{This is the tooth, the whole tooth and nothing but the tooth...wait that's a lie the gums are involved too} OUR HYDROCEPHALUS JOURNEY

In preparation for his upcoming surgery we decided that Joe needed to be seen by a dentist. I know someone who was scheduled for back surgery and minutes before it was suppose to begin he told the surgeon that he had a tooth ache and the surgeon called off the surgery until he was seen and cleared by a dentist. It was a good thing because that "little" tooth ache ended up being an infection that had caused bone loss. The surgeon later stated that an infection in the mouth could have greatly compromised the outcome of the surgery...it could have even killed him they had proceeded and the infection spread to the area they were performing on. Scary right?!?! Knowing this, we figured better safe than sorry!

{A few of her favorite things}

It is no secret that children learn through play. One of my favorite sounds is when I hear my kiddos playing be it alone, with someone else, inside or out. I love the laughter, the various character voices they demonstrate, the conversations the toys have, the car sounds, everything! Nothing brings a smile to my face faster than hearing my children playing! 

I read somewhere that, "When a child asks you to play it is like you telling your spouse you've had a hard day and need to talk." While this may not always be the case I have tried to always keep that sentence in mind, when my kids specifically ask me to play - I engage! Whatever I was doing becomes less important, though sometimes they do have to wait a few minutes for me to wrap things up. Keeping in mind that play should never ever be a duty; it should always be for fun. My children ask me once every two weeks at most to play; they understand I am busy but they also know that I will make sure to make time for them in my busy schedule. Plus, I home school the two youngest so the get LOTS of "Mommy" time during the normal school week. The older kiddos, they would honestly prefer not to play...unless it is family game night. 

{29 days until Operation Brain Drain} Our Hydrocephalus Journey

Joe and I have had numerous people contact us wanting to see his brain scans to "see" the problem he is having. Herein lies the problem; unless one knows exactly what they are looking at/for it is hard to notice any abnormalities. Thus, this post was born. :)

{Endoscopic Third Ventriculostomy} Our Hydrocephalus Journey

This post will be rather short and to the point as it has been a long day. Today we met with Dr. Thomas Forget with Mercy Medical here in St. Louis. After discussing Joe's condition with him we both feel a lot more at ease. Dr. Forget even took the time to review the CT scans with us, explaining each one to us. He believes Joe was born with aqueductal stenosis and that he brain has finally just had enough. Makes total sense! 

{Head Case} Our Hydrocephalus Journey

March 4, 2016 Joe  and I sat patiently in ER room number 9. Both of us were laughing and making jokes about what "could" be wrong with him. Little did we know, in a few short hours it would be no laughing matter. But our Journey doesn't start here.