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An Oreo covered Alvin mid-trip to Ohio.

Emali climbing on Dad's rock wall.

And again.

Erin climbing on Dad's rock wall.

Eric had to take a turn too.

Alvin sitting on Karen's shoulders. He really loves his Aunt KK.

The kids playing with the heater in the hotel.

Alvin in Yale waiting on being taken to the OR.

Alvin and Eric at Yale waiting on going to the OR.




So, now that we are all caught up pic-wise. The trip to Ohio was wonderful. Karen and Bill allowed us to stay with them. So, that was great. They ended up going to Philly to pick up a car the day after we got there, but that allowed us to do some errands and running around. Then, Aunt Renee, Aunt Jan, and Sammy came to Karen and Bill's on Sunday. Sunday night we all treated Sammy to Jalisco's. (Awesome mexican restaurant if you are ever in Salem, Ohio).

We visited my Grandma and parents over the weekend, then it was on to Dad and Sammy's on Tuesday night for some good home cooking. (The roast was wonderful). Then we left Wednesday morning to head back to Connecticut. Alvin hadnt been able to pass stool in a couple of days, so around 3pm on that day, he was really getting cranky trying to pass it. So, about 5 or 6pm, Eric and I decided that it would be in Alvin's best interests to just stay at a hotel. So, we stopped at a Hampton Inn in the Poconos for the night. Alvin managed to pass the stool that night, so it was smooth travelling the rest of the way back home on Thursday.

We spent the rest of Thursday just relaxing. Though, we did stop at Bob's Discount Furniture and get the girls' the rest of their bedroom furniture. Then Friday, we had to be down at Yale Children's Hospital at 9am for Alvin's endoscopy. (thanks a million times for watching the girls for us Jackie!).

They gave Alvin some Versed to relax him, then took him to the OR give him the anesthesia, intubate him, and put in his IV. The endoscopy itself only took about 30 mins, but we were in the hospital for around 4 or 5 hours. Recovery itself took around an hour and a half. Alvin looked so pathetic in the recovery room. They had already extubated him (Thank God!) and were starting to wake him up when we were allowed back to see him. But, he had an oxygen mask on it and his IV still in. I felt so bad for him.

Dr Pashanker said that everything looked normal. Which was very confusing to both him and us. He expected to be seeing which areas would need removed based on disease. Instead, he saw a perfectly normal endoscopy. So, rather than a single biopsy site, he ended up doing around 10 different biopsies all throughout Alvin's stomach, esophagus, and intestines. We should have the results of those biopsies back next week. Dr Pashankar is waiting on them to figure out where to go then. But, it looks like there is going to be much more testing. INcluding possibly, going to a geneticist. Wonderful. We thought we finally knew what we were dealing with. Now, we are back to the drawing board.

Just keep little Alvin in your prayers. Not only did all this happen on Friday, he also lost a pound over the 9 days between appointments. This was a major setback considering he has only gained 2 pounds since he was 6 months old.