9 days left

We only have 9 days left in our house on base! This last month has flown right past us! This week we went up to Jacksonville to have Dreycin's MRI @ wolfson's Children's hospital and f/u neurology appt at Nemour's. We drove up on Sunday, had sushi on the river and got dessert at whole foods! Monday morning I had to call the nurse at MRI at 630 am for arrival time, and they told us to be there by nine. Our goal was to let Dreycin sleep as long as possible because he wasn't going to be able to eat until after procedure, and we were told our table time was gonna be 11am. Dreycin had a cough a couple days prior to the MRI and generally if a child is sick at all they don't do the procedure! Well I was convinced we were gonna be sent home, but they said he sounded clear! We were told after checking in that they were running 1.5 hrs late! Meanwhile I have Dreycin asking derek and I for a snack. It was so hard to tell him ok later baby :( but bc I'm a mom I decided I wouldn't eat either, so I would just bare through it with him. We didn't get the MRI started until 1240pm! Derek was pisted to say the least bc the staff has to know that these are kids we are talking about, and we can only tell them they can't eat for sinking until we have a totally foreseeable complete and utter Toddler meltdown!!!!he kept seeing chick fila cups & bags bc there was one in the hospital, and he loves chickfila! But we got by, and the only thing he didn't like was wearing the hospital gown! It was cute had whales and fish, but was itchy and flannel like, so I started telling him it was like Super Grover's cape and that's how we wore it until we went back. I had also chosen to put a pull up on D since who knows what could happen under anesthesia? Most of the morning was spent in a playroom, furnished by childrens miracle network. It had all sorts of toys, ride on toys, kitchen. But suprisingly Dreycin chose to watch Calliou, little einsteins, octonauts, and mickey mouse. We had also bought him a mobigo super cheap from target, but he wasnt interested. And B slept in my arms for an 1hr or so. About noon we were finally taken downstairs to MRI. I chose to go into the procedure with Dreycin, and once we were in there, there were about 5 other techs, drs, assistants and us two. But for those two minutes I only saw Dreycin looking at me, holding onto me wondering what was gonna happen. I held him and told him everything was gonna be all right and told him to breathe in the bubble gum smell aka gas mask with the anesthesia. He screamed, fought me, and I had to hold him tighter, that's when the nurse saw put her arms around me and Dreycin to hold us both. The doctors were telling me to sing to him, but i couldnt I was fighting tears and all i could say was im right here baby, your ok. Over and over again. Within 30seconds Dreycin was out, he was in my arms very limp, sleeping soundly. I laid him down, and they said Ok Mom, this should take 1hr and we will call you back before we wake him up. I really liked the idea that I was the last person Dreycin saw and the first to see when he woke up.when I laid him down the years flooded, but I knew I had to leave him. After i walked out the plan was to insert IV in Dreycin, they were going to draw bloodwork, administer an IV anesthesia for sedation, and contrast for MRI. During the surgery we were right outside the recovery room/MRI suite in a waiting room. We were the only ones waiting. I told derek I had to eat something or I was gonna pass out, and I'm serious because I had inhaled some of the gas just from being right next to Dreycin!
Imagine that child and mother passed out during MRI, but thinking about it they did tell me that it's often the mom that needs the anesthesia! And I wonder if that has accidentally happened before and that's why the nurse held me too!! Anyways we went to 8th floor cafeteria and got waters and the only thing I could find dairy free, baked lays. I wanted to get right back to waiting area. Did I mention how wonderful Bronson was all morning long! It was like he knew he had to be a good boy, better yet maybe he sensed it! He kept me smiling the whole time! Around 30min in one of the anesthesiologists was going to lunch and said that Dreycin was doing great! At 145pm Derek was like ok it's been an hour, so he went and asked them if he was done and they said we were going to be called back in just a minute. When I first saw him it looked like he was intubated but his nurse said that it was like a mouthguard for waking up from anesthesia, plus she mentioned he snored and this was useful for kids that snore during procedure to open up airways better. He started to wake up in about 3 min after we were back there. I got in the bed with him, and we laid there for about 15min. He drank some apple juice, had some animal crackers, but kept getting upset that he had an owie on his hand where the IV was!, we tried to wipe away blood but that made him even more upset. We were told that the rest of the day needed to be light indoor play, assist D with bathroom. We were discharged and walked straight over to chickfila to get my baby boy some food! He was extra whiny, irritable but that was to be expected after anesthesia. He only wanted me to carry him, which doesn't happen often anyways. After that we got in car to head back to hotel. Derek and I stopped at high tide burrito(very good) to get something quick. The joy of our hotel & hospital (and burrito place) is that it was all on same road within 2 min of each other! We went back to hotel but no one slept and Dreycin was calm for a few hours but quickly returned to the rambunctious toddler we know! So later that evening when we couldn't keep him from bouncing off the walls we went to the navy base walked looked around, then went and ate at whole foods. You would think the boys were tired but nope they were still egging each other on at 11pm! Meanwhile Derek and I are beyond ready for SLEEP! Finally they feel asleep, me in the middle with both under one of my arms!We woke up the next morning, got ready and went to Dreycin's follow up appointment at Nemour's. They didnt have the MRI results, and were confidant they were fine. They knew this would be our last visit before moving to Dallas, and told us they would call us with the results. In the meantime, if the breathholding spells got worse, or happened again to call them. So we left thankful that all of it was behind us, and it was done before the deployment. We went and had lunch again at hightide burrito, then headed over to whole foods for a quick grocery shopping of veggies and fruits! we were on the road by 130pm, and for the first 2.5 hrs both kids slept just like on the way up. THis is the time Derek and I had to talk about what we had left to do before deployment. Things I needed to do after he left, what to send, who to send the POA to etc. My laundry list keeps getting longer. Two days went by with no phone call, and Thursday morning the neurology clinic called. Dreycin's MRI had come back, and right when I answered the phone and she began to talk my heart sank. Turns out the MRI of the brain was completely normal, what is of concern is that there is a lack of blood flow (on the right side of his neck)from the vertebral artery to his brain. The vertebral artery supplies the brain with 20% of blood flow and controls coordination, gait, balance. So after the doctors met about Dreycin's case, they concluded that we needed to find a neurologist in Dallas and ask for another opinion and go ahead and get scheduled for an MRA which is similar to an MRI, but it looks at the blood vessels. So Ive looked at doctors, and found one nearby in Frisco. It will be one of the first things I do when we get to Dallas, finding doctors for all of us! The pics are from Bronson's bday shoot, and the last two are from Jax. Eating dinner on the river the 1st night, and Dreycin being "floated" down to MRI in a boat!

Pics!

Family pic from the ocean oneders bash! And a pic of the cute lollipops (which I copied off of pinterest!)
Dreycin eating kale!
New rice milk snacks for B I found at target! (and a Dr bronner Chapstick for me!)
Boys playing in B's bday present, a slam dunk ball pit jumpy house thing!