Sunday, April 24, 2011

Happy Easter!

Happy Easter!!






I hope everyone had a great Easter. Julianna and I had an awesome day.

Sunday, April 17, 2011

Oncologist And Other Things

I had my check up with the oncologist. I had a physical exam as well as blood work. Everything is normal and that is great. I told him I am still very tired. He said I should try to do heavy exercise every day. I think that is a great idea but it has been hard to do. I am tired and I don't have that much time. I did rejoin my gym and I am hoping to get there more often.

I still have my port. I am hoping to get that out soon. It has been hard to schedule. I need someone to drive me due to the anesthesia and someone to watch Julianna. I am hoping to coordinate that soon. I had it all set up twice and they cancelled my procedure.

I also went to the breast surgeon. All was normal and I do not have to go back for a year now!! I was worried that the implant side might be leaking because the shape changed a little. Dr. Kostroff thinks it is just settling and doesn't feel anything suspicious. She said the only way to tell for sure is with an MRI, but she said it is very unlikely that there is any problem. Because I have only one implant I have nothing to compare it to. I must say I like the side with my own flesh much better. It is warm and much more natural. The implant side is cold and uncomfortable. I may do another flap in the future, I am still deciding about that.

Julianna had pneumonia and strep. It was a bit harrowing. She was fine when I sent her to daycare. They called me about 11 am to tell me she has a 101 fever. I zoomed over there to get her. When we got home I gave her motrin and I called the pediatrician to make an appointment. I got an appointment for 2:45. She was playing and seemed ok. I then heard a weird pleuritic rub sound coming from her. It sounded almost like she burped but it was coming from the side of her chest. It was only occasional. I called a few medical friends to ask them what they though about that. They asked if she was in any distress. No, she was not. She went in for a nap and then woke up about 2:15. Perfect timing for our appointment.

When I was putting her in the car I noticed that her hands looked mottled and her lips and nail beds were cyanotic (blue). I freaked a bit and was considering taking her right to the ER. I decided to go to her doctor since it was 5 minutes away. As soon as we walked in she vomited all over. I told them she needed to be seen right away since she was getting bluer. They brought her right back. The doctor said we needed an ER right away and had the nurse call 911. I called my friends at work to make sure they were sending someone great.

The doctor gave her a gram of a broad spectrum antibiotic. He said something big is going on here and it is moving fast. Her temp at the office was 102.7. She liked the ambulance (genetic?) and we had a great paramedic.

When we got to the ER her temp was 104.8. Her color was a bit better. They did a chest x-ray, blood, iv and rapid strep test. The strep test was positive. The chest x-ray was not read by the radiologist until the next day but was positive for pneumonia and reactive airway disease. About four hours later she made a great recovery and we were able to go home.

She had bacterial pneumonia which was actually good because it responded very quickly to the antibiotics. After all the years of being a paramedic I can truly agree that it is very different when it is your own child. We were really lucky that the pediatrician was so proactive and that everyone else was really good.

She is feeling great now. Today was her first day of soccer. She was the only girl there and she was awesome. Its fun to watch three year olds try to play soccer. They all sort of do their own thing. It is very amusing.

Other than all that, I have been working and enjoying life in general. I take care of my Dad every other Friday so my stepmother Betty can get a break. That is not too hard but it is sometimes emotionally tough. I take him to lunch and hang out with him. He continues to deteriorate. Alzheimer's is a rotten disease. Julianna loves to see Pop-Pop and Grandma. I know she knows that Pop-Pop doesn't interact just right, but she runs over to kiss him pretty frequently. We enjoy our visits.

I hope everyone is doing well. Thanks for all the help and positive energy! We love you all.


Julianna in the Er with her specail arm IV cover. This was when she was feeling better, just before we went home.