As promised

Em's cake all lit up.
Em's cake

Em and her new Barbie.

Eric being silly.

The birthday girl

Em and Eric on their 'date' night

again.

Erin and Eric goofing off.

Its been a while

I know. I am sorry. Things have been hectic around here. My main blog has some details on things going on with Alvin. So, look for updates over there for the past couple of months. However, I promise I will actually update THIS one from now on.

Here are his new helmet designs.

New Kids' Pics

Yes, we went and got all the kids pictures taken again. I know Alvin just had his done. But, it was time to get the girls' pictures done, so we figured we would get some of all three of them. You can see the whole album at my Shutterfly alblum. (Just follow the link).

And, if you dont want to see them all, here are our favorite ones.

I will post the pics from Em's bday later tonight. Once I get the motivation to get them off of the camera. Yes, laziness at its finest.

Oh, small update on Alvin's situation. We talked to Lt Lezcano. She is going to put in a second opinion referral for us. So yay! We are going to make a food journal in preperation of going to the GI in Providence. That way, there is NO way they can say "Well, feed him and he would gain weight."

Biopsy results

They found nothing. Well, not nothing. They found some localized irritation to his esophagus and his stomach lining. So, rather than move on to trying to aggressively figure out what this is, they have prescribed MORE Prevacid. They dont think the liquid is working, so they are going to give him a tablet. A tablet that I have to crush and mix with water. Um...isnt that a liquid? grr. They want to do that until June and go from there.

Eric and I are livid. Luckily, we have a doctor's appt tommorrow with Lt Lezcano. So, we are going to talk to her and see if she can get us a referral to somewhere else since Yale doesnt seem to be taking this seriously. I mean come on. The nurse called us and said that we should be happy since the Prevacid will alleviate his irritation so he should eat more and gain weight. *boggle*. He doesnt have an issue with eating! Come on now people. Read your charts.

I will post more on this tomorrow after we talk to Lt Lezcano.

Pics, Updates, and Much more!

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.

We're home

Yes, we are finally home. Instead of driving straight through, we stopped in PA and stayed at a hotel. Alvin was feeling miserable, so we didnt want to make him ride any further. After a restful evening in the hotel, we headed back home this morning. No time to rest though. Tomorrow, we have to take Alvin down to Yale to have his endoscopy/biopsy done. Its scheduled for 9am. So, wish up luck that we can get the girls dropped off and down to Yale with some semblence of sanity left. Did I mention that we arent allowed to feed Alvin or give him anything to drink after midnight? Yeah, wonderful. Oh well.

We wont know anything resultswise until next week sometime, but I will post tomorrow night just to let everyone know how Alvin faired with the endoscopy.

O-H-I-O

Woo! We are in Ohio. Well, we have been since Friday evening, I just havent had time to update this. We are enjoying our time with our family. It feels so good to be around family again. And for once, Ohio weather is cooperating with us! It has been close to 60 degrees since we got here! Woo hooo! I will post more, including pictures, when we get back home. So look for them on Thursday. Until then!


Adieu!

Sigh. No such luck.

Went to Yale. Were extremely hopeful. We were batted down within 2 mins.

Simply put, there was no way they were going to do the endoscopy today. But, it has been scheduled for the 20th of this month. So, we know for sure that its going to happen then.

Little Man gained a whole 1 ounce over the last month. That is right, an ounce. A single, solitary, lonely ounce. *sigh*. High calorie foods, pediasure twice a day, up to 8 jars of food a day, and he gained an ounce. At this rate, he will triple his birth weight when he is 4. (Normally it should be by 1 year). Yale needs to get their asses in gear and quit pushing things off and get this GI train rolling. Alvin needs to have these procedures done. Watching him when its time for a bowel movement just about rips my heart out. The screaming, the tears, the blood. I dont know how much more I, or Alvin, can take.

Wish us luck

Ok, so, tommorrow is Alvin's big day down at Yale. He is supposed to be going for his endoscopy/colonoscopy. But, because he is running a fever, they most likely wont do them. But, who knows. We can hope.

Then early, early Friday morning we are going to be loading up and heading back home to Ohio for a visit. So, I wont be able to upload any pictures or anything until after we get back home. (stupid dialup only available back home).

So, pray that they do the tests and my little man can just get this over with and through his surgery and on with his life.

Happy Birthday Erin

Erin's Wall Murals

So, I got some murals painted in Erin's room. She just LOVES them. Emali's room and Alvin's room are next!