+ 0 - 0 | § ¶Pictures!!
We FINALLY got around to posting all of the pictures we've taken over the past month or so. Enjoy...there are some good ones! Here is the link:http://thenortonzoo.com/gallery/album05
+ 0 - 0 | § ¶Our first "experience" at Albany Med Center
Alex had what I think was his 10th dilation today. (I'm quickly losing track.) He was scheduled to be first case, at about 7:30 AM, so they told me to be at the hospital at 6:30. So, we were. Just before Alex went into the OR, the anesthesiologist said that they were waiting on some equipment, and that it might be a few minutes. Four hours later, after about 5 hours without food or water, he finally got to go. Apparently, the dilating equipment they use had been used last night, and was never sterilized. Therefore, they first had to find them among the other waiting-to-be-sterilized equipment, then they had to clean and sterilize them. The entire time, Alex was a little angel. He never really got fussy, and took two short naps.After all of that, I have to say that I miss Hershey Medical Center, but I'm impressed with our new surgeon. HMC was more organized, and had better rooms/areas to wait in. However, the HMC surgeons would never have kept me as informed as Dr. Cohen did today. He ended up taking two later cases into the OR first, apologized profusely every time we saw him, and spent a good deal of time personally trying to sort out the equipment issue. We knew exactly what the issue was the entire time...Dr. Cohen even joked that if it had taken much longer, he would have taken Alex and I out to breakfast.
In any case, the dilation went very well. The doc said that his esophagus stretched nicely, and Alex handled everything pretty well. They did find that he has a case of thrush, a fungal infection, on the inner walls of his esophagus though. He hasn't been symptomatic of such an infection, so it isn't a bad one, but they've put him on an anti-fungal medication for three weeks to clear it up. Hopefully, Alex will continue to not show signs of the problem.
On a side note, a friend of mine from high school, is now dealing with similar issues. Her son, Nicholas, was diagnosed after birth with a heart defect as serious as Alex's. Nicky was a twin and born early, and underwent his first of what should be three surgeries on Wednesday. Since the surgery, Nicky, his family, and doctors/nurses, have been dealing with some serious issues with his health, so if those who read this could also add Nicky and his family to your thoughts and prayers, I'm sure that they'd appreciate it. Thanks!
+ 0 - 0 | § ¶Weight update!
Alex was 13 lbs. 14 oz at his appt. with cardiology yesterday. And he can start weaning off of both of his heart meds! Yeah!+ 0 - 0 | § ¶First day at a new job
This morning is my first day at my new job at GE. I'll be leaving shortly, to actually find out what I'll be doing there. I'm a bit nervous, but it'll be nice to settle into a bit of stability.Alex has been doing real well lately. We've been giving him bigger boluses recently, up to about 4 ounces at a time. We've been trying more with the oral feeds too, with some success. He now takes up to about an ounce a day of food. It's quite a battle of wits trying to get him to open up his mouth for food. We have to constantly come up with new reasons for him to open his mouth. He's getting better at resisting our attempts at humor to get him to laugh or smile, and other sneaky tactics such as giving him a toy and waiting for him to open his mouth to stick it in, and sneaking a spoonful in that way are starting to fail. Every new technique lasts for about 3 or 4 attempts, and then he figures it out. He's just too smart for us!