It never ceases to amaze us just how often you have to be your child's advocate.  If there's one lesson new parents should learn - that's the one.

So Mom and Dad were trying to break away for a little R&R.  It was Dad's work's Christmas party so Mom and Dad were going to head out and leave the kids with Baba, Gege and Granny.

But early that morning Xander had a terrible cough.  Seems we would have to take him in and forgo our plans until later in the day.  But Baba indicated she would take Xander in.  So Mom made an appointment with the paediatricians and off Mom and Dad went.

After the appointment Mom called Baba to get the scoop.  Xander's throat and lungs were clear, but his ears were a bit 'cloudy'.  So they prescribed a wider range antibiotic than he was taking the last time for his ear infection to stamp it out once and for all.

After hanging up Mom wondered what antibiotic they actually prescribed so she called Baba back.  Turns out they prescribed amoxicillin, which is penicillin based, which he is allergic to, and is in his records as such.  Xander has gotten hives from penicillin before, and Mom's side of the family has a pretty severe allergy to penicillin.

A furious Mom phoned the pediatricians and demanded to know why Xander was prescribed potentially harmful medication when it is in his records that he is allergic and why the doctor on call did not ask about any allergies before prescribing medication?

The pediatrician's office phoned another order into the pharmacy and Baba had to make a second run to get the new prescription: ceftin, which was not penicillin based.

Mom, Dad and Baba all learned their lesson that you can never let your guard down - even for the most normal of events.

Xander finally had his Speech Evaluation appointment after almost 6 months of waiting.  We will get the full report in a few weeks, but it looks like he could do with some speech therapy to avoid future complications.

Mom and Xander headed in to Children's while Dad and Willem, who was sick, stayed home.

The evaluation was quite pleasant and consisted of a bunch of tests disguised as play.

First there was the Neurological evaluation - could Xander indeed form all of the sounds that were required for good speech?  After a few quick exercises making different movements with his mouth and tongue the evaluator determined he could.

Then they launched into the second part of the evaluation to see where he was at.  Here they played some games on and off the computer.  His computer skills impressed the evaluator, especially his mouse control.  Better get a jump on carpal tunnel syndrome early.  There was one game in particular that was interesting where you have to make different pitched sounds to make a scuba diver move across the screen, simulating the rhythm of swimming in sound.  Then the evaluator added fish to the screen and Xander had to pitch his voice so that the diver would encounter, and catch, the fish; interesting.

In the end the evaluator indicated she had seen Xander's case often, where children are undergoing therapy during their formative speaking months and do not have the chance to develop their speech at a normal pace.  Thus Xander is a little behind and could benefit from some speech therapy.

There is also the hearing loss component as well. The evaluator is going to talk with the Audiologist to see if there are any options for enhancing Xander's hearing where he is deficient to make it easier to get the feedback that is necessary. 

She also explained that kids like Xander can get very frustrated with the hearing and the speech and after repeated disappointments can give up.  This makes Mom and Dad about some of Xander's past behaviour and where it may be rooted.  Something else we need to take into consideration.  One trick she did give us was to first get Xander's full attention and get him to look at us while we speak, then to speak to him in a slower fashion than normal so it does not come out as a jumble to his ears.

She also suggested that we take up some sign language to help Xander along in his speech therapy.  It is interesting in that the Preschool we signed up with was supposed to have sign language in it's curriculum this year (one of the reasons we picked it), but it turned out the teacher that taught it last year did not have the time so they switched to Spanish.

She also complemented us on our computer game selection, some from Xander's cousin last Christmas, of: Freddi Fish, Reader Rabbit, Elmo's Preschool, Tonka (of course), as well as others.

Too bad it took this long to get the evaluation, we could have been fixing the  problem already. 

This M.R.I. was a stressful one that was a long time coming.  But the result was good so we're much relieved.

Xander, Mom and Dad went in to Children's today for Xander's delayed M.R.I.  Baba and Brother stayed at home waiting 'patiently' for the results

Every M.R.I. day is a long, nerve wracking journey.  They usually start early in the morning and do not end until late in the day.   This one was especially long since we've been waiting two weeks just to get to this day and still not sure if it would actually happen.  Xander just finished his antibiotics for his ear infections yesterday and was showing a slightly runny nose.  Plus during the night he has a coughing fit that woke Mom and Dad and gave them some concern.

Radiology had called Mom about a week ago and had asked if they could move the M.R.I. back a day since they did not have an anesthesiologist scheduled for the time Xander was supposed to be in.  Mom, without hesitation, said, "No!"  Which prompted a quick, "We'll get back to you."  So, Radiology called back and asked if we could move the M.R.I. up to 10:30 from 13:00 which prompted an equally quick, "Yes!" from Mom.  When you cannot feed the child and only can give clear liquids up to 2 hours beforehand, early morning M.R.I.'s are the way to go for a less stressful day.

So we went in and it was very busy.  Admitting was busy, Radiology was busy.  We had to wait and extra hour and fourthy-five minutes, but it didn't matter as long as it happened.  The Radiology nurse was a great as she ever is, with her ever entertaining musical Mickey Mouse watch that entertains for a whole 'arm hug'/blood pressure test.   After Xander took in his anesthetic (which he fully participated in, which was nice to see), we headed up to Oncology (which was also very busy) to see Xander's RN, but she was out.  Plus the nurse covering for her was out, so we did not have our usual early warning system.  We would have to wait for the results until when we saw the Oncologist!  The wait was killing us already.

So we got our usual coffee and went back to wait for Xander to finish.  We had to be back up at Oncology for 14:00 and it was already 12:30 so there would be no time for the usual lunch time at U Village.  Xander came back and was fine.  Although we had to wake him up this time.  He was VERY tired and was sipping his juice with his eyes closed and asking sleepily for his, "Chhiiipp??" since we always get him some potato chips for a snack after M.R.I.s.  It was very cute, but we had never seen him so out of it after anesthesia.  Although, usually we let him sleep it off.

Finally we got back up to Oncology and waited in the meeting room for the Oncologist.  We knew he was in a meeting before we were supposed to meet with him, but he was about 15 minutes later than we planned and during that time the mind wonders: "Is he late because the meeting is running late?  Or is it because they are double checking something, or is it because he is preparing himself for some bad news?"  The mind does love to pile on the stress.  Dr. Geyer finally appeared and gave us the good news that "Everything is clear."  Great to hear and a great deal of stress melted off right there, but yet the persistent headache remained.  You get so worked up you're even slightly nauseous.  Not a great feeling.

We re-iterated we still needed a Speech evaluation and would like Xander to see an Ophthalmologist to make sure his eyes are fine.

After that we got in the van and headed home, much relieved.  Another long M.R.I. day was done, and another three month pass granted.   Now, to prepare for U.S. Thanksgiving and Christmas.

Why it is there is always something to freak a parent out when you get close to MRI time??  Conspiracy, or hyperactive imagination; a little of both it seems.

Xander had a very restless night.  He was in and out of his bed several times and kept Mom awake with the constant trashing (light sleeper).

Finally during the early morning he came in and complained that he had "owies".  After a deep breath or two, we asked him where and he pointed at his ear.  He was also crying in a mournful way in which he had never done before.  Mom gave him some Tylenol and he calmed down for a bit, but then woke up again at day break.

He was again crying in that mournful way and seemed very tired.  Mom and Dad agreed it was time to hit the Pediatrician to see if it was an ear ache or not.

Mom kept Xander home from Preschool and She, Xander and Brother all slept in until 11:00!!  Everybody was a bit tired it seemed.

13:30 Xander had his appointment.  He was in good humour and interacted well with the physician.  She checked him out and indicated that both his ears had an infection.  Big sigh of relief in that it was something we could treat easily with some antibiotics.  This should also help us make sure he is ready for his rescheduled MRI appointment.

Mom, Xander and Willem took off to get Xander some Omnicef.   Now both he and Willem (who also has an ear infection) can have their schedules synched right down to taking their meds!

Xander had his regular audiology appoint today.

We breezed through admitting and headed down to Audiology.  Since Xander was a little older they decided to try him out with the ear phones.

We were unsure if he would put them on, but the assistant had no trouble showing Xander how to prepare them and then put them on.

Since we had the ear phones on we were able to test both the left and right ears independently and thus we had twice as many tests as before.  Luckily they went by very quickly.

This time they would play the sound and then Xander had to press a big red button on the table if he heard the sound.  When he did they would flash a picture to either his left or his right depending on what side they were testing.

In the end we saw that his hearing seems to have stabalised.  He has a definite hearing loss around 4,000 Hz which makes the "f", "s" and "th" sounds hard to hear.  When we're trying to work on these letters we need his full attention and his focus towards us.  We also need to inform his Preschool teachers so they can adjust as well.

The Audiologist talked about hearing aids and such, but his hearing would not benefit from them currently.  She did discuss the use of an FM device, later, to cancel out background noise when in a classroom setting.  But it is too early to tell right now.  Since he had received cranial radiation there may be further degradation in the future.  We will have to see.

Afterwards we headed up to Oncology to visit and see Corrine, Erin and company.

Hopefully we will have the Speech Therapy appointment soon to see if we have work to do in this area.

We had a world record dental appointment today - 10 minutes flat!  With no undue stress either, amazing.

It has been around two weeks since Xander had his dental surgery where the dentist asked us to bring Xander back for a check up.

The family all headed in and the boys were sleeping along the way.  When we got there Dad stayed in the van with Willem (and slept a short nap).

Mom and Xander went in for his appointment and was checked in on time and led back to the check up area.

It is when you go back there that you realise how well these people understand pediatric dentistry.  All the counters are bare and the tray where the instruments are covered so there is nothing to get spooked at.  Then the child has the option of sitting in the chair by them self, or they can sit on the parent's lap and then lean back into the dentist's lap to get checked out. This is how Xander preferred it.

She explained every step, why she was putting on glasses, why she put on the mask and then asked to check his teeth. While in there she said she was looking for "Chicken's with Hats", which prompted a good laugh from Xander.

Then in minutes she was all done and everything looked great.

Then all too soon they came back to the van to wake up Dad and Willem.

He received a nice new Elmo toothbrush which his brother (a big Elmo fan) quickly confiscated.

Next appointment is in 6 months. Until then regular brushing and flossing as usual.

Today we went in for Xander's first Endocrinology appointment, which was basically a physical by the Endocrinologist.  It has been over a year since Xander has finished his radiation. Actually, almost a year since he has finished his treatments altogether!

This was the Endocrinologist's first look at Xander so she had us fill out some forms on family history and then asked us some questions based on the form and on Xander's general condition.  Then she performed a quick physical and we were done.

She noted that Xander is maintaining is 97th percentile height consistently and does not exhibit tiredness or 'funky hair' where patches of hair grow at different angles and styles (straight, curvy, etc...).

She wrote out a form to get the necessary blood tests done during Xander's next MRI so there were no unnecessary pokes to be had.

The only downfall was she was about 45 minutes late so the boys had ample time to get into mischief.  Mom and Dad went home a little tired.