Thursday, March 15, 2012

Jonah's upcoming surgery

I've  realized that I should let you all know a little bit about what's going on with Jonah.  Last November when doing a hearing evaluation (which was part of starting speech therapy for a stutter and some pronunciation problems) he failed his hearing test in his right ear.  The tech said that his ear was swollen and he had an infection which is probably why he failed his test.  She said I should just go see his pediatrician and have her treat it.  No big deal.  So we did. About 10 days after he finished his antibiotics he was having some crazy drainage and I could see some nasty white stuff practically closing off his ear canal.  We went to the insta-care and told her Jonah's history. (His surgery last year when he had tonsils and adenoids taken out, and tubes put in both his ears. and since his surgery he's had about 4 infections, sometimes with symptoms and sometimes without). She said that ear infections without symptoms are very strange.  She was about to just write me another prescription for another anti-biotic, when she said "you know what, my husband is the ENT (ear, nose, and throat doctor) on base, let me call him and see what he thinks"

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA (can you hear the angels singing at the awesomeness of this woman? Who I remind you works at the insta-care. The place where they don't know you and usually just care about getting you out of there as fast as possible?)

Anyway, we finally were able to meet with the ENT on base and he found that Jonah has a cholesteatoma growing in his ear. Which is a cyst-like skin growth that should not be growing in his ear.  The doctor said that to a regular doctor it can look just like an ear infection (which explains doctor's telling us "by the way it looks like Jonah has an ear infection, even though he has no fever, or pain, or any symptoms at all") and it's really hard to know what a cholesteatoma is, let alone diagnose it is unless you've had the 5 years extra schooling and practice in ears that an ENT gets.

Anyway, they are going to have to remove it surgically, but when-we still don't know.  We had to wait 3 weeks for a CAT Scan, then another week for the results.

From the results of the CAT Scan, it's larger then he thought and his down into his mastoid bone (the bone right behind the ear) and with Jonah being so young, he referred us to an ENT surgeon  in Atlanta who specializes in Ears and pediatrics. So by the time we got the referral (2 weeks) and called for an appointment, we won't be seen by that Dr. until the first week of April.

So we're just waiting for that appointment and hoping that we can get this taken care of as soon as possible, but it will probably be the end of April before the surgery is actually done.  And there will also be a follow-up surgery 6 months later to make sure that all the cholesteatoma is gone.  In the meantime, Jonah is just fine.  He isn't in any pain or anything, He can't really hear out of his right ear, so that causes a little frustration on his and my part-it's hard to know if he can't hear me or is ignoring me.  He also repeats stuff a lot because he doesn't hear me answer or respond to him (he thinks I'm ignoring him) but sometimes (if I'm on his left side) it's just fine.

So, I'll keep you updated.

Book Review: Fairest of All: A Tale of the Wicked Queen

Fairest of All: A Tale of the Wicked QueenFairest of All: A Tale of the Wicked Queen by Serena Valentino

My rating: 2 of 5 stars


This was a good idea, it's nice to read from the point of view of the wicked Queen.  I liked it ok, but it wasn't amazing.



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Wednesday, March 14, 2012

Book Review: Little Women

Little Women (Little Women, #1)Little Women by Louisa May Alcott

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


This was a great read.  I was already familiar with the story from the movie, which I already loved.  However, the book had so much more that was left out of the movie (as is usually the case).  I felt like things in the book were just so much more "fleshed out".  When Laurie is in love with Jo, then she rejects him, I could really see it so much better and sympathize with both of them.  In the movie you didn't really see Laurie being in love with Jo, and when she rejects him I just hated her for it. I hated her for it in the book too, more so even (ok, I bawled my eyes out) but the process of Laurie turning from Jo to Amy was so beautiful and I was so happy and satisfied when they finally get together.  I was so happy to get to read their love story.

The only thing I didn't like was the end of the book.  It really could have ended like 4 chapters sooner.  It just kept dragging on and on "and then they were so happy because...and this was great...and that was great....  Anyway, it just felt unnecessary and should have ended when Jo accepted Mr. Baher.

There were also a LOT of moral lessons which I actually liked, but it kind of made me just feel like a bad, selfish person.  When Beth is dying and Jo decides that she is going to take all of Beth's goodness upon herself and try that much harder to carry on for her.  I just thought, I don't think I could feel that way so soon and so instantly.  I don't think I could learn and apply these lessons until years after the fact.



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Tuesday, March 13, 2012

Book Review: Sarah's Key

Sarah's KeySarah's Key by Tatiana de Rosnay

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


This was an amazing story who's telling was just ok.  It was a heartbreaking story and I really felt like the character development for Sarah was so good.  But for Julia, I don't know, I just didn't really fall in love with her.  I didn't feel her emotions right along with her.  This was certainly a good book and worth the read, but I liked "The Book Theif" way better if your looking for a holocaust story.



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Book Review: The Book of Mormon Girl: Stories from an American Faith

The Book of Mormon Girl: Stories from an American FaithThe Book of Mormon Girl: Stories from an American Faith by Joanna Brooks

My rating: 2 of 5 stars


I wanted to like this book more than I did.  The first half was describing what it was like for her growing up as a Mormon.  I guess I was expecting it to be a little bit more interesting.  And while there were a lot of "that's so true" or "oh yeah, I did that", I don't know I just didn't find that reading about it was that enjoyable.  Just "eh".  Although the chapter about the Marie Osmond book was good.  A great telling if what it's like when your 12 years old.  Also, I liked how she pointed out how the young girls image of the perfect Mormon woman (Marie Osmond) is really just an illusion.  That crushing pressure to be the PERFECT Mormon and the PERFECT woman is a very dangerous thing that is VERY prevalent in the church, especially in Utah.



The second half of the book kind of took a turn I didn't expect.  Brooks ends up leaving the church after the church declared feminists, intellectuals, and gays & lesbians to be its enemies.  It was very hard for Brooks being a feminist to see her mentor's get fired from BYU for speaking out against it and being feminists.  I REALLY admire her courage to stand up for what she knows to be right, even though it meant leaving her beloved church.  She still loves the church and it's traditions and wants to be a part of it.  I liked how she kept talking about the church of her grandparents and the church of today and how she will hold onto and keep her faith in the church of her grandparents. 

I love that she is wise enough to take all the good she sees in it and leave what she sees as the bad.  She doesn't have to throw the baby out with the bathwater, so to speak.  So many people find one fault or one mistake and they have to completely run away from it and fight tooth and nail against it.  Brooks doesn't do that.  She just does what she has been taught all her life (even taught by the church) and that is standing up for what she believes to be right.



I think why I really just didn't love this book was her writing style.  It just tried too hard to be poetic and romantic. Quite a few times I hard a hard time following the actual story or message because I just got lost in the language and didn't get her metaphors and simile's.



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