Good News, Bad News

We had a message from Dr. Devenyi's office when we got home that we were to call for Joshua's biopsy results. Great news! His esophagus shows no inflammation. So, the diagnosis of reflux was accurate and we don't have to worry about allergies. We're now supposed to reduce his medication intake to once a day (before breakfast) to see how that goes. I'm hoping he grows out of this completely!

Now for the bad news. We also had a message from the recreation department that our 'Musik for Tots' class was cancelled due to lack of interest. We had signed up for this 5-week program designed for 1-4 year olds and their parents to explore different instruments and music, etc. I thought it would be fun to do something like that with Joshua, especially since he seems to enjoy music. So, we were a little bummed. They offer the course from time to time, so hopefully we can take it in the future.

Speaking of music, Nonie & Poppy brought some toys into the hospital from their house that Joshua enjoys playing with. The one is a farm that makes all these animal sounds and plays five different melodies. Joshua's skips right through "Old McDonald Had a Farm," "BINGO" and a few others that I can't remember offhand to get to the song "Hooray for the Red, White & Blue!" It's soooo cute and interesting that he likes that song so much better than the others. He also clutched Waddles the Duck (one of my personal favorites) who plays children singing the song "Singin' in the Rain" anytime that anything yucky was happening to him like medication or breathing treatments. The Bean started saying "quack, quack, quack" pretty clearly. Notice his pink pants in the picture below. Daddy didn't even want to put on these pants because of the color, but that's what the hospital had.

Dr. Hanna always made a fishy face when she was listening to Joshua's breathing. He usually isn't a big fan of the stethescope, but he loved her fishy lips and crossed eyes. He then would try to mimick the face just moving his little lips back and forth. It was so cute. He also will stick out his tongue at you if you do it first, which I think is adorable. He knows where his belly is and his nose and now his tongue, too.

When Joshua was feeling a little better, he was restless and wanted to play a bit more. So, Daddy put him in the crib and they tossed a ball back and forth. That gave me time to call Grandpa Georgia and give him an update on Joshua's condition. Since they were playing nicely, Daddy decided to take pictures with the camera he brought along. Right then, Joshua lunged over at all the equipment near the wall and pushed the emergency call button. Our room flooded with 40+ nurses. "Uh oh!" Joshua said. We said, "Noooooo!!!!!" Too late.

The more steroid treatments Joshua received for his lungs, the more violent he became. The nurse explained that this medicine affects children's temperament, and she was not kidding! He would thrash and hit and pinch and bite...I've never seen him so mad and so aggressive. When he would start getting out of control, I put him down in the crib since I was starting to get bruised. Several times, he threw his head into the metal bars and came out with quite the goose egg. He would eventually calm down, but it took some time. He seems to be much happier now that we're home, but I'm praying this isn't the start of any such behavior. Here's a picture of him as we're about to leave the hospital to come home.

I just jumped a mile. Joshua is in his crib napping and one of his toys sounded, "TEN DUCKS! QUACK, QUACK, QUACK!" It scared the bejeebees out of me. No one there. Why is it that every toy he likes makes sounds? :) :) :)

Well, I should get back to work. While I'd LOVE a nap, I'm way behind on projects. I'll keep you updated on how he's doing. So far, he seems to be okay but still breathing laborously. I'm anxious to hear what the doctors say about him Thursday. Please pray this cold or virus goes away!