Eileen has a propensity for getting her ears clogged, leading to hearing loss and lots of loud talking. Knowing Robin had an appointment in the afternoon, I thought why not do a lunchtime appointment in downtown Seattle to get Eileen's ears sucked out and throw in a piano lesson in the morning just for fun.
It all started out so well. Linus had a great piano lesson. Eileen and Robin were little angels during the lesson. We brought Robin home and left him with Grandma and headed to Capitol Hill. We were a little early so with the extra time we had a snack at Cupcake Royale. Driving to the doctor appointment my tire sensor came on. Given the extreme heat I thought maybe that was messing with tire pressure. In the parking garage I checked all the tires and they seemed fine. Eileen was very brave and the appointment was super quick. We decided to treat ourselves to a fancy (meaning not McDonalds) lunch. After sampling the menu at the Wandering Goose, we had some extra time so we decided to take the scenic route. Suddenly, I felt bumping.
I pulled the car over and to my dismay found a flat tire. I quickly called AAA and was grateful to see that my membership did not expire until tomorrow. That's when things started getting complicated. It was hot, and I mean stupid hot. There was no water. My cell phone battery was low. The tow company said an hour, but it took 1.5 hr. They can only legally have one kid in the tow truck, so I tried to problem solve. Grandma was out (didn't have a car). Lyft came but the tow was late and it was not fair to ask him to wait. I called Dave and had him leave work to be ready if needed to take Robin to the doctor. I decided to try my sister, Sally. She was at work, but was planning to go to physical therapy. She agreed to come to our rescue, but had to finish up at work. And then because I parked on a really hard to find street and slightly messed up the address, she got lost. The tow guy was super nice and stayed with the kids and me. He talked to Sally on the phone, figured out where she was, and got her headed in the right direction. By this point, Dave didn't feel comfortable taking Robin to his appointment and offered to come get us. He got to me just after Sally and we made it to the appointment with minutes to spare. After the appointment, we became the owners of 4 new tires (stupid AWD). Linus and Eileen were really great during all of this. I was surprised by how well they handled the whole ordeal.
And now for Robin. We have been working hard to get to the bottom of Robin's health issues. Last week he had a growth hormone stimulation test. He was very brave. I was not. They had a hard time finding a vein which caused me to get woozy and almost faint. I ended up spending a few minutes with my head in the toilet, feeling guilty because my baby needed me. The staff at Children's was great. There is a person whose job it is to distract kids when they get IVs. She earned her pay. Robin didn't cry when the IV went in he was so engaged. He had to get a shot in his stomach and then the nurse came in every thirty minutes to draw blood. Robin's veins were being tempermental so he first got a warmer a few minutes before each blood draw. He cried every time they used the tourniquet. The whole thing messed with his blood sugar so he became totally lethargic and slept for the bulk of the time.
Of course Robin never makes anything easy. In the last month, he had an unexpected growth spurt. He is still short, but he jumped off the track he has been on for the last year and a half. The good news is that we don't have to rush into starting him on an 18 year course of growth hormones. We are going to do a second stimulation test in the near future and then an MRI if indicated. It was really nice to have Dave there with me so he could hear everything I was.
It was a long long long day. I finished it with a glass of wine and a feeling of relief to know that Robin is doing great and there is a plan in place.
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