Here it is, I waited it out but now I need to share....

I have put off sharing this with the board because I didn't know how I felt and tried to convince myself that I wasn't too worried. Well the truth is that I'm scared to death for my little boy.

Here's the whole story:

A couple weeks ago Korbin was swinging from the swing hanging from the tree in our yard. Kirke was pushing him as he usually does. He was really high when the metal clip connecting the swing to the rope broke. (this is very strange because a whole chunk of this ring came off, it wasnt rusted, bent or compromised in anyway and we can't find that piece) I was cooking dinner and Kirke yelled from the door to bring a towel. Korbins nose was bleeding and Kirke told me what had happened. Korbin wasn't really crying just wimpering really. I called Brandy, told her Korbin was hurt needed to go to ER could she watch Tate. Of course she said yes.

We got into the car and I told Tate that when we got to Brandy's he had to get right out and go inside because we had to get his brother to the hospital. He said "ok, this is an emergency right mom?" i said yes and he said "ok this is an emergency" he got right out of the car and went right into the house no problems at all. (this is very unusual for him).

Anyhow, Kirke dropped me at the door and I carried Korbin in, he was breathing very shallow and was struggling to stay awake. They took us right back to a room but then no one came in to see him. Finally I made Kirke go get someone because he wasn't breathing right and was in a lot of pain. They came in started an IV and gave him morphine for the pain. He complained of pain in his stomach. They sent us for a CT scan. Then back to our room and more morphine and motrin for Korbin. The first dose knocked out the pain the second dose made him very silly.

The CT scan showed no internal bleeding like they had feared so his injuries from the fall were only that he had bruised his abdominal wall from the impact of the fall along with his tailbone and face. However the CT scan also showed that he had a problem with one of his kidneys that was completely unrelated to the fall. (A blessing in disguise??) We followed up the next day with the Urologist here and he referred us to Columbia to see the pediatric urology surgeon for more tests.

Two days later we went to Columbia and the doctor looked at the CT scan and said that Korbin has a "duplicated collection system" of the left kidney. They also said that that kidney was swollen. They wouldn't know what to do with it until they completed another test. That test was Monday November 26th. They had to put him to sleep and then they used some nuclear dye to follow the function of his kidneys. He took forever to wake up and we almost missed his appt with the Urologist because he was still sleeping in the recovery room. At that point I picked him up from his bed and made him wake up because we were not gonna make that drive another day just to meet with the doctor. We got down to the dr's office there in the hospital (because he couldnt just take the elevator up to us, grrrrr) and Korbin started throwing up.

The doctor told us that the renal scan showed that there are two tubes coming off the left kidney instead of one like he should have. It also showed that the tube nearest the bottom was blocked and the kidney was draining really slowly.

Now we had to make a choice. Choice A: we could repeat this test every 6 months (they tell us as Korbin is puking his little guts out) until the kidney begins to die off in the area of the blocked tube then they would do surgery to remove the dead part of the kidney as well as the tube. At this time he reassured us that a person can live with only 1/3 of one kidney.....that's reassuring! Choice B: we could let them go ahead and do the surgery now and hopefully save the entire kidney.

The choice was easy we want it fixed now. The surgery is not so easy. We go to Columbia on the 16th for pre-op. We'll stay the night and surgery will be on the 17th. The problem is that they won't know what they have to do until they get in there. It'll be about a 3 inch incision (seems huge for my baby) then they will take xrays and determine their plan of action. They said he'll have to stay at least two nights in the hospital but they don't know for sure. They don't know how long the surgery will take and that really bothers me. And not knowing how long he'll be in the hospital afterward has me worried too. I wish they knew what was blocking the tube, that would ease my mind too.

Kirkes mom bought a plane ticket and will be here the 12th so that she can spend some time with him before he's miserable. Then she and Tayton will go to Columbia with us and stay in an hotel. She will be here for 3 weeks total.

So there you have it, we need prayers. I'm scared for my little boy, I'm scared of what they might find once they get inside there. I'm scared because this isn't a routine surgery like his tonsils were. I'm just plain scared and now I'm finally admitting that to myself and everyone else as I sit up at 1:30 in the morning alone.

If you made it to bottom of this message I thank you, it was long but I needed it all out there.

Yeah I get to have surgery today..........

Yeah I get to have surgery today..........This was my four year old this past Monday before he had surgery. He was so excited, he told everyone he had on his surgery pajamas and was bouncing off the walls in the pre-op room. He had no idea what he was in for. But what I don't understand is he remembers his brother having the exact surgery in July only two months prior and he knew that his older brother was hurting from the surgery and slept alot and stuff so I'm not sure where the excitement came from.

Well as he was acting like a ping pong ball in pre-op everyone said "oh he's so cute, he's so full of energy, he must be so much fun". Wait a minute, how does that statement end in "fun"? Energy does not equal fun when your talking about a four year old. Yeah energy is great when your at the park and he's playing or when your on a long walk or playing ball. Energy is not good when your in the store trying to shop or at the hospital waiting for an appointment!

So they took him back for his surgery (tonsils and adnoids taken out and tubes put in his ears) he was happy as a clam! Poor kiddo! So I expected him to be mad as a bull when he came out of surgery, but nope that wasn't the case at all. No crying in a haze as he came out of the anesthesia or anything. He just slept through it then when they tried to wake him he sat up looked at them and took a bite or popsicle and went back to sleep! They took him up to his room and he just slept and slept. The only complaint he had when he did wake up was that he wanted his IV out so after he ate a popsicle and drank some milk they took it out for him since he said his tummy felt fine. Then he puked all over and went back to sleep! Then he woke up and started playing with the buttons on the bed and ate two more popsicles and a cup of ice cream and watched cartoons.

He also figured out how to call the nurse. He did it several times and he and the male nurse had this little bond. My little guy would call down and then the nurse would say "what do you need little man" he would say "another popsicle please" and then ta-da one would appear......accompanied by his new walkie talkie friend of course.

Now my little guy is knocked out on the couch sad, sore and disappointed that surgery wasn't all the fun and glamour he expected! Poor little guy!

I am a sucker

I have a hard time saying no to people. Except when the boys ask me to roast marshmallows on our electric stove or to cook a burger in the toaster. But when someone needs a favor, usually a babysitter, I am quick to say sure I can do that. But why would I want to add another child to my already chaotic life? This little guy that I babysit often is like a combination of my two boys worst habits wrapped up in a cute little blonde hair brown eyed shell.



Combine my 4 year old with another 4 year old and that makes for a rough day for me. Since we are a military family we have different circumstance than often found in the civilian world. Babysitting doesn't always mean an hour here or there, it might mean a week here, an hour there and another three days there. But that's okay because I genuinely love this little guy. Especially when my two aren't around to feed off from!

My boys don't fight too often unless this other little guys is around. We'll call him Dash, because he reminds me of Dash from the incredibles. He moves so fast all the time. Walking is not an option, moving slowly from the chair to the floor, not an option. Jumping from the chair to the floor to the counter and running off the counter to the floor then jumping to the bathroom, that would be an option. Well when Dash is here he and my four year old are crazy busy playing all the time but not your normal playing. More of a "I want what you have so I can throw it across the room" or "how hard can I push him before he turns around and pushes back?" and the occassional "which toys float and which toys sink............in the toilet?"

So despite my already crazy life with my own two monsters........I mean adorable children, I will continue to take in stray's until my head spins around and flys off of my shoulders like one of those helicopter toys.

Nice to meet you

I have two great little boys who are lucky enough to be sons of a soldier. My oldest son just turned 6. He is a little guy, tall but skinny. Our little one is 4 1/2 and outweighs his brother by two pounds and is only an inch or two shorter. And yes they are 18 months apart and we did it on purpose!



We frequently......almost daily are asked "oh are they twins"? I tend to reply "yes we only feed the big one". The big one just happens to be the younger one though. So I wonder how often people with twins get asked "oh are they twins"? And do those people with identical twins lie and say "nope, they are 2 years apart" or even better "no ones a boy and ones a girl" or even "nope they are adopted from different families". My son's didn't know what twins really were since they hear the word everyday. My oldest came home from school and said "Mom there are two kids in my class and guess what?" He had this total look of amazement on his face as he shouted "They look just alike!" I told him they are twins! His reply was that of confusion. He thought he and his brother were twins. Totally lost him on that one!



Today I was babysitting for a friends little boy and people who have known me, at least in passing and short conversations everyday for the past school year, were saying wow you have your hands full having three. I had just told these same people that these two are only three months apart, do the math!! I mean I know adoption is a possibility but did they not just watch my two wreak havoc on the school cafeteria? Why would I add one more?