- bob
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
Monday, November 15, 2010
It's Caillou!
One of the things that has captured Jonathan's attention lately is Sprout - a national cable TV channel geared specifically for toddlers and preschoolers. They show a variety of programming that aims to teach kids things like sharing, friendship, basics (such as counting, the alphabet), etc. They show quite a spectrum of shows - some very familiar (Thomas The Tank Engine, Sesame Street), others more obscure (at least to American audiences). One program that has caught Jonathan's attention in particular is Caillou.
Based on the name/spelling and style of animation (reminiscent of TinTin), I assumed it was French and then subsequently translated to English. Some poking around on their website revealed it was in fact of French-Canadian origin. More poking around revealed that they have a live Caillou stage show that travels across Canada and one of the tour stops was Vancouver. Figuring Jonathan would really enjoy it, we got tickets and went up. The show was just this last weekend.
The show as about what I expected. It was an hour (with a 15 minute intermission - most likely for the benefit of the audience/kids rather than the performers) and featured actors dressed in costumes made to look exactly like the characters with backdrops made to look exactly like the cartoon. The plot basically revolved around Caillou (a 4 year old) who entered a poem in a contest and won. The prize was to meet his hockey hero at the Winter-fest. The show encouraged the children to get up and get into the aisles and dance and participate.
Jonathan had a great time and, of course, joined in the fun, dancing and jumping around in the aisle. We had the fortune to have aisle seats (well, the row behind us was empty so we relocated to the aisle seats behind us). Every time Caillou disappeared off stage, Jonathan would always ask me, "Where's Caillou?".
At the end of the show, apparently there were some children that were literally and utterly inconsolable as the show was over and they couldn't see more of their friend Caillou.
(L to R: Rosie, Caillou, Mommy, and Leo)
Jonathan wearing his new t-shirt at the show.
- bob
Based on the name/spelling and style of animation (reminiscent of TinTin), I assumed it was French and then subsequently translated to English. Some poking around on their website revealed it was in fact of French-Canadian origin. More poking around revealed that they have a live Caillou stage show that travels across Canada and one of the tour stops was Vancouver. Figuring Jonathan would really enjoy it, we got tickets and went up. The show was just this last weekend.
The show as about what I expected. It was an hour (with a 15 minute intermission - most likely for the benefit of the audience/kids rather than the performers) and featured actors dressed in costumes made to look exactly like the characters with backdrops made to look exactly like the cartoon. The plot basically revolved around Caillou (a 4 year old) who entered a poem in a contest and won. The prize was to meet his hockey hero at the Winter-fest. The show encouraged the children to get up and get into the aisles and dance and participate.
Jonathan had a great time and, of course, joined in the fun, dancing and jumping around in the aisle. We had the fortune to have aisle seats (well, the row behind us was empty so we relocated to the aisle seats behind us). Every time Caillou disappeared off stage, Jonathan would always ask me, "Where's Caillou?".
At the end of the show, apparently there were some children that were literally and utterly inconsolable as the show was over and they couldn't see more of their friend Caillou.
(L to R: Rosie, Caillou, Mommy, and Leo)
Jonathan wearing his new t-shirt at the show. - bob
Thursday, November 4, 2010
Sleep Study Results
Ethan's primary pediatrician at Children's once remarked that Ethan is "full of surprises". Case in point: the sleep study. Given that Ethan has mandibular hypoplasia (shortened jaw) and therefore a crowded/tight airway, coupled with his laryngomalacia (basically soft floppy tissue in the larynx), he fully expected to see something in the sleep study results indicating sleep apnea or something similar.
True to form, Ethan pulled a fast one on everyone: his sleep study was perfectly fine! There was nothing abnormal in the readings at all! This actually surprised the doctor quite a bit. In his experience, children that are sent from Craniofacial to have a sleep study almost always have sleep apnea. The fact that Ethan has no signs of it is extremely encouraging.
He believes that Ethan's noisy breathing is most likely due to the laryngomalacia almost exclusively. We have talked to his otolaryngologist about this before and her opinion was that it was not enough of an issue to do anything about. Should it become a larger issue, she said it was basically an in-clinic procedure to simply laser the excess tissue away.
The doctor did note that since he has all these anatomical issues, he will be more prone to developing sleep apnea in the future. On the other hand, since he will continue to grow, it is also possible that as he gets bigger, his airway issues will also improve. So the overall odds of him developing sleep apnea are pretty much 50/50. This is just something we will need to watch for over time (increased snoring, less restful sleep, etc).
The doctor said he would talk with his primary Craniofacial pediatrician about the results. Since the news was entirely good, we expect that today was Ethan's last Children's appointment until the summer of 2011 (at which point he will have a regular Craniofacial followup and a regular eye exam by ophthalmology). At very most, we may have a follow up with his Craniofacial pediatrician but I doubt it since there are no issues to be discussed.
- bob
True to form, Ethan pulled a fast one on everyone: his sleep study was perfectly fine! There was nothing abnormal in the readings at all! This actually surprised the doctor quite a bit. In his experience, children that are sent from Craniofacial to have a sleep study almost always have sleep apnea. The fact that Ethan has no signs of it is extremely encouraging.
He believes that Ethan's noisy breathing is most likely due to the laryngomalacia almost exclusively. We have talked to his otolaryngologist about this before and her opinion was that it was not enough of an issue to do anything about. Should it become a larger issue, she said it was basically an in-clinic procedure to simply laser the excess tissue away.
The doctor did note that since he has all these anatomical issues, he will be more prone to developing sleep apnea in the future. On the other hand, since he will continue to grow, it is also possible that as he gets bigger, his airway issues will also improve. So the overall odds of him developing sleep apnea are pretty much 50/50. This is just something we will need to watch for over time (increased snoring, less restful sleep, etc).
The doctor said he would talk with his primary Craniofacial pediatrician about the results. Since the news was entirely good, we expect that today was Ethan's last Children's appointment until the summer of 2011 (at which point he will have a regular Craniofacial followup and a regular eye exam by ophthalmology). At very most, we may have a follow up with his Craniofacial pediatrician but I doubt it since there are no issues to be discussed.
- bob
Tuesday, November 2, 2010
Ophthalmology Post-Op Visit
Ethan had his Ophthalmology post-op visit today. The doctor was very pleased with how his eye looks (again, apologies for lack of pictures to date).
Patching and eyeglasses most likely will not start until he is between 2-3 years of age. The doctor said to come back in 6 months and they will administer another eye exam just to see how his vision is coming along and I suppose at that point we will begin to discuss the plan for starting patching and glasses.
The doctor felt that there was little point in starting the patching and glasses now as Ethan would probably just rip them (patch and/or glasses) off anyway and given where he is developmentally with regard to his visual acuity, there would be little benefit (he is still of the age where his lack of visual acuity outweighs the effect of his astigmatism).
We also had a visit from General Surgery to examine how his G-Tube hole is coming along. They were also very pleased with his progress. There still seems to be a very small hole (when we change the dressing, there is still a tiny dot on it) so they said to simply give it more time (up to one month more). If at that point, it still has not closed up completely, then surgery would be required to close it up - but since the hole is so small, there is no urgency to the surgery and it could be done at any time/at our discretion. At this point, he is also OK to be submerged so regular bathing (as opposed to sponge baths) and trips to the pool are OK.
On Thursday we have another appointment (hopefully last one until next summer?) to discuss the results of his sleep study. Given that it has been about a month since the study was done and we have heard nothing I am going on the assumption that there is no real bad news there (the doctor did say he expected the results to be abnormal but not horrendous so I'm sure there will be some issues to be discussed but nothing terribly serious).
- bob
Patching and eyeglasses most likely will not start until he is between 2-3 years of age. The doctor said to come back in 6 months and they will administer another eye exam just to see how his vision is coming along and I suppose at that point we will begin to discuss the plan for starting patching and glasses.
The doctor felt that there was little point in starting the patching and glasses now as Ethan would probably just rip them (patch and/or glasses) off anyway and given where he is developmentally with regard to his visual acuity, there would be little benefit (he is still of the age where his lack of visual acuity outweighs the effect of his astigmatism).
We also had a visit from General Surgery to examine how his G-Tube hole is coming along. They were also very pleased with his progress. There still seems to be a very small hole (when we change the dressing, there is still a tiny dot on it) so they said to simply give it more time (up to one month more). If at that point, it still has not closed up completely, then surgery would be required to close it up - but since the hole is so small, there is no urgency to the surgery and it could be done at any time/at our discretion. At this point, he is also OK to be submerged so regular bathing (as opposed to sponge baths) and trips to the pool are OK.
On Thursday we have another appointment (hopefully last one until next summer?) to discuss the results of his sleep study. Given that it has been about a month since the study was done and we have heard nothing I am going on the assumption that there is no real bad news there (the doctor did say he expected the results to be abnormal but not horrendous so I'm sure there will be some issues to be discussed but nothing terribly serious).
- bob
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