Grandma and Grandpa are here visiting to celebrate my birthday. First, we went to Powell’s book store where I got a book about, duh, airplanes. After going out to lunch and driving the hills of Portland, we came home and I got birthday celebration #2! Grandma and Grandpa got me a cool car puzzle and my very own camera. I was taking pictures all over the place!
My little Portland suburb covered in snow. Ain’t it pretty?
BUT I HAD PLACES TO GO! It was about to be my birthday and I was scheduled to get on an airplane (an airplane!!!) to see Nana and Papa!
Long story short: the roads were insane, we abandoned our car, waited for an Uber driver with chains on his tires, sat in a standstill on the freeway for an eternity, just missed our flight, and finally booked ourselves on a flight scheduled to leave 4 hours later which was delayed an additional 2 1/2 hours. So there was a lot of waiting. (And, by the way, I was the awesomest kid ever and Mommy and Daddy thanked their lucky stars that I am an airplane and airport fanatic and determined to make this trip happen.)
We finally took off at 11:20pm and I got to celebrate the stroke of midnight of my birthday, quite fittingly, on Alaska Airlines. Then I finally fell asleep. And thanks to Nana and Papa for picking us up at 1:10am and then hanging out with me when I asked for “dinner” at 2am.
Yesterday, I saw my kidney doctor and…who cares about that…I went on the tram again!
(My kidneys are fine right now. I’ll get another ultrasound in a few weeks.)
Yesterday, I went back to Doernbecher for a Modified Barium Swallow study. I had to eat and drink weird white stuff that shows up on an x-ray. After a slow start, I did it! Yay, me! (Oh, and there was nothing wrong. I swallow great. I just don’t like food that isn’t goat cheese or chocolate. Is that so hard to understand???)
After the swallow study was done, but before the dreaded NG tube was replaced, we went on the tram again!
Tram!!! 2 from the Dexter Video Collection.
Me, Mommy, and Daddy went to my favorite place on earth, the Portland International Airport, to watch airplanes take off and land. It was my favorite day in quite a while!
Alaska! from the Dexter Video Collection.
Yesterday, I went back to Doernbecher Children’s Hospital to get my nephrostomy tubes removed. I spent some time traveling through this hall while I was in the hospital, but this was my first time walking it on my own two feet. Victory lap!
But first…we rode on the Portland Aerial Tram again!!!
Tram!!! from the Dexter Video Collection.
Yesterday was my follow-up appointment with the urology department at Doernbecher’s. I’m an old veteran at this ultrasound stuff now. It showed that my kidney stones passed on their own and I can have my nephrostomy tubes removed!
And afterward, I got to ride on the Portland Aerial Tram, which leaves from the hospital. And they gave me a sticker!
(By the way, yes, I’m wearing the same two shirts every day. With my NG tube going through my nose, I don’t like it when Mommy or Daddy puts a shirt over my head. So I alternate between my two button-downs. You’ll be seeing a lot of these shirts.)
After days of not eating, not drinking enough, sleeping around the clock, complaining about chest and stomach pains, and – gasp! – not caring about airplanes, I found myself in the emergency room of Doernbecher Children’s Hospital. I can’t say it was the most fun 6 hours of my life. But I’m a trooper and the toughest kid around.
Yesterday was my big developmental evaluation at the Doernbecher Children’s Hospital. I’ve been on the waiting list for months and the day was finally here! And it was…so boring. Four hours of questions and “games” with a developmental pediatrician and speech language pathologist. And there was almost no talk of airplanes!
I was told I get to come back for another round in a few weeks with an occupational therapist and psychologist. Sounds like a party. 😐
