Saturday, January 14, 2012

2012! (How did you get here so fast?!)



Let's start with some overdue holiday cheer . . .

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!




Patrick started the holiday season with one of the worst stomach bugs I've witnessed in awhile. It started the day before Thanksgiving and then just continued to get worse. 

Both ends. 

Eight days. 

One short trip to the ER for hydration. 

There's nothing quite as embarrassing as arriving at someone's home on Thanksgiving for dessert - someone's home you've never been to before, I might add - only to have your child start vomiting almost as soon as we arrived, while people were still finishing their dinner. Luckily, much of the 'output' landed on me and my new sweater. The rest landed in their bathroom. Jeff scrubbed their bathroom, my family cleaned up Patrick, and I found a fleece in the back of our car, which I threw on.

Thank God for my family. And thank God for gracious, sympathetic and kind hosts ~ Bill, Marcia and Kristen. 

In the end, Patrick lost over 2 pounds in 8 eight days. 2 pounds is a lot for him to lose - 10% of his body weight in week... Getting Patrick to gain a few ounces is a big deal, so I quickly got disheartened about his rapid weight loss. But, in true Patrick form, just as he was teetering on the edge -- he suddenly pulled himself together. 

Mid-December we took Patrick for a hearing test at Bridgeport Hospital Pediatric Unit, because it required sedation. Its called a 'sedated ABR'. The results were not surprising - Patrick has conductive hearing loss on his right side. The audiologist said that his left ear is perfect, and he claims you only need one good ear to learn to speak. I guess that was good news. As much as I suspected he'd have hearing loss on his right side - given the size and location of the tumor - my heart still sank. Something new to figure out, diagnose, battle, etc. We did see the ENT this week and he suspects Patrick may have fluid in that ear and may be a candidate for placing a tube. We'll visit him again in a month or so, and decide then. 

Mid-December also brought a new resident to our home: Jack, the Elf on the Shelf. Holy Cow. This little guy ramped up the pre-Christmas chaos to a new level! Luke fell in love with Jack and actually cried when Jack left him a note on the morning of the 24th to tell him he'd be leaving but he hoped to be back next year.



I thought Jack might lend a hand in improving behavior and helping a Certain 5 Year Old stay on the 'Nice List'. 

It didn't help at all. Not one bit.

But Jeff and I had fun executing Jack's next move, each night after the boys were in bed.

Stay tuned. Patrick turned two last week, and I have lots to share about this milestone!

PS. New Year, New Look. Do you like the new blog design?