After a relaxing weekend with Susie's parents, it's almost time for our grand opening!
My in-laws, Dee and Brad, were in town for the weekend. We hadn't seen them since December at Christmas so it was a well overdue visit. We had a great time sharing Jack with them and they seemed to love staring at him, playing with him, laughing with him, and even his newfound high pitched scream. It was nice to get some pictures and memories with someone outside of my family for a change. They both love Jack very much and it was great to watch them show it in person. I know Jack had fun with them too.
Moving on, September 5th is opening day for The Homework Club. The carpet is in, the books and supplies are in, but everything is laying on the floor as there is no furniture, decorations, curtains, etc. So, we will have our hands full for the next week trying to prepare in what looks like will be our first hurricane of the season.
If you don't hear from us or we seem like we've dropped off the face of the earth as many of you already think we have; you know where we'll be.
New Homework Club website address if your interested: www.raskinhomeworkclub.com
Monday, August 28, 2006
Tuesday, August 22, 2006
Conner--You are truly missed
A very good friend of mine gave me some very bad news yesterday. He informed me that he and his wife had lost their baby boy, Conner. He died the day after delivery due to severe complications.
I have never been in that position before but, as a parent, I know it must be among the most difficult things anyone could ever deal with.
Conner had great parents that he only got to know for a few moments. He died in his fathers arms who I know loved him very much.
Conner you may have only been alive for short time but you are truly missed. We are thinking of you and your family.
I have never been in that position before but, as a parent, I know it must be among the most difficult things anyone could ever deal with.
Conner had great parents that he only got to know for a few moments. He died in his fathers arms who I know loved him very much.
Conner you may have only been alive for short time but you are truly missed. We are thinking of you and your family.
Wednesday, August 16, 2006
Slowly but surely...
Yesterday, Jack turned 11 months. According to his mother he had a great day, all day long. He ate big people food, played, napped well and did great right up until going to bed.
I went to the grocery store for an hour, came back, and said to Susie, "Today seemed almost too good to be true". She agreed and we both sort of moved on. I thought to myself, I bet he wakes up in the middle of the night just to remind us who's boss.
Fast forward to 12am. Jack wakes up screaming. We both wake up assuming that it's 6am and time to get up. Simultaneously we look at the clocks and notice, it's midnight! Susie goes to change the diaper and I headed downstairs to make a bottle. Jack proceeds to eat the entire bottle and then it's back to the crib where he falls asleep immediately.
I then lay in the bed for the next hour and a half...then I wake again to Jack whining in the crib at about 5:30am. I head to his room thinking, need more sleepy. I throw some toys in and turn his musical bird projector on and head back to bed. I have every intention of getting back up for good in 15 minutes. Somewhere in there I fall back asleep and, get this, so does Jack!
Later, while getting ready to leave for work, Jack wakes up at 7:15! Your still in charge Jack, but we're taking over! Slowly but surely...
Birthday invites to be sent out this weekend...clear your calendars 9/16 in the afternoon...baby party in St.Cloud.
I went to the grocery store for an hour, came back, and said to Susie, "Today seemed almost too good to be true". She agreed and we both sort of moved on. I thought to myself, I bet he wakes up in the middle of the night just to remind us who's boss.
Fast forward to 12am. Jack wakes up screaming. We both wake up assuming that it's 6am and time to get up. Simultaneously we look at the clocks and notice, it's midnight! Susie goes to change the diaper and I headed downstairs to make a bottle. Jack proceeds to eat the entire bottle and then it's back to the crib where he falls asleep immediately.
I then lay in the bed for the next hour and a half...then I wake again to Jack whining in the crib at about 5:30am. I head to his room thinking, need more sleepy. I throw some toys in and turn his musical bird projector on and head back to bed. I have every intention of getting back up for good in 15 minutes. Somewhere in there I fall back asleep and, get this, so does Jack!
Later, while getting ready to leave for work, Jack wakes up at 7:15! Your still in charge Jack, but we're taking over! Slowly but surely...
Birthday invites to be sent out this weekend...clear your calendars 9/16 in the afternoon...baby party in St.Cloud.
Monday, August 14, 2006
Roadtrip and College
Jack went to college on Saturday. We stopped by my alma mater while on our way to a baby shower in the Tampa area. I told Jack not to go to a state school as they are just degree manufacturing machines but he just ignored me. He said he would go where he wants...as long as he goes to college, I guess I'm fine with that.
The trip to Tampa was experimental as it was the longest time Jack has spent in the car. He was great all day. In fact, I felt like we should do something special for him. That is until the trip back home. Baby screaming on I-4 after a day in the heat, with heaps of driving, and baby showering, is a true test in patience. Let's put it this way, the next day I felt like I was injured. My body hurt and I felt like laying in the bed all day which of course did not happen. Jack's grade for road tripping, a resounding B+...sorry Jack...would have been an A but that scream has already made me a little bit looney tunes and you just about freaked me out when it sounded like you threw up in your carseat from screaming so much. Not a good sound when you can't see your baby!
Next test, Miami. Within the next month hopefully. If you pray, we will need your prayers, if you don't we will need your money.
The trip to Tampa was experimental as it was the longest time Jack has spent in the car. He was great all day. In fact, I felt like we should do something special for him. That is until the trip back home. Baby screaming on I-4 after a day in the heat, with heaps of driving, and baby showering, is a true test in patience. Let's put it this way, the next day I felt like I was injured. My body hurt and I felt like laying in the bed all day which of course did not happen. Jack's grade for road tripping, a resounding B+...sorry Jack...would have been an A but that scream has already made me a little bit looney tunes and you just about freaked me out when it sounded like you threw up in your carseat from screaming so much. Not a good sound when you can't see your baby!
Next test, Miami. Within the next month hopefully. If you pray, we will need your prayers, if you don't we will need your money.
Thursday, August 10, 2006
No More MRI's For 6 months
Yesterday, Jack had his 3rd visit to the neurosurgeon, Dr. Trumble. Susie met me there, Jack in tow at about 3pm, as I arrived from work. Jack was very good while waiting, talking to all the kids with large or oddly shaped heads like himself. It was a meeting of the mysterious minds if you will.
By 4pm we were done with the appointment with good news. Trumble informed us that there was no change in the status of the cyst or fluid accumulation. Therefore, the plan is to follow up in 6 months to check on it again.
The appointment went well overall. Although, it was very hard to look at images, Trumble shows us the films from the MRI's each time and reviews what we are seeing, of Jack's so-called abnormal brain. Basically, when looking at it, it appears that part of the parietal hemisphere is missing. In fact, it is likely simply misshapen. It has either grown around a fluid filled sac (the cyst) or there is no cyst at all and the brain is just oddly shaped. According to Trumble, we may never know. The only way we would know is if there is a change in the way the brain looks or they actually operate and open the skull which will only happen if there are changes in the size of the cyst or shape of the brain.
So, the monster eludes us once again. It's hard to see something in your baby's head that isn't "normal". It's hard not to know what this actually holds for his future. In the end, however, it's great to know he's doing so well now. Hopefully, we never know why or what is in there.
Dr. Trumble, by the way, is the best. He always appears to have time for us despite a full waiting room. He's very attentive and sensitive to our situation, despite having done brain surgery earlier in the day that may have saved someone's life. He sends us a copy of his case note via e-mail after each visit allowing us to keep a record of what he has told us and what is in Jack's patient record. Also, each of the rooms in his practice has a theme (Batman Room, Dora The Explorer Room, Finding Nemo Waiting Room, etc.). Jack loves the themes.
Thanks Trumble, for making this more than crappy experience a great deal better than it would be and probably is for many others!
By 4pm we were done with the appointment with good news. Trumble informed us that there was no change in the status of the cyst or fluid accumulation. Therefore, the plan is to follow up in 6 months to check on it again.
The appointment went well overall. Although, it was very hard to look at images, Trumble shows us the films from the MRI's each time and reviews what we are seeing, of Jack's so-called abnormal brain. Basically, when looking at it, it appears that part of the parietal hemisphere is missing. In fact, it is likely simply misshapen. It has either grown around a fluid filled sac (the cyst) or there is no cyst at all and the brain is just oddly shaped. According to Trumble, we may never know. The only way we would know is if there is a change in the way the brain looks or they actually operate and open the skull which will only happen if there are changes in the size of the cyst or shape of the brain.
So, the monster eludes us once again. It's hard to see something in your baby's head that isn't "normal". It's hard not to know what this actually holds for his future. In the end, however, it's great to know he's doing so well now. Hopefully, we never know why or what is in there.
Dr. Trumble, by the way, is the best. He always appears to have time for us despite a full waiting room. He's very attentive and sensitive to our situation, despite having done brain surgery earlier in the day that may have saved someone's life. He sends us a copy of his case note via e-mail after each visit allowing us to keep a record of what he has told us and what is in Jack's patient record. Also, each of the rooms in his practice has a theme (Batman Room, Dora The Explorer Room, Finding Nemo Waiting Room, etc.). Jack loves the themes.
Thanks Trumble, for making this more than crappy experience a great deal better than it would be and probably is for many others!
Saturday, August 5, 2006
Peek A Boo with the Monster
So yesterday was a long day. Thursday, Susie went to work and I took the day off. Jack and I played all day, going to the park, to visit the grandparents, to the library, and we crawl raced for hours. A great day with very little fussiness and lots of smiley, laughing Jack. When Jack's happy, daddy's happy!
Then, the next morning Susie and I woke up to Iggy Pop's Lust For Life on the alarm at 5:30am. We got dressed, woke up the bug, fed him, packed him up, and headed to Orlando in separate cars, a 30 minute drive nowadays. Jack laughed, talked and sang the whole way in my car.
Then we got to the hospital where we were schedule in 5 minutes to check-in and the parking garage was full...at 7am! After splitting up, Susie and I finally found spaces and met up inside after figuring out where each of us were. It wouldn't be a medical procedure without some chaos. Then we checked in...Jack all the while smiling, laughing, and talking.
We checked in and were brought to the Radiology Unit and sat in the lobby. The room, which has grown quite familiar at this point, began to bring back a great deal of bad memories. Some of the memories directly related to Jack and the monster in his head and some of the memories related to the trauma victims and other children we had seen in the radiology unit over the past several visits. Finding Nemo, as always, was playing on the big screen tv in the lobby which will forever be synonymous with cysts and head injuries for the rest of my life.
After 15 minutes, time enough for me to develop a case of stress tummy, Jack was called back. Susie and I already had decided I would go back with him as only one of us could go and I expressed a stong desire to be the one leaving the door open for her if she chose. She readily indicated it was fine if I went.
Walking back, I remembered the first time we had come and I had gone alone with Jack into the CT Scan. I remembered how little he was. This time was different. He was aware of where we were it seemed and also appeared a bit scared, grasping my shirt. I pretended to be jovial, holding him tight, but laughing and kissing him.
We got back to the MRI room and the tech checked everything out. It was nice to know there would be no anesthesia or dye injected into the bug this time but I wasn't prepared or even aware of what would transpire. Here's what followed...I had to wear a vest for radiation protection that resembled a flack jacket seen on CNN by war correspondents, Jack had to lie on a table with his head between two braces, I was informed I could try and feed him while in the machine if I could reach, headphones were placed over Jack's ears due to the loud noises I was warned would follow and I was given earplugs. Within 5 minutes, the tech was ready to go and placed the headphones on Jacks ears. Until then Jack just looked confused. Now he was screaming. I held his arms down as he attempted to remove the straps that were holding him in place while continuing to cry. I tried the bottle but knew there was no way this was going to happen. I decided to focus on looking calm and smiling at Jack. Suddenly the table he layed on moved back into the magnetic tunnel and stopped at just the point where Jack was almost out of reach. I leaned in and held his arms wanting to climb in and comfort him. The machine started as Jack began screaming even louder. He stopped screaming when hearing the loud banging noises and stared at my face through a mirror angled above his head so he could see out. He looked at me in a diffent way than ever before, a look of fear you never want to say on your childs face, and especially when you can't get to him. I just smiled and focused on being calm for him. After 5 minutes it was over. I unstrapped him and removed the headphones before the tech even got out. Then I picked him up and fed him his bottle as he was about 45 minutes past his normal feeding time at this point. He scarfed the bottle down hungry and needing the comfort of something safe and familiar.
Jack played and laughed the rest of the day like nothing ever happened. He's my favorite little boy in the whole world and I'm so lucky, he's ours. I hate seeing him scared but I know it's much worse for us than him, at least at this young age.
Next appointment is next week on Wednesday with the neurologist, Dr. Trumble, to review the results of the MRI. This one is in the afternoon, so I'll let everyone know the results as soon as possible that evening or the next.
Then, the next morning Susie and I woke up to Iggy Pop's Lust For Life on the alarm at 5:30am. We got dressed, woke up the bug, fed him, packed him up, and headed to Orlando in separate cars, a 30 minute drive nowadays. Jack laughed, talked and sang the whole way in my car.
Then we got to the hospital where we were schedule in 5 minutes to check-in and the parking garage was full...at 7am! After splitting up, Susie and I finally found spaces and met up inside after figuring out where each of us were. It wouldn't be a medical procedure without some chaos. Then we checked in...Jack all the while smiling, laughing, and talking.
We checked in and were brought to the Radiology Unit and sat in the lobby. The room, which has grown quite familiar at this point, began to bring back a great deal of bad memories. Some of the memories directly related to Jack and the monster in his head and some of the memories related to the trauma victims and other children we had seen in the radiology unit over the past several visits. Finding Nemo, as always, was playing on the big screen tv in the lobby which will forever be synonymous with cysts and head injuries for the rest of my life.
After 15 minutes, time enough for me to develop a case of stress tummy, Jack was called back. Susie and I already had decided I would go back with him as only one of us could go and I expressed a stong desire to be the one leaving the door open for her if she chose. She readily indicated it was fine if I went.
Walking back, I remembered the first time we had come and I had gone alone with Jack into the CT Scan. I remembered how little he was. This time was different. He was aware of where we were it seemed and also appeared a bit scared, grasping my shirt. I pretended to be jovial, holding him tight, but laughing and kissing him.
We got back to the MRI room and the tech checked everything out. It was nice to know there would be no anesthesia or dye injected into the bug this time but I wasn't prepared or even aware of what would transpire. Here's what followed...I had to wear a vest for radiation protection that resembled a flack jacket seen on CNN by war correspondents, Jack had to lie on a table with his head between two braces, I was informed I could try and feed him while in the machine if I could reach, headphones were placed over Jack's ears due to the loud noises I was warned would follow and I was given earplugs. Within 5 minutes, the tech was ready to go and placed the headphones on Jacks ears. Until then Jack just looked confused. Now he was screaming. I held his arms down as he attempted to remove the straps that were holding him in place while continuing to cry. I tried the bottle but knew there was no way this was going to happen. I decided to focus on looking calm and smiling at Jack. Suddenly the table he layed on moved back into the magnetic tunnel and stopped at just the point where Jack was almost out of reach. I leaned in and held his arms wanting to climb in and comfort him. The machine started as Jack began screaming even louder. He stopped screaming when hearing the loud banging noises and stared at my face through a mirror angled above his head so he could see out. He looked at me in a diffent way than ever before, a look of fear you never want to say on your childs face, and especially when you can't get to him. I just smiled and focused on being calm for him. After 5 minutes it was over. I unstrapped him and removed the headphones before the tech even got out. Then I picked him up and fed him his bottle as he was about 45 minutes past his normal feeding time at this point. He scarfed the bottle down hungry and needing the comfort of something safe and familiar.
Jack played and laughed the rest of the day like nothing ever happened. He's my favorite little boy in the whole world and I'm so lucky, he's ours. I hate seeing him scared but I know it's much worse for us than him, at least at this young age.
Next appointment is next week on Wednesday with the neurologist, Dr. Trumble, to review the results of the MRI. This one is in the afternoon, so I'll let everyone know the results as soon as possible that evening or the next.
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