15 years ago
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
Good Bye Wilford Hall!!!
Today is Tyler's last day as a surgery intern! Hooray!!!!! I am so proud of all your hard work this last year and insanely happy that we will have tons more of you this next year!
Expiration Date June 30
One year ago today we bought our family zoo pass to the San Antonio Zoo. My how the time has flown! So we had to get one last outing to the zoo in before our move to Colorado next week. I brought our camera but not the not the good one...I figured some pictures are better than no pictures!
Afterwards I was interviewed by the news station about my opinion on the San Antonio Zoo and Sea Worlds cleanliness since they passed the Health Departments inspection with flying colors...."I'm happy!?" what were they expecting me to say? I didn't say much since it's kind of a skewed question and also because I didn't want to miss the train that Ashton had been dying to ride one last time. Too cute!!!
Afterwards I was interviewed by the news station about my opinion on the San Antonio Zoo and Sea Worlds cleanliness since they passed the Health Departments inspection with flying colors...."I'm happy!?" what were they expecting me to say? I didn't say much since it's kind of a skewed question and also because I didn't want to miss the train that Ashton had been dying to ride one last time. Too cute!!!
Toy Story 3
Tyler came home early a day last week and so we decided to take the kids to see Toy Story 3. It was a first real experience at the theater with the kids and Ashton was sooooo excited. In fact he was so into the movie that he didn't want any of the snack I had brought or the popcorn that Tyler bought! Isaac on the other hand was in heaven with all the food! 
We had such a good time and the movie was soooo good that I believe that we will be going back soon!
We had such a good time and the movie was soooo good that I believe that we will be going back soon!
Saturday, June 26, 2010
Operation Swimming: Resumed
After Ashton's surgery, he was unable to go swimming until all his 87 stitches disolved from his delicate scalp. (Sunscreen before then was obviously a NO and you don't want to soak a healing incision especially since we want a better looking scar this time around). This was a four week time frame and for those of you who don't know, the kid LOVES water...In fact when swimming outdoors is unavailable to us in the winter we do often do multiple baths a day.
Monday was the four week mark for us and we celebrated by going to the San Antonio Zoo. While it's not my favorite zoo ever (St. Louis Zoo, why are you soooo amazing???) it does have a fun man-made beach area for kids to play in the sand and cool off. And what can I say, the kids had a blast!!! Hooray for Ashton! The celebration continued when Ashton's friend Kate invited us to a pool party on Tuesday. We took a breather from swimming on Wednesday but Thursday we set up our own kiddy pool out back and then again Friday we were back at the pool with our friends Natalie and her kids Luke and Sammy. FUN, FUN, FUN!!!
Monday was the four week mark for us and we celebrated by going to the San Antonio Zoo. While it's not my favorite zoo ever (St. Louis Zoo, why are you soooo amazing???) it does have a fun man-made beach area for kids to play in the sand and cool off. And what can I say, the kids had a blast!!! Hooray for Ashton! The celebration continued when Ashton's friend Kate invited us to a pool party on Tuesday. We took a breather from swimming on Wednesday but Thursday we set up our own kiddy pool out back and then again Friday we were back at the pool with our friends Natalie and her kids Luke and Sammy. FUN, FUN, FUN!!!
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
News
Yesterday we got our long awaited orders. I'm not even sure if I have written about this but once again Tyler didn't match for residency. This time around (and I think he is sticking to it) he applied for Radiology but in the Air Force it is extremely competitive. And unfortunately what makes you competitive is how much time you have in the Air Force, not how qualified you are....So when you don't match into a residency you are place into Flight Surgery, also called Flight Medicine. This is simply being a Family Physician to Air Force pilots and their families. So that is what we are doing, and now for the where....Colorado Springs! Because we got orders so late we were unable to get the Air Force to move us in time for us to be in Colorado for my brother's wedding July 15th....The wedding isn't really in Colorado either, it's in California, Tyler and I are just flying there from Colorado while his parents watch the kids....In any case we are REALLY excited to just get there. We have both our parents, lots of siblings, cousins, nephews and a niece, etc....And we are ready to spend some time doing some REAL camping!!!
Tuesday, June 8, 2010
empathy
We had to go to the Doctor's office yesterday morning. Nothing big, just to get some paper work signed for Ashton. Without it we cannot get orders and well, most of you know that we are moving in a month so to not even have orders yet is ridiculous. But that is another story for another day.
After a very speedy visit I decided to head over to the immunizations clinic to get Isaac caught up on his 18 month shots. Ashton was NOT happy. He HATES POKES. I reassured him that HE was not going to get ANY pokes. It was Isaac's turn today. Well, the memories of getting stuck were all to fresh in his mind and as I held Isaac down for his shots Ashton started pleading to the nurse "Don't poke my brother, not my brother!!!" The shots were delivered anyways and that's when the screams and tears let loose on both parties. One because he felt the pain and the other because he remembered the pain and did not want his brother to have to endure it. The love was SOOOO real that I had to fight the tears myself. I love you boys!!!
After a very speedy visit I decided to head over to the immunizations clinic to get Isaac caught up on his 18 month shots. Ashton was NOT happy. He HATES POKES. I reassured him that HE was not going to get ANY pokes. It was Isaac's turn today. Well, the memories of getting stuck were all to fresh in his mind and as I held Isaac down for his shots Ashton started pleading to the nurse "Don't poke my brother, not my brother!!!" The shots were delivered anyways and that's when the screams and tears let loose on both parties. One because he felt the pain and the other because he remembered the pain and did not want his brother to have to endure it. The love was SOOOO real that I had to fight the tears myself. I love you boys!!!
Tuesday, June 1, 2010
Surgery
Ashton had his long awaited scar revision and cranioplasty last week. The surgery was originally scheduled to be a tissue expander placement (which would allow the skin to stretch over the course of 3 weeks by fluid injections into the expander). We opted to do this surgery because as you can see by the picture below taken just a few days before the surgery, he had a big fat scar on his head that we wanted to get revised. The stretching of the skin would allow the surgeons to revise that scar during a cranioplasty (fixing the skull in this case with metal rods and plastic to fill large holes in Ashton's skull that were a result of his craniectomy when he was just a day old.) 
With Tyler on nights, I went to the surgery alone with Ashton. Almost an hour into the procedure the surgeon came out...My heart DROPPED! She reassured me immediately that nothing was wrong, that on the contrary, after shaving Ashton's head and manipulating the skin with her partners it was decided that they could forgo the tissue expander. There was enough skin to do the revision and they wanted consent to proceed with the cranioplasty. I was NOT ready for that! I was prepared for a simple surgery. I was prepared to have Ashton back in my arms in an hour and back at home the following day. I was not prepared for a MAJOR surgery! Especially when the recovery time IN the hospital was 4-5 days if all went well with Tyler working nights. What about Isaac? Well, in all reality how could I deny Ashton this option? One less surgery? No needed fluid injections (That were described to me by the surgeon as feeling like braces being tightened every other day!) The whole lead up to the surgery was awful!!! He hated even taking his shirt off (new Toy Story Birthday shirt). Thankfully they didn't start an IV until after he was under. He's a hard stick. No kidding after surgery he had at least 6 missed IV sights :( Well, my anxiety was calmed after I cried for at least 30 minutes. I called my mom and OF COURSE she dropped everything on her schedule for the week and found a flight to San Antonio that night. The surgery lasted almost 4 hours and then I was able to hold my little boy and be reassured that everything went really well. Dr. Mancuso was wonderful too. She gave me the biggest hug after the surgery and talked about how well it went.
Ashton slept for almost an entire day. When he did wake up it was for short periods of time and he was SOOOO lovey! It was great! And miraculously he NEVER once complained of pain, even to this day that his head hurts. Here he is in the PICU the morning after the surgery. He doesn't even look very swollen!!!
Later that evening we transferred to the floor. This meant that he could see his brother again! He was so happy to see mom, dad, Isaac and Nana. Can you believe how happy he looks?
Ashton LOVED the activities there were in the hospital. We were across from the largest playroom in the hospital. He felt so good that we were there morning, afternoon, and night. We even played BINGO and won a prize. He felt sooo good that he didn't even want to stay in his room for a movie. Below is the morning we were discharged. They took the bandage off and he looked GOOD!!!
Seriously this kid looks GOOD bald! What a cutie!
Check out the scar...So small and close to the head!!! I am soooo excited for him~
The beloved NANA!!! Mom, thank you so much for dropping everything. It feels so good to know that my wonderful friend and mother will do anything for me whenever I need it! My kids were in such good hands and my house looked wonderful after you left!!! I hope that I will be the kind of mother you are to me.
See how happy they are!!!
So here we are 8 days out and things are looking good. The wound overall looks great, Ashton is extremely cautious with his head, although he still has had mishaps bonking his head on the car, wall, brother's head, etc. But we are optimistic that this it. And so is he. In fact when I mentioned to Ashton that he needed to rest after the surgery to help his head get better he mater-of-fact-ly stated, "but mom, I'm fine, member Dad gave me a blessing!!!" We are more than ready to finish this chapter and move onto the normalcy of childhood for this little guy. I LOVE YOU ASHTON!!! You are one brave, strong, faithful boy.
With Tyler on nights, I went to the surgery alone with Ashton. Almost an hour into the procedure the surgeon came out...My heart DROPPED! She reassured me immediately that nothing was wrong, that on the contrary, after shaving Ashton's head and manipulating the skin with her partners it was decided that they could forgo the tissue expander. There was enough skin to do the revision and they wanted consent to proceed with the cranioplasty. I was NOT ready for that! I was prepared for a simple surgery. I was prepared to have Ashton back in my arms in an hour and back at home the following day. I was not prepared for a MAJOR surgery! Especially when the recovery time IN the hospital was 4-5 days if all went well with Tyler working nights. What about Isaac? Well, in all reality how could I deny Ashton this option? One less surgery? No needed fluid injections (That were described to me by the surgeon as feeling like braces being tightened every other day!) The whole lead up to the surgery was awful!!! He hated even taking his shirt off (new Toy Story Birthday shirt). Thankfully they didn't start an IV until after he was under. He's a hard stick. No kidding after surgery he had at least 6 missed IV sights :( Well, my anxiety was calmed after I cried for at least 30 minutes. I called my mom and OF COURSE she dropped everything on her schedule for the week and found a flight to San Antonio that night. The surgery lasted almost 4 hours and then I was able to hold my little boy and be reassured that everything went really well. Dr. Mancuso was wonderful too. She gave me the biggest hug after the surgery and talked about how well it went.
Ashton slept for almost an entire day. When he did wake up it was for short periods of time and he was SOOOO lovey! It was great! And miraculously he NEVER once complained of pain, even to this day that his head hurts. Here he is in the PICU the morning after the surgery. He doesn't even look very swollen!!!
Later that evening we transferred to the floor. This meant that he could see his brother again! He was so happy to see mom, dad, Isaac and Nana. Can you believe how happy he looks?
Ashton LOVED the activities there were in the hospital. We were across from the largest playroom in the hospital. He felt so good that we were there morning, afternoon, and night. We even played BINGO and won a prize. He felt sooo good that he didn't even want to stay in his room for a movie. Below is the morning we were discharged. They took the bandage off and he looked GOOD!!!
Seriously this kid looks GOOD bald! What a cutie!
Check out the scar...So small and close to the head!!! I am soooo excited for him~
The beloved NANA!!! Mom, thank you so much for dropping everything. It feels so good to know that my wonderful friend and mother will do anything for me whenever I need it! My kids were in such good hands and my house looked wonderful after you left!!! I hope that I will be the kind of mother you are to me.
See how happy they are!!!
So here we are 8 days out and things are looking good. The wound overall looks great, Ashton is extremely cautious with his head, although he still has had mishaps bonking his head on the car, wall, brother's head, etc. But we are optimistic that this it. And so is he. In fact when I mentioned to Ashton that he needed to rest after the surgery to help his head get better he mater-of-fact-ly stated, "but mom, I'm fine, member Dad gave me a blessing!!!" We are more than ready to finish this chapter and move onto the normalcy of childhood for this little guy. I LOVE YOU ASHTON!!! You are one brave, strong, faithful boy.
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