Wednesday, August 27, 2014

Health update on the Coopsters!

Let me start out with this:
Real people insurance sucks.
BAD.
Had we had this insurance before when Cooper had his surgeries,
we would not be in the same position at this moment.
Thank the Lord he was watching over us and the timing was when it was!

Any ways,
Cooper has had some recent procedures done to figure out what is going on with him.
A few weeks ago, after we had The Neck X-rays done for the ENT doctor, we went back in and saw him for the results and to see where we were going to go from there.
The doctor was checking Cooper's adenoids to see if they were enlarged and if that was making it uncomfortable for Cooper to eat or swallow. 
They were enlarged, but not at a concerning size.
He gave us his opinion on what he thought we should do next: a scope in office.
He said typically from what he saw from the results of the x-ray, and a baby was gaining weight and we were still hearing the noise when he breathed, he would say, "Let's just ride it out", but with Cooper specifically, his weight gain, or lack there of (1.5 lbs weight gain in 6 months), and his history, he wanted to do a scope in office to see where we go from there.

Mama was the bad guy and had to hold him down as they put a tiny tube down his nose to see through the nasal passages and the esophagus.
As he was going through this, the doctor asked if Cooper had a cold, I told him that he didn't and that concerned him a little. He said he has a lot of congestion for a little guy without a cold. He also saw ridges and bumps along the wall of the esophagus and was concerned about that.
He also said he saw a lot of excess floppiness and tissue from the previous surgery that could be removed surgically if needed.
He heard Coopers breathing and he said it is residual Lyrangomalatia (even though they fixed it before, there is still more that can be done).
He wanted to wait and hear back from the endoscopy we were having done in a few weeks to see what our next step would be.
I am so thankful this doctor is not a surgery happy surgeon.
He told us,
"If I could tell you, 'we can fix his eating issues with another surgery to get rid of the residual lyrangomalatia', I would do it in a second, But I can't be 100% certain. I want to see the results of the endoscopy to see if there are problems with GI that can be done or need to be done, then we have a few options on what we will do".
Some of those options are, a clinic where there are three doctors working together: himself, a GI doctor and a pulmonologist who are all at the appointment and discuss all the results and issues together to come up with a cohesive plan.
We can also potentially do the surgery if they don't find any issues with the Endoscopy.
He said if the only reason we were to do the surgery was so Cooper wasn't so noisy, he wouldn't do it. So that is really good to hear from your doctor/surgeon. You never want a doctor who is overzealous to do a potentially unnecessary surgery.
So we will see him again after we get the results from the endoscopy.

Then this past Monday, Cooper had the Endoscopy.
The Doctor gave us the results of what he saw, but we are waiting on the results from the biopsy's he did when he was in there.

Here is what we know so far:
Anatomically, apart from his small intestine being in the wrong place and how the previous surgeons tacked it down, from the surgery to fix the malrotation, he doesn't have any problems.
The Doctor did see ridges and bumps down Cooper's esophagus, so he is concerned with that being some kind of food allergy, or reflux.
The biopsy results will let us know.
He wants to put Cooper on an appetite stimulant to increase Cooper's hunger and food intake to hopefully get this kid growing.  
We will hopefully hear back from the Doctor either Thursday or Friday with the results because he was going to try to rush them since he typically would get them back in a week and that would be Labor Day.

If I never have to watch my baby boy be knocked out with anesthetics again, that will be three times too many.
I almost made it out of there without crying like a baby.
Even thinking about it now makes me tear up a little.
It is so hard watching them do that.

I am so grateful that Jeff was there with me for this one. 
I had family with me before when Cooper had his surgeries when Jeff was deployed, But having your husband there to comfort you while your baby is out and having a procedure really makes you feel so much better.

Also, We heard back from the speech therapist we saw a month ago and she is still looking into where we can begin feeding therapy and occupational therapy with Cooper.
So hopefully in the next few days we will have a better idea of what is going on and we can work to help Cooper gain some weight.

Here are some pictures from before the Endoscopy.


Coloring


he colored more on his band and the table than his papers....




Procedure in progress

waking up from Anesthetics

Home and feeling good!

Friday, August 15, 2014

Hi There... Remember Me?

So, it's been a couple of weeks since I have written.
I apologize to anyone who has been checking in.
I have a few good reasons!

1. WE MOVED INTO OUR NEW HOUSE!!!
Heck yes! 
It has been exactly two weeks since we moved in! Where has the time gone already?
We had some amazing friends and family members come over and help us with our U'haul and our POD.
How everything fit into our little 1300 square foot apartment before this, is beyond me.

The first week we didn't have internet besides our phones, and I wasn't able to post from my phone (reason number one that I haven't posted}.
Then, this week has been a bit of a struggle.
Mama was sick.
There is always the joke that when men get sick, they become children and can't do anything, yet women become Superman.
That some how never seems to be the case with me...
I become immobile.
I go through a complete box of tissues in one day.
DayQuil and NyQuil become my best friends.
I drink a gallon of orange juice.
And it is the only time I ever can drink tea (okay, more like honey water with tea flavoring).
I sit on the couch all day and whine.
and do my best to avoid my husband and son.

In my defense, I did make dinner every single night for Jeff and myself,
as well as packed his lunch box like the good little house wife that I am ;)

I did my best to keep everything clean in the house.
I washed my hands 52 times a day.
I only let Jeff give me kisses on the cheek,
I didn't touch Cooper's face or hands,
Yet all my attempts to keep my disease infested body as far from Jeff and Cooper as possible have failed.

It has spread to the Coopsters.
We now have a germ infested,
crabby,
non-eating,
teething,
one and a half year old.

Joy.

As if a temper tantrum from a one and a half year old wasn't bad enough,
add in the teething,
and the sickness
and you have created a monster.

An almost non-stop crying/whining creature,
snot all over your clothes,
and screaming until they get their 3rd fruit snack pack since they woke up from their nap,
Monster.

Don't get me wrong,
I COMPLETELY understand where he is coming from.
As stated above, I am one of the biggest babies when I am sick.
It kills me to see him like this.
And "this" happens far too often.
last year there was a 3 month period where one week Cooper would be sick and the next I would be, Then we would both be ok for a few days, then the cycle would start again.
PLEASE DEAR LORD BABY JESUS DO NOT LET THAT BE STARTING AGAIN...

Here are some of the not-so-monsterous moments from the past 2 weeks!

He has important phone calls to make.




Target and cups make me happy. I take after my mama.


Exploring the neighborhood every day with daddy.

Hey mom. Just lounging

Why yes that is his lunch on the ground. And that face...

Daddy's hat