Opus 417 - Lissa's Medical Adventures

Poor little Lissa is sick and tired of doctors. I don't blame her. She has seen them too much lately. It all started in the middle of December when she was diagnosed with a UTI. The antibiotics did their thing and she was better in no time. At the end of January, she started complaining about "owie pee" again. The doctor was concerned that she had had two UTI's so close together, so in addition to prescribing antibiotics, she referred us to a urologist at Primary Children's Medical Center.

Before we could see the urologist, Lissa had to have some tests done. So about a week ago, Lissa and I went to Utah Valley Regional Medical Center to have the tests done. The first thing they did was an ultrasound. Painless, but Lissa didn't like it. Then she had to have a VKCG (or something like that, I don't know if I'm remembering the right acronym). For this test, Lissa had to be sedated. Honestly, when I learned that she would be sedated, I was really nervous. I thought it meant she was going to be knocked out completely. It turns out that they were just giving her medicine to make her "loopy" so she wouldn't remember the procedure. Phew.

In preparation for the procedure, we were taken to a back room with three nurses. One of them was there specifically to help Lissa stay calm and happy. She was AMAZING! She had a huge cart of fun stuff that Lissa loved. She gave Lissa a little baby doll that she could color on and that Lissa gave medicine to and basically did everything to the doll that would happen to Lissa. She even had Lissa put her own leads on and Lissa loved it. Man, it would've been nice to have her when Lissa and Joshua were babies and had to have the leads 24-7! We had to wait about 45 minutes for the radiologist so they waited until the last minute to sedate Lissa. As Lissa played with the "fun" nurse, the other nurses got a real kick out of watching. They thought she was the funniest kid ever. One nurse said, "Man, I can't wait to see this kid with the meds because she's hilarious!" That's my little girl :) Sometimes you forget how funny your kid is until you watch other people react to her after meeting her for the first time. After they finally gave her the meds, they rolled her down to radiology. We were lucky that the medicine kicked in well so Lissa didn't need an IV. The test consisted of putting in a catheter and filling her bladder with a liquid, checking out her bladder, then watching her pee to make sure there was no reflux into the kidneys. The full bladder thing is not so comfy. Lissa didn't not like it (so glad she doesn't remember it!). She kept yelling, "I gotta pee! I gotta pee!" Finally she adamantly yelled, "PUT A DIAPER ON! I'VE GOT TO PEE!"* One of the nurses laughed and called into the radiologist, "You'd better hurry, she's demanding a diaper." After they finished the test Lissa and I finally got to go home.

We were scheduled to meet with the urologist the following Tuesday. The night before, Lissa and I were up all night - Lissa was coughing and coughing and struggling to breath. So Tuesday morning, after I somehow survived my first five classes at school, I left a little early to take Lissa to her regular doctor (we actually saw the PA) where she was diagnosed with RSV.

We then drove to SLC and saw the urologist who said Lissa's UVRMC tests were perfect. She doesn't think that the second UTI was really a UTI. But, as a precaution she prescribed a low dose antibiotic for Lissa to take for the next six months (ick). She thinks Lissa's "owie" pee is a result of her constant constipation problems. So now we have to try to get Lissa on a high fiber diet.** If you've ever eaten a meal with Lissa, you know how much of a challenge this is going to be. She prefers the high carb diet. So far she has liked the wheat bread and wheat rolls. The apples***, popcorn, and saltines with peanut butter were a bust. She wouldn't even try them. We'll keep trying.

RSV update: I'm starting to think the RSV diagnosis was premature. Lissa's runny nose and congestion started Monday and ended Wednesday. She still has a lingering cough, but that's it. I personally think she just had nasty cold.

To make things more fun, Lissa and Joshua have their well-child check-up this Tuesday. Lissa is not going to be happy with us!


*Yes, she's totally ready to potty train. Except that she's not interested. She's a Camacho girl - very independent. She'll do it when she's ready :)

**The urologist thought it was funny that Lissa does a better job with veggies than she does with fruit. She certainly does not get that from her Mama!

***The apple thing is confusing. When we saw our regular doctor (over the summer) about Lissa's constipation, apples were one of the foods that we were told to avoid. But, in the information that the urologist gave us, it says apples are good for her. So confused.

Opus 416 - Boys will be Boys

Remember this post? Joshua still loves to line his cars up. He has a lot more now, so the line gets pretty long :)

Opus 415 - Pillow Jump

Lissa and Joshua have invented a new game. It is entitled "Pillow Jump" - I'm sure you can guess how this games goes. They take every pillow and blanket from the living room, pile them up, then... well, jump! They can get quite crazy with this game!

Opus 414 - Reading Time

The other day I walked into the living room and found Lissa "reading" books to Joshua. They did this for about an hour. I think they read every book in the house!

Opus 413 - Sunday Best

Opus 412 - Circus!

A couple of weeks ago the circus came to town. We were able to get free tickets for the kids, so we decided we couldn't pass up this opportunity to introduce the kids to the circus. They had so much fun! They especially loved the elephants and the motorcycles in the big "ball." It was fun to watch the kids' excitement as the different acts unfolded. They even did Spanish Web. It's not every day that you can take your kids to the circus, point to an act and say, "Mommy did that when she was younger." I'm not sure the kids fully understood that :)

I love Lissa's cheesy, eyes closed grin!

A happy Joshua

Opus 411 - Puzzles

Lissa and Joshua got some real (not chunky wood) puzzles for Christmas. They constantly amaze me with how well they can put them together. I accidentally bought a 48 piece puzzle for Lissa (Joshua got a 24 piece puzzle), but she does a really good job with it! Joshua has become an expert at his puzzle - he needs no help to put it together. I think they each need another one for their birthday :)

Joshua and his Mater puzzle

Lissa and her Princess puzzle

Goofball!

Opus 410 - Wii

Joshua loves it when he can convince Daddy to "play" Wii with him. The kids still think they're playing when they use the fake remotes Aunt Lissa gave them over two years ago :)

Look at the concentration!

I love this picture even though it's a little blurry. Joshua loves his Daddy!

So happy together!

Opus 409 - Saturday

Since Jason is in school all weekend, Saturdays have become organization/cleaning days for me. This past Saturday was particularly busy. In addition to the usual Mommy stuff with the kids while Jason was in school (which is enough to keep one person busy), I did the following:

Quadruple batch of waffles
Double batch of banana bread
Double batch of banana muffins
Double batch of cinnamon rolls*
One Oreo ice cream dessert
One batch of roll dough
Lunch
Dinner
Five loads of laundry
One monthly menu created
One trip to the grocery store
Three loads of dishes
Two cribs converted to toddler beds
Toddlers' bedroom cleaned out so they can't get to anything (knobs off dresser drawers, items off bookcase, hamper in closet, etc.)
One consultation with my Mom to devise a plan to keep a particular toddler (who is just like her mother) in her bed at night.

Phew, just reading this makes me exhausted again!


*Most of the above items are in the freezer to be enjoyed later.