Appointments and more appointments!

Raymond had an appointment with his oncologist on Thursday. My cousin Stephanie is doing a school project on Raymond and another baby so she went along with us to see what a typical appointment was like. We went down Wednesday so she could experience the Ronald McDonald House. Everyone got up early to go over to the hospital because I needed to meet with a nurse from anesthesiology to set up Raymond's tube procedure and BAER study. The anaesthesiology department finally received the letters from all of Raymond's specialists so this was to be the last step. Since Raymond has had seizures in the past the nurse said they will also need a letter from his neurologist. Well, Raymond technically doesn't have a neurologist. His pediatrician monitors it. It will be a year at the end of October since he's had one. She now has to write a detailed letter to the anaesthesia department at St. Christopher's Hospital. I feel annoyed about the entire thing because it's not like he's never been under anaesthesia before...and at their hospital! It was not an issue last time when he had 7 hours of surgery. The nurse said that if he has a history of seizures then the doctor will typically put an IV in and give fluids while he's under. Normally, when you have tubes put in, no IV is required. So hopefully Dr. Haggerty will be able to write a sufficient letter the first time (I'm worried about the anesthesiologist being really picky) and we can get this going. I'd like to have it done before winter!

After that appointment we had a lot of time until Raymond's oncology appointment. I decided to stop in to the office to see if there was anyway they could see Raymond early. The nurses said sure - I love that they are always so flexible. Dr. Halligan wasn't there but Dr. Rozannes was so she took a peak at Raymond this time. The nurse took blood then we headed back to the examine room. Dr. Halligan's head nurse has been with him for 34 years and we love her. She's a great lady. She examined Raymond then Dr. Rozannes came in. Raymond's lungs sounded very crackly to both of then, especially the left side. This is a pretty big concern because as I mentioned previously, Raymond's surgeon is concerned his Nissen came unraveled. The concern is that the crackling is from aspiration. We have to give him breathing treatments to see if it clears. So far it hasn't. If it's not better by Tuesday then he will have to have an x-ray to see if its turning into pneumonia. Hopefully not! Raymond's white blood count was very low and Dr. Rozannes feels strongly it's because Raymond is trying to fight off whatever is brewing in his lungs. We will have to keep a close eye on that. Also, both Dr. R and the nurse feel that Raymond should be seen by a urologist. Raymond's been having trouble with his testicles not dropping down. We saw Dr. Arthur last week and he felt they were fine. Dr. R. didn't feel them and neither did the nurse. They said Dr. Arthur is a good surgeon but they feel Raymond needs a second opinion by a specialist. They tried to get us an appointment that same day but the urology department was really busy. I need to call them tomorrow to schedule an appointment. Better safe then sorry. While we were making our next oncology appointment at the desk Dr. Halligan came into the office. He played with Raymond for a little while and then huddled with the staff that was at the desk. I heard him telling them that they were trying to keep "him as comfortable as possible now. No more can be done." My heart sank as he told them they could take turns visiting him and his family. I don't know the little boy or his family but I felt such grief and sadness. I can only image how they must be feeling. How devastating. Thank goodness for wonderful doctors like Dr. Halligan and his caring staff to be there for the family at the end.

I have a doctor's appointment tomorrow for a routine baby check-up. Isabella is excited to go. She loves to hear the baby's heartbeat. The last time I was at the doctor's office for a check-up they gave me a coupon to Babies R Us for a free $25 gift card if you register. This is our third baby and we don't really need anything but Chris and I decided we would register for a few diapers and Dreft to get the gift card. Well, once we got to Babies R Us, we realized that we will actually need more then we anticipated. Raymond will not be out of his crib for awhile yet (I'd venture to guess a year) so we will need another one for this baby. We found a "mini" crib. It is the perfect size for what we need. It comes with a mattress but we need all new sheets to fit it because it's smaller. We also need a bumper. So we registered for a few things then found the mini crib in a better color at Walmart.com. So we registered for that too. Who knew we would need a registry?!?! It's become more of a reference list for Chris and I. We will start to buy a few things here and there.

Chris and I gave Sadie a bath today and decided it would be a good idea to give the two cats a bath too. We've never given them a real bath but we have used no-rinse shampoo. They both were a little oily and need it. So we clipped their nails first then got a hold of Sophie. She did much better then I thought, even though she didn't like it. Chris dried her off then got Chloe. She wasn't as cooperative. The poor thing was scared to death. She was making so much noise that Sadie sat outside the bathroom door and cried until we opened it. We got through it and now Chloe is super soft and fluffy. We are glad that we decided to give them a bath. I also started bathroom demolition today. Let's hope it keeps going smoothly! Good bye robins egg blue tile!

On a sad note, Mr. Bowtie died today. Chris gave him a monster cricket to eat last night and apparently it was too much for him. Chris was afraid to tell Isabella but she took the news well. She and Chris buried Mr. Bowtie outback. Rest in peace little buddy.

Until Next Time!

Lots of Love,
Erica