A Visit with the Eye Doctor and a Little Baseball

It was time for our annual eye doctor appointment and Owen wanted to go first.

I love this sweet boy.

Chloe was watching on as Owen read aloud the letters he saw on the screen.

Then she was trying to tickle her Momma and get away before being caught.  This produced many giggles.

Owen did well with all of the choice A's or B's and was told he has outstanding vision.

Then it was Chloe's turn to read through the letters.  And because the letters are shown from a computer, our little Sneaky Sneak couldn't memorize all the letters.

Chloe was also told she has perfect vision.  Woot!

Then we went to the batting cages.

Owen was hitting the 40mph balls.  Wow!

Kelley's Second CT Scan

After four weeks, Kelley is still not free of her bronchitis and having a hard time breathing.  Earlier in the week, her doctor was concerned about there being a blood clot in her lungs that was causing the shortness of breath.  A chest x-ray had eliminated the possibility of pneumonia and the original CT scan showed her lungs were clear.  But it also showed a lesion on her liver, which prompted the request for a second CT scan.  This time, she brought her camera to the imaging center.

A liter of chalky berry-ness needed to be consumed in the hour prior to the CT scan.  It wasn't terrible and the kids thought it tasted pretty good.  Note-to-reader:  tastes are much better than gulps.  Or liters.

Todd offered to go with on this second CT scan, but the results weren't going to be shared at the appointment as they needed to first be sent off to a radiologist before being given to Kelley's doctor.

After two days on steroids from the previous doctor appointment and the first CT scan, Kelley was feeling significantly better.  Good enough to drag the camera along and ask the technician if she could shoot the room.  Yay for that!  The CT machine was pretty small, similar to a doughnut standing on its side.  The bed that she laid on was raised and was then able to move through the doughnut hole.  Coming out the other side, a radioactive symbol would glow uranium yellow when the test was in progress.

During the CT scan, Kelley got an IV that injected contrast into her bloodstream which helped compare images without the contrast to see how blood flowed through her body.  The start of the IV was really weird because it made her feel like she peed her pants.  The tech said that is a normal side effect for many people.  That sensation disappeared in less than 30 seconds.  So bizarre!

Afterwards, the tech shared some of the images with Kelley.  Her kidneys glowed brightly from the contrast.  The glowing circle on the bottom of the photo is part of her backbone.  

It wasn't until the next week that the doctors' office got around to calling back and sharing that the CT scan results showed everything was fine.  Whatever was seen on the original CT scan of her lungs was either a shadow on her liver or had disappeared.  Sigh of relief!

Chloe's Annual Check Up

This girl was a little bummed about the timing of her doctor appointment.  It meant she had to miss the Boosterthon Fun Run going on at the same time at school.  We had to promise to do something special later to make up for this.  And a milkshake was promised if she had to get shots.  I can't believe this girl weighs 46 pounds!

She had a normal temperature.

Her blood pressure checked out.

None of the tests indicated how bizarre she can be.

Yep, this is one of her most favorite faces to show us. 

Then she pretended to be asleep.

Do you like her colors?  Can you tell she dresses herself and has her own ideas about what matches?

Dr. Bowman heard a goat heart beating in there.

No scoliosis.

She still has her tonsils.

Everything checked out and the bonus was there were no shots!  Chloe and I each got the flu mist vaccine sprayed up our noses, so we should be set for this winter cold/flu season.

Owen's Annual Check Up

It was time for Owen's annual check up this morning and there was a lot of anxiety about whether or not there would be shots.

Owen weighs 52 pounds.  Holy cow!

His blood pressure was normal.

Once nurse Jeff walked out, Owen was all about being silly as the possibility of getting shots was temporarily put at bay.

Dr. Bowman came in and listened to his heart.

And lungs.

She said he's growing great and is in perfect shape.  Then we got the news that there would be no shots.  Just the flu vaccine and that could be given in a nose spray.  Yay!  Try to contain your excitement, guys.  No needles!

Annual Check Up at the Pediatrician's

We scheduled the kids appointments together for their annual check-ups.  The ride to the pediatrician's office was filled with questions about whether or not there would be any shots.

It was still worrying the kids very much, even through the measuring process.  Fear is such a bad thing. :(

Owen is inching closer to that 50 pound mark and will soon get to move that bottom weight one notch to the right.

Owen's pulse was getting checked and he was still a little subdued.

After height, weight, and pulse checks, both kids got to pee in a cup and they thought that was pretty cool.  This was the first successful year for both.  Last year, Owen immediately poured it out into the toilet because he didn't understand that it would be tested and Chloe was empty last year.  Both were totally intrigued by the little door into the wall where we placed their pee cups and asked questions about how people on the other side would know to look for their pee.  :)

Then Owen had a quick vision test.

Owen liked the little dixie cup for covering one eye.

Chloe wanted to say the names of letters and resorted to chewing on her fingers when she was told to stop and let Owen read the letter names.

Once in the exam room, the nurse measured their blood pressure.

Dr. Landis told us he could see Owen's brains when looking in his ears.

He told Chloe that he could see Mommy when looking in one ear and out the other.  She missed his humor, but I was a little amused.

Chloe did a good job at opening wide to show off her tonsils.

I think this is the last year we will schedule their check ups together.  Their fear played off the other and escalated to howling, screaming and fighting over getting their fingers pricked for a little blood test.  It was not fun for any of us involved.  We were all thankful that the flu vaccines could be given as a mist to the nose.  

Discussions on the ride home revolved around the dislike of shots and how they don't like going to the doctor's office, but like going to the dentist.