For the past two very long months we have been dealing with medical problems with Sam.
It started on Memorial Weekend, when Sam casually commented, "Mom, my one eye is blurry and I can't see out of it." I dismissed it and told him to rub it and I forgot about it until we were shooting the BB gun and I noticed that he was looking down the barrel with the other eye. After further talking with him, his eye had been that way for several days. Geez, he tells us on a Saturday night and a weekend no less!!! Well, obviously, with our luck and the medical crap going on in our family, Blaine & I took him immediately into the ER.The doctor looked at it and said that he believed that it was a retinal detachment and we needed to get it fix that night if not in the morning. So Sunday morning, we rushed down to IF to an eye surgeon. After an hour and half of finding nothing, Dr. Anderson said that he believed that something was pushing on Sam's optical nerve.
GASP!!! That is one thing no parent wants to hear. My legs were jello and all I could think was God COULD NOT do this to us! We have been through so much and to have my sweet boy sick was just too damn much!
My sweet loving little boy was such a rock star! Blaine,the veteran,explained to him what a MRI was, what they were looking for and he had to hold still. Yea, right!!! The MRI tech took one look at Sam and cringed probably at the thought of doing one on a little kid. However, it didn't take him long to see that Sam was cooperative and willing to do whatever was asked of him. I was able to go into the room with him and was able to talk to him and hold his beautiful little foot. I was doing really well at holding it together but halfway into the MRI, I couldn't control my tears anymore. They just kept coming and there was nothing in this world I could do to stop them. I thought that Sam couldn't see me in his tunnel but I looked in there and tears were rolling down his little face. It broke my heart that I could not fix it. When it came to the IV, the tech wasn't able to let Sam see the needle or what he was doing because he still was in the Hannibal Lector mask. Sam started crying saying over and over again, "Let me see. Let me see." Luckily, it only took a few seconds and we were off and running to the next phase of the MRI. Afterwards, we were able to see the scans of his perfect little brain and joked with Sam that now there was no reason that he couldn't think because there is an actual brain in there!
After four agonizing hours, the Dr called to tell us that Sam's little brain was perfectly normal. I cannot begin to express how absolutely wonderful that was to hear when we were expecting the absolute worse and with my family's history of cancer, we were convinced that this was a battle that was inevitable. There was also no lesions, which ruled out MS. Whew!! When we called everyone to tell them the good news, Sam told them in this sweet innocent little voice, "I don't have any tumors." I swear it sounded just like Arnold Schwarzenegger. It was the funniest thing ever.
We were told to keep an eye on Sam and to alert the doctor if anything else shows up. Well, two days later he was up all night with a horrendous headache. Crap!!! I had to take the twins to Idaho Falls to get their hearing checked that day also so I called Dr. Anderson's office to get an appointment and was told to take him to a doctor ASAP. During this time of being on the phone, the twins were failing their test because of them both having ear infections. Are you kidding me?!?!? Just beat me while I'm down!!
I called the clinic in Driggs to see Dr. Horrocks to be told he was booked solid for the whole week. Well, that's when I totally lost it. I was sobbing uncontrollably. Poor Patty Lyons!! I explained to her that the twins both had ear infections and Sam had to see the doctor immediately. God bless her and Laurel Ricks, they squeezed me in and even came out to the car to help me with my troop. I can only imagine what we looked like. Me with my red eyes, the twins screaming because of the long car ride and Sam crying also. As if I wasn't a freak show enough!
After antibiotics and an appointment with a pediatric neurologist, the waiting game began. Sam's appointment wasn't until the end of June so I continued to give him medicine to help him with his headaches and I kept a food and activity journal. As if there wasn't enough on my plate between physical therapy three times a week and swimming lessons twice a week.
Fast forward to the neurologist appointment, where he had no idea what it could be and ordered a crap load of blood tests and an EEG (seizure test) to rule out strokes, auto-immune, cancer, infections and seizures. Sam did so awesome on the blood tests. He didn't make a peep. He laid there and watched the needle go in and everything. Proud Mom Moment!
This last Wednesday, we had to be in Idaho Falls for the EEG. His appointment was at 9:00 p.m., that's right at night! He was hooked up to so many wires. What was originally to take 1 1/2 hours to 2 hours, only took us one. There were a couple of blips on the screen that looked really scary but the tech wasn't able to tell us anything, of course, but I still asked. Grandma Zohner, who by the way has been the ultimate babysitter and God Send, came with me to keep me awake on the drive home, which by the time we got to Piney Pass, I was very grateful for.
Yesterday, Blaine was able to go to the Neurologist appointment. Once again legs were jello and stomach was in knots. We had to wait for 40 minutes, which I had totally convinced myself that he was avoiding us because he hates to give people bad news. Just when Blaine & I were ready to tear apart the room, Dr. Castellano came in to tell us that everything came back normal on the blood tests (YEA!!!) and the EEG had a few questionable blips (See, I knew it) but it was nothing definitive. We are just to keep a close eye on him and see Dr. Castellano in a month!! Woohoo!! While we still don't know what is causing the blurriness in his one eye, we now know that the worst things are ruled out and anything else is doable.
Last night, I slept like I haven't slept since I was heavily medicated after my surgery. Words cannot describe how relieved Blaine & I are, not to mention our families.
Sam, we love you to the Milky Way and back. Even beyond that but I don't know anything past the Milky Way :)
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