Half Way There!! Day 14... September 23, 2010



Aiden, the big flirt!



Well, today was an exciting day!  This morning, Aiden slept till his nurse, Sandy, got here.  Even when he did wake up, he was sooo groggy.  He was pretty clingy because of it.  Soon, Aiden went to Sandy...just took a moment.  I then went straight to bed knowing that my alarm would go off in less than four hours.

 



Oh...and it did. Today was his follow up visit at Children's Memorial with his amazing surgeon, Dr. Patel.  Although I was nervous because I knew that beforehand, we had to get an xray...and I was 100% sure Aiden would be traumatized.  There is no telling that Luv Muffin that we were just taking pictures and that it wasn't going to hurt.  He just goes into full panic mode.  Quite heartbreaking.  Seeing him like that makes me physically sick to my stomach.  UGHHHH!  Anyways...I hopped out of bed...feeling quite drowsy and took a quick shower.  Then a 1/2 hour later we were out the door.  Juan and Sandy told me that his 14th pin turning went well, and that he's been happy all morning.  It was a hot day out there already!!!  Isn't it the end of September???  91 degrees???? EEEEK!  I actually enjoy the drive to Children's Memorial in Downtown Chicago.  I love driving along the lake shore and through my old neighborhood...Lincoln Park.  Great memories!  But that was a different time...a different chapter.  I wouldn't trade my current life for anything in the world.  When we arrived to Children's Memorial Hospital...you could tell Aiden knew something was up.  He's starting to remember everything.  Luckily we brought Ivan's old portable DVD player with Aiden's new 'Thomas the Train' DVD that Juan bought for him just this morning.  (what a dad!!!)  That helped to distract him as we waited his turn for his xray.  Juan and Sandy had mercy on me and they both went into the 'xray' room with Aiden while I waited outside.  They know how upset I get when Aiden gets upset.  The xray took hardly any time...maybe 5 minutes, but just as I thought..Aiden was beyond upset.  He even threw up a little.  My poor Luv Muffin!!!!  Not even 'Thomas' could cheer him up for a moment there.   Once we got Aiden settled...we left the hospital.  We had to make the short drive to the Cranialfacial Clinic on Clark Street.  It's kind of funny...elevators that once terrified Aiden makes him smile and get all excited.  Teehee. 

 

Now... this appointment was quite pleasant.  Aiden saw the same  piano that Aiden he played just 3 weeks earlier and he lit up!  He put on a little show for the entire waiting room.  We didn't have to wait long, though. I bet Aiden would have been happy staying there all day!  We moved over to Dr. Patel's office and waited.  Aiden got to sit in the big boy chair and he got to see himself for the first time, since his jaw distraction started,  in a big mirror that was on the door.  He was intrigued, to say the least.  We should get a full length mirror...Aiden was quite fond of it!  We also kept him busy with the portable DVD player.  He was quite content!   

 Alma, Dr. Patel's nurse, came into the office and put in the CD of Aiden's xray that was hot off the press.  I snuck a few shots of it with my camera phone.  It was so cool to see the hardware that is making his jaw move. We didn't have to wait much longer till Dr. Patel came in.  He was thrilled about Aiden's progress!!  He talked about his xray and showed us that's he's only half way to the full extension and that's when we learned that we would be turning his pins for two more weeks.  I was very excited!! I knew that Aiden was getting the full treatment and Dr. Patel wasn't going to be satisfied until his jaw was out enough.  He's not messing around!!  Plus, we now know that Aiden handles the pin turning pretty well.  Alma took some new pictures of Aiden...he sure didn't mind that!  Such a ham!  The appointment was over in a flash!  We were told to come back in two weeks.  I was VERY happy about the outcome of this appointment.  As we were leaving the office, Aiden INSISTED on walking out on his own...that was a first!  He's a BIG BOY now!  (especially wearing his cool Nike gym shoes....which he's getting accustomed to.)

  

Other than a little traffic jam and a stop to Mr. Submarine, we were home in no time!  Aiden slept half way home, but woke right up when we got home.  Juan and I went upstairs and ate while Sandy fed Aiden downstairs.  When we came back down after we ate, Aiden was sitting in his high chair finishing up.  I TRIED to get some good profile shots, but tonite I had no success.  There were none that did Aiden's progress any justice...in case you are wondering where his before and after pictures are.  I promise...there will be some tomorrow!  Sandy left at 5pm and Aiden played for a while.  Frank, Juan's brother, came down for a while and he was really enjoying getting to see the silly side of Aiden.  He got to see some of his silly antics.  Frank always sees Aiden when he's all serious and focused.  He actually got to see Aiden bust a move!  (you gotta watch the movie below...if you haven't seen it on Facebook already).  Eventually, Juan took Aiden upstairs while I got a few things together and called my mom to tell her about Aiden's appointment.  Like us, she's so happy with how well Aiden is doing. I love talking to her every nite to share all the new things Aiden does everyday  I'm sure she wishes she was here. (or we were there...)  The feeling is mutual!

Soon I went upstairs to be with Juan and Aiden...and there was 5 month old Karla using Aiden's old bouncy chair...she was LOVING it!!!  Aiden was happy to pass it on to her...he's a big boy now...and big boys walk and climb and roam the world.  Because Aiden didn't nap much, I was getting concerned.  He was starting to walk like a drunk old man...tripping over nothing, but luckily never falling. I thought it was better we go back downstairs to play on his soft flooring...we don't need any spills, landing on that jaw of his.  That would NOT be good!  It was his second dinner time anyways.  He practically fell asleep while he was eating.  It was kind of pathetic.  After he was done eating and he did a little more playing, we decided to bypass his bath and head straight to the bedroom to get him ready for bed.  His care went as well as expected...a little fussing at the pin sight cleaning, but with some funny noises...he snapped right out of it.  There was NO need for 'Thomas' tonight...he was out like a light..by 10:15pm.  He was POOPED!!!!!  His sleep started a little rough, though.  Some crying in his sleep...probably thinking about the torture he went through earlier that day...he even got up once, but I think he was still sleeping.  I just had to lay him back down.  I wouldn't be surprised if he woke up early this morning.  I still have some hope though. 

Well, that was our exciting day.  Tomorrow I plan to sleep in...at least to 'catch up' on my sleep.  As of right now, we have no nurse scheduled for Saturday...that nurse said he was coming down with something.  At least he didn't wait till the last minute to cancel!  We also lost our Wednesday nurse, Tina...she couldn't keep that day because she is going to school.  When it rain, it POURS!  We already started the appeal process to fight the 14 hour cut-back on our nursing hours.  Please, keep your fingers crossed that we win  the appeal...we need those hours more now than ever!!  Surgeries left and right!  I shouldn't have started thinking about that now.  UGHHHHH! 

Below are some pretty darned cute videos...they are all short.  There are four of them... ENJOY!!!  And as I promised earlier, I will have before and after pics tomorrow!!  GOOD NIGHT!!!