Monday, March 29, 2010

Little Gym

We have been going to Little Gym since November and Landon absolutely loves it. I love it to because it gets us out of the hosue for awhile, as well as giving him social interactions with other kids his age. Since he is not in day care, I feel much better that he is able to interact and play with kids his age. So here are some pictures from our Little Gym class!




Landon's Favorite Thing at Little Gym is the parachute. He knows where they keep it and always try to coerce them into getting it out...sometimes it works!



Playing with the balls is so much fun. Landon enjoys picking them up and then throwing them or kicking them!



Practicing our bar skills!



Walking on the beam with Mr. Dave.



The bars have become our favorite place recently.



Taking a breather inside the donut mat.



Playing with Mr. Dave on the big red mat!



Bubbles are the best way to end our class!

Saturday, March 13, 2010

Little Model

I took this picture of Landon the other day after he got his hair cut. We were watching daddy get his haircut, and Landon posed like this leaning on the couch. Scott and I both thought he looked like he was doing a photo spread for GQ!

Saturday, March 6, 2010

Geneticist's Appointment

Landon and I made the Treck up to Phoenix on Tuesday for our Geneticists Appointment. This was only a check-up, and it went really well. I talked to them about his fat intake, cooking oils, development, SSI, his diet, how he's doing, protocol for when he is sick, and medical ID bracelets. I also picked their brain about knowledge of his particular gene mutation, and what made him "mild" and non-cardiac as well as if we have future children what their form of the disorder would be. Unfortunately we did have to get blood work done, the worst part of it all. Hopefully we will get the results back on Monday.

The Nutritionist and I went over his diet, and they said we are doing great with it! Which I am very excited about. They uped his fat intake to 20g a day, so that means we can be more liberal on what we give him...which I am super happy about! We also decided that using Walnut Oil to cook with is the best bet right now. They would prefer MCT Oil, but since it is $50 a bottle, Walnut Oil works great! We also talked about introducing fish into his diet. We haven't actually done this yet, and they were nice enough to send me a chart of the different types of seafood and their fat and calories. So we can just look it up before buying it and know which ones Landon can have all the time, and which ones should be more on a limited basis. I feel great about his diet now, and knowing that we are doing things right! I also asked them about MCT butter (or is it margarine..I forget right now), that my friend Fie told me about! Apparently a pharmaceutical company in Germany makes it and sells it. You have to have a prescription to get it, so they are going to look into it and let me know about it. I hope we cna get some, it would make cooking and other stuff much easier...especially baking.

The Geneticist came after the Nutritionist and checked Landon over. He said he looked great, and was doing great! They want to do an Echo Cardiogram on his heart when we go back in May, just to make sure that they aren't missing anything. They are positive it is fine, they just want to reassure themselves, and us I think.

I talked in great deal to the Geneticist about further children and the New Born screening. I learned a lot of useful and interesting information. If we do have another child that is affected with the disorder, they will ne no worse than Landon. So, that makes us feel a lot better about having more children. They will still only have a 1:4 chance of having the disorder, but since it is the same gene mutation, it will not be any worse than Landon's type of the disorder!

The Geneticist and the Nutritionist is also putting a letter together for us so we can try and apply for SSI. Hopefully Landon can get it, it would help us a lot with his medical expenses and formula. SSI is now finally accepting metabolic conditions for the program..so here is to hoping we can get accepted.

We also decided that in the near future it would probably be a good idea to get Landon a Medical ID Bracelet. We aren't sure what kind yet, but just a simple one that he only has to wear if he is away from us. That way if something were to happen, they would know about his disorder and what to do until he could get to a facility with doctors who know him, or about his disorder.

So, we are now waiting for blood work, and to hear when and where they want us to do the Echo. Our pedi would like it to be done down here with an amazing Pedi Cardioligist that he knows. I will let them iron all that out and tell me when and where to have it done!

Monday, March 1, 2010

Vote For Landon!

Landon has been chosen as a finalist for the picture of the week for Parent's Magazine!!! This is the first step in making it to the cover of their magazine! If he wins this round then we have a great chance of making it to New York for a Photo shoot, and then the possibility of being on the cover, and he could win $25,000!!! So, please please please please please go and vote for him! Here is the link, and that you in advance!

http://photos.parents.com/category/vote/photo/148377

Wednesday, February 24, 2010

Couch to 5K

I have added the Couch to 5K app to my iPhone, and I will be starting it tomorrow. I would start tonight, but Landon has a Little Gym make-up class, so that is plenty of exercise for one day! I believe this could work for me, and I am actually excited to start it. Landon needs to take swimming lessons soon, and that means I will have to sport a swim suit...which could be a very scary sight right about now. So, I figured if I post this, then it will keep me accountable, and I can post my updates and how I am doing. That way there are lots of people that I am accountable too not just myself.  WIsh me luck!

Tuesday, February 16, 2010

Cookbook

I am putting together a cookbook of low fat and non fat recipes for families like ours with Fatty Acid Oxidation Disorders, and really anyone who wants to follow a heart healthy, low in fat diet. The goal of the cookbook is to help raise awareness for these disorders, and also to help families like ours off set the cost of the medical expenses associated with the disorder. Things such as formula (that insurance won't cover), medicine, testing, doctors appointments, hospital stays, etc.

So, if anyone has any low fat or non-fat recipes that they would like to share...credit will be given at the bottom of each recipe. Please leave me a comment that you have a recipe you want to share, and I would love to get in touch with you and share your recipe in the book. If you have any questions please feel free to ask too, I would love to answer your questions about foods or the disorder in general. Also, if you look back in the blog there is a list of foods that are allowed and can be eaten regularly, and some that are to be eaten sparingly if you need some sort of guidelines...thanks in advance and I hope to get the cook book going soon!

Thursday, February 11, 2010

Same Page

After a small *incident* we now have all of Landon's medical "personel" on the same page, Thank God. We made a trip to the ER on Sunday after Landon ran a 102.5-103 degree fever for a day. To make a long story short we called our Pediatrician's on call service and explained to the lady that answers the phone and then again to the nurse that called us back that Landon had a specific metabolic genetic disorder and we needed to talk to our Pediatician. Well, they told us no! So I called the Geneticist on call and they had us go to the ER to have him looked at, because as I learned your metabolic rate speeds up to at least double when you have a fever...not good for us, unless he is eating twice what he normally does, he happened to only be eating half. So, we spend 4 hours in the waiting room and see the doctor. They find no signs of infection, and Landon decide to feast while in the waiting room...so they sent us home! Great!

Well, we almost make it home and the Geneticist calls my cell phone asking if we had been seen yet. I told her yes, and they released us and we were almost home. Well, apparently they never called them even though we gave them the protocol letter and their phone number. So, she sends us back to the ER for blood work and claiming he will be admitted. So, we get back go through the hell that is a blood draw on a 1 year old. His blood work all comes back normal except for 2 liver enzymes...ugh. Well, apparently they weren't worried about those, so they let us go home especially since his glucose was 78 and his bicarb levels were 27! Both great numbers.

We follow up with our Pedi on Monday, and needless to say he is pissed that the on call service wouldn't let us talk to him or the doctor on call...and that the nurse we talked to put nothiong in her report about Landon's disorder after we told her about. So, being the amazing doctor that he is he set up a meeting with all on call dr's within the service and educated everyone of them on Landon and his disorder and the protocol. He called the Geneticist and made sure that we are all on the same page as what to do when Landon gets sick at night or over the weekend. So, I feel much better...am I disappointed that it took something like this to get everyone on the same page? yes, but relieved that we finally know what to do.

So here it is:

If Landon is vomiting...call
If Landon has diarhea and is refusing food and drink...call
If Landon's glucose level goes below 65...call (I have a glucose meter, that the nurse at the Pedi's ofice was so nice to teach me how to use!)
If Landon has a fever of 102 or higher...call
If Landon has a 101 degree fever and is lethargic...call
If Landon is lethargic and refusing food or fluids...call

Now, not in every instance will he be admitted to the hospital. This protocol goes for when office hours are available too. They want to look at him and see what is going on and make a determination from there. We may just have blood work, and be released like the other night...it just depends.

I am happy to report that Landon is doing great now! Must have been a virus. He had a great time at Little Gym today, and was invited to his first birthday party!