Saturday was the big day. It was a day I had been dreading and looking forward to at the same time for weeks now. It was a very early morning and I couldn't sleep the night before so my alarm was set four hours after I finally went to bed. We left the house by 6:30 a.m. and got to Children's Hospital around 8:30 a.m. I love Children's Hospital. We spent an entire day there a couple of years ago when my nephew had heart surgery and the staff is amazing. We didn't have to wait to see the doctor like we normally do and things just seem to be run so smoothly there.
Kennedy continues to be a mystery. They gave her an exam, spoke to me and her, consulted the attending (we saw a fellow) who came in to also speak with us, had ANOTHER blood draw, and got the okay to wait four more weeks with the new ideas to try and meds to take before going back for a scope where they will have to put her under full anesthesia. She'll be taking Nexium, and two different laxatives in hopes that will clean her out and she will improve. I don't think this will work but it's worth a shot before putting her through such an invasive procedure. I have to say that her complaints haven't been as bad nor as often. I can't decide if she is just learning to live with the discomfort, it HAS been three months now and a body tends to adjust to things or if it's getting better. She has good days and bad days so I'm really hoping things continue to settle down.
The blood draw is to check a couple of enzymes in the pancreas to rule out pancreatitis although it looked okay on the ultrasound. She also mentioned the incontinence could be diabetes but her insulin was okay on the last blood work. I had her recheck the insulin since she was going to be checking the enzymes anyway. If nothing else it will just help rule more things out. When she said diabetes I could feel my heart start racing.
The above picture is Madison after Kennedy had her blood drawn. The picture was taken after we had just spent 15 minutes in the bathroom with her hovered over the toilet (in a hospital, of all places...YUCK). She was so pale, this picture doesn't do it justice and she was starting to feel better at this point. She doesn't do well with blood or when her sister is really upset. I don't even want to imagine the day that Madison will have to get her blood drawn for the first time. Kennedy was really upset when she learned she would have to get her blood drawn for the 3rd time since all of this started. I felt so bad for her but I wanted to just get it over with so we could concentrate on having a fun day instead of her worrying and asking about it for days until we did it. I also knew they would be quick and good there and they were.
The long anticipated ice cream after her appointment. Sure, it was only 10:30 or 11:00 in the morning but she earned this ice cream bar. I remembered sitting at this same table at the hospital when my nephew was there and I felt incredibly thankful that we were there for some tummy pain instead of something more serious. We saw a lot of wheel chairs and a few missing limbs, I don't know how parents do it when their family is dealing with something like that. I admire those families and the staff at Children's. She was still fairly shaken up when we sat down but it didn't take her long....
...to feel better. There is that smile I love to see.
Madison stayed pale for a while but she slowly started feeling better too.
After the hospital we headed to the zoo. Kennedy got to choose if we went there, the Children's Museum or the Science Center. I was so busy packing warm clothes and everything else we took with us for the girls that I only packed myself a lightweight jacket and I was freezing when we got out of the car. I almost bought a $66.00 jacket at the zoo store but I couldn't bring myself to do it without, first, trying to brave the weather. Thankfully I warmed up and was fine.
There was hardly anyone at the zoo so it was lovely to explore on our owns without the crowds. The girls had so much fun and so did I.
Checking out the elephant and the massive pile of poo it dropped. Kennedy was fascinated by the "big poop!"
My girls!
Some of the animals were very active. We got some great viewing of the bears and wolves. There were five wolves and they were all together (although not in this picture). When we were watching the bears we heard something and went to see all of the wolves howling really loudly, it was neat to watch and hear. I have to admit that I thought the wolves looked a little....well, wimpy after watching the Twilight movies : )
Apparently it wouldn't be a trip to the zoo without Kennedy breaking something in the gift shop and me buying it. This is our second zoo souvenir. I wish I had paid attention and found the other missing leg so we could display it. By the time she moves out the house we might be able to fill an entire curio cabinet of her zoo "souvenirs".
I had such a sense of relief that the appointment was over afterwards and enjoyed the day with my girls so much. It was a long and exhausting day but it was full of love and support and family. Eric had to work but wasn't far from us in Seattle. We couldn't visit him but at least he was close by if we needed him.
So, now we wait and see which seems to be what we have been doing for three months now. I'm hopeful this will all be behind us soon.
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