Dr. Hero's Exam

This morning we woke up, had breakfast and were sitting in Dr. Hero's waiting room by 8:45 a.m. His wonderful staff sweetly greeted us and played with Kai as we waited for the doctor's arrival. Kai was his only scheduled patient, since this was to be his week of vacation.

At 9 a.m. sharp, Dr. Hero walked through the door of the examining room we were waiting in. After saying hi to Kai and giving me a hug, he turned back to Kai and said, "Wow! It's so good to see you, Kai. It's been a long time!" To which Kai immediately responded, "So? Where ya been?" Everyone cracked up. Yep...that's my boy.

We sat there for about an hour going over the past 6 weeks and all that has happened since. I did tell him about the amount of Kai's de-sats drastically dropping at night. He said he wasn't surprised, but that Kai has definitely "earned himself a laryngoscopy and a bronchoscopy" at the least. Therefore, we are proceeding as planned. If no further obstruction is found, then PRAISE GOD...if an obstruction is found, then it will be corrected while in the OR and again we PRAISE GOD! In the end, that's who is in control and who we will glorify.

Towards the end of our conversation, Kai noticed the gift bag I had sitting by me with Dr. Hero's plaque I had made. Remember the picture you, my wonderful readers, voted on? Well, the plaque with your chosen picture was given to Dr. Hero this morning. He unwrapped it and was pretty speechless, except for the words, "Oh my God, you're killing me here!" as he wiped tears from his eyes. His nurse stood next to him reading it, also with tears in her eyes. Dr. Hero then scooped up Kai, gave him big hug and said, "This is truly the best gift anyone has ever given me!"

I interrupted the tear fest with a request for a picture, to which Dr. Hero kindly agreed (after wiping away tears).

A happy little boy with a very happy doctor!

He then asked me if I was in a hurry to get Kai admitted since tonight was just a night of monitoring his de-sats. I said, "Not really". He then had his secretary make arrangements for Kai to be at the hospital registration between 3 - 5 p.m., leaving us a free day to spend as we chose.

Kai and I then returned to the RMH and hung out for a bit in the playroom, then headed to a beautiful mall here where we walked around, looked at fountains and had a great lunch together. It really felt like we were on vacation.

Around 3 p.m. when we were finsihed with lunch, we again went back the RMH, packed our necessary gear for the next few days at the hospital and walked over to the admitting office.

Kai's demeanor immediately changed once we were in the Special Care unit room. He became very apprehensive and uncooperative. A few resident doctors came in and asked him questions, to which he did not respond, not even giving them eye contact. I explained to them about his trauma with needles and how much he's been through. Immediately they reassured him that they had no needles and that they only wanted to listen to his heart, check his mouth....etc., etc., he again had a change of mood and became happy and cooperative.

Dr. Hero stopped by in the evening to say hi again and to let me know that he had spoken to the staff about Kai's IV. He instructed them that "his special patient will be NPO (nothing by mouth) after 2:00 a.m., but that an IV should not be implanted until he is ready to go to surgery". They will give him the Versed (sedative) prior to the IV being put in. That made this Mama's heart really happy!

Scott and I have commented many times that when this whole mess began weeks ago, we should have come here from the get-go. Hindsight is 20/20. I digress.

Now, it's 12:30 a.m. and the little man is soundly sleeping. He had one quick de-sat around 10 p.m. and it quickly jumped back into the 90's. So far, so good.

The scopes will determine what procedures will need to be taken in the OR. I know God is holding us tight in His grip and I am completely at peace with how things are going. He and He alone knows the outcome of all of this, and I trust in Him completely.

Sweet dreams baby boy.

Perfect numbers!

Fun At Sea World

Some snugglin' time!

Popcorn makes watching the Shamu show so much better!

It's cool to wet the people below!

Ok...this is my favorite picture of the day! Pure joy on his face!

Just hanging around!

My big boy!

He's got that "I'm thinking about what to do next" look.

This picture definitely shows Kai's personality.

Silly boy!

Telling Daddy all about the Elmo show.

Hugs from the Sesame Street bunch!

A bundle of energy waiting in line to go into the Shark Encounter.

(It's a VIDEO CLIP! - Click on the play button and remember to scroll down and turn off background music!)

Not What You Wanted

I know that you guys are all waiting for a post full 'o cuteness again with pictures of our day at Sea World. I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but it's not what you're gettin' tonight folks.

Why?

Because I'm plum' exhausted. The boy has completely worn me out.

We were on the road by 7:00 a.m. I could barely keep my eyes open during the 3.5 hour drive, because I ended up going to bed at almost 3 a.m.

Finally, we made it to Sea World. OH MY LORD!!!!!!! WHAT WAS I THINKING??????

As a Floridian for almost my entire life, I'v always had enough sense to know that going to a theme park in Orlando during SPRING BREAK is as bad as falling into a bed of cacti - naked! Why would I do that??????

We arrived there on time, until we hit the exit to Sea World on I-4. From that point, it took us 1.5 hours to get off the exit and park our car at Sea World. That was crazy! Poor Kai kept asking, "Are we there yet?" I kept saying, "Almost!" As we both watched the big Sea World sign just yards away, but unable to move....for over an hour!

Yet, even with the huge crowds and the cold weather (yes, Aus...we wore ski caps and layered clothes with jackets in 58 degrees - we're wimps), we had an absolutely. marvelous. time. We laughed, sang silly songs, ate junk food, and even picked up on some educational stuff when we learned some cool facts about polar bears and sharks. I loved listening to Kai giggle and watching him run around like a looney. My heart melted whenever he'd say, "I miss Daddy." or "I miss AJ and Anna Grace." Man, I love that boy so much. He's got a gigantic heart with a personality to match. Scott tells me often that Kai is my soul. It always makes me smile. OK. Major degression.

I took tons of pictures and some videos, but I truly am wiped out. I will definitely post them tomorrow while hanging out at the hospital though, so be sure to come peek.

We checked into the RMH this evening, had some leftover mac & cheese with chicken and settled into our room, which is again, very nice! Kai told me he was not tired and began to argue a bit about why he had to go to sleep. I told him he could stay up for 5 more minutes. I went into the bathroom to put away our toiletries and when I walked back out, he had completely passed out on the bed. Too funny! So, now he's snoring away as I type.

Tomorrow morning we meet with Dr. Hero at 8:45 a.m. I'm a bit nervous. Kai's de-sat's have gone from 20+ a night to maybe 5 a night...if that. I know that is GREAT news, but I think the doctor is gonna think I'm crazy. Now I'm worried that maybe Kai shouldn't have surgery and that eventually his de-sats will go away all together. But, I'm not a doctor and we'll see in the morning what the real doctor says, although I do think they will still be going through with the endoscopys on Thursday.

Not to mention the fact that I feel so bad for my sweet boy, who has asked me about needles every single time I mention him going back into the hospital. I hate the fact that he has to go through this. I hate it! Poor baby.

So back to today. It was a wonderful, unforgettable day filled with memories that I will carry in my heart for a lifetime.