I'm SO glad to be home! This trip was fun, informative, and MORE than I had expected! I'll attempt to summarize the fun parts of the trip:
We left town around 2:30 yesterday afternoon...hoping to make it to my sister's house in Logan (OOOOOHH!!! AAAAHHHH!!) before it got dark. We made it! Cam asking the whole way, "Are we in Logan yet?!" Realize, THIS is what parents are complaining about!
Along the way we pass a record number of dead skunks...yell out "STELLLLLLLAAAAAA!!!" Every time we pass a particularly rank one. (In honor of our new favorite movie, Over the Hedge.)
Drop our stuff off at my sister's house while I attempt to fill out and sign consent forms that had been emailed to me just an hour before we left town. (There was 70 pages worth of stuff that I had to print off...needless to say, my printer threw a tantrum a couple of times..."low black ink"..."out of paper"...) All the while trying to decide where to go for dinner.
My bil drives us to the Cabin Fever Cafe. Enjoy an evening filled with live entertainment, and excellent food!
Remember (after the sun has set, of course) that we had wanted to see the BRAND new Extreme Makeover Home Edition house that they built in Logan. (OOOOOHHHH!! AAAAAHHH! No, really...it's pretty cool!) Decide to go and see it anyway. Find that this street has become Logan's most popular within a short amount of time! Stop in front of the house to see little boys with HUGE grins on their faces peeking out of the garage door. (I think they were excited to get all of that attention!) Notice the small mess the people on the show left behind...extra sod on the street, street closed signs still in the middle of the road...But feel privileged to see it. (Thinking in my head, "Ty was here YESTERDAY!!")
Have a shopping spree at Walmart. See where my sister and bil work, take a few laps around the temple...admire the green glow...go back to their apartment and crash for the night.
Wake up at 2:30 in the morning when the baby UPSTAIRS cries. Stay awake fretting for an hour...finally collapsing around 3:30ish. Cam rolls over and in a sleepy voice says, "I can't see the Temple!!" Then giggles hysterically for no good reason. (What a dream!)
Alarm goes off at 5:30, and prepare for a VERY long day.
Leave town at 6:00, and drive thru CRAZY Utahn traffic! (UGH!)
Park in front of Lagoon...not a planned park! Hear Cam ask, "Why we stopped?" Answer him with, "Because everyone in front of us is parked too!"
Drive thru Salt Lake and see a sign off the side of the road reading: "Hell and it's Inhabitants Convention." Comment to my mom that I don't want to go to that one, THANKS!
We left town around 2:30 yesterday afternoon...hoping to make it to my sister's house in Logan (OOOOOHH!!! AAAAHHHH!!) before it got dark. We made it! Cam asking the whole way, "Are we in Logan yet?!" Realize, THIS is what parents are complaining about!
Along the way we pass a record number of dead skunks...yell out "STELLLLLLLAAAAAA!!!" Every time we pass a particularly rank one. (In honor of our new favorite movie, Over the Hedge.)
Drop our stuff off at my sister's house while I attempt to fill out and sign consent forms that had been emailed to me just an hour before we left town. (There was 70 pages worth of stuff that I had to print off...needless to say, my printer threw a tantrum a couple of times..."low black ink"..."out of paper"...) All the while trying to decide where to go for dinner.
My bil drives us to the Cabin Fever Cafe. Enjoy an evening filled with live entertainment, and excellent food!
Remember (after the sun has set, of course) that we had wanted to see the BRAND new Extreme Makeover Home Edition house that they built in Logan. (OOOOOHHHH!! AAAAAHHH! No, really...it's pretty cool!) Decide to go and see it anyway. Find that this street has become Logan's most popular within a short amount of time! Stop in front of the house to see little boys with HUGE grins on their faces peeking out of the garage door. (I think they were excited to get all of that attention!) Notice the small mess the people on the show left behind...extra sod on the street, street closed signs still in the middle of the road...But feel privileged to see it. (Thinking in my head, "Ty was here YESTERDAY!!")
Have a shopping spree at Walmart. See where my sister and bil work, take a few laps around the temple...admire the green glow...go back to their apartment and crash for the night.
Wake up at 2:30 in the morning when the baby UPSTAIRS cries. Stay awake fretting for an hour...finally collapsing around 3:30ish. Cam rolls over and in a sleepy voice says, "I can't see the Temple!!" Then giggles hysterically for no good reason. (What a dream!)
Alarm goes off at 5:30, and prepare for a VERY long day.
Leave town at 6:00, and drive thru CRAZY Utahn traffic! (UGH!)
Park in front of Lagoon...not a planned park! Hear Cam ask, "Why we stopped?" Answer him with, "Because everyone in front of us is parked too!"
Drive thru Salt Lake and see a sign off the side of the road reading: "Hell and it's Inhabitants Convention." Comment to my mom that I don't want to go to that one, THANKS!
Arrive at PCMC at 8:00, and go to see the opthamologist. Wait forever to see the doctor, since his son is about to go into surgery. Have the initial exam where Cam cries hysterically and refuses to cooperate. End up getting his eyes dilated, where he BAWLS his eyes out...nearly flushing out the eye drops...and finding out the kid has now developed near-sightedness along with his astigmatism (thanks to those genes from his mama!) Anytime anyone new comes into the room he asks, "Are you gonna take my blood?" (Can you tell the kid was paranoid?)
Get done with the eye-guy early, and check into the genetics clinic an HOUR early. Get in to see the doctor an HOUR early! (I LOVE this hospital!)
Get TONS of information about NF1 and get many a question answered! Find that Cam DOES have some benign tumors (on his bum and a cluster on the bottom of his foot...) and get some great advice.
After this appointment, trot over the cool linking bridge between hospitals to U of U Medical Center. Start his other tests. First one is the blood draw to which 5...count 'em...FIVE adults had to hold the kid down. (Sobbing hysterically the whole time!) Find out the forms I spent forever downloading and printing are NOT viable...the watermark didn't print! Sign the SAME forms again! UGH! After the blood draw, the lady (Heather) gives Cam his choice of gift cards...he picks Toys R Us.
Cam gets his urine samples taken care of! (YAY! I had been hauling them around with us the ENTIRE DAY!) Then he's off with Hillarie to get a bone density scan, full skeletal scan, and then finally an x-ray of his back. After the scan (where the kid who never stops moving had to lay still for 3 full minutes) they print off his skeleton, for him to take home and hang on his door. Everywhere he goes he tells the nurses, students, and secretaries that he has an owie on his arm... because they took his blood!
End up making a fast friend of Heather, the assistant in the research department, and hear her infertility story...WOW! I'm SO lucky! :) Then eat lunch and share stories over an ICKY salad and nasty water!
Pack everything back up in the car (by this time it's 3:00 in the afternoon) and start the LONG drive home!
See the "Hell..." sign again and giggle over the way it sounds...Do they really expect a HUGE turn-out?
Get home around 6:30...stop by Albertsons for their marvelous chicken and salads, and go home!
It was a busy day, but so worth it! The initial results are that Cam is pretty healthy, getting the services that he needs, and will have to go back again for more "fun" NEXT year. The day was pretty much a blur of events, but we got a TON accomplished! Now, we just continue doing what we've ALWAYS done: love our son, and continue with all of the therapies and aides he's getting!
13 comments:
Wow! What a day! I bet you're glad it's over. I bet Cam is even MORE so. Poor kid. It's a good thing that you don't have to go back for another year. Are they going to have to do anything about those tumors on his bum and foot?
On a funny side note, Jasmine was actually DISAPPOINTED that she couldn't get her flu shot at her well check-up on Friday. The pediatrician's office doesn't get its first shipment of flu vaccines until the second week of December. Bummer.
Carrie, Yes, I'm calling you by your REAL name!! SUE ME!!
There's nothing really to do about the tumors...unless they cause him pain. The thing about these kinds of tumors is that they don't just attatch to the walls of muscles or organs or whatnot...they actually wrap around the nerves. YEAH! So it's a MAJOR pain to remove...so they won't unless it's absolutely necessary! We were told that if he has pain that keeps him awake at night to rush him to the doctor immediately! Fun times for US! :P
I'm gonna SUE you! AAAAAAAAAAH! (j/j)
Heck, my real name is on my current blog anywho. So I guess I'll just have to sue everyone who reads it!
My husband sleep-talks, but doesn't make as much sense as Cam... Sounds like you had fun, even if it wasn't quite my kind of fun. :) Good times.
Wow, what an eventful day! Glad that everything went well though. PCMC is awesome aren't they. Our oldest spent some time up there during his first year and a half of life, glad that we don't have to keep going back!
I didn't know that the Lazy organizer was your sista! That is way cool!
Oh I forgot, what was with the sign? Hell and it's inhabitants convention. That is too funny!
Wowza! What a whirlwind! You got so much done in one day - I can't believe it.
How cool that he got his very own skeleton print to keep!
LOL, loved all the "Ooooh, ahhh"s! I'm sorry Cam had a hard time... poor guy, but what a fun thing that they give out gift cards! That is a great idea!
I would've been really curious to peek into the "Hell" convention and see exactly what that was all about... I love the way weirdos descend on SLC because of the Church's reputation... it's like, "We'll show those Mormons! The Inhabitants of Hell are takin' over Temple Square!" while we all sit back with a bored, "Yeah, right..."
P.S. I'm totally jealous that you went to Cabin Fever Cafe. I had the BEST chicken & sun-dried tomatoes pasta there... I can still taste it!
Whew...I am so glad that Cam is doing fairly well! I am so glad that the tumors are not a big problem...will he have to have them removed?
I know how it is to have a son screaming at the doctors office! Although...Cam had a better reason since it was ME that was getting checked out...not Matthew... he screamed anyway!
I am glad that you are back...and I hope that this week is a great one for you!
I'm glad things went well for your trip! I'm sure it's always nerve wracking for you, so it's nice you don't need to go for another year.
I've never eaten at Cabin Fever Cafe even though I lived in Logan (ooohh ahhh) for many years, but I heard good things about it! :)
My husband sleep walks and sleep talks. He has entire conversations with people over the phone while he's asleep and everyone always remarks at how great their talks are, but he doesn't remember them!!
Glad to hear things went well. Now to sit back and breath a little easier until next year!!
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