4 Year Well Check

This morning Rachel had her 4 year well check, a little late, but better than never.

She is 40.5 lbs (90th percentile) and 40 1/2 inches tall (just below the 50th percentile).

When I looked in her ears a month ago, the tube in her left ear was out and laying in the ear canal. When Dr Berry looked, it's not even laying in the canal anymore, it's gone. However, the tube in her right ear is still in place. Weird how one is out and the other still in. Dr Berry thought it best to have a hearing test, which I agree with. A few weeks ago I called Rachel's ENT and asked about a hearing test since her tubes were out, they said it was needed once a year, or if there were any problems. She had her last hearing test in August 2007, so it's time to have one. The nurse scheduled it at their facility but I think I'm going to cancel it at reschedule it at Loma Linda where all of Rachel's other hearing tests have been done, and can be compared to, etc. Her ENT who does her tubes is there, etc. Rachel is also familiar with that place, so in the long run I think that'll be better.

The nurse also tested Rachel's vision with one of those charts you cover one eye and then the other, etc. Rachel struggled with the last two lines, but truthfully, I was standing right next to her at her level and there was such a glare on the chart, it was hard to see. And by then Rachel just wasn't in the mood for cooperating.

All in all, a great visit. She's all caught up on her immunizations until her kindergarten check up next year!

ENT Post Op

Rachel had her Post Op visit with her ENT's office this morning. The nurse practitioner checked her ears to see if the tubes were placed and doing okay and they were. She asked a few questions about whether or not I thought she was hearing better, etc, and then we were out of there, less than a five minute visit. :)

Rachel's Hearing

It's almost been a week since Rachel had tubes placed in her ears (where does the time go??) and I think she can tell a difference in what she is hearing.

For example, yesterday afternoon, she got into the pumpkin candy jar on the coffee table and the lid rattled. When I came out to make sure she'd not broken anything or eaten all the candy pumpkins inside, she said "it too loud, it hurt my ears". The clanging of the glass pumpkin lid was so clear that she might have been hearing it for the first time, either that or she was afraid she was going to get in trouble for playing with the lid in the first place. LOL.

Another example is this morning was when I was vacuuming, she covered her ears and once again said "that too loud, it hurt my ears".

Defiantly something to remember to tell her ENT at her post op appointment on the 22nd. I'm not sure if they'll do a hearing test in the next couple of months to see if her hearing has improved or not. But for now, I do think she's hearing things differently.

Tubes in the Ears

We arrived to the Outpatient Surgery shortly before 8:00. Did the check in and paid our portion of the bill upfront thing. And then sat for a while. Rachel was happy, there was a corner of kid-like things to keep her busy.Shortly thereafter, we were taken back to the holding area where they had us put a gown on Rachel and gave her a hat and slipper socks. They took her vitals and gave her some Tylenol. By this point, she's not eaten or has had anything to drink for almost 12 hours and is hungry and grumpy and anxious. She wouldn't wear the hat, and kept taking her gown off. Dr Rowe came by one last time to ask if we had any questions and go over things once again. The anesthesiologist came by and talked to us and then listened to her heart and lungs. She kinda threw a wrench in the morning when she said she heard a heart murmur and suggested we get it checked out by her primary pediatrician (more on that later). It wasn't long after that they came to take her away. Rather than wheel her away, the anesthesiologist carried her away. She did better than I expected with being taken from us. No tears, on both her part and mine. :)From the time they took her from us, to the time they called us back to see her in recovery it was only 25 minutes! She was a little cranky coming out of the anesthesia but soon perked up with some apple juice. They went over discharge instructions and follow up and we were out of there less than half an hour later!Because the girl (and her parents) were hungry, we stopped at the place of Rachel's choice for something to eat. She got fresh french fries from Mickey D's. Back to the heart murmur - like we needed anything else to have to think about or be concerned about. I called our pediatrician's office on the way home to see about any appointments this morning or for this afternoon. I needed reassurance before the weekend from Dr Berry that everything was okay or needed further testing. There was an opening this morning so I droped Steven off at home cause he needed to get to work and I headed for the other end of town to see our Pediatrician. He listened and heard NO murmur, but to be safe, he ordered a chest x-ray and an EKG and said he'd call with the results. I was able to do both right then. Rachel was such a good girl and cooperated so well for both things. I was so proud of her. The little girl had been through so much this morning and she was doing so well. She got lots of stickers and suckers from the nurses and techs! I stopped off in our pediatrician's office to let them know the tests had been done and by chance Dr Berry was still there and he checked the results and told me the chest x-ray was normal! PTL! We'll wait for the EKG results, but since he heard no murmur, he thinks the EKG will be fine as well.

One more stop before heading home and that was to the pharmacy, which was conveinently located in the same parking lot as a Starbucks! After the morning we've had, an apple juice and a Frappuccino were very much needed!

We're home and Rachel is doing great!! She was practically herself an hour after the surgery. And is in such a great mood. Thank you to everyone who has been praying for her all week and especially today. We know it's the prayers that are said on her behalf that things always goes so well. We appreciate the prayers more than words can express.

Prayers for Rachel

This Friday, Rachel will be having tubes placed in her ears as a result of having failed two hearing tests and tests showing she has fluid in her ears. She had tubes placed at the same time she had her palate repair, so this is no new surgery for her. But it is still a surgery nonetheless.

We have two pre-op appointments on Thursday afternoon and then the surgery will be done Friday morning. They usually start off procedures with the youngest and work their way up, so Rachel's surgery will probably be one of the firsts. I'm guessing around 7:30, but I will know for sure Thursday afternoon.

This surgery is done on an outpatient basis, so once the surgery is done (placing the tubes takes 5-10 minutes), and she wakes up from the anesthesia, and appears to be doing well, she will be released to come home.

Specific prayer requests for Rachel:

* That Rachel won't become scared or anxious when they take her from us (she was only 15 months old the last time we sent her off to surgery)

* She would tolerate the anesthesia (this will be her 4th time being put under)

* There would be no complications or problems with the procedure

* For the doctor, the anesthesiologist, and the nurses who will all have contact with her

* That she remains healthy this week

I know there are many people who follow this blog and pray for Rachel and we thank you in advance for the prayers that will be said this week on her behalf.