinner last weekend performed double duty as anniversary and birthday celebration. The only other non-news is that Aidan has had a couple of nosebleeds this week, one Sunday and one Thursday. As that was one of the multitude of "minor" symptoms that he was experiencing prior to his diagnosis in January, Tim and I have struggled with the fact that sometimes a nosebleed is just a nosebleed.We both immediately started checking his body for petechiae (bruising that resembles small red spots) which was another symptom due to low platelets that he had at diagnosis. Fortunately, we didn't see any. Niether of the nosebleeds would I consider "gushers" or unstoppable and he is definitely as full of energy and as healthy looking as he has been since August. The house is dry and before each incident, he had been playing "single-person-tackle football" if you can even imagine. He did insist that he hadn't been a) "picking" or b) that he had bumped his nose. I tell ya, learning to live by the "new rules" isn't always easy. Things that I never would have given a second thought to, now send me into a panic. I had to talk to Dr. Porea yesterday anyway, so I went ahead and mentioned the nosebleeds to him. He eased my mind by saying that it sounded like "normal kid stuff". Let's hope that he is right. Aidan does go in for his next labs on November 26th, but Dr. P. told me that if I thought I wasn't going to be able to sleep until then, I could bring Aidan in early. I agreed to wait until the scheduled appointment unless other things start happening or the nosebleeds become frequent or more productive.
Well, I will leave you all with some funny Aidan-isms from the past week.
***During any sporting event, Aidan needs to know who are the "good guys" and who are the "bad guys". In preparation for Monday night football, I mentioned that the 49ers were playing. Aidan asked who the good guys were. I told him that the 49ers were the good guys and he said "So, the 48ers are the bad guys?"
***Yesterday, after the children sang Happy Birthday to me during breakfast, Aidan asked me how old I was turning. When I replied my (true) age, his response was "Oh my gosh, you're almost as old as Daddy!!!!" (sidenote: Tim is in actuallity only about 10 weeks older than me).
And one from Aleksandra:
***On Wednesday, after the holiday as I was dropping her off at school, Aleksandra's teacher informed me that Aleksandra had been very excited about being out of school for "Veterinarian's Day".
Gotta love 'em!
Klista
