Well, the time has inevitably arrived. For years now I have known about a cyst that is attached to my spleen. Seven years ago when it was discovered during an ultrasound, it was determined to be about the size of my fist and not a danger to me. Because of some discomfort around my left rib cage area, I recently had it checked again. To give you a visual, I have included this picture. The cyst, that was once the size of my fist/spleen, is now only slightly smaller then the liver. It is attached to upper part of my spleen. My stomach is being smashed so much that it looks like a pancake pressed up against my other organs. My left kidney is being pushed down and my large intestine is almost up into my diaphragm. Everything is just a little squished in there by this thing. Which would explain the acid reflux, the tenderness on my left side, and my decreased appetite. So, as I am sure you have already concluded, it needs to be removed. It is scheduled for sometime the end of June. The procedure will be done laparoscopically (robotic removal). The surgeon hopes to be able to removed the cyst without the spleen, but most likely I will be having a partial or full splenectomy as well. (Just to be sure that the cyst doesn't grow back.) I will be in hospital for 2-3 day following the surgery. To be perfectly honest, the thought of surgery scares me to death. I am very fortunate to have, first of all, a loving husband who is familiar with the procedure and is willing to support me 100%. Second, a supportive family who will fly out here at a moments notice, if needed. Finally, friends who are willing to help out in whatever way they can. I am truly blessed, and I thank you all in advance.
Gavin loves books. I mean he really LOVES to read books. I probably clean up the books two or three times a day. It is sad to admit, but sometimes when Gavin gets a book, Brian and I run and hide. The person he finds first has to read it. Well, there is one book in particular that he really likes. It is a car book that makes all kinds of car noises and even has a steering wheel. For some unknown reason whenever he plays a particular song from the car radio selections, he waves. He does it every time and it is one of the only buttons he likes to push (besides the horn). Why it prompts him to wave, I will never know. Later that day....
I can't tell you how many times I have tried to capture "the look" from Gavin. He gives me this look when I am trying to have "a talk" with him, but he doesn't want to listen/look at me. It is similar to having a child roll their eyes at you. It only lasts for about a second, so getting a picture is impossible. (Of course, he won't make this face when I am holding a camera either.) Well, a photographer was able to catch "the look" while she was taking his 18 month pictures. She had asked him over and over again to stay sitting in the chair and that's when it happened...the perfect moment. She thought I was a little crazy for wanting a copy of this picture, but it was worth the money. It still makes me laugh when I see it! He is even cute when he is in trouble.
It really is hard to believe that Gavin is now 18 months old. I have been waiting for this day for a while. He can now go to Nursery! Last week would have been his first week except.....what did he wake up with on Saturday night? What? CROUP! Of course, he missed his first day in nursery. Oh well, there will be plenty more to come with many more diseases brought home. We decided not to share croup with everyone. You can thank me now. :)
Gavin's hair sticks out no matter what I do to it. I have tried it all. I tried growing it out, and it still sticks up. I even tried hair glue. I have resorted to buzzing it, but when it starts to get long, (after about a week) he looks like a little clown (see picture). The best I can do is keep it short and stick a little gel in the top. The gel only lasts for about 2 hours before it won't even hold it down, but at least it makes it through most of church!? As a side note: I still think he is adorable!
Emily has been wanting a "Ponyville Salon Shop" for a while now, and I decided to use it for some "positive reinforcement" (not to be confused with bribing). I told her that if she could stop sucking her thumb for a month, then she could have it. Well, a month is a little hard for her to comprehend, so we broke it down into days. She would get a sticker each morning if she woke up with the bandaids still on her thumbs. If she didn't suck her thumb all day, she could have a popsicle in the tub at night. Again, "positive reinforcement" not bribing. After she had 28 stickers she would earn the much wanted "PONYVILLE". Secretly I already had it. Hehe. Well, she did it! I can't say that we are 100% weaned yet, but I would say about 99.5%. (My mom caught her one day. Emily asked her not to tell me.) What can you expect from a 4 year old girl who has had her thumb to comfort her since she was 2 months old. It was sad to see it go, but it was to her benefit. Way to go Emily! After Emily had been thumb free for a few weeks I decided that while I was weaning one, I might as well do the other. Binky training is a little easier because I could take it away. It is a little hard to take away someones thumbs. I started out by taking it away during the day. He didn't seem to notice much, but he would giggle when I gave it to him at bedtime. A couple of weeks later I decided to see what it would be like at bedtime without it. He didn't even notice the first night and he slept great; however, nap time was a lot harder. I tried snipping the end of the binky first. He immediately shoved his finger in the end of it and held it up to me. If looks could kill..... wow. Eventually he gave up on the broken binky, cried for a while, and then only napped for about 15 minutes. What could I expect from a little boy who always had a binky to keep him asleep. Slowly things got better, and we are back to our 2 hour naps and mere whining when it is nap time. Wahoo!I never realized that this little guy could even talk until I took the binky away. It has been a real eye opener. All of a sudden he became a chatterbox. He knew his animal sounds, he could count to three, and he knew about 20+ words. Weird words like, "Kroger", "Eww poo", "alright", "1, 2, wee" and, of course, "NO", and "MINE". (Which I think should be taken out of every child's vocabulary.) It was hilarious. Just the other day Emily came to me frustrated and said, "He won't stop saying what I am saying." It was amazing what he was hiding behind that binky. Again, hard to see it go, but much to his benefit.
We actually celebrated Gavin's birthday a day early (yesterday). Brian was on-call at the hospital all day today and he would have missed the whole thing. Gavin didn't know the difference anyway.
I made his favorite meal. (This was actually hard to come up with because there isn't much this kid will eat, and we didn't want to just eat grapes for dinner.) I discovered a couple weeks ago that he likes spaghetti. (The tomato sauce is about the only vegetable I can get down him.) So, we had a gourmet meal of spaghetti and green salad. It was actually enjoyed by all!
Then came the presents. Here is a little conversation that I had with Emily before we started opening presents.
Emily: (pointing to the presents) "Are those for Gavin?" Mom: "Yep." Emily: "Is he going to open them?" Mom: "He will probably need a little help." Emily: (while raising her hand) "Oh, I will help him. Me, me, me." Mom: "Okay, I am sure that you will be able to help him." Emily: After thinking for a minute says... "He's probably just going to eat the paper." I got a pretty good laugh out of that one.
Ironically he loved opening the presents and he loved the toys inside. He didn't even play with the paper. Of course, Emily helped him open his presents.
And finallly....eating the cake. Oh, it is so hard for me to watch a baby dig in. Not just because I am a total neat freak and this will probably be the only time in his life that I will let him do this, but it is hard to watch all that hard work get smeared everywhere. It was hilarious though, and well worth the work I put into it.
Emily was eating a "cup o noodles" for dinner the other night. She slowly looks up at me and says, "I had the noodle dream." I nearly busted a gut. Yes, more proof that my daughter watches too much TV.
The cyst, that was once the size of my fist/spleen, is now only slightly smaller then the liver. It is attached to upper part of my spleen. My stomach is being smashed so much that it looks like a pancake pressed up against my other organs. My left kidney is being pushed down and my large intestine is almost up into my diaphragm. Everything is just a little squished in there by this thing. Which would explain the acid reflux, the tenderness on my left side, and my decreased appetite. So, as I am sure you have already concluded, it needs to be removed. It is scheduled for sometime the end of June. The procedure will be done laparoscopically (robotic removal). The surgeon hopes to be able to removed the cyst without the spleen, but most likely I will be having a partial or full splenectomy as well. (Just to be sure that the cyst doesn't grow back.) I will be in hospital for 2-3 day following the surgery. To be perfectly honest, the thought of surgery scares me to death. I am very fortunate to have, first of all, a loving husband who is familiar with the procedure and is willing to support me 100%. Second, a supportive family who will fly out here at a moments notice, if needed. Finally, friends who are willing to help out in whatever way they can. I am truly blessed, and I thank you all in advance.
