Sept 26, 2009

Spent the afternoon visiting Papa's old school at Aurora. Adrian got a chance to visit the chapel both Papa & Mama got married in 6 years ago!









All kids get a SAC "Braveheart"

Sept 24, 2009

Another day at SickKids with 3 appointments in a row:-

- The Audio/Hearing Test at 09:30. The test took about 30 mins and based on what was tested, the audiologist has identified assymmetric hearing loss with his Left ear poorer with moderate-severe hearing loss (2000 Hz) and Right ear with normal to moderate-severe hearing loss (4000 Hz - high frequency)! She suggested Adrian should get hearing aid at this point. But we weren't so sure how reliable is the test result since Adrian wasn't very interested in testing that he even refused to do one of the tests. Will follow up with them again in 6 months and probably an Ear & Nose doctor. Meanwhile, Mama has signed an authorization form so they'll send our file to the specific dept at York Regions in regards to Speech Delays for the Hearing Impaired Kids.

- The original appointment with Dr Baruchel was supposed to be at 10:45, but we didn't get to see him until almost 12:45. We went over the reports... The CT Scan still showed a hypodense lesion in his liver (as always) and because they don't have the previous Scans as reference, Dr will request a MIBG/ultrasound to be done in the next month or so just to play safe. As a matter of fact, he said this is very common for post-transplant patient and in most cases, they are "fibrosis". As for his hearing test, Dr said they'll be proactive and will help us book more tests/assessments/or to see some specific doc with respects to Adrian's hearing problems. In addition to all these, Adrian's last urine/blood work were all normal!

- Our last appointment of the day, Cardiac Echo, at 13:30. Again, Adrian got so freaked out everytime he was asked to take off his shirt and lay down on bed for test. Fortunately, the room has a ceiling TV and Adrian got to choose his favorite Teletubbies show for entertainment and had Mama actually sit in BED with him. It test took over an hour again and we are happy that everything is normal!

We were given urine bottle again which means Adrian will have to abstain from certain food before providing the sample to SickKids sometime next week.

Spent more than 30 mins in the waiting room for Dr Baruchel.


On our way to Echo, Adrian stopped to watch the "piggy stunts".


Sept 22, 2009

No school today as we headed to the SickKids really early in the morning for Adrian's CT Scan appointment at 08:00. Shortly after we finished registration, Adrian was given 2 full cups, a total of 500 ml, of contrast to drink. From our past experience, Adrian could barely finish it. But he surprised us this time that he finished EVERYTHING - all thanks to the "water" flavor as Adrian thought it was just water that he drank. Because of the fact that he needs to be sedated for the Scan, we needed to wait 2 hours to avoid any possible vomiting of the contrast due to sedation. Unlike QMH where he used to only have Chloral Hydrate, he had two different medication this time through an IV.

Despite all the differences, Mama was really impressed with the whole SickKids experience; Adrian was very well taken care of by two different nurses who are very patient. Other than a fully toys-equipped waiting room; the CT Scan Room was decorated with stickers on the machine, stuffed animal on the couch, and even a Finding Nemo glass ceiling just so the kids would feel comfortable lying down to see what's above.

Mama had the luxury to go out and grab something for lunch while Adrian was monitored by an RN after the test/sedation. However, when Mama woke Adrian up after he's been sleeping for 1.5 hours, he became so irritated and cranky.... it took over 45 mins to actually calm him down and had him sit on the carseat to go home! We'll be back again on Sept 24 for more tests and doc appointment.

Drinking the contrast for CT Scan

Adrian showing off his IV port.


Sept 16, 2009

We found that Adrian has picked up a few English phrases lately. Just this morning Adrian said "Let's go" after Mama finished buckling him into the carseat. He didn't cry at drop off and quickly ran to his teacher.

One thing, however, he's getting a little panicky at shower time. Not sure if Adrian misses Papa around, he's never that scared when Papa was showering him. Well, just a couple of days and Papa will be here to bathe him again!

Sept 13, 2009

After visiting Adrian's Great Uncle & Aunt in downtown, we had a stroll along the harbourfront...







Sept 11, 2009

Adrian sailed through the first week of school. He waved goodbye to Mama on the second day but then he cried the days after at drop off and even refused to go to school this morning. He likes school nevertheless, and we think he only misses having us around with him in the morning. Mama was shocked to see Adrian in bare legs after class as the teacher told us that Adrian peed in his pants TWICE today and we ran out of spare pants at school...

Sept 8, 2009

Adrian survived the FIRST day of school!!! We have been telling him about going to school for days and even he got excited when he was all dressed up in the Gym Uniform. As soon as we got to his classroom and hung his gym bag, the teacher quickly held up Adrian to go inside the classroom. Adrian didn't know what happened and then the door was closed! When Mama came to pick him up at noon, Adrian and the kids were playing in the outdoor playground. He looked happy though the teacher said he did cry a little. It's quite neat we got a daily report everyday on how Adrian is doing at school. On our ride back home, Adrian told Mama he likes school and he had "bread" for snacks??!!

Sept 6, 2009

Adrian's beloved uncle drove us to London, Ontario today. We strolled around the Covent Garden Market in downtown and then spent the rest of the day in StoryBook Gardens. Adrian had fun in the garden and we had fun taking pictures of all the cute storybook miniatures.



















Sept 5, 2009

We were invited to a birthday party this afternoon at Markham Museum. Interestingly, it's also the FIRST time we met with the host... we got to know this friend through Adrian's battle and we feel so blessed to have her support along the way. Adrian had fun in the party, running around with other kids and he wasn't shy at all. It's not a surprise Adrian had NO interest on b'day cake (as always), but he did have some fruits & a small bag of biscuits at the party. He loves the party hat so much that he still wanted to wear it at home after the party!!







Sept 4, 2009

Received the first appointment slip & Hospital Card from SickKids today. The CT Scan is scheduled on Sept 22nd at 08:00; the Hearing test, Cardiac Echo test and the consultation with Dr Baruchel will be on Sept 24th.

Sept 3, 2009

It's the Orientation Day at Adrian's new school, and so we visited the school this afternoon so Adrian got a chance to meet his teachers and become familiar with the school. It's good to see he occupies himself with different toys/montessori materials. He loves playing with the computer that he even refused to leave. Even though he doesn't quite understand English, he seemed to like it so far based on what he told us... We'll see what happens on his First day of School which will be on next Tuesday, Sept 8th!