9-28-09 - Week of Sept. 21 through Sept. 27

Another quiet week for the Troxtel's. Monday we had no nurse because her family was sick. Dad just hung out with Aidan all day. Below is a picture I took Monday when I walked out of my office to get a drink of water:



Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday were dialysis days. Pretty uneventful.

Wednesday the early on team came to the house again and worked with Aidan.

Friday night Erik and I were able to go out for our anniversary. We went out to dinner, Best Buy to look for a new dishwasher then headed over to Target. We picked up a couple of Halloween outfits for Aidan.



Saturday Aidan wore his Michigan outfit that Grandma and Grandpa Marino got for him:



Sunday we gave Aidan a bath in the tub. He was a little weary in the beginning but then realized that he was able to kick his feet under the water and had a great time.





After the bath we put Aidan in his Lions shirt that daddy got for him from the game last week. The shirt must have worked because the Lions won for the first time in over 2 years. Daddy is convinced that Aidan wearing his shirt on Sunday helped the Lions win and he stated that Aidan has to wear it every Sunday now.

The big news for the week is that Aidan crawled a little on Wednesday. We were so excited. It was just a couple of steps forward but it was a big accomplishment for him.

9-21-09 - Week of Sept. 14 through Sept. 20

Erik and I made a promise that we would start updating the blog on a weekly basis. This past week was pretty uneventful. Which is nice to say for a change. We had dialysis on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. Everything went good on all 3 days. The only problem was mom was late for the Saturday's dialysis appointment due to the Michigan game starting at noon. We will have to leave the house at 9:30am now when there is a noon football game in Ann Arbor on Saturdays. Aidan had PT on Tuesday and an Audiology appointment on Tuesday. Both appointments went well. On Wednesday Early On came to the house. Aidan decided to show off a little. They were really impressed with his progress over the summer. Mrs. Lisa was also impressed by how big Aidan is getting. Friday was fun here at the house. We had the driveway and back porch redone. They started at 7:00am breaking up the existing driveway and back porch. They finished around 5:00pm. They did a really nice job. Sunday, mommy and Aidan let daddy go to the Lions game with grandpa Marino. They lost of course, but daddy did not mind because he was watching the game from a suite. Mommy and Aidan had a great day just relaxing around the house. Mommy was hoping to get some things around the house done, but that did not happen.

The biggest news of the week is that Aidan finally has a tooth popping through. It is the top front right tooth. Mommy and daddy are so excited because for a while there we thought that Aidan would be toothless for his 2nd birthday. We even questioned the doctor once if Aidan really had any teeth. We hope everyone has a great week. We will update again next Monday.

Hugs and Kisses.... The Troxtel's

9-13-09 - Renaissance Festival

Since it was such a nice day we went to the Renaissance Festival. Aidan got to see Lords and Ladies, Knights, and all sorts of medieval events.

I can't believe that mom made us go to the Renaissance Festival on the first Sunday of football season. The things that dad and I do to make mommy happy.

You told mommy we could go to the festival instead of watching football?

Aidan cheered for this jouster and he beat all the other knights.

Just chilling at the festival under a tree.

Mommy and Aidan

9-9-09 - Back on the Transplant List

Thankfully Aidan is back on the kidney transplant list. He was off for a couple of weeks. Hopefully we will get lucky and he will get a match soon.

9-7-09 - Labor Day!

Today is Labor Day! We had a nice cook out at Grandpa and Grandma Marino’s.

9-4-09 - Arts, Beats and Eats!

Summer is almost over. We went to Arts, Beats, and Eats today in Pontiac. It was a really nice day to get out and enjoy walking around. Aidan went to his first petting zoo. He seemed intrigued by the animals. There was a pygmy goat that kept licking his little nub. It was very cute. We can’t wait until he gets a little older and really starts to get into the animals.

Pygmy goat

Donkey

8-26-09 - Leaving the hospital

I am outta here!! Luckily Aidan only had to spend a few days in the PICU. What we originally thought might be pneumonia turned out to pulmonary edema. Thankfully Aidan was able to recover quickly. Unfortunately Aidan had to be placed on hold for the kidney transplant list until he is cleared by the doctors; hopefully by Labor Day.

Pulmonary edema is fluid accumulation in the lungs. It leads to impaired gas exchange and may cause respiratory failure. Symptoms of pulmonary edema include difficulty breathing, coughing up blood, excessive sweating, anxiety, and pale skin. A classic sign of pulmonary edema is the production of pink frothy sputum. If left untreated, it can lead to coma and even death, in general, due to its main complication of hypoxia. If pulmonary edema has been developing gradually, symptoms of fluid overload may be elicited. These include nocturia (frequent urination at night), ankle edema (swelling of the legs, in general, of the "pitting" variety, wherein the skin is slow to return to normal when pressed upon), and paroxysmal nocturnal dyspnea (episodes of severe sudden breathlessness at night).

Pulmonary edema is either due to direct damage to the tissue or a result of inadequate functioning of the heart or circulatory system. It can be caused by congestive heart failure, heart attack, severe arrhythmias (tachycardia/fast heartbeat or bradycardia/slow heartbeat), pericardial effusion, or fluid overload, e.g., from kidney failure or intravenous therapy as was Aidan’s situation.

It can also be caused after upper airway obstruction, intravenous fluid overload, or neurogenic causes (seizures, head trauma, strangulation, electrocution). It can also be seen with ARDS (acute respiratory distress syndrome) or the inhalation of toxic gases, aspiration, e.g., gastric fluid or in case of drowning, multiple blood transfusions, or a severe infection.