Appointments, Appointments, and More Appointments

To say the month of September is packed full this year is an understatement.  We have a slew of appointments happening, which wouldn't be quite as bad if we didn't have to go for the regular x-rays to make sure Judith's bowels are un-dilating and going back to normal, but it's still a lot on top of the numerous plans and activities we have scheduled for the month.

Yesterday, Judith had her annual follow up ultrasound on her kidneys, and an appointment with nephrology.  This was to check and monitor the calcification they detected on her kidneys a couple years ago, to make sure things didn't get worse.  We knew going into the appointment that if things remained the same or improved, we would be discharged from their services.  I was very pleased to hear the doctor come into the exam room and say that everything looks the same, that they will attribute the problems to her prematurity (which apparently this isn't totally unheard of for some preemies), and will be discharging her from services!

If there's 1 thing I like, it's to be able to eliminate and knock a specialists off of the already long list that we see.  Especially since I know that the odds of adding more as the CF progresses is high.

The ultrasound was an interesting occurrence, and Judith did spend a fair amount of time during the scan crying and screaming in terror.  She had herself convinced that we were "just getting an x-ray," even though I explained that she was getting a different kind of picture taken that used a magic wand instead of a big camera to see her insides.  To say she was not amused with the scan is an understatement.  All things considered, it went well, but both my mom and I were exhausted because it takes a lot out of you trying to keep Judith still so the techs can get the shots they need.

Coming up later in the month, Judith has her next x-ray, and if that still looks good, we may only have to do 1 or 2 more before we can discontinue them (and hopefully won't need them again for a while).  I am concerned by the amount of radiation she's been blasted with since mid-July, including the multiple x-rays she had while inpatient, and will be relieved when she can get a break from all of that.

We also have her annual eye exam, which could prove to be an interesting experience since I know they'll dilate her eyes.  But Judith is so excited about being able to get new glasses that it's making me more excited to get her some new frames as well.  If I knew we could keep her current frames longer and still have a valid warranty, I'd do it, because they're in really good shape and she doesn't seem to have outgrown them.  I can guarantee that I'm getting the same brand, because it has been absolutely fantastic not having to worry about her snapping something constantly and going for repairs every few weeks!  The most I've had to take her for were some adjustments to the nose pieces, and in the last year I think I can count on 1 hand how many times that has happened.

Eye Exam

Judith's 6 month follow-up was this morning, and despite a massive meltdown heading to the ophthalmologist's office (and in the waiting room... and in the exam room once Dr. O. came in), she did really well.  To be fair, Judith woke up in a cranky mood, which never bodes well for the rest of our day, but she absolutely did not want to have her eyes examined and kept telling me that.  Over and over again, she said, "No!  I don't want to have my eyes examined!  I want to go see Pastor!"  I had promised her that we would stop by the church and she could say hi to our pastor while we dropped something off, but she just wanted to do that instead of going to her appointment.  Then, while we were in the waiting room, she declared that she couldn't do anything because she was hiding (she hid her face behind a High Five magazine first, and later switched to National Geographic) and that she didn't want new glasses.

Once we were back in the exam room and she was able to watch Finding Nemo, she settled down and started asking for the fish to hold.  Dr. O. has some vinyl fish that she puts over one of the light tools, and Judith remembers that those are there and loves to hold them.  She asked Dr. O. for them right away (little stinker), and ended up holding all 3 for the rest of the exam.

Dr. O.'s very pleased with how things are looking!  Judith isn't favoring 1 eye over the other, and her eyes aren't doing anything abnormal.  She was extra impressed that Judith was not only able to name the pictures, but tell her what they were in order from left to right or right to left!

I'm happy that we don't have to go back until Judith's annual exam in 6 months.  Well, at least we don't have to see Dr. O. until then, because I'm sure we'll be in the office to have her glasses readjusted again.  We did that today because the nose pads were out of alignment, but now they're back to where they should be.  I have to say that I'm really glad that we spent the few extra dollars to get the very flexible frames, because it's saving us a lot of trips to the optical area just for frame adjustments!

(Not Quite So) Wordless Wednesday

I just realized I never updated after Judith's eye exam last week.  Thankfully, there isn't a lot to report!  Everything's looking good, and while she struggled and fought the exam a bit, it really wasn't too bad and could've been much worse.  Her vision did change, but it wasn't anything major and was just the normal changes they see at this age as they grow and all.  So a new, stronger prescription was needed, and we also got a new pair of frames since her last pair was getting small.  These frames are bigger, and I'm extra excited for her because she has "big girl" temple pieces!  No more cables that wrap around the ear!  This means she'll be able to learn how to put them on herself, and she'll have an easier time pulling them off while I don't have to worry about her throwing the adjustment out of whack.  They're big, and we're back to a point where they're sliding down a lot (which means a lot of reminders from me for her to push them up so she can see properly), but it won't be long before she grows into them.

This is from Monday, after we picked up her new glasses:

Life Is Rarely Boring Around Here

This weekend was certainly no exception to that.  I should've taken it as a sign that it was going to be an interesting 3 days when I woke up Friday morning and saw how dark it still was outside thanks to the rain and storms moving through the area.  John had taken a day off, and we decided to go visit his parents and check out the "Free For All" event at their church (they hold it every year, and it's like a big yard sale except everything's free).  Last year we scored a bunch of clothes for Judith, and were hoping to do the same this year and try to get some stuff in advance so we could prepare for next year.  Anyway, John knew the target time that I wanted to leave by so we could drop the dogs off at my parents' house for the day and get to his parents' house early enough so we could try to get some good deals at the free for all, but in typical fashion of his side of the family, 80,000 different things had to happen to delay our departure and throw off the rest of the day's plans.  We were basically ready to go, and just had to load a few more things in the car when the toilet decided to clog and overflow in the downstairs bathroom.  It was really a minor thing, and it flushed fine after that, but it was enough that John had to clean things off and mop the floor while I entertained Judith enough so she wouldn't try to go in there while things were still gross.  1 clean bathroom and 1 shower later, we were finally on the road and had an uneventful (thank goodness) trip to my in-laws'.

Judith's not exactly a fan of big dogs, partially because she's not used to them and partially because many of them are bigger than her and intimidate her, so she was a bit cranky as soon as we walked in the house because the boxer was trying to kiss her and play with her in his excitement.  She was warming up to him a bit, but would still get annoyed when he would pest her.  During her vest treatment, he was hanging around her, and next thing I knew I heard her crying and John declaring that we had an issue.  Apparently Judith got knocked into a piece of furniture and whacked her temple on the unpadded part... with her glasses on.  She had a small cut on her forehead, a super nasty bruise on her temple (which is still there and will likely be there for a while), and completely destroyed her frames.  So much for making it to her annual exam in September without needing a new pair of frames!  I called her ophthalmologist and they ordered a new pair right away, but they probably wouldn't come in until Monday at the earliest.  I swear, this stuff only happens on the weekends when you can't get a speedy repair!

The rest of Friday was relatively uneventful, and Saturday wasn't too bad save for Judith being really cranky and continuing to look for her glasses.  Today, on the other hand, was pure hell.  She's sensitive to bright light normally, but it was worse because of the pounding headache she has to have from the head injury.  Because of the new symptoms cropping up, we took her to urgent care and had her checked out.  Everything looks good, and she doesn't have any other signs of a concussion, but it's going to take a long time to heal.  So between the pain from the injury and the sheer frustration of not being able to see, Judith's been absolutely miserable.  I'm hoping that once we get her new frames and she starts wearing her glasses again, it'll cut back on some of the tantrums and take some of the edge off of her headache.

I'm also hoping that this coming week won't be nearly as stressful, but we'll have to wait and see how that pans out.

What A Week

It's been interesting, and I blame full moon.  It always baffles me how such a natural occurrence can make people and animals go bat crap crazy.

Judith has been a whiny mess for most of the week.  I do think part of the problem are the pesky molars that still have not cut through her gums.  She is gnawing on things more than she previously was, so I'm hoping we're nearing the end of teething.

Last Friday my poor little peanut was so constipated and so tanked up on miralax that I didn't know what to do to give her relief.  She finally was able to go mid-morning, and for the last week her diapers have been rather interesting.  It's been a long time since we've burned through so many diapers in a day, but I'm glad she's cleaning her system out.  On top of that, she started coughing again.  It's not anything super serious like a respiratory infection, but it's happening more than normal.  I just wish I knew what I could do for her to help make it better, and I wish I knew if it was allergies or something else.

Sometime next week we'll get Judith's 4th pair of frames since she got her glasses last September.  It's not a bad break, and the same thing happened this time as the last time: the coiled wire piece that wraps around her ear unraveled and weakened, but this time it actually snapped off.  John and I are trying to keep it taped so she has her glasses for the weekend.  I wish I would've realized it was that bad yesterday so they could've called in the order and had them in the office faster (last time they had the frames there within 24 hours).  This is yet another time when I'm grateful that her ophthalmologist has that 1 year warranty on the frames!

The dogs have kept me on my toes as well.  I'm almost convinced that Lady is starting to develop some arthritis in the shoulder that she injured a few times (I jokingly call it a sports injury, since it usually happens when she's playing).  She started limping early in the week, and I had to restrict her play times so she could rest the shoulder a little more.  Lady still gets rather pissy when this happens, but she's also a little better at accepting it.  Buster's having allergy issues, and keeps reverse sneezing frequently.  Poor pup is so itchy, too.

I was able to snap a cute picture on Wednesday, so since I forgot to do a Wordless Wednesday post I'll share it now.  I like to call it "breakfast with a friend":

I Knew It Was Too Good To Last

Judith was doing really well with the new set of frames.  Almost too well.  She was on a good roll, but decided to end the streak today.

In a fit of toddler giggles and hilarity (at least according to her standards - I wasn't nearly as amused), she thought it would be awesome to stand on the couch and try to run away from me while I was trying to wrangle her into her vest for her morning treatment.  Why she thought it would be a good idea to climb and half dive over the arm of the couch is beyond me.  One second I'm listening to her laugh hysterically at me trying to chase her, and the next second she's flying over the couch and landing on her face on the floor.

Hand me my "Mother of the Year" trophy now, because I laughed pretty hard at her flipping over the arm.  What can I say?  I have a tendency to laugh when people fall, especially if they're not hurt (which Judith wasn't - she cried right away, and it startled her more than anything, especially since the distance from couch to floor is not that great).  Laugher turned to annoyance, though, when I put her glasses back on after she stopped crying and let me put her vest on.  Apparently her frames took the brunt of the impact, and were seriously lopsided.

So we made a totally unplanned trip to her ophthalmologist's office today to get them readjusted.  In the grand scheme of things, it's not a big deal.  I just wasn't planning to go out in the cold and windy conditions.  It was an easy fix for them, and the optometrist saw right away why we were there.  5 minutes later everything was adjusted to where it needed to be and we were on our way home.  This is another time where I'm grateful that stuff like this is covered under the warranty for her frames!