Sweet Yet Sour

Anna’s MRI Update 2

Monday, December 15th, 2008 | Anna | 5 Comments

At 9:05 a.m. this morning I called the doctor’s office about Anna’s MRI results.  Frankly, knowing me, you should all be amazed that I didn’t call at 9:00 a.m. on the dot.  I’m trying to be more restrained in my adulthood, really.

I got through to a nurse who had Anna’s file in front of her.  I’m happy and relieved to say that I was told that Anna’s brain MRI is normal.  There appears to be no other structures in her eyes or brain involved with what they are now calling “soft-tissue – likely a dermoid cyst”.  Whohoo!

I was given the number for a plastic surgeon at Children’s who can remove the cyst, but was told that it is not necessary that we make an appointment immediately.  I’m pretty sure that this will not be covered by our insurance, so we need to check into that and think about when we want to have it removed.  At this point we simply need to make sure that it does not grow (it will grow apparently) so much that it obstructs Anna’s vision in her right eye.

The Colorado Springs newspaper ran a story this morning about a child born with a tumor that turned out to be parts of an absorbed twin, so let’s all be grateful that Anna’s cyst doesn’t appear to be that kind of bump… Gross!

Thanks to all of you for your well wishes and support!

Anna’s MRI – Update 1

Sunday, December 14th, 2008 | Anna | 2 Comments

First off, we don’t have the results from Anna’s MRI, so I named this update “1″ because I’ll write another post once we hear something on the results.

Joyfully, however, the actual MRI is over and that’s a relief.

So, for a brief review, after seeing several doctors about a bump on the bridge of Anna’s nose (and getting no real answer as to what it is), we finally saw a dermatologist at Children’s Hospital.  That doctor (and a team of other doctors and nurses there) poked and prodded Anna and decided it was most likely a dermoid cyst.

Because of where the possible cyst is however, the doctor said that he wanted a brain MRI done to make sure that’s what it is and to make sure that there are no orbital or brain structures involved. The radiology clinic is busy at Children’s so we had to wait two months for the appointment.  This delay was good since it took the insurance company almost a month to approve the MRI.

This gave me two months to worry about the anesthesia necessary for an infant to stay still for an MRI.  I do love having lots of time to worry…

Anyway, we took Anna into the hospital, got her checked in, and were eventually ushered back into radiology.  We met two nice nurses and the nice anesthesiologist who would be putting our daughter to sleep.  The scariest part was when I had to hand my sweet little daughter (wearing the tiniest hospital gown ever) to a nurse I had just met and walk back into the waiting room.

After about an hour we were ushered back into the room to see our totally zonked out Anna with an IV in her ankle and a little blood pressure monitor on her finger.  She woke up soon, and was pretty drunk; she laughed and was kind of floppy.  I tried nursing her but she was more interested in looking around the room and talking.  So really, she was soon back to being herself.

In the end, Anna looks a little like she has been through battle.  She has marks under her eyes from the tape that they used to keep her eyes shut, a small bruise and IV puncture on her ankle, a red area on her cheek from where the oxygen tubes were, and a large mark from the tape that they used to keep the oxygen and heart monitors to her chest.  It’s a little sad…

On top of that, we think she might be teething; she’s not sleeping very well, is very fussy and is drooling like a bulldog.  So while the MRI is over, I am still losing sleep.  When will the sleep fairy give me a break?

Anyway, you bet I’m going to be on that doctor’s office like white on rice on Monday morning to get the MRI results; I’ll post an update when I hear something.

A few of my favorite things…

Thursday, December 11th, 2008 | The Daily Special | 1 Comment

I hope that title got the “Sound of Music” song stuck in your head, because it did that to me and I think we should all suffer together.  “Brown paper packages tied up with string…”

I used to watch Oprah religiously until I discovered that I hate her for being so “my way is the best way, I’m so great” about everything.  My favorite show used to be the “Oprah’s Favorite Things” show, but now that I hate her I realize that the show is all about crap that us little people who don’t make Oprah’s salary can’t afford or don’t need – like Champagne bubble bath…

Anyway, I’ve decided to compile my own list of my favorite things (and I am working on a list of my least favorite things as well – Oprah is at the top of that list).

1. Online shopping and more importantly free shipping.  If you have not checked out www.freeshipping.org – go there now before you do any more online shopping. It’s an awesome site that has all sorts of codes and info about almost every major (and minor) shopping site on how to get free shipping.  I’ve used it frequently this shopping season.

2. Reducing my junk mail and therefore the waste of paper.  Last year I signed up with GreenDimes to opt out of a junk mail and I gave it as a gift to a few relatives.  It’s been awesome and I have really seen a reduction in our junk mail.  Plus, they have great re-usable grocery bags that come in cool colors, fold up into themselves and come with key chain sized carabiner.  It’s really easy to sign up and I can testify that it works!

3. Giving gifts to the world through Kiva.  Kiva is an organization that allows you to donate/make a small loan to someone in the developing world for their business.  For example, today Kiva is featuring a woman in Peru who is requesting a loan (it will be paid back) to help her purchase some cattle.  Ever wonder how you can help people in other countries while still sitting on your ass on your comfy couch?  Try giving someone $25 to help them buy cattle…

4. Heifer International is similar to Kiva, but it has more of a “help a community” ideal. My mom grew up on a farm with a goat as a pet (whom she loved), so every once in a while we buy a goat or two from Heifer in her name.  Those goats go to a needy community who use their milk, fur, whatever.  You can buy cows, sheep, pigs, bees, etc. and really help out a community in need.  And then you can say, “I own a cow in Africa” and it would be true!

5. Here’s a picture of my two most favorite-est things (screw you Oprah – they’re all mine) -

Favorite Things

That was then, this is now

Friday, December 5th, 2008 | Anna | 2 Comments

Anna is officially 8 months old today.  Amazing! She is so totally different now from the kid I gave birth to – and it’s only been 8 months.

Seriously, check it out…

This was taken when she was about 6 weeks old.

Anna at 6 weeks

And here she is last week.

Anna in Purple

She looks so much bigger! And she’s so cute and fun! (I am going to be really sad when she outgrows that awesome hat Rena got her.)

At 4 months we gave her rice cereal as her first solid food.  Here’s a picture from that first meal…

Anna's first solid food

And here she is last week at lunch.

Anna eating at 8 months

She’s slinging that sippy cup of water like a pro, no? She doesn’t actually eat the carrots, since she has no teeth, but she likes to sort of knaw on them.

Anna laughs, talks a lot (about what we don’t know) and she’s working on crawling this week.  She’s sort of inching along.  This weekend baby gates will be installed at our house!

Anyway, I’ve recently posted a whole bunch of new pictures of Anna on Flickr – so check them out and enjoy!