Andy's Birthday

Today is Andy's Birthday! On Sunday, we tried to surprise him when we went with his parents and our friends, Steph & Phil, to a restaurant (Papa Docks) that overlooks the marina at Canyon Lake. It remained a surprise until we got to the restaurant and the hostess couldn't find our reservations so she said, "Oh, the birthday party?" Then Andy knew but that was the first time he suspected. We enjoyed lunch and desert--Steph and Phil brought delicious white chocolate cake from our favorite bakery! We then all spent some time at Canyon Lake but it was unseasonably cold and windy. Still, it was great to celebrate Andy's birthday in one of his favorite places--near the water!

Since today is officially his birthday, we're still celebrating:) Andy took off work today and he decided he wanted to go to the zoo. Below are a few pictures.

Nanna and Bampa Huntoon Visit

Andy's parents were here for a week to help with Bryce's medical test and to enjoy the nice San Antonio weather. Bryce had a wonderful time with his Nanna and Bampa who took him on walks, played and read to him, and held one hand while he walked. We thought maybe he would take his first steps this week but he's just not quite ready. Of course, Andy and I enjoyed the break, getting out for dinner a few times together. Brody even enjoyed the visit since he multiple walks daily and tons of attention (especially from Bampa who treats him like his own dog!).

Summer Has Arrived

As you can tell from the picture below, summer has arrived in San Antonio! Bryce and Brody are enjoying the pool. . .together!

Test Results of Probe

(Background note: During the test, every time we thought Bryce was in pain, we had to hit a button that recorded our observations.)

Dr. Noel called Andy today and gave him the test results of the probe. First thing he said to Andy was "Bryce just keeps getting more interesting as we go. It wasn't what any of us thought it was."

Dr. Noel said that the first thing he looked at was the PH levels. It showed that the acid is adequately suppressed by medicine. Next thing he looked at was reflux events. He found that the reflux events were all within normal limits. Also, there was no correlation between when we hit the pain button and reflux events. Bottom line: acid and/or reflux is NOT what is bothering Bryce.

Here's the interesting part: Dr. Noel said there is a 80% correlation between when we hit the pain button and swallowing events. For some reason, Bryce is feeling pain whenever he swallows. Dr. Noel said he is going to consult with his colleagues and get back to us on what to do next.

It's interesting that swallowing is causing Bryce pain. When Bryce was young, I certainly had a lot of problems with him nursing which involves a lot of swallowing action. Now, he drinks pretty well from his bottle but often needs to be distracted to drink. Sometimes, we can ONLY get him to drink with the TV on (often Seseme Street).

As a parent, I'm glad we have some definitive data that tells us Bryce is really in pain when we think he is uncomfortable. Now, if only we could fix it and allow him to feel better. I have a feeling that we may still be at the beginning of this journey though. In the mean time, I'm thankful that Bryce continues to grow and develop normally and has a happy soul!

Reflux Test Done

We're happy to report that Dr. Noel removed the probe from Bryce this afternoon! The worst part was actually taking the tape off that was holding the probe in place on his face and around his ear. Bryce barely noticed when the probe was pulled out.

Last night was a long night trying to keep Bryce from rolling around and pulling the probe out. From 230 to 430 AM, he was pretty uncomfortable, crying off and on most of the time. Nanna Huntoon was awesome to be awake with me, providing physical and emotional support.

We're all tired and recovering from the procedure. We did have some fun tonight by going out to dinner and getting new books at Borders! We'll hopefully have some test results by the end of the week.

Gastric Reflux Test

We went this morning to Bryce’s gasterontologist to have a probe inserted into Bryce’s nose that goes into his esophagus and stomach. We know that something is still making Bryce uncomfortable but don’t know if it’s the eosinophils (allergy cells) in his stomach, reflux or something else entirely. The probe stays in until tomorrow afternoon, measuring liquid that goes down and comes back up.
Of course, inserting the tube didn’t make for a fun morning. Bryce did receive a little anasethia that made him punchy (he was so cute laughing and smiling at everyone!). However, most of it wore off by the time we did the insertion because Dr. Noel had trouble calibrating the machine (frustrating)! Then they taped the tube behind his ear and went to get an x-ray to ensure it was properly placed. Luckily, it was so we thought we were done and on our way home.

However, the tape was really bothering Bryce and before we even got to the car, he pulled the tube completely out! So, back into the hospital we went to have Dr. Noel reinsert it. Bryce was definitely not happy by this point. Thankfully, he finally fell asleep on the way home and is dealing pretty well with the wires now. We'll see how tonight goes!

Thankfully, we have lots of help during this test since it really does take two people to be with Bryce. Andy is taking off work. Our babysitter, Mandi, is helping (see picture below). In addition, Nanna and Bampa Huntoon flew in last night from Mentor, Ohio.

Explanation
The Gastric Reflux Test (Multichannel Intraluminal Impedance Test) is performed to detect and record the amount of stomach contents coming back up into the esophagus when a child cries, arches, coughs, gags, vomits, has chest pain, etc. It also determines if the contents are acidic or not, how long they stay in the esophagus as well as how often this occurs. A thin light wire with an acid sensor as well as six other sensors on it is inserted through the nose into the lower part of the esophagus. The procedure could be uncomfortable upon insertion but is generally painless. An Impedance probe (thin wire with sensors) could be inserted while the child is awake or under anesthesia if combined with another procedure.

Reserve Weekend

This past weekend, I had Reserve duty. Luckily, it's at Lackland AFB here in San Antonio so I'm gone just a full day both Saturday and Sunday. But it does mean that Andy gets to be with Bryce all day, both days! The weekends are always a little stressful coming up to them since Andy and I do complete role reversals. However, they almost always end up being a great bonding time for Andy and Bryce.

On Saturday, Andy and Bryce met up with friends at the Fiesta Arts Festival downtown San Antonio. Bryce loved being outside, seeing all the people and kids. Andy said he was mesmerized by a guitar player! They had such a great day that we even went to get barbecue that night.

Sunday was a different story. As Andy said, Bryce was "Dennis the Menace" on Sunday. It started in the morning when Andy stopped into work with Bryce. I guess Bryce got a closed 7-Up can, threw it and it exploded on the carpetted floor. Back home, Bryce got a matchbox car that Andy hates having in the house due to its small size but I had bought it. Apparently Bryce got a piece of plastic off of it and swallowed it. Andy called me at the Reserves pretty upset -- I found some nurses to ask what we should do and they said as long as it's not in his airway, it should pass through him and he didn't need to go to the ER. The day did get better for them. ..they went to the park and Bryce had a great time playing.

Overall, Bryce didn't seem to miss me at all and was definitely loving on his daddy last night:)

Andy's Job

As most of you know, Andy has been selected to be a squadron commander and is supposed to deploy to Kuwait for a year starting this summer. It is a great honor to be selected as a commander and it's great for his career. Personally, it just plain sucks for all of us to have him gone for a year. But we've been making plans for it and finally decided to stay in San Antonio for the year he is gone.

Then, of course, things change or could change?! I'll try to explain . . .

The Air Force has decided to reorganize how the squadrons are set up, especially between operations (mostly pilots) and maintenance (Andy). The fall out is that Andy's squadron may disappear which means his command job might go away. Of course, that is disappointing for Andy but personally, it's great for the family.

IF his squadron goes away, Andy will probably stay here at Randolph AFB. Luckily, we've already decided not to move and stay in the house, regardless of where Andy ends up for the year:)

I'll try to put updates on the blog when I can. Truthfully, things change everyday with Andy's job. Today, he's going to Kuwait. Tomorrow, he's staying here. Who knows how things will end up!

Charlottesville Visit

Last week, Bryce and I went to Charlottesville, VA to visit my godparents, Laura and Hasty. Andy had a really busy week at work with a bunch of colonels in town so Bryce and I left town! We had a great time in Charlottesville where we got to experience some nice spring weather. Of course, we loved spending time with Laura and Hasty but we had a special visitor too! My sister, Renee, flew from Long Island to spend part of the week with us in VA. It was great to reconnect with Renee, show her Charlottesville and let Bryce spend time with his aunt who is fabulous with kids!

Here are a few pictures from the trip.

New Blog

I decided to set up a new blog since one of my best friends, Jenny, has a great blog about her daughter Alison. I love reading the updates and seeing the pictures! So, I thought it might be fun if our friends and family could read about Bryce! Thanks Jenny for helping me set it up!!