Second Surgery is a go....

I've been getting emails asking about how Jake's doing since his surgery, so here's the scoop:

His recovery has been going fairly well, he's had to deal with a lot of pain in his AVM, so he's on a somewhat regular regimen of ibuprofen. The bleeding, for a while, had been down to nothing - up until the Saturday after Christmas. Michael and the boys were goofing off, and Jake happened to move his head at just the wrong time, and Michael & Jake knocked each other pretty hard. That caused Jake's AVM to bleed pretty badly. Michael was able to get it stopped fairly quickly, and Jake was really careful the rest of the night.

We came home from Kansas City on Tuesday evening, just in time for Jake to have a major bleeding episode. The boys were playing with their new Nerf guns (gotta love Christmas presents!), and was putting on his vest for dart tag. The strap of the vest bumped his AVM again, and he instantly had blood running down his chest and his back. Jake came downstairs and let us know he was bleeding, so I went up to the kitchen with him and we did what we could to get it stopped. Normally, when he bleeds, he's able to get it stopped in a matter of a few seconds. This episode was much worse than normal. He held a dish towel on his head for almost a full minute, and soaked up close to half of the towel with blood. To be honest, it was the most scared I've been since we found out about Jake's AVM. It was a lot of blood, and it was coming fast, and not stopping. After we finally got it stopped, Michael suggested that I call the doctor first thing in the morning.

Wednesday morning, I called the doctor and talked to his nurse. She took all the information, and let me know that she'd talk to the doctor as soon as he was out of surgery. We went on about our day - going to a few stores for the boys to spend some of their Christmas money, and got a phone call around 3:00 saying that the doctor would like to see Jake, "just in case". One thing that I've been very thankful for is the fact that whenever we've had a concern, the doctor has taken it very seriously, and has not made us feel like "dumb parents". We scheduled an appointment for today at 10:30am.

We got down to Iowa City just in time this morning for his appointment. We waited for a bit in the waiting room before being called back into the exam room. We were informed that Jake's doctor had been called into an emergency surgery, but knew that Jake was coming in, and he really wanted to see Jake himself. He had his nurse take a bunch of information, and had his assistant take a quick look at Jake and report to him while he was in surgery. The process took close to an hour, and I was thankful that we had taken our video iPod and Jake's PSP with us to keep the boys occupied. After a while, the nurse came back and told us that the surgery was taking longer than he thought, and she had a pager for us so we could walk around the hospital while he finished up.

By this time, it was close to 1:00, and the boys and I were getting pretty hungry. We decided to head down to the cafeteria and grab a quick snack. We got there, picked up a couple bags of chips and a soda to share, and sat down to chat. We barely got our chips finished, and our pager went off letting us know that the doctor was out of surgery.

We made our way back up to the Neurology Clinic, and were taken back to another exam room. The doctor came in and shook Jake's hand (which made Jake feel pretty grown up), and had a look at Jake's AVM. He was very pleased with the progress the AVM has made. He said that it's much "quieter" - which meant there was a lot less blood flow! (PRAISE GOD!!!) and he said the the AVM has shrunk some too (PRAISE GOD SOME MORE!!!). Jake has a rather large sore on the AVM that has scabbed up, and the doctor said that more than likely, the bleeding was aggravated by the dry scab cracking. He said to put aloe on the sore a few times a day, and hopefully that will help to soften the area. He also gave us some gauze to use, in case it would bleed again. He said (which I didn't know) that the gauze is better to use to stop the bleeding, because the fibers in the gauze actually aid in the clotting of the blood. (I thought that was pretty interesting).

The doctor wanted to go ahead and schedule Jake's next surgery - not feeling it was an emergency, but also wanting to get it done fairly quickly. He had mentioned wanting to schedule it for February or March, with Jake's school schedule in mind. I told the doctor that Jake starts baseball on March 1st. The doctor smiled and said, "then we'll do February!"

So....Jake's next (and final) surgery is scheduled for February 12th at 7:30 am. He'll, again, spend the night at the hospital for recovery, but he doesn't have school on the 13th, so he won't be missing much (he was hoping to miss more!)

He's almost done - I can't wait for him to be able to not worry about whether he's going to bleed during an activity or not. It'll be nice to let him get back to being a kid! I'm so thankful for God's protection during this time - it's scary to think about all the things that could have gone wrong before we knew what a risk the AVM is.....but it also makes me thankful that God didn't show us what was going on until now. I can't imagine how I would have sheltered him if I knew sooner....it wouldn't have been a fun childhood! ;)

Please keep praying for God's protection and peace during this. It's a lot for a kid to take on - but Jake, being the amazing kid that he is, is taking it all in stride. Once again - I'm being taught by my son!

We had a fun time watching the boys open their presents at grandma & grandpa's house this morning.


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Christmas at Home

We let the boys open their Christmas presents early this year since we're going to Kansas City for the holidays. That way we can personally enjoy the giving experience for the gifts we gave them. Additionally, they're out of school now and will be able to enjoy the gifts for a whole day before a lengthy travel in some bad weather.

Jake's Surgery

Thursday night, Jake didn't get much sleep. He was very anxious for the coming day's activities. Michael stayed up with him until he was ready to sleep...around 12:30 am.

Friday morning came quickly. The family was up and around at 5:45, and since Jake wasn't able to eat anything, he was VERY hungry! We left for the hospital around 6:30ish, dropped Chris off at our neighbors house (thanks Fosters!), and started the half hour drive. All the while, Jake was dealing with an empty stomach and nerves. His tummy wasn't very comfortable.

We got to the hospital just in time to see the sunrise and for his procedure to get underway. We were greeted by a less than friendly receptionist, and were escorted to a room with 5 full beds. The curtain around Jake's bed was pulled closed so he could put on his hospital gown. After he got his gown on, we had to meet with the anesthesiologists and sign consent forms.

They then wheeled Jake back to the operation room, and Michael went with him until he fell asleep. Jake took a few minutes to fall asleep, and then he was off to surgery.

The surgery was supposed to last 3-4 hours, so Michael, Mom (Grandma Deeter), and myself went down to the cafeteria to grab some yummy (ick) hospital breakfast. We were given a pager, so they could contact us if needed. We spent a couple hours in the cafeteria, and around the 3 hour mark, I headed back upstairs to the waiting room in hopes that he'd be done soon. An hour went by, and no word, and another half hour went by, and Michael and Mom came up to see if there was any word. Nothing yet. Michael asked the receptionist if she knew anything, and she made a phone call. A few minutes later, a nurse came out to tell us that they were just finishing up, and he'd be done in about 20-30 minutes.

About a half hour went by, and one of Jake's doctors came out to talk to us. He greeted us with a "Good news, bad news" info. He informed us that they were able to get a lot of work done on Jake, and were able to block 75% of the blood flow to his AVM. The bad news of that is they found that instead of just one artery feeding the AVM, he actually has 3 of the 6 arteries in his head feeding the AVM. Since the condition was 3 times worse than they were expecting, the surgery took longer than expected (it lasted a total of 5 hrs). This would also require an additional 1 or 2 surgeries to correct, and there was a chance that his birthmark might actually get bigger in the coming weeks. (very disappointing to find out!) He told us that Jake was going to be taken upstairs to the "Post Anesthesia Recovery" area, and we can meet them up there.

We all got in the elevator, and went up the 2 floors to the recovery area. They called us in, and we were taken into the Pediatric Post Anesthesia Recovery Room. It took Jake about a full hour to be released to his room. During that hour, he intermittently said things and tried to sit up. Unfortunately, because of his procedure, he was required to lay flat for 6 hours. When he first started to wake up (before Michael and I were in the room) he sat straight up. The nurse told us that "he's surprisingly strong!" She said it took 3 nurses to lay him back down, and another nurse to hold his leg straight. The first thing he said when he woke up, was to tell the nurse that his birthmark hurt, and his throat hurt (he had a breathing tube during the surgery). About a half hour later, he was starting to be a little more lucid, and I made a comment about how big his hands are getting, he said "I'm a tough guy". Once Jake was able to answer a few questions about what his name and birthday is, and what month we're in, they moved him down to the 2nd floor to the pediatric unit.

Once in his room, Mom and I went to grab some food at Subway to bring back to eat. (It was 3:00 by that time, and the last we had eaten was 8:00 that morning). Jake slept most of the day, which was actually a blessing for him. Since he had to lay flat, being asleep helped. The few times he woke up, he was pretty groggy and went back to sleep quickly. Mom went home to spend the afternoon/evening with Christopher around 4:00, and Michael and I hung out in Jake's room for a bit, watching him sleep. Around 5:30 or so, Jake's doctors came in to talk to us about the procedure. Thankfully, this second talk with the doctor was filled with a lot more information, and was a lot more encouraging.

He said that they were able to get 75% of the blood flow blocked, which was a lot considering that it was being fed by 3 arteries. He said that the AVM will swell a bit for a week, but after that, we shouldn't be too surprised to see some shrinkage occur (yay!) and there should be a lot less bleeding (double yay!). He said that after the first of the year, he'll have to do another embolization angiogram, but at the same time they'll also attack it from the outside doing the direct puncture procedure. He's very confident that this upcoming surgery will be the final one. Since they've already taken care of 75% of the problem, this next one will be a lot less to deal with. Jake will still have to lay flat for 6 hours following the procedure, but he won't be under anesthesia as long, so hopefully he won't be out of it as long following the procedure. He also said that they would have gone longer and tried to attack the AVM more during this surgery, but 5 hours exposure to x-rays and contrast material was all that Jake would be able to handle without getting sick. Another bit of unfortunate news was that the doctor wouldn't clear Jake for skiing this month, so we're having to postpone our trip to Denver to go skiing.

Jake was still pretty out of it when the doctors came in to talk to us, so he didn't get to hear a lot of what was said. He was in and out of sleep most of the evening. He'd wake up enough to tell us that he wanted some water or ice chips, and wanted to watch a movie. We'd get the laptop out and ready to play a movie, turn around to ask Jake a question, and he'd be asleep. He finally woke up fully around 6:30...a half hour before he was able to sit up and move his leg. The nurse was nice enough to raise the bed a little for him, and help him flex his ankles periodically, so that when he was able to move, it would be a shock to his system. He was able to keep down a few bites of apple slices, and a few spoonfuls of spaghetti-o's. The nurse gave him some medicine to help with his nausea, and by then Jake was able to move about (slowly) and keep more food down. Grandpa & Grandma Thornton and Great-Grandma Jensen came to visit him shortly after, and he still wasn't 100%, so he wasn't feeling up to chatting for too long. After Grandpa & Grandma left, he slept a bit, woke up a bit, and slept a bit more. He finally rolled over to his side to call it a night around 10:00.

Michael and I stayed with him that night, and endured the most uncomfortable night of sleep we've had in a long time. I slept on a chair that folded out into a VERY SMALL bed, and Michael slept in a recliner (not a lay-z-boy by any stretch of the imagination). Jake was being monitored throughout the night, so we were greeted with bright lights periodically through the night. Around 6:30 Saturday morning, Jake said he had to use the bathroom, so Michael helped him with his IV pump into the bathroom. We were up for the day at that point.

Jake was still somewhat groggy, but he was a little hungry, which I saw as a good sign! He had half of a pancake for breakfast, but that was a bit much for his tummy to handle. Michael made him some toast, and he downed that pretty quickly. It was just right! We all waited around the room, waiting for the doctor to come and give us the okay to go home. The doctor came in around 10:00 and talked to us a bit more, telling us what to expect during his recovery. We got our discharge papers around 10:30, and headed home. Jake was still a bit out of it Saturday, spending most of his time in bed. He got up periodically, and walked around the house some, but most of the afternoon was spent in his bedroom. He wanted soup for dinner, and that seemed to be just what he needed. After dinner, he was a lot more himself. He was able to be downstairs in the family room and we all watched a movie together.

Today, Jake is even better. He's gone 48 hrs without his birthmark bleeding (WOW!!!), and he's joking and being silly with his brother. We went out to eat lunch today at his favorite restaurant, and he had a really great time! It's still up in the air whether he'll go to school tomorrow or not, but it's nice to see him getting back to being himself. My parents brought him a sketch pad and pencils while he was at the hospital, and he's just now getting to be himself enough to pull those out and start using them - that's a great sign that he's slowly getting back to normal.

We'll find out in the coming weeks when his next surgery will be. He has mixed feelings about having to go through this again. He's looking forward to being done, but not looking forward to the recovery, and especially the having to lay flat for 6 hours! His birthmark is still quite painful for him, and we're told it will be that way for about a week.

Thanks to everyone for the prayers! We really appreciate them. Please continue to pray, as he's not out of this yet. Once again, I'm amazed at how he's handling the situation. What an awesome gift he is to this family, he's taught us so much! I'm excited to see how God's going to use him further! :)

The Boys' Concerts

This is a little late... here's the video from Christopher's 3rd grade class music performance (the first song only) from November 13.




Unfortunately, the boys had used up most of the battery on the camcorder without letting us know and we didn't get it recharged before the concert... so all we got was the first song :(


Jacob's 5th grade class performance is below. I've cut out most of the performance and included only the pieces in which he played.



He's doing really well with the trumpet and really enjoys band class... but I believe that's partly because one of his best friends also plays trumpet and they get to sit next to each other during class :)

Enjoyed bowling with the family.

Surgery is a go!

We drove down to Iowa City today to meet with the Neurointervential Radiologist about Jake's AVM. Jake ended up having a field trip today in Iowa City today, so we ended up meeting him and his teacher down there. It worked out pretty well!

We met with 2 doctors, one being the head of the department (and will perform Jake's surgery.) The head doctor was very optimistic about everything. He said that placement of Jake's birthmark is very optimal for treatment, and cosmetically will be a fairly simple fix. Working with AVM's is this doctor's speciality, so that was encouraging to hear as well.

Jake is scheduled on December 12th at 7:15am for an angiogram and an embolization. He will have to stay overnight for at least 1 night, with the possibility of having to stay over the whole weekend. They are hoping to take care of the whole AVM with the initial embolization, but may require a second embolization that will be done through "direct puncture." During the angiogram, he will have the catheter run up his artery through his leg, and they will be taking constant x-ray pictures to see how the mass is shaped. Then, for the embolization, they will inject glue (which is chemically very similar to Krazy Glue) into the AVM and it will solidify and block the blood flow to the AVM. The procedure, we are told, will last approximately 3-4 hours. He will be under general anesthesia, so he won't feel anything. They will keep him over night that night to observe and follow up with the procedure, and if necessary do the direct puncture embolization on Sunday. Direct puncture would be less invasive, and as the name indicates, involves the glue to be inserted directly into the birthmark via a needle.

The doctor was optimistic that, given time, the embolization will take care of a lot of the mass of Jake's birthmark. He said that we may need to have some excess skin removed eventually, but he should see a big improvement in the weeks and months following the surgery.

Jake, again, was simply amazing during the appointment. He is so grown up and mature - and the doctors and nurse noticed. At one point, when the doctor was telling us about the direct puncture procedure, I leaned over and joked with Jake that if they do that, he might hear a hissing sound from all the air coming out of his birthmark. Jake took the joke from there and said that if they're not careful, he'll go flying around the room like a balloon. Jake took both doctors by surprise so much, that they both stopped mid sentence to laugh at Jake's joke, and tell him what a funny guy he is. The head doctor even said that he was impressed with Jake's sense of humor, and most patients (even adults) really freak out and get scared when they hear about how the procedure is done. It was pretty neat to see him interact and react to such weighty information.

He had to have his blood taken for some lab work for the procedure. He was quite the trooper in getting another needle prick.

We left the hospital feeling optimistic and thankful that Jake will have some relief. This has been weighing on him for quite some time. He's happy to have an end in sight!

Please keep praying, as the bleeding is still an issue until the embolization is done and is successful. He's getting pretty frustrated with having to deal with it. He'll be glad to not have to carry a roll of gauze in his pocket, "Just in case."

I'm sure Michael and I will have a laptop with us at the hospital, and will keep everyone updated as he goes through surgery and recovery. Thanks to everyone for all their prayers for Jake. They are greatly appreciated!

Blood pressure.

123/73

Jacob is excited.

At the hospital talking to doctor about Jacob's AVM. Looks like we're finally gonna get this taken care of. Jacob's excited.

Christopher's first wresting practice

Squat and Shoot
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Snow crab legs (continued)

Christopher got a kick out of the claws that were pulled from Jacob's meal.

As he used the claw to pick up and eat his French-fries, we discussed whether the claw is a simple machine or a compound machine. His education learned from www.edhead.com at school tells him that it's a simple machine.

Red Lobster

Jacob gets much pleasure from fresh snow crab legs. He is very meticulous in getting every piece of available meat from each leg. The clean plate shows his appetite.

I don't remember ever being brave enough to try any kind of crab legs - especially at his age.

More Information about Jake

I got a phone call today from Jake's doctor. He went over the results of Jake's images that were taken on Friday:

It turns out that Jake doesn't have an hemangioma...he has an Arterial Vascular Malformation - or AVM for short. He explained that an AVM is basically a "miswiring" of Jake's arteries and veins. He compared the arterial/vascular system to a tree: a tree has a trunk (arteries) and branches (veins) and it's anatomy gets smaller and smaller to the leaves (capillaries). Jake's AVM is like having 2 trunks put together - and it's caused a high blood flow situation (which is the "whooshing" he heard when he listened to the birthmark). The blood doesn't have the correct route to take (going to the branches and leaves). One great thing he said is that the AVM is not attached to Jake's skull at all, it's just at the scalp - so that makes treatment a bit easier.

He is going to have us meet with an Intervential Radiologist, and Jake will undergo an angiogram. He said this will enable them to get a more specific picture of which vessels are not formed correctly. He said the MRA showed all of the vessels, but the angiogram will be much more specific in it's imaging. The angiogram will consist of having a catheter inserted (most likely into his thigh) and floated up to his birthmark to take images of the vessels. During that procedure, he'll also undergo an embolization. That will consist of a slightly larger catheter being inserted, but they will be able to steer this catheter and have it go to where they need it to go. He will have a coil inserted into the vessels that are malformed, and this will cause a clot that will shut down the blood flow to the birthmark. The doctor said that Jake should start to have some shrinkage of his birthmark following this procedure, but it won't go away completely. After this is done, then we can start to look at getting the birthmark removed - which will be much safer after the embolization is successful.

On a "not fun to hear" note...the doctor did inform me that if Jake were to have a puncture wound to the birthmark, he'd run the risk of bleeding to death. I almost had to laugh at how the doctor told me this...he prefaced it with "Not to freak you out, but...." Yeah...it freaked me out a little. He said that if Jake were to sustain a wound to that area, to put firm pressure on it - which is what we've always done when it bleeds - good to know that we've been doing the right thing! Michael joked that since we now know the risks - we should tie a pillow around Jake's head... :)

The doctor has already started the process of scheduling Jake's angiogram and embolization, and we should be getting a letter in the mail in the next 2 weeks letting us know when that is. He said that he put us on a "first available" basis, but if we can't make it at the time listed, then we can reschedule. Thankfully, I work for wonderful people, who told me not to worry about scheduling, so we'll go at the first available time they give us.

I did a little research online before posting this - hoping to find a resource that would help explain this process a bit more. (Jake's doctor did a wonderful job explaining things to me - he spent 20 minutes on the phone going through everything with me. However, it's hard to remember EVERYTHING that was said, so I turned to the wonderful internet to beef up my knowledge) I found one site, that really does a good job of laying out the whole thing. However, it explains AVM's found on the brain. Jake's is on the outside of his skull (thankfully) so his isn't going to be quite as drastic as they describe on this site (no seizures or headaches). It also explains the embolization therapy as well. Take a look, if you'd like: http://www.cumc.columbia.edu/dept/cerebro/AVM.html Like I said, Jake's isn't as severe as what's described here, but it's a good "general knowledge" resource for his AVM.

Please keep praying!

Today's appointment...

Jake had his consultation today at the University of Iowa Hospital to see about having his birthmark removed. It was a full day - we're a little farther than we were, but still don't have any information yet.

The surgeon that we met with today was very nice, and was great about talking directly to Jake. He explained that having Jake's birthmark removed was not a trivial surgery, and he wanted to get more information about the birthmark before preceding. He examined Jake's birthmark, and found that it has a pulse, which indicates that there is a blood vessel going through the birthmark. He ordered an MRI and and MRA to get a good look at the birthmark from all angles. He wanted to see how that blood vessel sat inside, and make sure that Jake's skull is developed underneath - he said he doesn't want to get in there, remove the birthmark and see the back of Jake's brain underneath it! (that would be bad!)

Thankfully, we were able to get Jake in today for his MRA and MRI (MRA shows his blood vessels, and MRI shows his head in general). The doctor is hoping to go over the results next week, and contact us and let us know what the next steps are that we can take. He mentioned something about having a procedure done before we think about having the major surgery. I can't remember exactly what it was called (gonna have to write down those technical terms next time!), but it's done by the radiology department. He'd have a catheter "floated" up through his blood vessels to the birthmark, and they'd "zap" it with something that would constrict and close up the blood vessel that is running through the birthmark. Once that's done, surgery on his birthmark would be less of a risk. He said that if they try surgery before doing this, Jake would just bleed and bleed, and being a child, he'd run the risk of loosing too much blood, and need transfusions. The doctor thinks, as of today, that this is the route he'll take - but he'll know more after seeing the images from the MRI and MRA today.

On an emotional level, it was up and down today for me personally. It was a bit scary at times, thinking about all the possibilities, and hearing Jake's account of how he feels about having his birthmark. I found out today just how much he hates having it, and that he was picked on quite a bit in 3rd grade over it. He was about in tears today as he told me what happened (which, of course got me on the verge of tears as well). He was quite brave through the whole day, and was very mature. He talked to the doctor without hesitation (the doctor was also very engaging with Jake, which made Jake feel very comfortable). When we went down to get his MRI and MRA, he found out that he was going to have to have an IV put in for the chemical to show his vessels during the MRA. Through the whole needle prick - he didn't flinch. He sat in the MRI machine for a whole 45 minutes while all the images were being taken - and coped quite well with the noise and discomfort. When he finished the MRI & MRA, his birthmark started bleeding quite badly. He was as cool as a cucumber in dealing with it. The technicians administering his imaging were wide eyed and almost panicky. Jake talked with an even tone, and told them how to deal with his birthmark bleeding. It was quite amazing to see him today.

On the way home, I told Jake just how proud I was of him and how he was handling this whole situation. He told me that he will do whatever it takes to get rid of the birthmark - even if it means some discomfort in the process. He's going to rise to the occasion, and "be a man" about it.

Amazing.

Please keep praying for this situation. I'm seeing more and more how important this is to Jake, and I want the best for him. This is a major surgery, I'm finding out. I want everything to be smooth and safe. Please pray for wisdom for the doctors and Michael and I as we make decisions and go through processes. Please pray for Jake's emotions and safety through all of this. Of course we want him to endure as little pain as possible - so please pray that whatever course is decided upon, that it is the least invasive.

Thanks for all your prayers so far, and thanks for continuing them.

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Another marble in the jar...if we had a marble jar

My in-laws have a neat thing that they do, to remind them of all the good days they have. They have a jar that they fill with marbles. For every good day they have, they drop a marble in the jar. The end result is a jar full of marbles, representing some great memories. Yesterday would have warranted a marble in the jar. Since we don't have a jar - I'll do my best to preserve the good day by blogging instead. Not as colorful, but it'll do. :)

The boys have been really great lately. They've really shown a lot of maturity and responsibility around the house. They both have chores that need to be done each day, and for a long time now, they've completed the chores with great attitudes and helpful hearts. Michael and I were talking about how we needed to give them a bonus (they get a monthly allowance) to reward them for such great behavior. After chatting about it for a bit, we decided that it'd be fun to take them to the skating rink with their friends. Both boys have been talking for some time that they'd like to go, so we thought it'd be a great reward for such great behavior.

A couple weeks ago, we told the boys of our plans to take them to Super Skate. We figured we could fit about 8 extra kids in both of our cars, so we told them that they could each invite 4 friends to come along. After talking to their friends, it looked like most of them couldn't make it (we didn't have much notice for them to make plans for it), so it looked like it was going to be a small turnout. That Thursday, Jake sprained his ankle, so we had to postpone our skating session for a few weeks.

Postponing the outing actually worked in the boys favor. We were able to make plans a bit earlier, and send out "invites" to their friends. At first, we didn't get much of a response, and to tell you the truth, I was a bit worried that the boys would be disappointed in their reward. What fun is it to go roller skating with just your mom and dad? Finally, on Friday we got several calls from parents letting us know that their child would be joining us. All in all, we had 2 of Jake's friends come, and 4 of Chris' friends come.

We got to Super Skate right at the 10:00 starting time. At first, we were the only group there. It was great! Eventually, another small group joined us, but it was far from crowded. The boys had a blast - and both skated really well! (It was Chris' first time roller skating). The skate session lasted from 10:00 to noon, and in that time there was lots and lots of goofiness going on! We got to hear all kinds of kids music too (I'm not sure if the DJ noticed that all the kids were under the age of 10 or not, but he played a lot of "Disney" songs...Crazy Frog and Chipmunks led the pack.) I didn't skate at all, and manned our video camera, but Michael did end up getting a pair of skates and cruised the rink with the boys. It worked out really well to have him out there, to help some of the kids who didn't know how to skate so well.

At the end of the session, the boys were all sweaty and disappointed that the session was coming to an end. Some of the parents came to pick up their boys, and some of the kids were to ride home with us. We loaded up our Durango to the fullest, and headed over to Wendy's to grab some lunch with the boys riding with us. We took up 3 tables at Wendy's (could have fit into 2 - but who wants their parents sitting with them when they're out with their friends?), and thanked God for the dollar menu! We all ate, and the boys giggled all their way through lunch. After lunch, we again loaded the Durango with boys, and started the bus route to take everyone home. During the ride, we heard lots of jokes about body functions, and lots of silly noises to go along with the jokes. I was personally relieved to hear that other people's boys joke like this too. :) I do have to say, however, that the boys have done an extremely good job picking out friends. All of their friends are very nice boys, and it was enjoyable to spend time with them all.

After dropping off the last boy, we headed over to a cell phone store to change over our cell phone plans. We've been talking about it for some time, and decided that now was a good a time as any. After spending a few hours at the cell phone store - picking out phones, setting up a new plan, and asking tons of questions, we all walked out with new phones. Michael's phone is by far the most fun - he got an iPhone. :)

That evening, Michael and the boys ended up going over to our neighbor's house for a game night. They had lots of fun playing Rock Band for the first time. I enjoyed my quiet evening to myself, setting up my contacts in my new phone, and watching my cheesy VH1 shows. :)

We all went to bed last night extremely tired, but extremely happy. It was a truly wonderful day spending time together as a family, and watching the boys with their friends. If we did have that marble jar, I'd have to pick out the most colorful marble to describe the day. A marble that made you smile to look at it, because that's how I felt at the end of the day. It was a great day!

Another day at the doctor's office....

As most of you know, Jake has a rather large birthmark on the back of his head, called a strawberry hemangioma. All through his years, the doctor has taken a "wait and see" approach to treating it. Generally, these types of birthmarks disappear by the time the child is 9-11 years old. We've kept our hopes up for some time that this would be the case for Jake, but unfortunately, it hasn't.

Over the last few months, he's developed a sore that just won't heal. We kept hoping that it'd go away, but it's been stubborn. After a second sore developed, Michael and I decided it'd be a good idea to take him into the doctor again, and have it looked at one more time.

I took Jake in to see our family doctor on Thursday. The doctor took a look at the sore, and determined that it's probably a result of his birthmark being nicked each time he brushes his hair, and has gotten slightly infected. He prescribed some antibiotics to clear up the infection. While looking at the birthmark, he asked me if we'd be willing to look into the possibility of having the birthmark surgically removed. He said that we've been watching it for 10 years now, and it hasn't gotten any smaller. Jake is a bit older now, and could handle a surgery a bit better than he would have before. I told him that we'd be willing to talk to a surgeon about it, and we were scheduled for a consultation with a plastic surgeon here in Cedar Rapids this morning.

Jake was extremely happy to hear that he might have the birthmark removed. It's been bothering him for quite some time now - and he's done with it. He's tired of having to work around it with his hair, wear a bigger hat size, and answer questions when people get a glimpse of it. He's really been expressing to me these last few days his true feelings about dealing with his birthmark. The bottom line is - he hates it!

We went in to see the plastic surgeon this morning. The doctor was very friendly, and very engaging with Jake. He took a look at the birthmark, and determined that it was something he hasn't dealt with enough in his career, and would be more comfortable if we had someone from the University of Iowa Hospital take a look at it. He wanted to make sure that we have the best people working on Jake, and the best resources. He predicted that they're going to want to run a CT scan - just to make sure that the birthmark is only affecting the surface of Jake's head. He thought he felt an indentation in Jake's skull - the result of constant pressure from the birthmark as Jake's skull developed. We're not sure what that means, or what - if any - action will be necessary to correct it.

We have an appointment at the University on October 31st for another consultation with a plastic surgeon. We'll know more about what we're looking after that appointment. This will be a journey for us - as we've never dealt with surgery for either boy. Please pray for wisdom for us, for this whole experience. We want to do what's best for Jake, and make the right decisions as to which path to take on this.

On a funny note: We were finishing up with the plastic surgeon this morning, and he was joking with Jake quite a bit. He asked Jake what he was going to be when he grows up. Jake told him, "I don't know what I'd want to do".

"You could be a plastic surgeon when you grow up!" the doctor told him, with a smile.

"Naw," Jake replied. "I don't do too well with knives and people."

Smart man!

Home Studio

I spent this afternoon upgrading my home studio.

I bought some linoleum at the local hardware store... I got the cheapest stuff they had... at only 39¢ per square foot, the 12' x 22' roll only cost $100. Per the suggestion from Mom (a professional that deals with all sorts of painting situations), I used Zinzer 1-2-3 primer to paint it white... ended up using 1.5 gallons to get it all covered with more than two coats.... hence, the picture at the right.

Not seen in the picture is the two 12' - 1x4 boards that I used to secure the linoleum at the top. I stapled the linoleum on one board and then stapled the two boards together (with an air-nailer - not a little wimpy stapler) to sandwhich the linoleum between the boards.

The end result it pretty cool.

The picture shown here is only lit with a shop light... once I get everything setup, the studio lights will really sweeten the shot. Plus, my tired and sweaty mug won't be messing up the shot.

It's exciting... now the room actually feels like a real studio. The hooks are still right above the board on the wall so I can hang my muslin backdrops (my favorite: BLACK).




Next project: our family photo
Due: next week

Our trip to the ER

Well, we got the pleasure of visiting our local emergency room today. Around 2:15 I got a phone call from Jake's school, informing me that he had injured his ankle in gym class playing soccer. The nurse went on to tell me that he put ice on his ankle twice already, but had come back complaining that it still hurts. She asked him to describe the pain on a number scale. 1 being he doesn't hurt, to 10 being the worst pain he's ever felt. He rated his pain at a 7.

I wasn't sure at first if I should pick him up from school. It was so close to the end of the day, and I didn't know to what extent his injury really was. I told the nurse that I'd call Michael, and call her back. My thinking is that Michael is more involved in sports than I am - I'm sure he'd know more about sports injury than I do.

I called Michael, and got his voice mail. So I called again, and got his voicemail once more. I called a third time - really certain that I needed his opinion, and he answered the phone informing me that he was in the middle of a meeting. I apologized, and brought him up to speed on the phone call I got from the school nurse. He told me that it'd be best to pick him up and have him checked out. I agreed - if only for my peace of mind - and after calling the nurse back, left work to pick him up. (I'm so thankful for my bosses who are VERY understanding of how a family works - and consistently make sure that family comes before work).

I got to the school around 2:40 or so, chatted with the nurse, and looked at Jake's ankle. It was pretty swollen, and he had a hard time putting any weight on it. We gathered up all of his items, and got in the car. Michael had finished his meeting at this point, and called me. Michael and I both decided that the best thing to do would be to take him into the ER. If we went to our family doctor, he'd send us down to the hospital to get x-rays anyway, so we might as well just go that direction. I stopped at home, long enough to look for some paperwork that I'd need for the hospital, grab Jake's PSP (to keep him busy in the waiting room) and a magazine for myself. After being home for about 10 minutes, I looked at Jake's ankle again, and it had gotten bigger. We decided we shouldn't delay any longer, and get down to the hospital.

We arrived at the hospital shortly after. Once finding a parking spot the dilemma was how to get Jake across the parking lot and into the ER. There weren't any wheelchairs close by, and I really didn't feel comfortable letting him sit in the car by himself while I fetched one. After some awkward tries, Jake and I decided it'd be best for me to piggy-back him into the ER. I turned around, leaned back, and he jumped from his good foot onto my back. We got quite a few chuckles as I lugged my 100lb 10 year old across a busy parking lot.

Once we were inside, one of the attendants got Jake a wheelchair, and signed us in. It's been a while since we've been in the ER (thank God!), and I was quite impressed with how they've streamlined the process. The "host" at the door took some vital information: name, age, injury, and gave us a buzzer like you'd get at a restaurant. He said when the buzzer went off, we'd go to a room, and they'd take us from there.

5 minutes after sitting down in the waiting room, our buzzer went off. I wheeled Jake to the designated room, and in there 2 nurses performed triage duties. We sat in there for a total of 5 minutes before heading back to the waiting room. I got Jake settled, and was about to sit down myself, and another nurse came and got us. She pushed Jake and led the way to the exam room on the 5th floor.

We were in the exam room for not more than a minute, and the doctor came in and asked Jake about what happened. He quickly looked over Jake's ankle, and told me that he wants x-rays done. He let us know that someone would be up to take us down to radiology for the x-rays. Thinking that it'd be a while, I got Jake's PSP out for him to play while we waited. He barely got the system turned on and a game loaded when a "transport" came to pick us up and go to get x-rays. Once again, we were in the elevator, this time going to the 3rd floor for x-rays.

The x-ray tech was ready for him right away. I waited in the hallway while his x-rays were being taken. I was a bit worried, I've heard horror stories of the positions that people with broken bones have to be in to get x-rays done, and was afraid that it'd hurt Jake. A few minutes later the door opened, and Jake came out fine. He said that the x-ray tech moved the table he was on instead of moving him. I was quite thankful for that!

Once again, we were told a "transport" would come and take us back to the exam room. While we waited, Jake and I chatted a bit. I could tell he was really worried, and his emotions were starting to come to the surface a bit more. He shared with me that he was a bit scared of what the outcome would be. He said, "I have to admit, I've sometimes wondered about if I broke a bone, what kind of attention I'd get.....I don't think I'm ready to find out!"

I assured him that even if he did break his ankle, things would be okay, and we'd get him taken care of. Soon after, our "transport" came and took us back up to the room. This was the time that we waited the most. Jake didn't feel like playing his PSP, so we chatted quite a bit. He was in good spirits, and really impressed me with his maturity and presence of mind. He's really grown a lot in the last few months, and today's reactions to his situation was evidence of such.

The doctor came in a bit later, and let us know that the x-rays didn't show any fractures, but it was a severe sprain. He informed us that it'd be a week's time in healing, and that Jake would have to wear a splint for that week, and use crutches for the first few days. One of the nurses came in shortly after and fitted him with a splint, adjusted his crutches for him, and gave him a crash course on walking with crutches.

All in all, it was, as much as could be hoped for, a pleasant experience at the hospital. It was a pretty quick process, and the staff was very nice. I was most impressed with the fact that all the staff addressed Jake directly, and didn't talk "about" him to me, but included him in the conversations and questions. I was also extremely impressed with Jake's presence and confidence in communicating with all these adults.

He's a bit sore yet tonight, and I'm sure will be for another day or so. School tomorrow will be interesting with the crutches. I think at this time, Jake is kind of happy he's got crutches - it's something new, and he'll get some sympathy and special treatment at school. I'm sure after the first day of not being able to do what he wants, he'll lean more towards walking without the crutches, and getting things back to normal. I'm thankful that his ankle wasn't broken, and that his recovery is only a week.

Jake is not a big fan of soccer, and doesn't like the fact that he has to play it in gym class. I had to pick on him a bit, and told him "You'll do ANYTHING to get out of soccer, won't you!?"

The last day of summer

The boys start school tomorrow - a fact that I'm happy about, and they're not. I'm happy for many reasons: the boys will have their school friends to hang out with, and not having to pay for daycare is a plus. The biggest reason I'm ready for school to start is the routine. I love the routine we have during the school year of having to get them to school at the same time every day. It's a comfort to me to have a routine. A comfort that I need to carry over to other areas of my life, but that's a whole other blog. :)

I took Chris to his open house tonight to meet his 3rd grade teacher for the first time. She seems very nice, and Chris seemed pretty comfortable around her. He had a hard time remembering her name tonight, but I encouraged him that by Friday, he'll have a hard time not calling me Mrs. Miller.

Chris is getting so big, and it's an odd adjustment for me. I realized a week ago that this is the year that he'll be learning to write in cursive, and he'll be mastering his multiplication tables. With him being my youngest, it hit me harder than when Jake was learning the same skills. I shared with Chris my shock in how much he's grown, and he wasn't fazed by it. He just figures that's the way things go, so "what's the big deal?". Tonight, when we walked in his classroom and his name was written on his desk in cursive, he realized what the big deal was. He felt pretty grown up to see his name in cursive.

We stopped by his 2nd grade classroom so he could say "hi" to his teacher from last year. Mrs. Neff was very happy to see him, and greeted him with a big hug. She went on to share with me that she has the same feelings that I have about how fast the boys are growing. You see, she had Jake as a 2nd grader as well. She said that having taught 2 siblings, and having them both out of her classroom has made her feel pretty old. At least I'm not alone in my feelings. :)

The boys are both enjoying their last day of summer to the fullest extent. Michael was able to come home early and work from home today, so the boys have been outside all day playing with the neighborhood gang. As I type this, we have 2 extra kids in our playroom, and one more just got called home for dinner. They're fitting in as much play as they can before the official end of summer.

Something tells me that they're not going to let the start of school get in the way of having fun - I expect to hear these giggles for a long time to come!