Road Trip Adventures: part 3

After Wyatt's medical appointments and the bit o' medical drama it was imperative that we find something fun to lift all of our spirits a bit. Friday after his appointment and morning long 'nap' we decided to find a place called Stone Mountain park. It's an outdoorsy, camping spot in Atlanta, Georgia. You could easily spend a full week keeping busy and having fun at this place...lots of fun to be had! But on this day we were visiting to ride the cable car to the top of the mountain. Wyatt was unsure of the ride once we had seen it with our own eyes, but after a bit of talking and calming of the nerves we all climbed aboard. It was breathtakingly beautiful on top of Stone Mountain and the cable car ride was more fun than originally thought.

It was just what we needed.

It was incredibly hot on top of the mountain that day, but you can faintly see the Atlanta skyline through the haze of humidity.

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 Saturday morning came early for us. It was time to load all of our belongings back into our vehicle and say goodbye to our home-away-from-home for the week. We prepared ourselves for the long 10 hour day, riding in the van, while we traveled north to visit Colonial Williamsburg, Va.

It was surprisingly steamy in Williamsburg.

There was one thing that Wyatt desperately wanted to do when we got to this destination....watch Toy Story 3 in 3D at the Movie Tavern. Oh yes, the request was clearly specific to not only the movie, but also the location at which he wanted to watch this movie. Last summer we took a trip to the same area and attended a viewing of G-Force at this theater, it apparently made an impression on the little guy! The movie was great, the kids were pleased, and the air conditioning was welcomed. 

The next morning before continuing our travels toward our awaiting home, we took part in a tour of the Governor's mansion and walked through some of the historical areas of the always fascinating Colonial Williamsburg. 

After our morning of educational sight seeing we needed to say farewell to our last stop on this road trip. We loaded our three small, slightly grumpy, overly tired people into the van and welcomingly let the GPS lead us to our home.


Home Sweet Home.

Road Trip Adventures: part 2

The medical side.

After an approximate 12 hour drive from our home we made it to appointment day.

This was it.

It was here.

We were nervous!

We had what we consider a good appointment with Dr. S. He clearly read through Wyatt's records for a length of time prior to this appointment. He was organized, pleasant, observant, reserved but thorough. We left feeling cautiously hopeful that he could be the one to figure out this mystery diagnosis...we've felt this way after leaving past appointments with different doctors, so I'm cautious not to get my hopes up too high.

The muscle biopsy and lumbar puncture went smoothly.

We did wind up back in the ER early that evening with a boy who was not doing well and scaring us....and that doesn't happen easily, anymore! He softly asked Daddy to carry his limp, pale and shaking body back into the hospital, as he was unable to sit in his wheelchair. His blood pressure was very low, his oxygen saturation's were dropping, his belly hurt, his head hurt and he was "just so tired". He earned himself a bed very quickly after the triage nurse saw him and his vitals. Just minutes earlier he was laying in the hotel bed laughing and enjoying our company....he crashed hard and fast.

Thank goodness for the hotel being across the street from the hospital!

Of course, while sitting in the ER with my boy in and out of consciousness, I think back to the anesthesiologist and surgeon who debated about keeping him through the night due to his past anesthesia experiences....but it was decided at 3pm that he was doing fine. Doh!

We felt comfortable and were permitted to leave the hospital once his vitals were stabilized. We arrived back at the hotel at 1am. He did well the rest of the night with only a few heart rate alarms, which are not unusual or unexpected after such events. I can't say we slept well that night, but we did sleep.

The following day he had another test that was originally scheduled for the morning of Wednesday, but due to a scheduling error was re-scheduled for Friday. Wyatt slept, and slept, and slept....throughout the whole time we were in the office and during the test completely. His body was so stressed and exhausted from the previous day and evening's events. I hate seeing his little body so worn out.

The hard part is over and we now wait for the results. We were told it would take 6-8 weeks and possibly a week or two longer.

I feel as if I'll be holding my breath until I see the results.

Road Trip Adventures: part 1

Dinner time Monday we entered the city of Atlanta. We made it. Our first stop....the American Girl Store. Yes, you read that correctly...before even driving past our hotel we had to visit this store. The girls were excited, Mommy and Grandma included.

 We went into the store with 2 dolls that have been loved dearly. We came out of the store with a few additional dolls and more accessories. Oh yes, yes we did.

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The next morning, Tuesday, we left the hotel in search of fun, which was conveniently located at the Georgia Aquarium.

                                                

The pictures say it all.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Coming soon...Road Trip Adventures: part 2.

Check out this boy's new wheels!

We picked up Wyatt's new wheelchair this afternoon! Ahhhhhh! We are all so relieved to finally have this chair. We submitted the original order 2 years ago in September. Thankfully, the seating clinic at the children's hospital had the ability to loan us a previously used power chair, that had been donated to them after the owner received a new one, to use in the mean time.

Here he is!

I won't get into the whole insurance mumbo jumbo, but it all came down to having a fantastic case manager (through our insurance company) who took the time to present Wyatt's order and medical information to the medical director herself, which was all they needed to reverse their decision from denied to fully approved. Hoooray!

It's a pretty slick looking ride, don'tcha think? ;-)

He was excited to see his name embroidered into the seat. So much so that he made a quick inhale and had an instant smile come across his face.

It has power seating....which Wyatt is really enjoying!

We were told he got the first ever made of the color screen. Bonus!

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He's happy.

Pre-Road Trip Adventures

We packed our many bags, loaded what seemed like all of our belongings into the van and we started our trip off with a picnic at my Mother's home. It was nice to see family that we don't see often enough and even meet a couple new friends, as well. The kids had a wonderful time playing with their cousins, eating roasted marshmallows and playing in the water....with their clothes on, which makes it even more fun, of course.

After the picnic we spent the evening at Grandma and Grandpa's house (my in-laws). Upon arriving a thunderstorm rolled through and left us a nice surprise when the rain stopped...a doubly nice surprise, even.

We officially set off on our adventures Sunday afternoon after attending church with family.

The electronic games came in handy to entertain the rowdy crowds of little people while we were packing the vehicles, or re-packing for us (that's a nephew in the middle of the girls.)

With all our gadgets and gizmos packed, and most importantly the GPS, we set off to see the wizard...er, doctor.

 Coming tomorrow....Road Trip Adventures: part 1.

Home Sweet Home

It's nice to be back. The kids have spent the morning playing with each and every greatly missed toy that was left behind. I've been put in charge of  putting things away, or at least in it's general location.

I have many pictures to share of our travel adventures. (Surprise!) We accomplished to enjoy several fun activities prior and following the medical side of things. I do believe, after viewing and editing said pictures, that I will be splitting my updates into seperate posts.

Stay tuned for post 1 of  "Road Trip Adventures"....

Summer break is here!

I get so excited for the end of the school year....just as much as the kids, I think! I love spending the days with these special three.

Wednesday was Maggie's 2nd grade graduation. Yes, I do realize that not many, if any, other schools celebrate a 2nd grade graduation. However, the school district that we are a part of has a Primary Learning center, Elementary school, Intermediate school, Middle school and High school. Maggie will be moving to the Elementary school next fall, which houses 3rd and 4th grades. She's excited about it and said the school is "really cool" after their class tour.

However, she's very sad to leave her teachers that she has grown to love over the school year.

  Her BFF also graduated...but she is attending a new school in a different district next year.

Maggie courageously shared one of the poems that she wrote about second grade with everyone who attended.

 Jilly found Maggie's cubby to be the perfect seat to enjoy her 'picnic' lunch. Our picnic was held indoors due to the rainy weather.

 

 Our girl is growing and learning so much, so fast....we need to find a way to slow her down!

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Thursday Wyatt was able to visit his class. He was greeted with a lot of hugs from friends and excited classmates. They have not seen him since the very beginning of April. They were getting updates from his teacher on how he was doing and they made him cards which were sent to the hospital while he was there, but this was his first visit.

 He brought along his "balloon rockets" to show the class.

 They all loved watching the balloons fly around the room and make a lot of noise! In my opinion, they sound a lot like a screechy, screaming cat....the balloons, not the kids.

 The class also sang the Birthday song to Wyatt. And his teacher gave him 10 ear pulls (8 for his coming age, one for good luck and one to grow on) since his birthday is during the summer months. 

 We then left him to hang out with his class while we took the rabbit outside for the greatly anticipated pet day. Coco was a hit with all the kids!

And now Summer break is here!