Blogging the daily journal of Evan Michael Dorris, a southern Arizona Steeler (and Florida Gator) boy, born at 30 weeks 6 days on July 14, 2006. Weighing in at 3.5 pounds and 16.25 inches long.
Last Saturday, Evan and I (along with some co-workers) participated in the Bisbee 1000. What is it you ask? According to the website link:
"The Bisbee1000 event allows you to use any combination of walking, running and resting to traverse nine sets of steps and numerous back-roads at a mile-high altitude. While conquering over 1,000 steps you will be serenaded by musicians playing at strategic points along the route. Participants can compete aggressively for overall and age group prizes; enjoy a challenging fitness walk or family stroll, or any combination thereof."
So, I walked/climbed the entire route with Evan in the Baby Bjorn front carrier. We finished in around 1 hour 45 minutes. He was an absolute doll the entire morning. He stayed awake throughout the first 2/3 of the route, but zonked out on the last leg. Amazing he could fall asleep with all the bouncing around. Maybe next year we run it??!! Ummm, don't think so!
Our local newspaper website has a nice 5 minute video posted: www.svherald.com Look down the left side under "Multimedia".
We took Evan to see his local pediatrician for 2 reasons. The first was to get this bump on his foot looked at. We call it his "barnicle" since it sort of looks like one. The doc says it's probably a wart and the best way to heal it is to use (of all things)...duct tape. There's something with the fibers in the duct tape that helps to remove it. He says it will take up to 6 months (yikes)!
The second reason was a follow-up with what Evan's pulmunologist said about his lack of weight gain. We saw Dr. Smith instead of Dr. Ettinger since Dr. Smith is a bit more in tune with modern medicine. Not that Dr. E is a bad guy, but some of the advice he's given us in the past has been a bit antiquated. Dr. Smith did give us the dreaded diagnosis I had anticipated "Failure To Thrive" or FTT. You can read more by clicking that link. Basically, since Evan has not shown significant weight gain, he is classified as FTT.
Where we go from here is to get some lab work done on him to see if there is a metabolic reason. He's never been a big eater, but for the past month or so, we've been giving him PediaSure in his bottle instead of whole milk. PediaSure is packed with calories, so any normal kid would be porking out by drinking it all the time like Evan has been. On the doctor's scale, Evan weighed 16 pounds 5 oz and was 27 inches long...so that's a weight gain of like 0 over the past few months.
We also have to keep a detailed food log over the next month. We have a follow-up with the doctor in about 4 weeks. At that time, we'll go over the log and lab results to see what the next step is. He'll also get his 15-month shots (yuck) at that check-up. His Synagis shots are also on the horizon. Poor guy with all the shots!!
On a happier note...here is a vid of Evan from tonight. This is the first time he's used his walker with no assistance!
No panicking after reading the headline...all is fine! I am sure this will not be the first and last trip to the ER. For the past few days, Evan's had a fever that has come and gone. His daycare called on Wednesday to say his fever was too high for him to stay, so T picked him up. T was worried since his breathing was a bit labored, so he called Evan's pediatrician. T was told there was no doctor for the rest of the week or weekend, so it was best to take him to the ER. GREAT, that will be a quick visit!
So, T took him to the ER and was diagnosed with a mild case of pneumonia. He had a chest x-ray that showed a bit of cloudiness in the upper part of his lung. Evan has to take a once a day antibiotic for a few days, but he'll be fine. All in all, it was probably better that he went to the ER, since the pediatrician tends to downplay things. He may have had this lingering for a while, so we'll be glad to get it all cleared up!
Let's just say this past weekend never happened! First it started with the Gators losing to Auburn; THEN the Steelers lose to the Arizona Cardinals!
I'll post pics later of the Steeler game (I'm currently in VA on a business trip). Evan was such a good trooper through the game (after he had his first quarter purge of the entire contents of his stomach on me). Luckily I had extra clothes for the both of us. I think the noise got to him and he just had to hurl big time.
