Celebrating Inchstones: Our new addition

Thursday, April 28, 2011

Our new addition

Meet our newest addition to the Wilson household! His name is Zander Cage and I guess we'll keep it even though Cade and Gracie can't remember it! Anna thinks it is original and cool, not plain and boring like her name! She says Gracie would pick out a boring name. Just because she named her goldfish Goldie and Sunshine. Those were the final names...it changed so often that she had to make a list and keep it beside the aquarium! I'm not even kidding!!! So Zander it is!

Ever since Gracie found our outside dog dead, she's been talking non-stop about getting another dog. We've never had a house dog but since the outside dogs are getting attacked and killed a house dog it'd have to be. When you take into account that I'm allergic to most all animals plus Asa's sensory issues and my desire to not have to clean up a ton of hair or poop, our choices were going to be limited! I've been doing my research and hit on a couple of breeds that fit our family. They are also pricey!!! This week I took Gracie by a local puppy breeder and let her look around. I was surpised when she went for the 2 yorkies running around. I thought she'd want a fuzz ball like a poodle or Biscon breed. Nope, she was stuck to the yorkies. These 2 were not for sale, one was the owners dog and the other was just bording. In fact there were no yorkie pups at all right now. Oh, and the owner mentioned that her yorkies run $500! HA, not happening here!!! I started searching some rescues because I also decided that the chewing and house breaking of a puppy was not something I really wanted to do!

Still unsure which breed would be good for us I started asking at the pet store when we bought fish. I asked a few vets. And when we picked our cat up from the vet (after his snippy appointment!) I asked them. Turns out one of the tech's mom had a yorkie she needed to get rid of. She had a mother yorkie and had kept a puppy but then started working 2 jobs and out of town so she really didn't have the time and attention for the puppy she'd kept. She only wanted $50 to pay for the vaccines! It was more than that to adopt from the shelters. He has papers too....whatever that means for us since we aren't breeders. So without telling the kids, I went back to the vet today to meet the little guy.

He is a year old, housebroken, quiet, friendly but not jumpy.....and ours! When all the other dogs in their kennels were barking and whimpering, Zander wasn't making a sound. When I held him he snuggled in for a cuddle. His only drawback, I was told, was that he didn't like a collar! He chewed them all off! I bought him a harness and he has been fine. I also bought a kennel since I found ours broken as we got ready to take the cat in.

I picked Anna up from school first and she was so surprised and excited! Asa was next but he was clueless. He noticed but was just his usual screaming, ill self on the way home. We waited for Gracie and Cade to get off the bus to surprise them. Zander was under the car and peeked out at them. By this time Asa had gotten sick and was screaming, the loud bus pulled up and our outside dog was very curious! Poor little guy was a bit overwhelmed! We got him inside and he has made himself right at home!!! I predict he will be spoiled rotten by night fall!

Asa just liked the new kennel! The boy loves boxes and he had a blast with this until he dropped the lid and startled himself!

This is what the final stage of a startle episode looks like for Asa! Passed out and draining! Right after he dropped the lid, Zander came over to see what the screaming was about and Asa was in no mood! He has since made friends and with help even rubbed the dog! I think both would just soon avoid the other. Asa is too loud for the dog and the dog is too soft and fuzzy for Asa.

So tonight I hope we all rest well!! So far everyone seems to get along fine! Let's hope it lasts!!

On a side note, when we told Cade we were taking Toby the cat in to be fixed, he was irrate!! He tried to hide the cat in the clothes dryer, in his room, in my closet and called me a "animal hater"! By the time we left the house he was near tears. No matter how much we told him we were helping Toby, he was just mad! I took him inside the vet so he could see it was a fine place with good people. I'm not sure why it affected him so much unless it was a male bonding thing. When we got Toby home and Barry saw that they actually remove the boy bits he was upset too!! What's with these guys?!

1 comment:

Heidi said...: He-He, sorry but Cades reaction to having the boy parts removed is too funny. Just remind him if you hadnt done it, that sweet little Toby would start spraying his room full of urine. Cat urine is the worse!

LOVE the new addition! He looks like he fits right in. My brother got a little yorkie for his family and he's the best dog ever--of course my brother is like the "soup nazi!" (I hope you get it, from the seinfield episode!) Anyway he is quite strict with his kids and when that puppy came home. So this dog knows his place! What I do love about yorkies is they dont shed...that would be sooo nice! I love our little Papillon but the shedding, ugh.

Hope little Zander works out :) Ive never been a big fan of small breeds, having shepherds and dobies growing up but I love lap dogs now! So nice not having to walk them in our crappy weather here in Seattle. Mya is our little shadow and still loves to push a soccer ball around with all the boys. Love all the pics, Hugs to your littleones tonight--
Heidi & Jack.; April 29, 2011 at 4:52 PM

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Asa's story

Asa is the 4th and youngest in this family. We thought he'd come into this world and our lives would flow right along as it had the other 3 times we brought babies into this world.

We were wrong! After a normal pregnancy and delivery, Asa had to be sent to the NICU because he wasn't sucking, blood sugar dropping, floppy muscles, exaggerated startle reflex and jaundice.

He stayed 5 days were he learned to suck and eat enough to come home. He began nursing well but would scream in pain 30 minutes after each feeding. He had so much mucus and drooled so much. He had a terrible rash on his face. He wasn't making eye contact and was not hitting any milestones.

I kept taking him to the pediatrician but got nowhere until his 2 month checkup when he had only gained one pound since birth. That earned him an appt with a pediatric GI and a change to Neocate formula. Odd gasping spells and eye rolling got him into a pediatric neurologist before the GI appt. The neurologist (he was actually the head of the pediatric neurology dept) personally walked us over to the GI clinic and sat us in an exam room. That kinda makes you worry! That is when we really got the ball rolling. Asa was 3 months old.

At 4 months he was admitted to Vanderbilt Children's Hospital. He stayed 8 days and had a NG tube inserted so we could feed him directly into his stomach. He kept this for 2 months. Also during this time he had an EEG, CT scan, MRI, upper GI endoscopy with biopsy, flex sig, numerous blood tests, a genetics consult, and an ophthalmology consult and many other pokes and prods! So began our relationship with specialist!!

After 2 months on the NG tube, we removed it and tried to get Asa to eat enough to gain weight. He did OK for a little while but by 9 months old, he was fighting each feeding and not gaining weight despite being on Neocate formula at 30cal/oz. The decision was made to have a G-tube put in. The G-tube is a feeding tube that is inserted directly into Asa's belly. He can eat orally but won't so he gets feed into his belly.

Since he was going to have to be sedated for the surgery, it was agreed he should have a muscle biopsy at the same time. By 9 months he had finally began making eye contact. He smiled some but not very social. He was still very hypotonic (floppy) and didn't even have head control. Something was obviously going on with his muscles. All of his brain scans had been normal.

In Nov. 2008, when Asa was 13 months old, we found out the results of the muscle biopsy. Yes, it took 3+ months to get all of the results! He was diagnosed with Mitochondrial Myopathy. He is deficient in Complex IV for all of you medical junkies out there.

What this means is that his cells can't make enough energy to fuel his body....specifically for him, his muscles and GI system, that we know of. If his body has to burn energy to fight off infection, or a stress, then he looses energy in another system. Mito is a progressive disease with no treatment or cure. We try to keep him as healthy and happy as possible. We use the feeding tube to keep him feed so he doesn't have to struggle there. He takes numerous supplements and vitamins in the hope that they will keep him cells healthier. We check his eyes, hearing, heart, kidneys, liver, brain and lots of blood work yearly. Mito can affect any system so it is important to have baseline and watch for changes. He has a GI, neuro, geneticist, optometrist, ophthalmologist, cardiologist, developmental ped, regular ped and a mito specialist.

He gets OT, PT, speech/feeding and a home teacher weekly. He has some sensory issues with touch, sound, taste and texture. This plays into almost all areas of our lives! He is still very hypotonic but gained head control at just over a year (right after we started supplements!). He learned to sit when placed in a sitting position at 18 months. He still can't get into sitting alone. He learned to bottom scoot at just over 2. He does not crawl or walk.

He knows the signs for "moma", "daddy", "more" and "all done". He can show them when prompted but we are still waiting for him to initiate. He waves "bye-bye" and points all the time now. He loves to take a bath and water in general. He has a contagious laugh and can flash the most flirty grin ever!

We learned, with Asa, not take the small things for granted. Each smile, sound, word, bite or even trouble!! You just never know when they might not be so easy to come by or even if you'll have them at all!