Thursday, July 31, 2008

Doctor! Doctor! Give Me The News......

If you haven't noticed, we go to the Dr. a lot. Not really THE Dr. but A Dr. almost weekly. Kanyon has quite a list of docs that we see on a regular basis. Ideally, I would be able to time them so that I could go to all the appointments at the same time, but it doesn't work like that. But there do seem to be "rounds" of Dr. visits; Several within a few weeks. We are in one of those rounds right now, so I thought I'd share our list of Doctors and therapists.

Dr. Chris-Kanyon's neonatalogists in the NICU and is now his pediatrician. We couldn't ask for a more patient, committed Dr. He is our only Doctor in Longview

Dr. Sklar-Neurosurgeon-Children's Medical Center in Dallas. Smart. Weird. Border-line rude. Smart. Takes good care of Kanyon's brain, so its OK that he is weird. I think its pretty par for the course with Neurosurgeons. No offense to you Bowers or Muns! You're not one of "those".

Dr. Weakly-Opthamology-Children's in Dallas. Very "cool" We have only seen him 3 times, but we really like him and he's very nice. He uncrossed Kanyon's eyes and will most likely be the one that fits him with his first pair of glasses (whenever that might be).

Dr. Simeron-G.I.-Children's in Dallas-I really really really liked him. We saw him for the first time while we were at Our Children's House. He was funny and really listened.

Dr. Heyne-Pediatrician/Developmental-Preemie Follow-up Clinic at Children's in Dallas- We obviously don't see him as our regular Pedi, but we see him every 6 months for developmental type check ups. He just keeps tabs on all of Parkland/Children's preemies and has lots of knowledge about Preemies AFTER the NICU. He is so kind, patient, informative, nice, knowledgeable, laid back, comfortable. The first time we saw him, he was with us for an hour and a half just talking, answering questions, playing with Kanyon. I really really really like him and am glad we have this little place. They keep tabs on EVERYTHING so we are on top of it all.

Dr. Herring-Orthopedist-Scottish Rite- This is new. We just saw him last week and he was very nice. We will see him again in 9 months. He's going to keep tabs on Kanyon's crooked foot.

Celia and Sue-Physical Therapists- They are THE BEST therapists in the world. They are just really good at what they do and they have really taken Kanyon on. I love that they love him and are "rooting" for him. We are beyond thankful for stumbling upon these ladies. There is no telling what their work has done for Kanyon. They come to our house for therapy 2 times a week for 45 min. each.

Patti-Speech Therapy-Our Children's House at Baylor- We will get a different speech therapist when we start outpatient with OCH soon. But until then (and probably even still) she helps us SO much via phone and Email. We will go to OCH for outpatient therapy in Dallas 2 days a week. (spend one night and have therapy back to back days).

Occupational Therapy-We don't know who our OT will be when we start outpatient but we loved Dee when we were inpatient. We will do that 2 days a week at OCH in Dallas at the same time we're there for speech.

Emily-Nutritionist-Our Children's House at Baylor-She keeps up with Kanyon's weight, intake, etc. She is very kind and helpful.

Tonya-Vision Therapy-ECI Longview-We will see her to help Kanyon continue to develop is vision and his visual processing. Tanya comes to the house once a week or once every other week for about 30-45 minutes.


We will start to see a Physical Medicine Doctor through Our Children's House soon. We saw him once in the hospital (I forgot his name) and he will just make sure his therapies and stuff are on track and that his physical development is on the right track.

WHEEEEEW!!! There you have it. Sure, it is kind of tiring keeping up with all of this, but we are just so glad we have all of these people to take care of our little Grand man!

Believe it or not, there are plenty more that we have (thankfully) avoided. Lots of little preemies have to be followed by a pulmanologist, cardiologists, etc. Yeah! For not needing those!

Sorry no pics, I'm in Paris at my parents' house!

Sunday, July 27, 2008

Porters, Shopping, Tube, Nurses

I am no longer cameraless!!! So here we go!

PORTERS:
We hung out with our pals the Porters and Amy and I took the kids to their house while Kory and Mark worked on hanging some blinds at our house. Here are all the kids loaded up. Mallory, Kanyon, and Blake
Blake was cracking Kanyon up. He was pretty interested in Kan's boots.
Dangerous Duo
Mallory decided to join the boys for a picture...Kanyon is looking a little droopy, but he was very happy to be with them!
I just love this pic of Blakey boy
When we left the Porters it was late and we were sleepy, so Kanyon drove us home.

Sundays are hard for our little night owl. He doesn't get to go back to sleep after he eats so he's a little tired. But, he's too interested in all the action at church to go back to sleep. Here he is catching a cat nap while walking in. I just thought he looked so sweet.
If he's eating his tube, don't you think he's ready to be done with it??!!
SHOPPING:
My mom came in to town last week so we did some shopping for Julie's wedding that is coming up!!! K man was a trooper. All he needed was the cool AC and his socks to eat.

Shop til your socks drop


TUBE:
While my mom was here, she watched Kanyon so I could go to Kory's softball game. He ate great for her, but he puked up his tube! It had been so long since he'd used it that we decided to take that thing all the way off!!!!! So, here is the ceremonial removal of the tape! We hope this is FOR GOOD (that will be determined when we meet back up with our therapist next week).
I think he puked it out on purpose...look how pleased he is with the situation.
Here he is with the adhesive remover wipes. They make it nice and pain free!
Removal is happening....
TUBE FREE TAPE FREE!!!!
And....in the trash it goes!!! (we have more just in case, but hopefully they're not needed).

Kory took Kanyon out into the rain....
NURSES:
Those of you who have read from the beginning will recognize these faces! We took Kanyon up to the NICU to visit his old friends. Here he is with Tracey, Lois, Melissa, Peggy, and Jody! We were so happy to see them. We're going to have to go back up there another day and a night so that we can catch the other shifts.


These amazing ladies are now taking care of a special friend of ours. Some new friends of ours were moving to Longview in the next month and ended up having a little 27 weeker while they were here bringing a load of their stuff. She is a tiny little one coming in at 1 lb. 11 oz. but has been stable since her birth late Friday night. We are thankful to know this family, but our hearts are heavy for them as they start something that is so tough. Please keep them in your prayers. Kanyon has already whispered some micro preemie secrets to her through the window, so we're hoping he's going to help her get out of there QUICK! I know my blog readers are really good at praying for tiny babies, so please take this family on. You know what to pray for: lungs, tummy, brain, heart, infection free, and strength in every way for that family.


Tuesday, July 22, 2008

Kanyon vs. Play Mat

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Kanyon:3
Play Mat:0

Friday, July 18, 2008

Paris

I was supposed to go on a girls trip to Bentonville to see some of my fav gals from college, but I didn't think a LONG trip was the best thing for Kanyon's eating situation. I spoke too soon on my last blog and he did a nose dive after we got back from Montana. I think Kory felt sorry for me, so he suggested I take a short trip to Paris just to have a little fun (not that it could replace the fun I would've had with the girls). I'm not one to turn down a trip home, so I headed to Paris. We had so much fun with my fam. I still layed pretty low (not getting Kanyon out and about too much) so as not to mess him up too much. We mostly just chilled at the house and laughed at the kids.

Here is Kanyon looking so very pleased with himself and his sitting abilities!
His therapist brought over this great thing just before we left for Paris. It is a standing frame. Now that we have braces to keep his feet in the correct position, it is time to get this boy up and bearing some weight in the standing position. Since he is obviously not strong enough to do it on his own, this little contraption stands him up and holds him while still allowing his back, legs, feet, and knees to work to keep him up. It is really great. We are so fortunate to be with the best therapy group in the world. This thing costs about $1000 and we would have to buy it even to use it just for a few months. Our therapists have one that they keep and allow patients to use it, then store it and wait for the next kid who needs it. We are so thankful to have it! When he gets this down, he'll have one that he can walk with!
While in Paris we, of course, had to go by and see Great Aunt Gwennie and Great Uncle Pee Wee at the shop.
Last time Kanyon rode a motorcycle, this time since it is summer, he wanted to ride a jet ski!
I love when he falls asleep and his lip is tucked under. He shares this trait with Avery....I think Clay and I have/had the same mouth.
Bath time in Gay Gay's sink. She took this all by herself...only my mom, the picture lady, could hold on to a wet baby, make him smile, and take his picture all at the same time.


One night we took Avery and Kanyon down to the pond to feed the fish.
Pretty sky
I'm sure Paw Paw and Gay Gay were telling these two something pretty important

Once the fish were properly fed, we rested on the swing. Avery was loving Kanyon. Right back atcha Avery.
It had been forever since he'd gotten to sit in Aunt Mo's lap!

We spent lots of time like this. Kanyon is no longer the smallest....Little Landry is smaller, but by the looks of her chub rolls, she might pass him soon!
Kanyon LOVES hats!!!!!
And Uncle Clay!
For some reason, when I saw this shirt in the store, I just had to have it. I think its funny.
Me, Clint, Clay, and Dad went out to the lake on Dad's land for a while one evening. Clint got a new wake skate so I had to give it a try...pretty cool. When we got back, we took pictures. Post lake is NOT a good time to take pictures. Oh well.
Here are the Spencer boys. Clint will be adding another one to the crew in September


I "buy" Avery and Roselyn's love by giving them rides in the Mule. You will see this in lots of pictures because the Mule is the greatest thing in the world. We gave it to Dad for Father's Day last year and it is the ultimate Grandpa mobile. He uses it for some work, but mostly for toting, entertaining, bribing, calming, and rewarding grandkids. If you are a grandpa, you should buy one of these.
Reading with Aunt Rachel.
We did the kid shuffle.
Sweet pic of Rach and Rosie with my boy. He loves Rachel mostly for her long hair!

Monday, the boys were all at work and Mom had to go to Dallas so it was just us gals with the kids. We had a great day. Not sure how many billion rides on the mule we took, but here is one with all of us. Well, Rach took it, so she's not in there. Notice how cute Rosie and Avery are in the same seat belt!
The mule ride made the kids sleepy and we starting thinking, "What if they all go to sleep!" Well, Kan and Landry fell asleep on the ride and the big girls went down for a nap when we got in...WE DID IT!! All 4 kids asleep at the same time! At first, we were really confused and didn't know what to do ..... Then we got REALLY excited!!! Landry woke up about 15 minutes later, but that was OK. She was a good girl.

Roselyn definitely showed more interest in Kanyon than ever before. She was so sweet. Both girls are so good with him. They are gentle, leave his toys alone, and know to only touch his head! Here is Roselyn and Kanyon cracking jokes.

We thought a picture would be cute....yeah...sure....maybe in 10 years.
Tickle tickle tickle
All these girls can make a boy pretty tired....he's ready for boy cousin to get here!

Eating is going better. I think he just needed to readjust to being back home. We are now giving meds by mouth and then we'll be home free!
Lilypie
Lilypie First Birthday tickers