Dylan had a review meeting with the paediatric consultant last Thursday; just the usual 3monthly one. And they're very pleased with his progress. He's growing and putting on weight at a faster rate than average and so moving up the centiles albeit very slowly! His motor development is good and his speech and language\comprehension are very good. His ability to control his blood pressure on the othe hand is rubbish. The drugs don't work. So we'll have a review in "a bit" and then probably up the dose providing that his blood pressure remains high and his kidneys still don't mind. His mood has also got worse. Yay for the terrible twos.
And on the subject of drugs not working, the Cat died last night at about 930. He was 14. Whilst the Cat may not have cared, we were pleased that he was at least warm and dry and as it turned out we were there at the end. The vet suspects that he disappeared because he'd had a stroke and got very confused. He never really recovered from that and was left struggling to breathe, drinking but not eating. As most people who have met him will probably atest, he was a dribbling psychopathic pain in the proverbial and scourge of dogs and small rodents everywhere. Although very patient with children - and brilliant with Dylan - he would often swipe at the grown-ups and the Mother will relate the story of the time he had clamped his claws so firmly into her wrist that she could pick him up. Somerset calmed him down a lot. He will be sorely missed. Although I can now at least leave butter on the side without fear of it getting eaten...
Dylan and the Cat playing
Monday - 11Aug14 Update
Well, within 30minutes of the last post being published the Cat came home looking rather the worse for wear. Clearly he's been out on the town for three days given how wobbly on his feet he is (and the fact he was about to go to sleep in a bush and is now drinking his weight in water). But he's home.
Monday - 11Aug14
Also the bat... (who hung onto the curtains and wailed).
Ho hum. Dylan has transformed into a screechy monster whenever it looks like the something might not be going his way. Especially if it might be bedtime. He's also decided that rather than let Daddy get a lie-in on weekdays he needs to be with the sparrows (and before the Mother) which is not going down very well. Hopefully it's just a phase.... But most of the time things are progressing as only the can with a two and a half year old who has discovered the joys of jumping, climbing and bouncing onto things. He also amuses crowds by yelling "Daddy is a numpty" (yeh, thanks for that Godmother!) and "Silly Daddy". I might have to remove some of his bicycles - he almost has as many as I do and that simply wouldn't do.
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| "roar!" - Dylan enjoyed the beer festival.... |
In other news the Cat decided to go on holiday on Friday without due notice and without taking his (twice daily) medication. He too has a heart and lung condition. This is causing some angst and probably some very strange looks as we walk around the neighbourhood shouting "Fugly" at random intervals occasionally shaking a box of biscuits.
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| Have you seen this Cat? |
Monday - 04Aug14
Zagazoo is a true story. Especially the bit about the dragon.
Thursday - 31Jul14
So last Friday we fought the holiday traffic North to go to see the cardiologist on Friday (25th). Note to self - appointments in Bristol on a Friday afternoon in the Summer holidays are a bad plan especially in 28 degree heat in a car without aircon, the M5 is not the place to be. Anyway, Dylan had been pre-primed with what was going to happen with practice sessions on bunny, but what we had failed to mention is that he might also get weighed (11.4kg) and his height measured: cue much screaming. He was perfectly fine throughout his ECG and his echo (cardiogram) which he wriggled through last year. However it appears that the drugs don't work (in reducing his blood pressure) so the dose is being increased to three times a day from twice. We will need to make sure his kidneys aren't affected by the increased dose in a couple of weeks and continue to monitor his blood pressure. We have been loaned a blood pressure monitor from Taunton hospital which he's very good with but the cuff is the same size as his upper arm so getting a sensible reading out of it is a tad tricky. Thankfully Dylan tolerates it very well and doesn't even need the chocolate bribery. So we need to control the blood pressure because otherwise there is the danger of damaging the internal organs (kidneys, heart etc.). The heart is doing more work because he only he has one and a half lungs. The cardiologist is reasonably happy with what's going on despite the drugs not working. There is the continued issue of trying to get him sufficiently big (and old) so that Dylan can have a stent rather than open heart surgery and there is also something (else) funky going on that will require an MRI scan to check again in a few years time. So the end message is that everything is actually ok, we just need to get the blood pressure to drop and there is plenty of scope with his current levels of medication to increase it. Different drugs can also be used.
And just to say the M5 is horrible. Can someone please find a more efficient way to get between Bristol and Taunton? Either that or persuade people that the South-west is a rubbish place to visit and they should all stay home!
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| Dylan with somewhat predictable timing manages to fall asleep just in time for the peleton to pass (during the tour in Yorkshire at the start of the month) |
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