No News Is Good News

The biopsy came and went uneventfully. We traveled down on a Sunday after I taught my yoga class and we spent the night in a hotel. Monday we woke up and went to the pre-biopsy clinic where we were happy to learn that Joaquin has grown quite a bit since his last appointment (which was pretty obvious to us by looking at all his pants turn into highwaters). The doctors were very pleased with this as well as his labs. His creatinine is back down in the .3 range. Back in October/November he had jumped up to .5 and then seemed to have settled in the .4 range. Either way that's good to see. After the appointment we drove out the ocean and the boys played on the beach naked most of the day. It was so nice and relaxing.

One little bump in the road was having our biopsy time bumped back 2 1/2 hours but I figured as long as that was the only glitch, I could handle that. Thankfully it was. Joaquin was pretty hungry by that time since he wasn't allowed to eat anything after midnight the night before. So over 12 hours of no eating in a kid that has a bottomless pit of a stomach is not so pleasant.

He came out of anesthesia very well. When I was finally able to go back and see him after his procedure he was already pretty alert. No one under 18 is allowed in the post-surgery area so Chris had to stay back with Sage. Post procedure we are supposed to stay in the hospital (we were in the short-stay/day hospital) for 8 hours. He is sup

posed to lay flat the whole time and take it easy for the first 48 afterward at least but that's hard for an active little guy like him. He was able to have a popsicle shortly after he came out of anesthesia and did fine with that so he quickly moved up to solid foods, which he was happy about.

We were released a little after 10 o'clock. We had planned to stay in a hotel for the first two night and I think Chris was kind of thinking we would drive home after the biopsy but we decided after talking with the doctors that it would best to stay one more night. I agreed with the doctors when they said they would like him close by in the unlikely event that he would have any complications. We received notice from the Ronald McDonald House that they had a room available for us on the last night, Wednesday. We were happy about that since it's only $10 a night whereas the hotels they get for us at a reduced rate still run about $60.

We got up early in the morning on Wednesday and got home around noon. Chris went into work until 6 o'clock so at least he didn't miss too many days of work. We have not heard anything from the doctors yet but we kind of think (and hope) that no news is good news. The whole experience was positive. There wasn't the fear and urgency of the last biopsy. Chris and I both felt/feel that everything is good with him since he's growing so much and eating so much.

So otherwise things are great with us. We are loving our new house and living in the mountains. Donner Lake is about 5 minutes from our house so we pack up for the afternoon and head out there for a few hours to play on the beach. Joaquin's getting so much more confident in the water, wading out up to his chest. He still won't put his head under the water like he does in the bathtub but I figure that will come in time as his confidence grows. I'm not pushing him. I do take him out there and float him and show him how to swim. Sage says the water is "too cold, mama." But once I get him out there he kicks his legs and splashes.

Joaquin and Sage play so well together and run around all over the place together. They scream and fight occasionally but rarely do I have to step in. I usually just let them work it out - I only get involved if it gets violent. Joaquin is a great big brother - he's very loving with Sage. It's very neat to watch them interact with each and see Joaquin teaching little brother stuff. It gets overwhelming with the two of them but overall life is great right now.