Wednesday, June 23, 2010

Crazy Week

It seems like I sometimes forget that I want to blog here about what goes on in our lives so that one day the boys can come back and read what they were up to.

This week has been a little crazy, Benjamin-wise.

On Monday, I took him to the pediatrician for his two-year check-up. Poor dude had to get two immunization booster shots! He was, um...greatly displeased. I swear that this kid can communicate his displeasure with his eyes alone. And his eyes told me that I am a cruel, cruel woman. Seriously, dude...this is good for you in the long run!

Unfortunately, his pediatrician heard what he thought was a heart murmur. He said that he thought that it was most likely a functional (or innocent) heart murmur and that it likely wouldn't cause problems. But, it could be something more sinister and so he felt that we ought to have Ben seen by a pediatric cardiologist.

Annnnnnd....my heart stopped. But then my logical side kicked in (read: I called the Voice of Reason, My Father) and I realized that this could just be a little blip on the radar or it could be a Big Deal, but either way there was nothing I could do about it until we saw the cardiologist. I called, scheduled an appointment for Tuesday morning and tried to put it out of my mind (haha).

Monday afternoon Mark, Anthony, Mimi and I went to see Toy Story 3, leaving Benjamin behind at his Nana and TeeTA's house. After the movie, I took Mimi home and the boys went to collect Benjamin. My cell phone rang just as I was leaving Mimi's house and I hear Mark's voice say, "Ben's OK, but he jumped off the hearth at Mom and Dad's, and now he doesn't want to do anything but be held."

Two things: ONE: Ben is NOT a snuggler. He'd rather be running around, occasionally stopping by for a quick hug. TWO: that jump was only 10 inches MAX. But after the jump, he wouldn't bear weight on his legs without crying or grabbing the back of his neck.

I called the nurse on call at our pediatrician's office and they advised me to dial 911 and ask for medical transport to the hospital. He needed x-rays to see if any spinal damage had occurred, and he needed to be in a neck brace on a spinal board, she said. YIKES!

EMS arrives, he is strapped down (more of the screaming and the "mean eyes") and brought to the hospital where I work. Three hours in the ER and some x-rays prove that he has not broken anything or damaged his spine. The ER doctor said that he probably had some nice deep tissue bruising and would be sore for a few days. Some Motrin for pain was administered and we were sent home.

Five hours of sleep later, we're at the cardiologist's office. An EKG showed a "slightly abnormal" rhythm to his heart. Across the hall for an ultrasound of his heart, and the cardiologist tells me that Benjamin has a slightly abnormal shape to his heart and that the way the blood flows from one chamber of the heart to the next is different than a normal heart, and this is the sound the pediatrician heard. There is NOTHING WRONG with how his heart works, it's just a little different. (I'm paraphrasing here, and may have gotten some of the facts a little wrong - I heard "nothing is wrong" and half-listened after that!). I do remember this, though, "No medicines for him to take, nothing wrong with his heart, I do not want to see you again!". FINE BY ME.

Tomorrow the boys leave for Houston with Nana and TeeTA to see Uncle Marshall (aka: Parrain). I'm hoping, for the grandparents' sake, that his trip will be uneventful and filled with nothing but FUN.

2 comments:

groovie mom said...

Just when you think everything's rolling along fine huh? Jeremy has a heart murmur too. His pediatrician just mentioned it as an aside one day when he was a baby and was like "It's no big deal tho. Nothing to worry about." It's hard not to worry about those kind of things tho.

Danette said...

I am so excited to hear all is well! Talk about make your heart stop beating to many times in one week!