Strickland Family Reunion

EDITED BY WENDY - Spencer is going to start posting on the blog for us...unfortunately he blogs without pictures!  So I've added them!  Enjoy! :)

We just got back from one of the best family reunions.  As usual we were in Fairfield, CA at my Aunt  Jill's house.

While there we went to Fairtale town in Sacramento.  The kids loved it.  I think that they must have run the crooked mile at least 20 times.  Luckily it is really only 1/8th of a mile long. We also hung out and Brian's house in Sacramento that day.  It was a blast.

Wednesday we went to Fort Baker to let Roman get a great view of the Golden Gate Bridge.  He has been begging to see the bridge for awhile.  There is a great view from there.  While there we found out it was free day for the museum there.  So we did some fun stuff there.  After that we went on to Stinson beach.  Great day at the beach.

On Thursday we did the tour at the Jelly Belly factory.  Roman and Hudson love watching the machines work.  I love being able to breath in all the sugar that is in the air.  I can get all my calories for the day in one breath.

Friday was awesome.  We went to Lake Berryessa to go cliff jumping.  On the way there Hudson asked what we were going to do.  Wendy said "dad, Joey, little Marko, and aunt Jill were going to jump off a cliff and die"  Hudson immediately said "Yea!!!"  I said "Yea we are going to die!"  We first went to a little beach by the marina to sling on a rope swing.  However the water was too low so we could not swing and the ground in front of the water was really hard and hurt my feet.  We still went swimming for a bit.  After that Joey, Marko and I went cliff jumping.  Everyone else went home.  Cliff Jumping was a blast.  Especailly with Joey and Marko. It would have been nice to have some of the other cousins there.

Saturday was the reunion.  It was so fun.  We had so much food including a ton of fresh salmon that Mike (Jill's husband) had caught.  We talked, did some fun activities, and had the usual auction.  It was a great day.  I already miss my family.

On Sunday we drove home.  All I could think about the entire 10 hour drive home was that I did not want to have to go back into work the next day.  While I love my work I love being around my family even more.

The Strickland Family reunion time is one of my favorite times of the year.  Wendy stated it this way a few years ago.  When going down the lane to the family property it just feels like you are home.

Superman Muscles

Sunday morning Roman was ready for church so he decided to put his Superman costume on OVER his church clothes (because I told him he could NOT take his church clothes off!)  I was upstairs getting ready and ran down to the main floor to grab something and found Roman on the kitchen counter.  He was crouching down trying to hide.

Me - Roman, what are you doing.
Roman - (sits up a little still trying to hide himself) - Nothing.
Me - Roman, you know you aren't supposed to be on the counter.
Roman - (Sits up a little and I can see his shirt has strange bulges) - Mom, I was just using these cups for muscles.  (He pulls 4 ikea cups from under his shirt.)
Me - (Burst out laughing)  Um, okay.  Well, get off the counter at least.

Lost Dragger

Hudson - Mom, I can't find my dragger (wagon)
Me - Did you look in your bedroom?
Hudson - Yes.
Me - Roman's room?
Hudson - Yes.
Me - Your bathroom?
Hudson - Yep.
Me - My bathroom?
Hudson - Yep.
Me - My closet?
Hudson - Let me go check.  (runs to look then comes back) It not in your closet.
Me - Did you check my tub........

Still haven't found the "Dragger" yet, but I'm sure it's here somewhere.....

Gettysburg Address

EDITED - Apparently the video didn't work last night!  I've redone it, hopefully it works now!

Roman wanted to show this to his Mommy Katie, but it was too big to e-mail, so I posted it here.  He learned it at school (and was so excited because she sent him a post card from Gettysburg today!

Urology Appointment

Another great appointment today!  This was the one I was the most nervous about because the Urologist was really skeptical letting us wait 4 months. He wanted to do the permanent catheter back in November, but we have been trying SO HARD and it's paid off!  

We started our marathon day with ultrasounds. He had to drink at least 20 oz an hour before so that his bladder was full. They had to do pre and post void ultrasounds but had warned us that they may have to do a VCUG as well if they weren't able to see enough with the ultrasounds.  The VCUG is the worst test for him, and we really didn't want to do it.  I talked to Roman about it a lot.  I had huge knots in my stomach but was positive with him.  

Oh, and backing up, as we were walking out to the car, he fell on the ice on our driveway and skinned his CHEEK, I have never seen a skinned cheek, but it looks so sad!  :(  So before we were even gone he was really emotional about that, and the anticipation.  

Thankfully he had a great radiology tech who was so great with Roman.  The tech talked and played with Roman while he did the ultrasound.  He got all the images for the pre-void ultrasound then sent us to the bathroom.  Roman went to the bathroom and we went back and the first thing he checked was how much he still had in his bladder.  He still had 56 ml in his bladder (which isn't that bad for Roman, but more then they like for a post void ultrasound so we were looking at the seriously possibility of a VCUG)  He said "I'll just delete that one and have him try one more time."  So we went back to the bathroom and he was able to get it down to 12 ml which they were fine with so NO VCUG!  YAY!  Bladder and Kidneys looked about the same.  Left kidney (more damaged one) looked a little worse, Right kidney looked a little better, ureters still dilated, bladder still hard and rigid.  

After that we went to see his Urologist and he started by asking how things have been going over the last 4 months, went over results from the tests and nephrologist, looked at the ultrasound and asked about Roman's bathroom habits.  He commented again how surprised he was how great the school has been about making sure he gets to the bathroom frequently, he was been very thankful for the school he is at.  Especially his teachers.  I give them a lot of credit too for helping us get him better! After all that he told us that we are doing a fantastic job managing his damage and that for now he doesn't see a need for the foreseeable future to place a permanent catheter.  He was very impressed that we are doing the cluster voiding (he has to pee every 10 minutes for the last hour before bed) at night still, getting up in the night and that Roman's kidney function is still improving.  So everything is basically still the same, but I feel so much better about it. We are used to this.  We do it already so it's good to know we are doing the best thing for him.

the evolution of giraffes

Roman - mom, do you think giraffes evolved from brontosaurus's?
Me - um, maybe.
Roman - I think they are. they both have long necks, short legs and eat plants.

Roman Kidney Update

Yesterday Roman went back to his Kidney doctor.  His last appointment was in November and he had not had any improvement in his Kidney function since September, so I didn't really know what to expect.  We were hoping things would continue to improve, but we never know what to expect.  That's the hardest part of an unseen illness, you can't SEE it!  You don't know what is going on in there!

Now onto the appointment.  They weighed and measured him and he is now in the (39 lbs) 10% for weight and (40.75") 4% for height, his blood pressure was a little high, but normal for him since he was hospitalized (105/77).  In July he was not even on the charts for weight or height, so he is growing!  He's grown 2.5" since July so on track to grow the 3-4" they predicted he would grow this year.  He weighed 33 lbs at the hospital, so he's gained 6 lbs, which is huge.

His creatinine level had been consistently 1.02 the previous 3 blood draws (well 1.024, 1.021, 1.027), we were hoping it would be below 1.0, but with 3 relatively stable draws we weren't very hopeful.  Anyway, his creatinine level is now .90.  We are now hoping for under .85 which will put him over 50% function.  His doctor is a very positive realist if that makes sense.  He is always happy about good news, but realistic that it may or may not improve and makes me feel okay about things.

His iron level was another thing we were concerned about, if it was low again he would need another hemoglobin shot.  He has been taking iron twice a day for the last 4 months and his iron level was on the high end of normal.  Meaning, not only did he not need the shot...he is able to only take it once a day now!

His sodium, phosphorus, and potassium levels were all LOW, not even on the low end of normal, low for a "normal" patient.  So they said Roman could have 1 meal with potassium (meaning he can now have tomato sauces on noodles, potatoes, oranges) and 2-3 servings of dairy a day (and they said ice cream would be okay, he is over the moon excited about having ice cream again!)

He did add one Rx for Vitamin D and he may have to have something to help with his parathyroid at the next appointment, which is also common with kidney failure.  He said the biggest problem with the elevated parathyroid hormone is that it can lead to Ricketts (which is apparently also common with kidney kids) so we are just monitoring that also.  So one Rx down, one up, overall great news.

Monday he goes to his Urologist, hopefully we get good news there too.  

A Tub Full of Pillows and Blankets

Tonight as Roman was finishing his shower Hudson started bringing his pillows, blankets and monkeys into the bathroom.  I asked him what he was doing, and at first it looked like he was setting up a bed to sleep in on the floor.  I turned around to answer a question from Roman and the next thing I know he is throwing them all into the tub.  As soon as they were all in the tub he climbed up onto the edge and started jumping in. They did this until bedtime then begged to do it again tomorrow before bed.

 I told them this was their last jump so they wanted to do it holding hands!  SO CUTE!  I love these crazy boys!!

dog trouble

Hudson - mom, brodie's gonna be in BIG trouble!

Me- why is brodie in big trouble?

Hudson- 'cause she's eatin' my macaroni!

Me- did you drop it?

Hudson- no, i gived it to her like this (as he holds out his spoon letting the dog eat it off the spoon)

Me- i think it's you who's going to be in big trouble!

Dinner Conversations

Last night we had dinner at my parents house.  We had lasagna, salad, bread sticks, and cream cheese wantons.

At the dinner table:

Roman - Mom can I have another of the semi-circles.  They are really delicious.
Me - The semi-circles?  Seriously?  Would you like another wanton?
Roman - Don't laugh, they are semi-circles.

A few minutes later...Hudson did not like the lasagna.

Hudson - I can't eat this.  It is not good for my kidneys.

(I think he's been around his brother a little too much!)

Sad Story

ounc (once) ter (there) was a baby namde (named) Roman and wen (when) he grew up he got dead.

the end