Doctor

According to the pediatrician, strep has been running wild lately. And of course, Boy B got it.

This is the 2nd time in 2 weeks that he has gotten strep and this time, there was more concern. His pediatrician thought that his tonsils had an abscess on them, which if it had ruptured, we could have been faced with a serious issue.

After 2 Dr visits and several types of medications, we were able to see a difference in less than 24 hours hours. Praise the Lord, because the alternative could be have been emergency surgery.

So as I look outside and watch the snow fall, I am grateful for his pediatrician and his new ENT. Both have called and followed up and have been on top of his care.

I think that we are partially out of the woods for now, but he will be having his tonsils taken out this summer and that alone scares me.

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The date is finally coming up and no, I’m not referring to the ACC Basketball Tournament. Though, I did schedule out my vasectomy with that in mind. There is only 1 time a year that I can imagine laying on the sofa all weekend and this is it.

I was asked by a few friends if I was scared or was having second thoughts and I just couldn’t imagine answering the question in any other way. No, I’m not scared and no I’m not having any second thoughts. The reality is very simple, it is safer, easier and cheaper if I have this surgery than my wife having anything done. And besides, she carried not 1 but 2 babies around for over 8 months, so this is the least that I can do.

But at the same time, I’m not going to lie and say that I’m not looking to a few days off my feet. Though I will do some light cooking on Saturday or Sunday, I’ll be limited. Not so much because of pain or discomfort from what I’m told, but more just not over doing it. And when I had my consult with the Doctor, who was awesome by the way. Great sense of humor is a key thing for me in a physician, but when you work with enough of them like I do, you understand why it is important. It sounds like the time from start to finish is 15 minutes and the pain is the same as a bee sting.

Oh, the best part, “homework”. That’s right, sex with my wife 15 – 20 times or 2 months, whichever comes first (no jokes here kids). What a great reason to have a lot of sex! And as I shared with one of my best friends, it is going to cost me more out of pocket to not have anymore kids than it did for them to be born. Obviously I’m excluding IUI, IVF, etc. and all the other stuff. I’m only simply talking hospital time.

So, I’m a few days out now from having the procedure and in a sad and twisted way, I’m looking forward to it. More to come.

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Looks like, after a solid week of sick kids, one having surgery and just an all out crazy week of life, it looks like things are finally on the mends.

Life is crazy enough without the outside factors. Our lives are all busy and we are all trying to juggle, but part of the juggling requires downtime too. We can only go but so hard and so fast before we fail too.

I’m really grateful that we live in an area and have access to great medical care and that the medical professionals were able to help both of my sons this past week. And as the boys and I talk about our day and at least one, if not two bike rides today, I’m just really glad that both of them are on the mends.

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Growing up, I really struggled with patience and I think that it about broke my father and my backside. I wanted things right then and I wanted things done the way that I wanted them done. But guess what? Life doesn’t work that way and today, I was shown that in a humbling way.

For the last week I have been fighting a bad sinus infection, which for where I live, has been a constant for the last 7 years. And today, after waking up and not being able to hear, I gave in and called to get an appointment with my ENT and luckily, he had 2 openings this afternoon. After getting there and catching up with the Doctor, we decided to have him put in tubes again in both ears. Yes, both ears and yes, I’m getting close to 40. But the point is, I had to have it done then, I couldn’t wait. Sure, I could show patience and wait a few more weeks, but that could cause problems and further complications. So, he performs the minor surgery and off I go.

Yesterday for my downtime, I cooked and cooked a lot. But my new weekly food to make is my homemade salsa. And who doesn’t love just saying the word salsa? The kids don’t eat it, but man it is delicious. So, I’m on the phone with my dad and I’m frustrated because this was the 11th time in my life that I’ve had tubes and the pain and frustration, etc. And as we are talking and I’m waiting to checkout, I see the guy in front of me digging through his pockets for money. He only had 3 items, a bottle of water, band aids and a banana.  And as I’m talking with my Dad, this guy is struggling to find the money. And when I say money, it was about $2.00 roughly.

My dad was asking me questions, I could see the cashier was getting frustrated and the guy, mind you, he looks like he hasn’t showered for days and because of my allergies and sinus infection I couldn’t smell him. But I realized something, this guy didn’t have the money and it was in that moment, I had 2 options: 1) let the guy put the food back or 2) pay the $2.00, because honestly, $2.00 wasn’t anything in my day, as that is what I spend on a cup of coffee almost daily.

Daily, I spend more for a drink than this guy ate all day. And as I’m talking with my Dad, I politely asked if I could call him back and I handed the cashier the money that he needed and told the gentleman to keep his money for another day. There was a couple behind me that rolled their eyes and the guy couldn’t have thanked me enough, as I’m sure that he was embarrassed. The cashier thanked me and we smiled and waved to the guy as he walked out of the store.

When I got my dad back on the phone, he asked me what happened and I seemed replied that I helped a guy that was down on his luck, who looked like he needed a little bit of hope today and that even though it wasn’t much, I think that it gave him at least one meal today. And as I hung up with my Dad, I realized, that a few years ago, I wouldn’t have done that. I wouldn’t have given it a second thought, I would have been frustrated and in a hurry to get out of the store and go home and rest. My ears were hurting, I just wanted to relax. But today, I got to experience that life lesson that I’ve been learning since I was the age of my boys and how today, that patience taught me and reminded me how lucky that I am.

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It was bound to happen, the biggest question is was when were the boys going to have to have stitches? Well, today was the day.

This morning before 8am, the boys were running around and chasing each other, as they usually do. My wife had been out late due to work and I was brushing my teeth and I hear baby A crying. Not thinking much of it, he comes in and puts his head on me and it was then I realized that he was bleeding. The crying came from him hitting his head on the chair.

I am fortunate, because of the company that I work for and some of the projects that I have been apart of, I have become close friends with many doctors and they always say, when you need something, text or call. Well, I needed something today, as I was pretty sure Baby A needed stitches. I got Baby B to daycare and was able to reach one of my friends and they got Baby A as the first patient of the day at the urgent care center.

What seemed like forever to was really only 5 minutes, but they got him back to the kids room and cleaned up and the Nurse Practitioner pulled us and said that he needed stitches. My heart sunk. He was ok, but still I hated to think that he was having to go through this, as I was 34 when I had stitches for the first  time and ironically in the very same room.

We waited about 30 minutes for the topical numbing medicine to work and then about 5 people came into the room and brought in a board to strap him down. My heart sunk. Tears started to form. As they strapped him down, so that he wouldn’t move around and get hurt, I had to walk away. I couldn’t watch them stitch him up, because it hurt seeing him in pain, even though he wasn’t in pain.  Honestly, he was stronger and braver than his mommy and myself.

A few minutes later, he was up and running around and digging his stitches. And let’s be honest, chicks dig scars! This will be just one of many trips to the doctors office or urgent care centers for stitches. Boys will be boys and accidents happen, I’m just so grateful that it was only 3 stitches as it could have been so much worse. But something that I’m realizing is that kids are stronger and handle things a lot better than we give them credit for.

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This past Thursday afternoon I took the plundge and had the Baloon Sinoplasty and Turbinate Reduction surgeries. For 30+ years, I have had problems with sinus infections and allergies. The last straw was last month when I met with my ENT and we discussed that 3 sinus infections was two much and that it was time for surgery.

The he surgery was a breeze. The numbing process took longer than the actual procedure. And yes, I was awake for the entire thing, which made it even more interesting. I have a high threshold for pain, but this was really easy.

Because there was bleeding, they did bandage up my nose before leaving. When we got to the house, I walked in and the first words out of Baby A’s mouth was “Daddy has a boo boo”. I was concerned that the boys were going to be afraid with seeing the bandage and/or the blood. But they were fine. They were really concerned about my boo boo.

This morning, two days after the surgery for the first time in my life, I can breathe through my nose. I was laying in bed, trying to rest as my wife took care of the boys and Baby B climbed in bed and kissed my boo boo. He smiled and said “all better Daddy”. And it was. I loved that he did that on his own.   I love he was not afraid. That he wanted to make it all better.

I love these little guys. And yes, my boo boo does feel so much better.

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I knew that it would happen, just didn’t know when. But more importantly, I was wrong in who the conference would be for.

My wife and I have always said that Baby A would be in trouble for talking too much in class. But, how wrong I was. We had a parent teacher conference last night for Baby B and things that the teachers have observed thus far in the 2nd half of his preschool year.   All in all, it was not a shock, but somethings that were said almost brought me to tears. Not because he is doing anything wrong, but because he has needed extra attention from the teachers.

I try to remind myself over and over again, they are two separate kids and last night, I did the same thing to the teachers.  They are twins. They were born early. They are boys. All things that lead to developmental issues/challenges. And as we deal with this one, which is just really starting to set and define more structure for Baby B, I know that he will be just fine. As with his speech, it just took a little help and time to get him where he needed to be.

So, 1 parent teacher conference down, I’m sure there will be more in the future.

 

 

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Part of being a Dad is sometimes not doing things that you want to, like having an annual physical. Something that I dread is having blood work done, always have and probably always will.

But this time, it was different. Yes, I dreaded going to the Dr. being told that I was healthy, but that I needed to lose weight. And that wasn’t a news flash, but still not what you want to hear. And then, I put off as long as I could going to get the blood work done, because I just didn’t want to hear the results.

I didn’t think that there was anything wrong with my blood work, but I wasn’t sure. I wasn’t sure if something strange was going to pop up, Diabetes, etc. So, I had the blood draw on Friday at 9:00 a.m. and by Wednesday morning, I had the results. Everything looked great.

My blood work was actually great! And even though I dread having an annual physical, it did give me a peace of mind that everything was ok. I have to do these things to help ensure that I’m around long enough for my family. So, I start today with making sure that I set the right examples for them.

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The words that no parent ever wants to hear from their child’s Doctor. But those are the words I heard the other morning.  Baby A has been having a pretty rough time lately with a really bad cold. But he started getting better and then literally overnight, he was coughing and the coughing turned to croup.  The cough didn’t get any better after a day or two so we called the Pediatrician to have him checked out, because his breathing was a little different this time. He was still playing, eating and acting like himself for the most part, but this time, he sounded like Darth Vadar when he breathed.

The Doctor and I were talking and she very calmly told me, that Baby A as expected had the Croup cough, but that he also had Stridor, which is something that I had never heard of. I give the Doctor a lot of credit, I guess she saw a little bit of panic in my face and she basically explained the treatment, which was a steriod and if that did not resolve the problem, that we would need to goto the ER for breathing treatments. But, she suggested that we drive with the windows down on the drive home and then also going to the playground, because with it being a chilly day, the cold air will help with his breathing.

So, that is what we did. Got the prescription field, drove home with the windows down and then after his nap, we went to the playground. It was cold running after he and his brother, but it helped. We did not have to goto the ER, this time at least. And I’m sure that at some point, we will, but we were at least able to avoid it for the time being him.

We are almost a week into the cold, again, and I think that we are getting over the hump of the cold. Or I hope at least. But, I will say two things: 1) I hope that you have a great Pediatrician that you trust and that is available, even on the weekends and 2) please look for the signs for Croup and Stridor. Though not super dangerous, from what I’ve read, the Stridor portion can be if not monitored. And even though I love Star Wars, I can’t imagine talking like Darth Vadar is a fun thing.

 

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Cancer is a word that non of us want to hear, but all too often do. I just got word that a close family friend has been given 3 months to a year to live.

I thought that it was in remission. I thought that he was going to be ok. I hoped that he would out live us all. But the reality is, the cancer has come back.

But today, as I sit at my desk, trying to fight back the tears. I remember that my friend is still with us. He still has time left here on this earth. And if anyone can beat cancer, it is him.
Today, I pray for my friend. I pray for his family. I remember the things that I learned from this great man, this great leader, this great retired Air Force General. He treated me like a son.
He taught me so much. He trusted me to do things. He gave me the confidence to take risks and grow from my mistakes.

Today, I sit and really hate cancer and what it is doing to my friend.

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